Every January 1, we sit down and set goals for the coming year. One of the most common ways is to read more. But buying books is always easier than actually reading them—and our Goodreads reading challenge has us all silly. Life catches up with us and before we know it, autumn is around us and the year is almost over.
But there’s good news: The Observer is here to help you list the best short books to read this January. When you’re most motivated, you can get a head start on your goals now. We’ve included recommendations from a variety of literary genres, as well as books from around the world, so you can delve into what’s best for you and hopefully find one or more short books that may be completely foreign to you.
The most important thing? Each of these New Year’s books is less than 200 pages. Use money from holiday gift cards to put your money at your local library and start reading while you have the energy!
Looking for honest women by Sarah Gailey
Esther is overwhelmed when her best friend and crush is killed for possessing resistance propaganda. She sneaks away with the librarian, hoping to learn how to be “normal” or “nice.” But it turns out that librarians are more rebellious than they seem. This 176-page story about the riots of anti-fascist librarians is one of Tordotcom’s best novellas (they’ve released a number of novels over the past few years).
woman in convenience store Author: Sayaka Murata, translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori
Keiko was uncomfortable until she found her at Smile Mart, a Japanese convenience store. She never quite knew what people wanted from her, but she felt at home in the safety of the store, where everything was ordered and she had a script for every interaction. In this inspiring, quirky short story, she resists what others want her to be.
See also: The 10 Best Books About Badass Old Heroines
Brickmaker By Selva Almada Translated from Spanish by Annie McDermott
The Tamai and Miranda families hate each other. The violent rivalry that started with their father, a fellow bricklayer, spills over to their sons, and at the beginning and end of the book we see them getting bogged down after a scuffle. It’s a brutal, serialized story about toxic masculinity set in rural Argentina.
undocumented american Author: Carla Cornejo Villavicencio
This award-winning nonfiction is part memoir of an undocumented woman, part report on the lives of undocumented Americans, from the workers who helped clean up Ground Zero after 9/11 to the people who finally knew Flint’s poor. people
sleep donation by Karen Russell
An insomnia epidemic is sweeping the United States. People are dying from lack of sleep, and the answer lies in sleep’s blood bank. Trish works for the Sleep Corps, convincing people to donate. But when she discovers how the system really works, she begins to wonder if she’s doing the right thing.
Awu’s story Author: Justine Mintsa, translated from French by Cheryl Toman
Awu, a seamstress, married Obame Afane, a local school teacher, because his first wife could not bear him a child. As readers might expect, their marriage was by no means perfect. Set in the Fang community in northern Gabon, this 111-page book about progress and transformation is surprising in its scope.
The word of the world is forest Ursula K. Le Guin
Looking for a classic science fiction story from a great man? That’s it. exist The word of the world is forestthe yumens are attacking the Athshean world for its resources. But the tree-dwelling Asi quickly learned the rules of war and planned a rebellion to liberate their planet. It’s a fun sci-fi story that adds depth in the wake of our current climate change dilemma.
another brooklyn Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Four young black women (Angela, August, Gigi, and Sylvia) growing up in Bushwick find each other and embrace. Over the years, they drift apart, fall in love, uncover secrets, and eventually get back together. At just under 200 pages, this novel tells an epic story about black and female coming of age, nostalgia, female friendship, white flight, addiction, and more.
Outside the Body: On Craving and Translation Author: Isabel Zapata, translated from Spanish by Robin Meyers
Zapata’s poetic meditation on the difficult, emotional journey of IVF, in this brilliant memoir that so many will identify with, highlights hormones and loss, anxiety and alienation, and gender in health care and the medical system The absurdity and strangeness of discrimination.
Empty wardrobe Author: Margaret Jull Costa, translated from Portuguese by Maria Judite de Carvalho
This feminist classic centers on Dora, a housewife in the mid-1960s whose sudden death of her husband leaves her and her daughter in dire straits. When a secret opens the door to her life, she begins to wonder what it’s all about. Is her marriage worth giving up her life?
ring roar Author: P. Djèlí Clark
The Ku Klux Klan is host to bloodthirsty parasites that feed on hatred, but Maryse and her friends are determined to defeat them and everything they stand for. Filled with black folklore and American history, this action-movie-like novella is emotional, funny, and intense.
