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The 100 best novels written in English: the full list

After two years of careful consideration, Robert McCrum has reached a verdict on his selection of the 100 greatest novels written in English. Take a look at his list

• Robert McCrum reflects on his choices
• One in five doesn’t represent over 300 years of women in literature: a response
• What is missing: readers’ alternative list
• The world’s 100 greatest novels of all time (2003)

1. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (1678)

A story of a man in search of truth told with the simple clarity and beauty of Bunyan’s prose make this the ultimate English classic.

2. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)

By the end of the 19th century, no book in English literary history had enjoyed more editions, spin-offs and translations. Crusoe’s world-famous novel is a complex literary confection, and it’s irresistible.

3. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726)

A satirical masterpiece that’s never been out of print, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels comes third in our list of the best novels written in English

4. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson (1748)

Clarissa is a tragic heroine, pressured by her unscrupulous nouveau-riche family to marry a wealthy man she detests, in the book that Samuel Johnson described as “the first book in the world for the knowledge it displays of the human heart.”

5. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (1749)

Tom Jones is a classic English novel that captures the spirit of its age and whose famous characters have come to represent Augustan society in all its loquacious, turbulent, comic variety.

6. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne (1759)

Laurence Sterne’s vivid novel caused delight and consternation when it first appeared and has lost little of its original bite.

7. Emma by Jane Austen (1816)

Jane Austen’s Emma is her masterpiece, mixing the sparkle of her early books with a deep sensibility.

8. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)

Mary Shelley’s first novel has been hailed as a masterpiece of horror and the macabre.

9. Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock (1818)

The great pleasure of Nightmare Abbey, which was inspired by Thomas Love Peacock ’s friendship with Shelley , lies in the delight the author takes in poking fun at the romantic movement.

10. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe (1838)

Edgar Allan Poe’s only novel – a classic adventure story with supernatural elements – has fascinated and influenced generations of writers.

11. Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli (1845)

The future prime minister displayed flashes of brilliance that equalled the greatest Victorian novelists.

12. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1847)

Charlotte Brontë’s erotic, gothic masterpiece became the sensation of Victorian England. Its great breakthrough was its intimate dialogue with the reader.

13. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)

Emily Brontë’s windswept masterpiece is notable not just for its wild beauty but for its daring reinvention of the novel form itself.

14. Vanity Fair by William Thackeray (1848)

William Thackeray’s masterpiece, set in Regency England, is a bravura performance by a writer at the top of his game.

15. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1850)

David Copperfield marked the point at which Dickens became the great entertainer and also laid the foundations for his later, darker masterpieces.

16. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850)

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s astounding book is full of intense symbolism and as haunting as anything by Edgar Allan Poe.

17. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (1851)

Wise, funny and gripping, Melville’s epic work continues to cast a long shadow over American literature.

18. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)

Lewis Carroll’s brilliant nonsense tale is one of the most influential and best loved in the English canon.

19. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868)

Wilkie Collins’s masterpiece, hailed by many as the greatest English detective novel, is a brilliant marriage of the sensational and the realistic.

20. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868-9)

Louisa May Alcott’s highly original tale aimed at a young female market has iconic status in America and never been out of print.

21. Middlemarch by George Eliot (1871-2)

This cathedral of words stands today as perhaps the greatest of the great Victorian fictions.

22. The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (1875)

Inspired by the author’s fury at the corrupt state of England, and dismissed by critics at the time, The Way We Live Now is recognised as Trollope’s masterpiece.

23. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884/5)

Mark Twain’s tale of a rebel boy and a runaway slave seeking liberation upon the waters of the Mississippi remains a defining classic of American literature.

24. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)

A thrilling adventure story, gripping history and fascinating study of the Scottish character, Kidnapped has lost none of its power.

25. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome (1889)

Jerome K Jerome’s accidental classic about messing about on the Thames remains a comic gem.

26. The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle (1890)

Sherlock Holmes’s second outing sees Conan Doyle’s brilliant sleuth – and his bluff sidekick Watson – come into their own.

27. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1891)

Wilde’s brilliantly allusive moral tale of youth, beauty and corruption was greeted with howls of protest on publication.

28. New Grub Street by George Gissing (1891)

George Gissing’s portrayal of the hard facts of a literary life remains as relevant today as it was in the late 19th century.

29. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (1895)

Hardy exposed his deepest feelings in this bleak, angry novel and, stung by the hostile response, he never wrote another.

30. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (1895)

Stephen Crane’s account of a young man’s passage to manhood through soldiery is a blueprint for the great American war novel.

31. Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)

Bram Stoker’s classic vampire story was very much of its time but still resonates more than a century later.

32. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1899)

Joseph Conrad’s masterpiece about a life-changing journey in search of Mr Kurtz has the simplicity of great myth.

33. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser (1900)

Theodore Dreiser was no stylist, but there’s a terrific momentum to his unflinching novel about a country girl’s American dream.

34. Kim by Rudyard Kipling (1901)

In Kipling’s classic boy’s own spy story, an orphan in British India must make a choice between east and west.

35. The Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903)

Jack London’s vivid adventures of a pet dog that goes back to nature reveal an extraordinary style and consummate storytelling.

36. The Golden Bowl by Henry James (1904)

American literature contains nothing else quite like Henry James’s amazing, labyrinthine and claustrophobic novel.

37. Hadrian the Seventh by Frederick Rolfe (1904)

This entertaining if contrived story of a hack writer and priest who becomes pope sheds vivid light on its eccentric author – described by DH Lawrence as a “man-demon”.

38. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1908)

The evergreen tale from the riverbank and a powerful contribution to the mythology of Edwardian England.

39. The History of Mr Polly by HG Wells (1910)

The choice is great, but Wells’s ironic portrait of a man very like himself is the novel that stands out.

40. Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm (1911)

The passage of time has conferred a dark power upon Beerbohm’s ostensibly light and witty Edwardian satire.

41. The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford (1915)

Ford’s masterpiece is a searing study of moral dissolution behind the facade of an English gentleman – and its stylistic influence lingers to this day.

42. The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (1915)

John Buchan’s espionage thriller, with its sparse, contemporary prose, is hard to put down.

43. The Rainbow by DH Lawrence (1915)

The Rainbow is perhaps DH Lawrence’s finest work, showing him for the radical, protean, thoroughly modern writer he was.

44. Of Human Bondage by W Somerset Maugham (1915)

Somerset Maugham’s semi-autobiographical novel shows the author’s savage honesty and gift for storytelling at their best.

45. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (1920)

The story of a blighted New York marriage stands as a fierce indictment of a society estranged from culture.

46. Ulysses by James Joyce (1922)

This portrait of a day in the lives of three Dubliners remains a towering work, in its word play surpassing even Shakespeare.

47. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis (1922)

What it lacks in structure and guile, this enthralling take on 20s America makes up for in vivid satire and characterisation.

48. A Passage to India by EM Forster (1924)

EM Forster’s most successful work is eerily prescient on the subject of empire.

49. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos (1925)

A guilty pleasure it may be, but it is impossible to overlook the enduring influence of a tale that helped to define the jazz age.

50. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925)

Woolf’s great novel makes a day of party preparations the canvas for themes of lost love, life choices and mental illness.

51. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

Fitzgerald’s jazz age masterpiece has become a tantalising metaphor for the eternal mystery of art.

52. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926)

A young woman escapes convention by becoming a witch in this original satire about England after the first world war.

53. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (1926)

Hemingway’s first and best novel makes an escape to 1920s Spain to explore courage, cowardice and manly authenticity.

54. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1929)

Dashiell Hammett’s crime thriller and its hard-boiled hero Sam Spade influenced everyone from Chandler to Le Carré.

55. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (1930)

The influence of William Faulkner’s immersive tale of raw Mississippi rural life can be felt to this day.

56. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)

Aldous Huxley’s vision of a future human race controlled by global capitalism is every bit as prescient as Orwell’s more famous dystopia.

57. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (1932)

The book for which Gibbons is best remembered was a satire of late-Victorian pastoral fiction but went on to influence many subsequent generations.

58. Nineteen Nineteen by John Dos Passos (1932)

The middle volume of John Dos Passos’s USA trilogy is revolutionary in its intent, techniques and lasting impact.

59. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934)

The US novelist’s debut revelled in a Paris underworld of seedy sex and changed the course of the novel – though not without a fight with the censors.

60. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh (1938)

Evelyn Waugh’s Fleet Street satire remains sharp, pertinent and memorable.

61. Murphy by Samuel Beckett (1938)

Samuel Beckett’s first published novel is an absurdist masterpiece, a showcase for his uniquely comic voice.

62. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939)

Raymond Chandler’s hardboiled debut brings to life the seedy LA underworld – and Philip Marlowe, the archetypal fictional detective.

63. Party Going by Henry Green (1939)

Set on the eve of war, this neglected modernist masterpiece centres on a group of bright young revellers delayed by fog.

64. At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O’Brien (1939)

Labyrinthine and multilayered, Flann O’Brien’s humorous debut is both a reflection on, and an exemplar of, the Irish novel.

65. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939)

One of the greatest of great American novels, this study of a family torn apart by poverty and desperation in the Great Depression shocked US society.

66. Joy in the Morning by PG Wodehouse (1946)

PG Wodehouse’s elegiac Jeeves novel, written during his disastrous years in wartime Germany, remains his masterpiece.

67. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946)

A compelling story of personal and political corruption, set in the 1930s in the American south.

68. Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (1947)

Malcolm Lowry’s masterpiece about the last hours of an alcoholic ex-diplomat in Mexico is set to the drumbeat of coming conflict.

69. The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen (1948)

Elizabeth Bowen’s 1948 novel perfectly captures the atmosphere of London during the blitz while providing brilliant insights into the human heart.

70. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949)

George Orwell’s dystopian classic cost its author dear but is arguably the best-known novel in English of the 20th century.

71. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (1951)

Graham Greene’s moving tale of adultery and its aftermath ties together several vital strands in his work.

72. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (1951)

JD Salinger’s study of teenage rebellion remains one of the most controversial and best-loved American novels of the 20th century.

73. The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow (1953)

In the long-running hunt to identify the great American novel, Saul Bellow’s picaresque third book frequently hits the mark.

74. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954)

Dismissed at first as “rubbish & dull”, Golding’s brilliantly observed dystopian desert island tale has since become a classic.

75. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955)

Nabokov’s tragicomic tour de force crosses the boundaries of good taste with glee.

76. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (1957)

The creative history of Kerouac’s beat-generation classic, fuelled by pea soup and benzedrine, has become as famous as the novel itself.

77. Voss by Patrick White (1957)

A love story set against the disappearance of an explorer in the outback, Voss paved the way for a generation of Australian writers to shrug off the colonial past.

78. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)

Her second novel finally arrived this summer , but Harper Lee’s first did enough alone to secure her lasting fame, and remains a truly popular classic.

79. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (1960)

Short and bittersweet, Muriel Spark’s tale of the downfall of a Scottish schoolmistress is a masterpiece of narrative fiction.

80. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961)

This acerbic anti-war novel was slow to fire the public imagination, but is rightly regarded as a groundbreaking critique of military madness.

81. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing (1962)

Hailed as one of the key texts of the women’s movement of the 1960s, this study of a divorced single mother’s search for personal and political identity remains a defiant, ambitious tour de force.

82. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962)

Anthony Burgess’s dystopian classic still continues to startle and provoke, refusing to be outshone by Stanley Kubrick’s brilliant film adaptation.

83. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (1964)

Christopher Isherwood’s story of a gay Englishman struggling with bereavement in LA is a work of compressed brilliance.

84. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1966)

Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel, a true story of bloody murder in rural Kansas, opens a window on the dark underbelly of postwar America.

85. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (1966)

Sylvia Plath’s painfully graphic roman à clef, in which a woman struggles with her identity in the face of social pressure, is a key text of Anglo-American feminism.

86. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth (1969)

This wickedly funny novel about a young Jewish American’s obsession with masturbation caused outrage on publication, but remains his most dazzling work.

87. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (1971)

Elizabeth Taylor’s exquisitely drawn character study of eccentricity in old age is a sharp and witty portrait of genteel postwar English life facing the changes taking shape in the 60s.

88. Rabbit Redux by John Updike (1971)

Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, Updike’s lovably mediocre alter ego, is one of America’s great literary protoganists, up there with Huck Finn and Jay Gatsby.

89. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (1977)

The novel with which the Nobel prize-winning author established her name is a kaleidoscopic evocation of the African-American experience in the 20th century.

90. A Bend in the River by VS Naipaul (1979)

VS Naipaul’s hellish vision of an African nation’s path to independence saw him accused of racism, but remains his masterpiece.

91. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981)

The personal and the historical merge in Salman Rushdie’s dazzling, game-changing Indian English novel of a young man born at the very moment of Indian independence.

92. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (1981)

Marilynne Robinson’s tale of orphaned sisters and their oddball aunt in a remote Idaho town is admired by everyone from Barack Obama to Bret Easton Ellis.

93. Money: A Suicide Note by Martin Amis (1984)

Martin Amis’s era-defining ode to excess unleashed one of literature’s greatest modern monsters in self-destructive antihero John Self.

94. An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro (1986)

Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel about a retired artist in postwar Japan, reflecting on his career during the country’s dark years, is a tour de force of unreliable narration.

95. The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald (1988)

Fitzgerald’s story, set in Russia just before the Bolshevik revolution, is her masterpiece: a brilliant miniature whose peculiar magic almost defies analysis.

96. Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler (1988)

Anne Tyler’s portrayal of a middle-aged, mid-American marriage displays her narrative clarity, comic timing and ear for American speech to perfection.

97. Amongst Women by John McGahern (1990)

This modern Irish masterpiece is both a study of the faultlines of Irish patriarchy and an elegy for a lost world.

98. Underworld by Don DeLillo (1997)

A writer of “frightening perception”, Don DeLillo guides the reader in an epic journey through America’s history and popular culture.

99. Disgrace by JM Coetzee (1999)

In his Booker-winning masterpiece, Coetzee’s intensely human vision infuses a fictional world that both invites and confounds political interpretation.

100. True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (2000)

Peter Carey rounds off our list of literary milestones with a Booker prize-winning tour-de-force examining the life and times of Australia’s infamous antihero, Ned Kelly.

• The 100 best novels
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🏆 Winner of Contest #230

The Gingerbread Cookies Let’s go downstairs and bake some cookies, like mother used to make. The warm smell sits right at home in your nostrils, invading them like wild ax-murderers hacking and slashing their way through endless miles of human bodies that stand in the way of their inhumane, carnal desires. Shhh, shhh, but that’s too dark. It’s Christmas after all. So let’s go down...

“ Cooking Lessons ” by Molly Jenkinson

🏆 Winner of Contest #229

“That’s it petal, just push down a smidge more and it should cut right the way through it.” Mam’s standing above me as I’m trying to hack through the biggest potato the world’s ever seen. I’m sweating bullets at this point but she’s having none of it. “Can’t you just do it, Mam?” I’m absolutely knackered. I’ve been stabbing at this thing for (no joke) fifteen minutes but she just will not take...

“ The Winters of My Discontent ” by Warren Keen

🏆 Winner of Contest #228

I didn’t wake up on November 29th, 2023. The day prior I remember vividly. I drove two hours into western Minnesota to replace some fuses in a pad-mount transformer. Easy job when you bring the right fuses. I wasn’t prepared to stand outside in the freezing cold all day waiting for them. Waiting is the coldest thing you can do. I had checked the weather that morning, but I refused to acknowledge that it was lo...

“ Forthright Thursday ” by Chris Campbell

🏆 Winner of Contest #227

8:45PM Thanksgiving Day – GLOVES OFF: My mother, Mary, and her sister Alice were engaged in a wrestling match on the dining room table. Aloysius – my father - and Alice’s plus one; Jack, attempted to pry them apart, but both women had locked themselves into each other’s hair with vice-like grips, despite both their hands being splattered with custard trifle remnants. All I could do as an observing teenager was sit with mouth agape while holding my new Super 8mm silent movie camera, recording the whole scene. It was typical behavio...

“ The Day Alfred Googled Himself ” by Olivier Breuleux

🏆 Winner of Contest #226

Everyone has Googled themselves at one time or another in their lives. Even you, dear reader, I'll bet. Why did you do it? Curiosity? Validation? Finding your own LinkedIn profile? When Alfred did it, his reason was self-pity. He was nobody, he had nobody, and he had nothing. His immediate family had died years prior. His extended family did not remember he existed, nor did he remember the...

“ Goldfish ” by Mallory Jones

🏆 Winner of Contest #225

4 pm Miss Lucy and Dr. Singh are letting me visit my house tonight! Normally I get to go home for twelve hours on holidays, and an aide comes with me to monitor my equipment, but today is different. It’s not a holiday, it’s not my birthday, it’s not even the weekend— but I’m going home! Mommy says Lily will be home too even though she goes to college in Iowa. She’s coming home just for me for my ...

“ Cerulean ” by AnneMarie Miles

🏆 Winner of Contest #224

The door is cerulean, a bright and vibrant blue, but really it is the color of my sudden uneasiness. The feeling creeps up me slowly, jumps out at me dauntingly, and I am frozen in it. If the door were a mirror – and how I wish it were as innocent as a mirror – I would see my face reflected back to me, and it would tell me to run.I’m not sure what’s more jarring: the fact that this door is a clashing contrast to the rest of the library décor, or the fact that I’ve never noticed the path we took to get here before. I supp...

“ Just Like Him ” by Audrey McKenna

🏆 Winner of Contest #223

Content warning: sexual violence, languageWhen I was four years old, my sister and I were messing around at the pool. I slipped and hit my head on the concrete. It split open in the back. I remember the lifeguard gave me a squishy ball to squeeze. I remember she said I could keep it. I remember my dad scooped me up in his arms. It doesn’t make sense that it happened this way, but I remember he carried me all the way to the emergency room. I remember the pressure of my face pressing into a pillow as the doctor staple...

“ Clearance Aisle Libations ” by Bay Colt

🏆 Winner of Contest #222

The worst part about being an amateur necromancer is that no one respects you, not even the dead. My older brother, Joseph, is practically crying over the phone, struggling to speak through great gasps of heaving, wheezing laughter. After way too many seconds of this, he finally manages to choke out, “Really? Goddamn—Mountain Dew?” Irritated, I switch the phone to my other ear, tipping my head a...

“ Fae Touched ” by D. Grimes

🏆 Winner of Contest #221

Siobhan awoke to the Irish sun spilling in the open doorframe of their single-room cottage. Her back pressed against Sean’s, and she moved carefully so as to not wake him on his day off morning duties— today, she would feed the cattle and chickens. She rolled over, a stray mattress feather poking her side, and saw Aoife’s small body in her basket, enveloped by a blanket. A surge in Siobhan’s chest shot her awake—Aoife hadn’t cried once through the night. Siobhan scrambled to her feet, bare soles pressed into the cool packed dirt, no longe...

“ Cell 3.47 ” by Kate Hughes

🏆 Winner of Contest #220

Cell 3.47 was situated on the third floor of B wing in Stocken Gate prison, slap bang in the heart of London’s east end. Known as The Gate, the prison had a reputation for being a tough place to do time. The inmates behind the doors at The Gate endured long cold winters in the Victorian slammer that had been condemned many times but had always escaped closure. It was harsh, it was hard, and it was overrun by rats.Paula Pritchard was the sole resident of cell 3.47, but due to the rodent crisis she ...

“ Whale Song ” by Danielle Barr

🏆 Winner of Contest #219

Agony broils, but anguish simmers. I have known them both well and in equal measure. In the early days, my brain felt blurry and disjointed; I had the sense of being deep underwater, all undulating shadows and echoing whale song. The darkness was expansive, and the staticky, dull sense of confusion I felt was sometimes intercut with crippling panic. BP is spiking, ...

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Short Stories from Reedsy Prompts

Short stories may be small, but they are mighty! With the weight of a novel stripped away, great short stories strike directly at the heart of their topics. Often maligned as the novel’s poor cousin, the short story medium has produced some of the most beloved works of fiction. From the eerily-accurate predictions of Ray Bradbury to the spine-chilling thrills of Stephen King and the wildly imaginative worlds of N.K. Jemison, some of the best authors in the business have made their mark writing short stories .

Whether the stories are sweeping explorations of the human condition, or slices of life vignettes that move us to tears, short fiction has the power to dazzle from first word to last.

Who writes Reedsy’s short stories?

Here at Reedsy, we're looking to foster the next generation of beloved authors. To that end, we've been running a weekly writing contest for over six years — and these short stories are the thousands of entries we've received over that time. Our writers come to the contest from all experience levels to hone their skills through consistent practice and friendly feedback. Some of them have even gone on to write and publish novels based on their short story submissions !

Discover short stories of all genres and subjects

Centered around themed writing prompts, these short stories range across all forms, genres, and topics of interest. Simply filter by the genre that appeals you most, and discover thousands of stories from promising new writers around the world.

Maybe you want to read something new, but don’t want to choose a genre? We’ve gathered our favorite entries in our literary magazine, Prompted . Each issue is packed with prize-winning stories that have been introduced and edited by a guest editor. Grab a free copy of our first issue here . Who knows, you could even discover your next favorite author before they even hit the big time!

(And if you’re a writer, consider heading over and entering the short story contest yourself! You may just walk away with the weekly cash prize, plus the chance to appear in Prompted . )

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20 Short Novels To Stay Up All Night Reading

Unputdownable books you can finish in bed tonight.

Yesterday saw the release of Samanta’s Schweblin’s terrifying Fever Dream . I know this is one of those things people who write about books say, but I actually mean it: this is a book that will keep you up at night—at least one night, anyway, because once you start, you’ll have to finish. You’ll be too disturbed not to. Luckily, it’s short, so you’ll only be captive for a few hours. Inspired by Schweblin’s new book, here is a list of novels you can read overnight—compelling enough that you won’t be lured by sleep, but short enough that once you finish, you’ll still have enough time to clock some hours before you have to go to work. If you can sleep, that is.

Samanta Schweblin, Fever Dream

This is a weird hallucination of a book—reading it feels like an experience, like something that happens to you, as infectious and mysterious and unstoppable and possibly magical as the disease that powers its plot. There is absolutely no way to put it down without breaking the spell, so make sure you’re comfy.

Jenny Erpenbeck, Visitation

A lovely, slim novel that tells the stories of the various inhabitants of a house on a wooded bit of land near a lake outside Berlin, before, during and after WWII—but like Woolf’s To the Lighthouse , it is not really about the inhabitants, but rather very pointedly about time, and the pull of place. The overlapping narratives and use of time even within narratives give the sense of colored transparencies laid over one another—though perhaps this occurs to me only because of the colored glass of the house’s windows. All this doesn’t sound particularly gripping, I know, but while I did find it a bit slow at the beginning, after page 50 I really couldn’t stop watching these lives unfold. Some brutality, some elegiac passages, some electrifying ones; much obvious intelligence at work.

Katie Kitamura, A Separation

This one’s a cheat, because it doesn’t actually come out until February, but mark your calendar for sleeplessness, because if you’re anything like me, you’ll read it straight through without stopping. The plot is, essentially, this: a woman follows her estranged (and unresponsive) husband to Greece, where she proceeds to look for him (and discover the mysteries he’s left in his wake). Kitamura’s spare language somehow seems barely able to control the emotion it signifies. In some ways, this is a meditation on the stories we paint onto other people, and how little we can really know them—which, honestly, keeps me up at night as much or more than any missing person.

Han Kang, The Vegetarian

Yes, like everyone else, I was obsessed with this novel—the story of a South Korean woman who gradually, and dramatically, removes herself from reality—this year. Reading it is as compulsive as its subject’s vegetarianism—except unlike her, you’ll want more, more, more, instead of less, less, less.

Richard Hughes, A High Wind in Jamaica

A surprisingly terrifying short novel about children kidnapped by pirates, elevated from its silliness by surprising moments of violence and introspection, as well as repeated flourishes of literary brilliance. Also, it’s funny . Take for instance, this passage: “Being nearly four years old, she was certainly a child: and children are human (if one allows the term “human” a wide sense): but she had not altogether ceased to be a baby: and babies are of course not human—they are animals, and have a very ancient and ramified culture, as cats have, and fishes, and even snakes: the same in kind as these, but much more complicated and vivid, since babies are, after all, one of the most developed species of the lower vertebrates.”

Paula Fox, Desperate Characters

At this beginning of this novel, Sophie Bentwood is bitten by a cat that may or may not have rabies. The ensuing domestic drama—wonderful and terrible in its own right—is then overlaid with this crazed, manic specter of disease that had me turning pages like a madwoman.

Donald Antrim, Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World

For my money one of the best novels ever written, of any length. Something bad is happening in Pete Robinson’s town—something that has his neighbors building moats around their homes and all the members of the Rotary Club finding their inner animals (his wife is, apparently, the prehistoric coelacanth). Oh, and the mayor has been drawn and quartered. Even if you don’t want to know what happens next, this novel will have you flipping pages just to get to each new delicious surrealist detail.

Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation

An eco-horror novel that is a study in tension and unanswered questions. Who are they, the Psychologist, the Surveyor, the Anthropologist, and the Biologist? What is Area X? Where are the other expeditions (eleven in all)? What has happened here? Will it happen again? Now?

Joyce Carol Oates, Black Water

You’d think that the structure of this novel, a sort of mythologized retelling of the Chappaquiddick incident, would strip it of any of its tension—after all, it begins with the car going off the road. But as Oates goes over and over the event and everything that led up to it—from different angles, from different moments, from different points of view—the reader keeps hoping that that repeated phrase (“As the black water filled her lungs, and she died.”) will somehow be made untrue. And yet, we know it will not be. And yet, we keep reading, more horrified by the moment.

Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Jackson’s incredible, dark novel tells the story of the Blackwood family—the recently-depleted Blackwood family, who were mostly poisoned, via arsenic, not too long ago. But who is the culprit? And what will the town do to the family members who are left? And why is Shirley Jackson no longer around to give us such beautifully creepy books?

Jenny Offill, Dept. of Speculation

A psychological portrait of a woman in distress that manages to feel packed with feeling despite its airy presentation—but more than that, this is an angry book, and the shimmer off the character/narrator/Offill’s rage is gripping all on its own.

Sara Levine, Treasure Island!!!

If you’d like to stay up all night alternating between laughter and groans (hey, I don’t know your life), this is the book for you. Its protagonist is a terrible person who decides to change her boring, wretched life by adhering to the values as extolled in the eponymous Robert Louis Stevenson novel. Yes, the one about pirates. Things do not go well. But at least they go.

Toni Morrison, Sula

I’m always surprised when I remember how short this book is—it holds so much in so few pages. Morrison’s gripping classic tells the story of an intense, dangerous friendship filled with secrets, betrayal, and yes, love. There’s something about Sula (the character, I mean, though the book too) that’s instantly unshakeable.

Franz Kafka, The Trial

In the category of classics that you forgot were actually super short is Kafka’s best-known novel, a harrowing, tense story of unfounded persecution. Yes, it’s unfinished (Kafka, I’m afraid, was not a natural novelist), but that doesn’t stop it from creeping up the back of your neck. After all, someone could be watching you at this very moment.

Adolfo Bioy Casares, The Invention of Morel

This novel is the diary of a fugitive, hiding on a strange island, who falls in love with one of the mysterious tourists that appear on his shores. A hallucinatory examination of the nature of reality, with a romantic twist, which won high praise from Jorge Luis Borges and Octavio Paz, among others.

Clarice Lispector, Near to the Wild Heart

I’ve always thought of Lispector’s first novel as a pulsing, beating thing—not just near, but the wild heart itself. It’s not a plot-heavy book, but the internal life of the amoral, incendiary Joana—and what she will do, and what she will think, and what she will say—is endlessly fascinating.

Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red

Anne Carson is likely the only writer who could ever have me wondering if, in the end, the winged monster (that’d be Geryon) is going to get the Greek Hero he loves (that’d be Herakles). As a novel in verse, this book frankly skips by—most of the time it will take you to read will be spent lingering over the lines, wanting to live in them a little longer.

Jeanette Winterson, The Passion

In this mesmerizing, sexy weirdo of a book (webbed toes are involved), a young French soldier falls in love with a Venetian cardsharp—except that she is no longer in possession of her heart. It’s in a palace somewhere, locked away, and he has to go get it. A sharp adventure that also asks the question: what can we lose in a single gamble? And what can we gain?

Justin Torres, We the Animals

I was sold on this book—a coming of age story told in luminous prose—from the very first paragraph, which by itself might keep me up for a few extra hours, looking for some of that more :

“We wanted more. We knocked the butt ends of our forks against the table, tapped our spoons against our empty bowls; we were hungry. We wanted more volume, more riots. We turned up the knob on the TV until our ears ached with the shouts of angry men. We wanted more music on the radio; we wanted beats; we wanted rock. We wanted muscles on our skinny arms. We had bird bones, hollow and light, and we wanted more density, more weight. We were six snatching hands, six stomping feet; we were brothers, boys, three little kings locked in a feud for more.”

Rachel Ingalls, Mrs. Caliban

The story of a disaffected housewife with a cheating husband, who starts an affair with—wait for it—a 6-foot-7 amphibious monster man named Larry. So.

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20 short novels you can read in one day

• BY Anne Bogel
• IN Book Lists , Books & Reading , Reading Challenge
• 85 Comments | Comment

Why we read short books

We all struggle with our reading sometimes. Whether difficult personal circumstances have killed your focus or lovely weather means you’re spending more time outside. Sometimes what we need is to build a little momentum in our reading life. And nothing helps build good reading momentum than short books.

This ISN’T cheating! You’re still reading an entire book whether it’s technically a short story, novella, or just a short novel (as many classics are). If your reading life needs a little boost this list of short novels is for you. Not only can they help you get your reading routine back on track, but these are great stories where the brevity often adds to the poignency.

We already have a stellar list of life-changing nonfiction books you can read in a day , so today we’re focusing on fiction.

What qualifies as a short novel

Essay and poetry collections are usually on the slimmer side, but we’re looking for fiction here. And while many young adult books come in on the shorter end, I’m mostly recommending adult books. Page counts vary but most of these run 200 pages or less, and deliver a lot of bang for the buck. (A few books push closer to the 300-page mark. I included these if the book has small pages, a large font, or tons of white space that make them quick reads.)

Depending on your reading speed, several of these books you can read in day. While you can knock one off in an afternoon, you will think about these books for weeks, months, even years after you put it down.

I’d love to hear when you reach for a short book and which novels YOU would add to this list, in the comments section.

And now, 20 of the best short books you can read in a day

Miss pettigrew lives for a day.

Author: Winifred Watson

I’ll bet you weren’t assigned this delightfully breezy Cinderella-ish story set in 1930s Britain back in English class. When a placement agency sends unemployed Miss Pettigrew to the wrong address, she spends the best day of her life with a glamorous nightclub singer, extricating her hour by hour from one scrape after another. Overall a fun, frothy fairy tale—but heads up for some unpleasantly dated stereotypes. 256 pages

Convenience Store Woman

Author:  Sayaka Murata

This quirky little book is a  2018 Summer Reading Guide pick, and is unlike anything I’ve ever read. Keiko was an uncommon child with worried parents until she takes on a job in a convenience store. They relax that she’s found a pleasant and predictable routine while at university. But eighteen years later, she is still working her low-level job, and doesn’t understand why society expects more from her than that. In fact, she doesn’t seem to understand society’s expectations—or how to conform to them—at all. PIck this up and spend your afternoon immersed in Japanese—and convenience store—culture. 176 pages

Mrs. Dalloway

Author:  Virginia Woolf

In this slim novel, Woolf weaves together two seemingly unrelated storylines: one following Mrs Dalloway, an upper class woman preparing to host a dinner party, and the other her “double,” a shell-shocked WWI vet contemplating suicide. Woolf used stream-of-consciousness style to explore the inner workings of the mind; this pioneering technique had a lasting effect on fiction as we know it. I read this myself for a past Reading Challenge , having previously read A Room of One’s Own but none of Virginia Woolf’s novels. 194 pages

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Author: Shirley Jackson

I didn’t hear of this short 1962 novel until a few years ago, since readers with great and diverse tastes kept recommending it. Not so long ago there were seven Blackwoods, but four of them dropped dead from arsenic poisoning several years ago and how that happened remains a mystery. Read it during daylight hours: its themes of family secrets, hateful neighbors, and mysterious deaths aren’t the stuff of bedtime reading. It’s not exactly scary, but Jackson is sure good at infusing a story with a creepy atmosphere—and the audio version sure makes it come alive. 162 pages

The Uncommon Reader

Author: Alan Bennett

When an unnamed (but not well-disguised) Queen goes for a walk, her corgis stray into a bookmobile library parked near the Palace, so she feels obligated to take a book to be polite. The Queen finds a newfound obsession with reading—so much so that she begins to neglect her duties as monarch. You can read this one in a few hours, but the power of reading to transform even the most uncommon of lives and the numerous book recommendations (from Jean Genet to Ivy Compton-Burnett to the classics) will stay with you much longer. Truly a must-read for any bibliophile. 126 pages

The Outsiders

Author: SE Hinton

This was a summer reading pick for my then 13-year-old, and he asked me to read it, too. This American classic is about a group of kids from the wrong side of the tracks in Oklahoma, and I’ve heard it compared to West Side Story. Unbelievably, Hinton wrote this when she was just 16, and it was published when she was 18. You could also read this title for the category “a book that’s been banned at some point.” 220 pages

The Sense of an Ending

Author: Julian Barnes

I finally read this 2011 Man Booker Prize winner a couple of years ago, in a single sitting on the couch on a Sunday afternoon. Structured as a love triangle, present day events force our narrator to reflect on events from his past, events that had been long settled in his mind. But as he begins to investigate what happened back then, he starts to wonder: did he really grasp what was happening back then? Or was he merely choosing to cast himself in the best possible light? This book, which the New York Times calls “powerfully compact,” is the kind that stands up to—and benefits from—repeated re-readings. 162 pages

Vinegar Girl

Author: Anne Tyler

Shakespeare’s comedy The Taming of the Shrew has been adapted for everything from film to opera to ballet to musical theater. Both Kiss Me, Kate and the 90s high school movie 10 Things I Hate About You (LOVE it) are based on the play. Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Tyler brings a witty contemporary retelling for the Hogarth Shakespeare series. This one’s on my TBR largely because of NPR, who calls this a “screwball of manners, more sweet than acidic, that actually channels Jane Austen more than Shakespeare.” 242 pages

What I Saw And How I Lied

Author: Judy Blundell

This was a dark kind of fun, easy to read and hard to put down, about a 15-year-old girl who gets mixed up in a decidedly grown-up brew of love, prejudice, and tragedy when her family moves to Palm Beach post-WWII. We read this for a spring  Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club pick and talked with author Judy Blundell. which only deepened my appreciation for a terrific story, tight, atmospheric, and heavily inspired by noir film classics. Stylish and thought-provoking; a 2008 National Book Award winner for Young People’s Literature. 284 pages

News of the World: A Novel

Author: Paulette Jiles

I loved this short novel about two unlikely companions because it reminded me of favorites like  Lonesome Dove ,  These Is My Words , and—perhaps surprisingly—The Road. A Western for readers who (think they) don’t like Westerns, featuring intriguing characters, improbable friendships, strong women, and difficult choices. 229 pages

Interpreter of Maladies

Author: Jhumpa Lahiri

This slim volume of short stories was breathtaking. Lahiri’s characters tenuously navigate the divide between their old world and their new, and taken together, the collection highlights myriad aspects of the immigrant experience. Lahiri’s gift is to turn ordinary experiences into moments fraught with meaning, and she does it over and over in this Pulitzer-winning collection. (I loved this on audio, and it’s  less than 6 hours in that format.) 209 pages

The Vegetarian: A Novel

Author: Han Kang

Following a terrifying nightmare, a South Korean woman trashes all the meat in the house and announces she’s now a vegetarian—an unconventional choice in a culture in which such choices sit on a spectrum between unsettling and downright alarming. Critics describe this novel as “Kafka-esque”, and reader friends with great taste have said this strange (and sometimes disturbing) story delivers a unique and absorbing reading experience. Originally written in Korean, this could also stand in for your  book in translation category. 194 pages

Fahrenheit 451

Author: Ray Bradbury

Bradbury’s slim sci-fi/fantasy novel revolves around a fireman who hates his job, set in the saddest of dystopian settings: a future with no books. Firemen start the fires in Bradbury’s future, because their job is to destroy any and all books as they are found. The book has been repeatedly banned over the years, which is ironic, given that the book itself is about book-banning. Definitely  It’s a classic, but it’s not remotely boring , and too short not to cross off your list. 119 pages

Our Souls at Night

Author: Kent Haruf

It took me a while to finally read Kent Haruf, but I’m so glad I did: he’s an excellent choice for readers who love Wallace Stegner, Wendell Berry, and Marilynne Robinson, as I do. This is definitely one of those books where the flap copy doesn’t do it justice; in this case, it just sounds strange. I found this up-close look at an unlikely relationship between two long-time acquaintances in small-town Colorado completely absorbing. Listen to me recommend this book  in Episode 84 of What Should I Read Next? to Shawn Smucker. 193 pages

Every Heart a Doorway

Author: Seanan McGuire

At Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children, children have a habit of stumbling into other worlds. Imagine Alice in Wonderland, but instead of one wonderland, there are hundreds—and once you visit another world, you’ll never be the same. Part fantasy, part mystery, part fairy tale (of the dark and creepy variety). NPR calls this “A mini-masterpiece of portal fantasy — a jewel of a book that deserves to be shelved with Lewis Carroll’s and C. S. Lewis’ classics” The impressive awards list for this includes the Alex Award, Hugo award, and Nebula award. 174 pages

The All of It

Author: Jeannette Haien

I just read this on vacation, at the urging of  Ian Cron , who recommended it when we recorded a future episode of  What Should I Read Next? (Coming soon!) First, the backstory: this 1986 novel never got the audience it deserved—until Ann Patchett fell in love with it 25-ish years later, and lobbied for its republication. Now, the book itself: on his deathbed, an Irish man confesses to his priest that he and his longtime “wife” were never married. He dies before he’s able to reveal the details. Over the course of several days, the wife explains their story to the priest—and the implications for both of them are enormous. 162 pages

Dept. of Speculation

Author: Jenny Offill

I debated including this one, because I had mixed feelings about it—but it’s undoubtably interesting, and so many readers LOVED it—plus I read it myself in a single afternoon. This is a portrait of a once-happy marriage that has lost its way, written in spare prose, with nameless characters referred to only as “the wife” and “the husband.” Sometimes lyrical, sometimes philosophical, sometimes experimental to the point of feeling confusing. Definitely one to discuss with your fellow readers. 194 pages

The House on Mango Street

Author: Sandra Cisneros

This modern classic is a coming-of-age almost-memoir of a young Latina girl, Esperanza Cordero, who is inventing the woman she will grow up to be. The story unfolds as a series of vignettes—some joyful, some heartbreaking—that draw the reader deep into her Hispanic Chicago neighborhood. Esperanza’s observations feel at once highly specific and incredibly universal, as she reflects on growing up on Mango Street, and how she eventually wants to leave. 130 pages

The Great Gatsby

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald’s classic was the topic of my first  high school term paper—and despite that, I still love it. This classic American novel captures the Jazz Age in all its decadence and excess, while weaving a wistful story of love and loss, told by Nick Carraway—but can we really trust his version of the tale? Fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby has built a mansion on Long Island Sound for the sole purpose of wooing and winning his lost love Daisy Buchanan, who married another man while Gatsby was serving overseas. 180 pages

Absent in the Spring

Author: Agatha Christie

This is a different sort of Agatha Christie novel, written under her pseudonym Mary Westmacott, that’s complicated, witty, twisty and suspenseful in ways that have nothing to do with crime. The title comes from a Shakespeare sonnet; the novel itself is a character study, about a woman who begins to reassess her life after finding herself alone for the first time—and is none too easy with what she sees. Christie claimed to have written this novel in an incredible three days. 192 pages

What short novels are catching your eye on this list, and what would you add to it? And—just for fun—what’s the longest book you’ve read in a single day?

P.S. Here are two other posts with short books: 20 life-changing nonfiction books you can read in a day , and 15 terrific audiobooks you can listen to in 6-ish hours or less .

85 comments

I read 84, Charing Cross Road for this category and it was so delightful. I think Chimamanda Adichie’s two books (booklets?) about feminism could be good choices also.

I love 84, Charing Cross Road! I felt like the author was describing my ideal trip to England down to the last detail

Absolutely, 84, Charing Cross Road!

Binti! If you like weird SF, or just want to dip your toes in with an award-winning, “own voices” title by a woman of color, this is a quick read. Like most SF, no need to worry if you don’t follow every detail of the unfamiliar setting.

Loved Binti!

Exit West, by Moshin Hamid! About 200 page with lots of breaks and wide margins 🙂 A lovely, quick read.

I read Agatha Christie’s autobiography a few years back and promptly bought her Mary Westmacott novels (all in one volume)…then never read them! Absent in the Spring is the reason I bought them. You’ve inspired me to get reading. Thanks!

I love this category. It enables you to pick up something you may not normally read because the commitment is not as high as a 500 page novel. Also, if it is one you really love you can easily read it multiple times. I really enjoyed We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Three of my all time favorites are short reads; Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and A River Runs Through it by Norman Maclean.

A must read for this list is “The Buddha In The Attic” by Jullie Otsuka. It has a unique writing style as is in First Person Collective without identifying the person talking. A bit difficult at first but you soon get a feel for the different voices. At 144 pages, it is a quick read, but, oh, so interesting. The story of Japanese women bought to San Francisco as “picture brides.” Tracing their adventures from their boat journey, arrival in America, and follows their new lives, filled with hope, dreams, trials, tribulations, hardships and heartbreak. First published in 2011 Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award For Fiction National Book Award and Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist A New York Times Notable Book

I enjoyed Joan Didion’s South and West. A super quick read about her time in the South and in California. The essays are all excerpts from her notebooks during her travels. I also loved 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff.

I read Convenience Store Woman this week and found it charming and quirky. It was a quick read and I’m thinking about it every day since I read it.

I’m waiting on that book from the library! I figured that it would be good since it’s on the summer reading list, but now I’m more excited. I really enjoy books that I can’t stop thinking about after I read them.

I am thrilled you have The Outsiders on here. I just reread it and it is still a fantastic read. I plan on picking up Convenience Store Woman simply because my 18 year old daughter has loved the Japanese language and culture for years, just finished her fifth year of studying the language, and it sounds like a fun read for both of us. I also want to read The Uncommon Reader.

I’m reading Of Mice and Men.

Yes! I just read this, and it’s such a wonderful short novel. I thought it was written so well.

Uh… I didn’t realize I was responding to a comment and post from 2018.

For the category I read The Penderwicks but am so intrigued by many of these.

News of the World is SO GOOD! My favorite book so far this year!

Both of Backman’s novellas can be read in one day or one sitting…..”And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer” And “Deal of a Lifetime”

I’ve read 7 of these books….and want to read the rest!!!! There goes the TBR list again!?

I loved reading The Silent Gondoliers by William Goldman. I picked it up because I loved The Princess Bride, and I wasn’t the least bit disappointed by the goofiness and heart.

I think Nutshell by Ian McEwan can be read in a day. It took me a few to read it, but only because I didn’t have the time to just sit down and power through! It’s an interesting premise too, and a nice twist on a Shakespeare classic.

I’m going to add quite a few of these to my too long TBR list. I’d recommend any of Laurie Colwin’s novels or short story collections for this category. Her novels are light but definitely have substance. And they are all short enough to read in one day.

Read Convenience Store woman last weekend. Am still unsure what I think of it! Quirky for sure.

Have read House on Mango Street also.

Not a genre you normally write about and not one I normally read but…I read Sackett last year and LOVED it! My dad has always loved westerns so I grew up with them on the television much of the time but I’d never read a true “western” book. Am glad I read it. It’s short too, so definitely can be read in a day.

I loved News of the World – it was an impulse buy at the bookstore ($3?). It wasn’t the type of book I usually go for but I figured that It’s not like I was spending a lot on it. It was well worth it.

I’m not sure the longest I’ve read in a day. I read fast and tend to read until I finish even if that means my family has to find their own food for dinner. I know I read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 8 hours. It was right after it came out. I was in college that year and was supposed to be studying for a chemistry test. I picked up the book for a study break and couldn’t put it down. The funny part? I actually got a higher grade on that test than any other test in that class.

I also read A Conjuring of Light by Victoria Schwab in a day. (600-something pages) It was like being sucked into this dreamlike state for hours on end. When I finished, it took time to figure out where I was and if what I just experienced was real or not.

I LOVE that I can just come to your site on any given time and discover new things to read – thanks for this post!

The longest book I read in a day was the final Harry Potter -Deathly Hallows. I was so worried about spoilers that I swore I wouldn’t leave the house, watch TV, or go on the internet until I had finished it. I read it all the day it came out.

I read What Alice Forgot (476 pages according to Goodreads) as well as a few other early Liane Moriarty novels in a single day. Recently, I read The Book of Essie in two days, but only because I didn’t start early enough in the day. Once I got into it, I really couldn’t put it down! I highly recommend that novel! And since I listen at double speed, I have listened to quite a number of books in a day, if I take the time.

I love so many of these, both on the list and in the comments! I really love 84, Charing Cross Road and Housekeeping. The Vegetarian was a strange one…..

I’m a big fan of Charlie Lovett’s books, and his Further Adventures of Ebeneezer Scrooge would be great for this – 106 pages including the Afterword/Author’s note. Coraline by Neil Gaiman is also a fun one especially at Halloween. And if anyone has never read The Little Prince, read it!!! 🙂 (it’s also great for a book in translation).

My favorite read in one day book is The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller. LOVED IT!

My last read was “A World Lost” by Wendell Berry. Loved it, and a short read, 150pgs I think. It’s one of his Port William fiction about the death of Andy Catlett.

Last summer as we were driving to the beach for our vacation I turned the last page of Our Souls at Night and was fighting tears. My husband thought it was bc I was emotional about getting back to the beach (my fave place in the world!). I let him think that. 🙂 I love that book so much– it’s short but it packs a punch!

I love that book so much. Have you read Kent Haruf’s trilogy? The titles are Plainsong, Eventide and Benediction. I adore all three. They are quiet novels which pull you in with their authentic characters.

My pick to add to this list is Let the Hurricane Roar by Rose Wilder Lane. It’s a wonderfully concise adult version of the Little House books (written before the Little House books).

So many good picks on this list, I think I’m going to start with Absent in the Spring.

I just put in a request for We Have Always Lived in the Castle at my library. Looking forward to reading it.

You got me! Just added The Uncommon Reader, Vinegar Girl, and Convenience Store Woman to my library holds!

The Uncommon Reader is one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy it as much I did.

Thanks for this great list! I recommend Paul Gallico’s Snow Goose – I think the move Dunkirk was loosely based on this

Funny – 4 of these books were required reading for my kids in middle school and/or high school! Outsiders/Gatsby = middle school, Fahrenheit 451 = middle school and high school (different kids, same district), The House on Mango Street = high school.

For this category, I picked a book I *could* read in a day (213 pages)—except my life is super busy right now, so it’s taken me a lot longer than it usually would 😉 I picked Jane and Prudence, by Barbara Pym. I’ve never read any of her books before, but I’m loving this one! It feels cozy, if that makes sense. I feel like I’m in a small English village with the characters, and I love that feeling of being transported into the world of the novel.

That totally works! I hope you enjoy the Pym.

There are several of my favourite books here including Mrs Dalloway, and I have just reread Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Reading a book in a day is a slightly strange category for a reader, as I would say that most books can be read in a day if you are completely enthralled and determined to finish it. x

My TBR pile wasn’t out of control enough and then I read this post!! I love a good recommendation. Thank you!

Oh gosh, there’s *no* way I could have read Mrs Dalloway in a day! I’m generally a pretty swift reader, but I found myself having to read Woolf’s sentences and paragraphs a few times each, to try and discern their meaning. It took me longer to read Mrs Dalloway than it did Crime & Punishment! hahahaha. Some other great recommendations on this list, though!!

I’ve never wanted to read I Have Always Lived in a Castle before because I thought it was sort of horror/paranormal (why?? I have no idea!!)…but your description makes me want to try it! Especially now knowing how short it is. I haven’t read a good short book in awhile and could use one.

Some others I love: All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg, Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong, Reunion by Hannah Pittard, My Name is Lucy Barton, and The Beautiful Bureaucrat by Helen Phillips (super weird, but I HAD to figure out what was going on), and The Wife by Meg Wolitzer (maybe my favorite of the bunch).

Listen to Me by Hannah Pittard is also short. I read Goodbye, Vitamin recently and really enjoyed it – good call.

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I love this list. I remember a few years ago you pointed out that I tend to favor shorter novels, which I hadn’t even realized. 😉

I just read MOST of Convenience Store Woman yesterday! While waiting in line at the BMV which wasn’t pleasant but a good book (that I could get through quick) made it better!

Oh goodness, I’m thrilled and also horrified you could practically finish a book while waiting there!

Great list!!! I Adored Our Souls at Night–it was my favorite book of that year. Even the movie was good! I also loved Uncommon Reader, News of the World, Mango Street, Gatsby. I have Miss Pettigrew to read soon, want to read Convenience Store Woman. Vinegar Girl disappointed. Mrs D put me to sleep. A few other super-short reads: Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt, My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith (this is a stand-alone novella).

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If I were on your podcast, Dept. of Speculation would be on my list of three books I loved. I’m glad you included it. I highly recommend it; if you don’t like it, it’s a day out of your life, but if you do it has the potential to be one of your lifetime favorites.

Having said that, my book club hated it. I think they found the main character annoying. I loved the voice. I just looked for a quote, but there are too many to choose from. Just give it a try.

That’s so interesting about your book club’s reaction to the book! Was it at least a good book club discussion?

I loved Dept of Speculation! Loved the writing style.

The Old Man and the Sea is about 125 pages long, an excellent read.

Probably not going to be a popular choice here, but Anthem by Ayn Rand is a great afternoon read. Short, chilling, & stays with you forever.

I would definitely add Animal Farm by George Orwell to this list. It’s just under 200 pages and impossible to put down.

I read The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. It’s geared for middle grade readers and is told in prose. Beautiful little book, and only 240 pages, but due to the poetry, reads super fast.

I would add one book to this awesome list: Textbook Amy Krause Rosenthal. It’s experimental, a little odd, but so heartwarming and fantastic. You can definitely read it in an afternoon.

I didn’t set out to read An American Marriage in a single day, but that definitely happened last week. I strongly recommend it. I can’t stop thinking about it.

And the next day, I read the YA novel Saints & Misfits in about 8 (often interrupted) hours. I would recommend it for readers who like YA. If you don’t like YA, this one probably won’t change your mind, but it’s sort of refreshing for the genre in the sense that it focuses on an American Muslim heroine dealing with big-deal issues like sexual assault while also exploring interfaith dating, bullying, and family changes. Because of the main character’s faith, the romance in this novel is relatively innocent and comes down to a question of the standards she will hold for herself and the vision she has for her future.

As a teacher, a lot of my books are read in 1-2 days during the summer. Those same books would take me a week or more to read during the school year, when I’m busy, work too many hours, and am too mentally exhausted to process words at the end of a day.

I just finished What I Saw and How I Lied, thanks to this post, and loved it! Thank you! I’d really like to add two books to this list. The first is Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan. It’s a short novel about the staff of a Red Lobster on the night before the restaurant shuts down for good. The second is Kent Haruf’s beautiful novel Our Souls at Night. It was Haruf’s final book, a brief novel that had stayed with me. It’s much better than the movie, but the way! Happy reading!

Just realized Our Souls at Night is on the list! Sorry!

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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. Don’t read the book flap, don’t watch the movie, don’t read any reviews – just read the book. The less you know in advance, the more you will find it heartbreaking, devastating and absolutely unforgettable.

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AddSpy of the First Personby Sam Shepard. It was his last bit of writing and published after his death. It was made up of short little vignettes that really stayed with me

Demian by Herman Hesse is another fast read.

187 books in 1 year?! It took me 34 years to get to 1000.

I would add The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain. I’ve read this book many times because it is very short and a very delicious read.

Agreed! I just read The Red Notebook a fortnight ago and found it so enchanting and quirky; no-one approaches the French for whimsy, with every mystery a possibility and opportunity.

The premise of the novel (woman loses handbag – man finds handbag – man decides to track down woman using the contents of the handbag as clues) is also good for figuring out if you and your partner think the same. My then boyfriend thought it sounded creepy; I thought it was charming!

Heavens, I’m trying to bump my page count up over 20 500 this year, but all these short and sweet recommended reads will be great ‘palate cleansers’ between big books. My TBR pile has become a tower since I read your book and discovered your blog, Anne!

Here’s some more from my own read shelves (surprisingly, many classics; who says they need to be bricks to pack a punch?):

The Time Machine – H.G. Wells (118p) The Outsider – Albert Camus (119p) Siddhartha – Herman Hesse (121p) Anima Farm – George Orwell (122p) Night – Elie Wiesel (126p) The Lilies of the Field – William Edmund Barrett (127p) The Children of Green Knowe – L.M. Boston (128p) Bambert’s Book of Missing Stories – Reinhardt Jung (128p) The Turn of the Screw – Henry James (131p) Summer Crossing – Truman Capote (142p) The Longest Memory – Fred d’Aguiar (144p) One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich – Alexander Solzhenitsyn (182p) And anything written by Roald Dahl; The Witches (208p) and Matilda (240p) are my favourites.

Graphic novels also make a great day read, but they deserve a post all their own!

No one ever mentions Seize the Day (Saul Bellows). I read it in my last year in undergraduate and I couldn’t put it down. About 130 pages, I think, and it’s riveting.

You can read A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens in one day. You can read THE BIG WAVE by Pearl S. Buck in one day.

Great list! Poonachi is a recommendation that I’d like to make. It is a sharp critique of the patriarchal nature of the Indian society but narrated through a tiny black goat.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38318462-poonachi

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time 274 pp Who Moved My Cheese 94 pp

Thank you Anne for the list I loved it <3. I will include it to my TBR!

Sleepwalkers by Joginder Paul: a slim book about the Partition of India, and the psyche’s refusal to come to terms with it and live a divided, schizophrenic existence. A deeply moving piece of fiction that feels real even as it weaves through history and the surreal.

Have you read Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka? If so, did you like it? If not, it’s a short read and I found it to be beautifully written.

An Elderly Lady Must Not be Crossed pulls you right in and doesn’t let go until 2.5 hrs later.

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I was hoping to find some generally accepted criteria for story length. Yours are confusing. For example, what word length constitutes a short story vs. a novella? According to your ranges, a work could be either, since you state that a short story is from 1,000 to 10,000 words long (that’s quite a range!) and that a novella is 10,000 words to 40,000 words long. If a story is 10,000 words in length, according to your criteria, it could be both a short story AND a novella! Even more mysteriously, you leave a 10,000-word range of ambiguity between the novella, which, you say, ends at 40,000 words, and the novel, which, you say, begins at 50,000 words. What kind of story occupies a word length BETWEEN 40,000 and 40,999 words?

I am reading “Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan, over the Bank Holiday weekend. 110 pages. Nominated for the 2022 Booker Prize and on the best-sellers list in Ireland since its publication in 2022 40 pages in and loving it.

I was going to mention Keegan’s “Foster,” which is emotionally gripping and easily readable in a day.

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All 60 Original Sherlock Holmes Novels and Stories, Ranked

Jessica Plummer

Jessica Plummer has lived her whole life in New York City, but she prefers to think of it as Metropolis. Her day job is in books, her side hustle is in books, and she writes books on the side (including a short story in Sword Stone Table from Vintage). She loves running, knitting, and thinking about superheroes, and knows an unnecessary amount of things about Donald Duck. Follow her on Twitter at @jess_plummer .

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As a character in the public domain, Sherlock Holmes has appeared in countless short stories, books, plays, movies, TV shows, comics, and presumably interpretive dances. But I have a soft spot for the original 56 short stories and four novels written by Holmes’s creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I’ve read the canon all the way through many, many times. I have to admit, though, that while many of the original Holmes stories are rightfully classics, there are some that are, um…not so good.

As a public service, I present to you this definitive ranking of all 60 canonical Sherlock Holmes stories and novels from worst to best. Please note that this list is a matter of opinion, and also that my opinion is always correct, all the time, about everything.

60. The Adventure of the Three Gables

Deeply racist. Pass.

59. The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge

This story is way too long for its flimsy mystery, and profoundly racist besides. Pass.

58. The Sign of the Four

I like Mary and Watson’s courtship and Toby is a very good dog, but the rest of this book is just—you guessed it—appallingly racist.

57. The Five Orange Pips

This is a story where the KKK murders three people and, well, that’s it, that’s the story. It’s also got a flavor of “What if the KKK went after white people? Wouldn’t that be scary?” Just a tasteless bummer all around.

56. The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone

Extremely boring. Also in third person, for some reason, but losing Watson’s narration drains all the life out of these stories.

55. The Adventure of the Yellow Face

54. The Adventure of the Creeping Man

Not to spoil a 97-year-old story but this one is about a guy who is injecting himself with extract of monkey to woo a much younger woman, which, uh, okay. The weirdest part is when Holmes worries that this will lead to a nation of monkey extract addicts.

53. The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire

The later Holmes stories tend to be extremely implausible and silly but this particular one is not improved by the addition of ethnic stereotypes and the inescapably murderous nature of a *checks notes* disabled child.

52. The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place

The series sadly ends on a bit of a down note, with a story that should be fun—drunken impersonations! midnight crypt desecrations!—but is marred by sinister cross-dressing and some good old fashioned antisemitism.

51. The Adventure of the Crooked Man

This story involves a pet mongoose, but unfortunately that doesn’t really counterbalance all the ableism, so.

50. The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier

Holmes narrates this one, and he flat-out says that it’s not going to be as good as when Watson does it. He’s right.

49. The Man With the Twisted Lip

48. The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane

The best of the Watsonless stories, if only because Holmes yells “BEHOLD!” and then kills a jellyfish with a rock.

47. The Adventure of the Speckled Band

The mystery is good, even if snakes don’t work that way, but this story is absolutely riddled with anti-Romani prejudice and the g-slur, and I can’t sign off on that.

46. The Adventure of the Stockbroker’s Clerk

This is less “Holmes solving a mystery” and more “a guy tells Holmes about a weird thing that happened to him, and then they read the explanation of it in the newspaper.” Watson might have been overselling it sometimes, is all I’m saying.

45. The Adventure of the Three Students

This is fine! Holmes makes the brilliant deduction that only a very tall man could see into a very high window! It’s fine!

44. The Adventure of the Red Circle

Holmes cracks the impenetrable code of “some people speak Italian.”

43. The Adventure of Black Peter

42. His Last Bow

I’ve always found this story a bit depressing and it suffers from being in third person, but at least Holmes grows a goatee.

41. The Adventure of the Retired Colourman

“What did you do with the bodies?” is one of Holmes’s best mic drop lines, but my favorite part of this story is when Holmes yells at Watson for describing a wall too prettily.

40. The Adventure of the Priory School

The beginning of this story is awesome—a strange man bursts into Holmes’s rooms and promptly topples over in a dead faint—but the rest of it doesn’t live up to that promise. Bonus points for a horse disguised as a cow, though.

39. The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter

There’s some clever back volleying and forth with a doctor with a mysterious agenda of his own in this one, but gosh, the end is sad.

38. The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger

The actual mystery here is fairly implausible, although less so given how little Victorians knew how to deal with any animal more exotic than a badger, but the end is so striking in its pathos and Holmes’s helpless compassion that it makes this otherwise rather “ripped from the tabloids!” story quite moving.

37. A Case of Identity

36. The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez

Holmes solves this mystery by smoking like 20 cigarettes in as many minutes. Were the Victorians right about the medicinal benefits of tobacco after all? (No.)

35. The Adventure of the Resident Patient

This story has fake Russian cataleptics and a lot of Holmes deducing things from cigar ends, both of which are obviously great, but it sort of fizzles out at the end.

34. The Adventure of the Second Stain

Holmes saves England from oopsing into an international conflict. Must be Tuesday.

33. The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans

Really just a retread of “The Second Stain” but with addition of the second cleverest method of disposing of dead bodies in the canon.

32. The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax

The actual cleverest method of disposing of dead bodies in the canon.

31. The Problem of Thor Bridge

30. The Red-Headed League

A classic! So silly and implausible even Holmes and Watson get the giggles over it; plus, as a redhead myself, I think I’m duty bound to feel a fondness for this one.

29. The Adventure of the Gloria Scott

This is another case of Holmes not actually solving a mystery so much as listening to weird things and then reading an explanation of them written by someone else, but I give it bonus points because it’s his very first case . Baby Holmes! So fresh-faced, so socially awkward! Bless.

28. The Adventure of the Reigate Squire

We get some good (i.e. nonsense) handwriting analysis from Holmes in this one, but I mostly like it because it consists largely of Watson trying to get Holmes to lie down and take a nap before he dies of something Victorian like agitated nerves or Too Much Fresh Air, and Holmes categorically refusing.

27. The Adventure of the Cardboard Box

Any story that begins with severed ears in a box getting mailed to the wrong person has to be good. That’s just science.

26. The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor

Holmes indulging his paternal instincts is charming, even if the Americans’ dialogue in this story suggests that ACD never actually met any Americans, but had them described to him once many years ago by someone who had also never met any, and also everyone involved was drunk. We also get Holmes’s baffling prediction that someday the U.S. and UK will merge to form a giant colonialist super-country, just sort of sprinkled in there for flavor.

25. The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet

24. The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb

Possibly the goriest Holmes story? I’m discovering an unexpectedly bloodthirsty streak in my nature while making this list, but hey, if we’re solving crimes here, let’s have thumbs be cut off with hatchets every once in a while!

23. The Boscombe Valley Mystery

Good deductive work from Holmes, arrogant bungling from Lestrade, and star-crossed young lovers who get a happy ending. What’s not to like?

22. The Adventure of the Dying Detective

No Holmes is more extra than Holmes pretending to die of a wasting fever, and Holmes is usually pretty extra to start with.

21. The Adventure of the Dancing Men

If you like cryptograms, this story is great. I like cryptograms.

20. The Adventure of the Norwood Builder

This is probably Lestrade at his most dickish, and it’s really entertaining . It’s even more entertaining when Holmes one-ups him.

19. The Adventure of Silver Blaze

18. A Study in Scarlet

The first Sherlock Holmes story ever published has a lot to like, including two juicy murders, baby Holmes and Watson meeting for the first time, and the sadly underutilized Baker Street Irregulars. I don’t even so much mind the interminable digression about the sinister, all-encompassing power of, um, Mormons.

17. The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter

Abduction! Fraud! Greek translation! This story has everything, including the first appearance of Holmes’s even smarter brother Mycroft.

16. The Adventure of the Abbey Grange

I always like stories where Holmes walks into a crime with a very obvious solution and shows exactly how that solution is actually set-up, and this is a fine example of the form.

15. The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual

Now this is the stuff! Baby Holmes + treasure hunt for the crown of the Stuarts + sexy sinister butler + murderous scorned lover + algebra? What more could you ask for???

14. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

A heartwarming holiday story in which Holmes and Watson attempt to trace the origins of a Christmas goose with a purloined precious stone inside it. The whole thing has the general air of a farce, and I mean that in a good way.

13. The Final Problem

12. The Adventure of the Empty House

The locked room mystery and dramatic climax of this story are good, but they’re still second fiddle to Holmes coming back to life and Watson literally fainting about it . Just imagine like a hundred praise hands emojis right here.

11. The Naval Treaty

Just fab all around. A twisty little whodunnit, a spirited heroine in Annie Harrison, an opportunity for Holmes to both brawl and be ludicrously melodramatic when he serves the recovered treaty disguised as a breakfast dish , and a hilariously weird digression where he deduces the existence of God from how flowers are pretty. A+!

10. The Adventure of the Six Napoleons

This is such a fun, goofy little mystery, but the highlight is, of course, Lestrade’s speech about how much Scotland Yard respects and admires Holmes and Holmes becoming overcome with emotion.

9. The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot

Like many of the later stories, this one is lurid and implausible, but it gets a relatively high placement for the intense scene where Holmes and Watson deliberately give themselves a bad trip and then lie on the grass talking about how much they love each other.

8. The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist

The titular cyclist, Violet Smith, is admirably spunky and I like to see Watson getting some solo detective work in in this story, even if he bungles it. Plus, Holmes wins a fist fight! Mostly, though, “You’re too late! She’s my wife.” “No, she’s your widow” is a baller exchange.

7. The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

6. The Adventure of the Illustrious Client

The drama . A murderous attack on Holmes, vitriol-throwing, a Cruel Intentions –style diary of sin! ACD didn’t hold back on this one, and lord love him for it.

5. The Valley of Fear

Valley does the same thing as Scarlet , where there’s a whole separate novel plunked in halfway through—Pinkertons vs. Freemasons this time, because why not—but I really dig that second novel so I’ll allow it.

4. A Scandal in Bohemia

I’m on the record as stating that I think Irene Adler’s influence in adaptations is disproportionate to her original canon page time, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s a badass. She outsmarts Sherlock Holmes! Plus we get not one but two Holmes disguises, always a plus.

3. The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton

THIS IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!!! Dastardly blackmailers, vengeful ladies in disguise, Watson putting his underutilized arts and crafts skills to criminal ends! Holmes solves exactly zero mysteries in this story but who cares when he’s breathing heavily into Watson’s ear behind a curtain while a noblewoman murders a scoundrel? Not me, that’s who!

2. The Adventure of the Three Garridebs

“It was worth a wound—it was worth many wounds—to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation.”

And that’s all I have to say about that.

1. The Hound of the Baskervilles

So what do you think? Am I right? (Of course I am.) Tell us your favorite Sherlock Holmes story, canon or not, on social!

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The 25 Most Common Themes in Literature and Why They Matter

by Sue Weems | 0 comments

If you've ever survived a high school English class, you've likely been asked to consider the most common themes in literature. What are they and why do they matter for readers and writers? Let's take a look.

Literature's first job is to entertain. But at the same time every novel has a kernel of truth in it, or perhaps several kernels, ideas about how life works or philosophies on the best way to live or some gesture to the broader meaning of life. 

Taken together, these ideas may combine into a “theme.” 

I say “may” because theme is more a tool of interpretation than creativity. The writer may come into the story with an idea of what their story is about. This understanding of what their story is “about ” may even help add focus and depth to their story.

Once a book is published, though, the audience owns theme, and they may depart with a totally different message than the author intended.

Which is all to say, as a writer, theme may or may not be helpful to you. 

As a reader, though, you can use theme to unlock the deeper truths both in the story and in life. Let's look at what theme is, why it matters for readers and writers, how to identify them, and some common examples of theme in literature. 

Why trust Sue on theme? I'm one of those annoying English teachers who helps students analyze literature. Students ask me why we do it, and I'll tell you the secrets I share with them: analyzing literature helps us understand our humanity and world– from the misuse of power to the meaning of life.

Secondly, learning to look at a part of something and understand how it functions in the whole (AKA analysis) is a skill that transcends literature. It's a low-stakes way to practice life skills. 

Want to skip ahead? Click on the topic that best answers your question. 

Table of Contents

What is a literary theme? Why does theme matter for a reader? How do you identify theme in a story? Types of story: a shortcut to theme Common themes in literature with examples Why theme matters for writers Practice  

What is a literary theme?

A literary theme is a universal concept, idea or message explored in a story or poem. It's often a moral, lesson, or belief that the writer wants to convey to readers.

Think of theme as the underlying message that shapes the story. It’s not always obvious at first glance – sometimes it takes some close reading and analysis to identify what’s going on beneath the surface.

A universal theme is one that transcends time and place. For example, the popular theme “love conquers all” shows up in old romances such as The Epheseian Tale from 2-50 AD to Disney's Robin Hood from 1973 to Nicholas Sparks' novel The Notebook from 2004. 

Why does theme matter for a reader?

You can certainly enjoy a story without knowing the theme explicitly, but most stories are about something beyond the character's actions. And we want them to be about something more. 

Stories are the way we build meaning—the way we understand human life, the way we process and confront controversial ideas, the way we sometimes relate to each other on a universal level. 

When someone asks you what a book you're reading is about, you likely give a sentence or two about the character, their goal, and the conflict, but you're just as likely to identify an abstract idea that the book is about. That idea is a touchpoint for our humanness. 

I may not be into a book about a boy wizard who is swept into a world where he must overcome his fears and insignificance to defeat a formidable foe, but I can certainly understand what it means to belong, what it means to find your way through inadequacy, what it means to defeat your fears. 

That's the power of theme. It points to deeper meaning, connecting me to a story and to other readers like me.

How do you identify theme in a story?

If you are a student or a writer trying to identify theme, it sometimes feels like trying to crack a secret English major code. But here's a trick I teach my students. 

1. Find the big idea

First, ask yourself about the big ideas or concepts that seem important throughout the entire story. These may feel abstract, such as love, beauty, despair, justice, or art. Sometimes the main character has very defined beliefs (or misbeliefs!) about the idea. 

2. Ask what the story suggests about the idea

Once you have one or two overarching central ideas that seem important for the story, then ask yourself this question: What does the story seem to say about this idea?

For example, if I'm reading Shirley Jackson's chilling short story “The Lottery,” I might identify that the story is about community and tradition. If I wanted to be a little more specific I'd say tradition in the vein of conformity. 

Quick summary of the story (spoiler alert!): The story opens on a summer day when an entire community participates in their annual lottery. Each family in town draws a paper until a single community member has been selected. The end of the story shows the town stoning the “winner” in a barbarous act of solidarity to maintain community traditions.

Now, to identify the central theme, I'd ask myself, what does Jackson's story seem to say about community or tradition or conformity? 

Some communities are willing to maintain their traditions (or conformity) at any cost.

3. Support the theme or message with examples

If I wanted to support the central theme I identified, I would pull quotes or examples from the story that support it. In this case, I could look at the children who are willing to participate, the contrast of the summer day and the dark deed, the insistence that the stoning will keep them prosperous, even though there is no evidence of such. 

Are there other possible themes? Sure. There are no wrong answers, only themes that can be defended from the texts and those that don't have enough support. It takes a little practice, but try this technique and see if it doesn't help. 

Types of Story: a shortcut to finding theme in a story

As a part of his book The Write Structure , Joe has identified several types of story that help writers plan and execute their books. The detailed post is here. 

In short, Joe argues that all stories are built on six values frameworks, regardless of genre. The values are directly related to the human condition and identify base needs we have for moving through the world. 

Knowing your story types and the value scale can be a short cut to identifying themes in books and stories, because those universal ideas are tucked inside the values. 

Here are the values in each type of story:

• Survival from Nature > Life vs. Death
• Survival from Others > Life vs. Fate Worse than Death
• Love/Community > Love vs. Hate
• Esteem > Accomplishment vs. Failure
• Personal Growth > Maturity vs. Immaturity
• Transcendence > Right vs. Wrong

The types can help you identify the central ideas that the story speaks into because you know that the values will be key. Your question then is what does the story seem to say about this value? Or more specifically, what does the story seem to say about the way this particular character pursues this value? 

For example: If you are reading a Jack London short story or novel, you know that the protagonist is going to be facing survival from nature. The value is life versus death. So to determine the theme we ask what does the story say about life vs death or survival?

In Jack London's short story “To Build a Fire,” an arrogant man trying to survive the Yukon wilderness makes a series of novice mistakes from traveling alone to getting wet with no way to get warm and dry. Spoiler alert, he dies. 

What is the theme of this story? My students usually shout out something like, “Don't be a dummy and travel alone with no way to make a fire!” And they're not wrong. The ideas here are life, death, nature, and humanity. Here are a number of ways you could frame the theme with specific support from the story:

• Nature is indifferent to human suffering. 
• Human arrogance leads to death.
• There are limits to self-reliance. 

As you can see, the theme is what the story suggests about the story value. 

Common themes in literature with examples

James Clear collected a list of the best-selling books of all time on his website . Let's start with some of those fiction titles.

Disclaimer: I know many of these summaries and themes are vastly oversimplified and most could be fleshed out in long, complicated papers and books. But for the sake of time, let's imagine my list as limited examples of theme among many that could be argued. 

Disclaimer 2: I tried to get ChatGPT to help me write the one sentence summaries for these titles even though I've read all but two of the listed books. The summaries ChatGPT wrote were weak or too general for our purposes. So if there are errors below, they are all mine—I can't blame the bots today. Let's look at the list: 

1. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (1605) summary: Aging nobleman Don Quixote deludes himself into thinking he's a knight and takes on a satirical quest to prove his honor by defending the helpless and defeating the wicked. 

theme: Being born a nobleman (or any class) does not automatically determine your worth. 

2. Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859) summary: In this sprawling novel of swapped (or reconstructed) identities and class warfare during the French Revolution, characters navigate the nature of love, betrayal, justice, and the possibility of transformation. 

theme: Transformation is possible for enlightened individuals and societies.

3. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (1954) summary: An unlikely hobbit and his diverse team set out to find and destroy a powerful ring to save Middle-earth and defeat the dark lord Sauron. 

theme: Good can defeat evil when people (or creatures) are willing to sacrifice for the common good. 

4. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1943) summary: A prince visits various planets and discovers the importance of curiosity and openness to emotion.

theme: The most important things in life can't be seen with the eyes but with the heart. 

5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (1997) summary: An unsuspecting orphan attends a wizard school where he discovers his true identity, a dark foe, and the belonging he craves. 

theme: Love and friendship transcend time and space. 

6. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (1939) summary: Seven guests gather at a house on an island where they are killed off one-by-one as they try to discover the murderer. 

theme: Death is inevitable, justice is not.  

7. The Dream of the Red Chamber by Cat Xueqin (1791) summary: In this complex family drama, a nobleman's son is born with a magic jade in his mouth, and he rebels against social norms and his father resulting in an attempted arranged wedding and illness rather than reinforce oppression.

theme: Social hierarchies maintained by oppression will eventually fall. 

8. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (1937) summary: Timid hobbit Bilbo Baggins is called by a wizard to help a band of dwarves reclaim their land from a terrible dragon, Smaug.

theme: Bravery can be found in the most unlikely places.

9. She: A History of Adventure by H. Rider Haggard (1886) summary: An professor and his ward seek out a lost kingdom in Africa to find a supernatural queen.

theme: Considering the imperialism of the time as well as worry about female empowerment, the themes here are varied and problematic, but perhaps one theme might resonate: Be careful what you seek, for you may find it. 

10. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (1950) summary: Four children venture through a wardrobe into a magical kingdom where they must work together to save Narnia, meet Aslan, and defeat the White Witch. 

theme: Evil is overwhelmingly tempting and can only be defeated through sacrifice. 

11. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1951) summary: An expelled prep school student, Holden Caulfield, has a number of coming-of-age misadventures on his way home for the holiday break.

theme: Innocence can only be protected from the risks of growing up for so long. 

12. The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho (1988) summary: A Spanish shepherd named Santiago travels to Egypt searching for treasure he saw in a dream. 

theme: Anyone can make the world better if we are willing and courageous.

13. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1967) summary: This circle of life novel covers seven generations of the Buendia family as they build a small dysfunctional utopia in a swamp amidst a changing political and social Latin American landscape.

theme: Solitude is an inevitability for humankind. 

14. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery (1908) summary: An orphan finds her place with the Cuthbert siblings, and she brings her peculiar and delightful blend of imagination and optimism to their lives and community.

theme: Every human desires and deserves belonging. 

15. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (1952) summary: Wilbur the pig and his unconventional spider friend Charlotte join forces to save Wilbur's life from the slaughterhouse. 

theme: Friendship can be found in the most unlikely places.

And let's throw in a few additional well-known stories and notable examples to see how their themes stack up:

16. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (1597) summary: Two teens from warring families fall in love and die rather than be kept apart from their families feud. 

theme: Passion is costly.

17. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818) summary: An ambitious scientist creates a monster without considering the larger implications. Chaos ensues.

theme: Knowledge can be dangerous when coupled with unbridled ambition.

18. Beloved by Toni Morrison (1987) summary: Formerly enslaved mother Sethe and her daugher Denver are haunted by the ghost of Sethe's oldest daughter who died when she was two-years-old. 

theme: The physical and psychological effects of slavery are damaging and long-lasting. 

19. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005) summary: In this dystopian novel, people are cloned and held in preparation to be life-long organ donors for others. 

theme: Freedom is a basic human desire. 

20. Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (1959) summary: The Younger family grapples with identity and dreams in the wake of the death of their patriarch. 

theme: Dignity and family are worth more than money. 

The 5 most common themes in literature

You may have been asked to define universal themes as a part of a school assignment. Universal themes are those that transcend time and cultures, meaning they are often found to be true in real life no matter who you are or where you live. 

Granted, I haven't read all the books across time and space (yet), but there's a pretty good bet that one of these major themes might apply to what you're reading regardless of time period, genre, or culture: 

• Love conquers all.
• Things are not always what they seem.
• Good triumphs over evil.
• Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 
• Blood (family) is thicker than water. 

Which other larger themes would you list here as some of the most common in literature? Share your theme examples in the comments . 

Why theme matters for writers

Why do themes matter for writers though? After all, isn't it enough to write an entertaining story? It can be, but exploring universal themes can help take your work to the next level. You don't have to identify a theme for your story and write everything to that end—in fact that might work against you. But when done well, it can enhance your story.

Here are a few reasons you may want to think about theme in your writing:

1. Coherence

Theme can bring together the various parts of a story, including plot and subplot, characters, symbols, and motifs. Readers can feel the variations on a theme laced throughout your story and done well, it's engaging and satisfying.

If your theme is love conquers all, then you likely have two people who over come incredible odds to be together. What are the other elements that subtly underscore it? Maybe there's a house that was built with love in the setting or maybe a secondary character is failing at love because they keep putting their work first. If it's subtle, those small details reinforce the main storyline.  

2. Significance

As we discussed, universal themes will resonate with readers, even when they haven't experienced the same events. Many of the works we've listed above are remembered and revered due in part to their lasting themes about human experience.

3. Expression

Theme is an opportunity to weave together your world view, experiences, perspective, and beliefs with artistic and creative possibilities. Theme serves as a unifying element as you express your vision. Try playing with theme in a story or other creative work to see how it pushes boundaries or got beyond the expected. 

In summary, theme can serve as the backbone of a story, giving it structure, depth, and resonance. It can help convey the writer's intended message and engage readers on multiple levels, making it a crucial element of literary and creative expression. 

Which other larger themes would you list as the most common in literature? Share your theme examples in the comments .

Set your timer for 15 minutes . Choose one of the common themes above and create a character who has strong beliefs about that theme. Now, write a scene where an event or person challenges that belief. How will the character react? Will they double-down and insist on their worldview? Or will they soften and consider alternatives? Will shock at the challenge plunge them into despair? Play with their reaction. 

Once you've written for 15 minutes, post your practice in the Pro Practice Workshop and leave feedback for a few other writers. 

Sue Weems is a writer, teacher, and traveler with an advanced degree in (mostly fictional) revenge. When she’s not rationalizing her love for parentheses (and dramatic asides), she follows a sailor around the globe with their four children, two dogs, and an impossibly tall stack of books to read. You can read more of her writing tips on her website .

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Novels and Stories, 1959-1962 (Library of America) Hardcover – August 18, 2005

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• Print length 913 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Library of America
• Publication date August 18, 2005
• Dimensions 5 x 1.17 x 8.25 inches
• ISBN-10 1931082790
• ISBN-13 978-1931082792
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Library of America; First Edition (August 18, 2005)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 913 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1931082790
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1931082792
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.28 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1.17 x 8.25 inches
• #1,985 in American Fiction Anthologies
• #16,076 in Short Stories Anthologies
• #65,750 in Literary Fiction (Books)

About the author

Philip roth.

PHILIP ROTH won the Pulitzer Prize for American Pastoral in 1997. In 1998 he received the National Medal of Arts at the White House and in 2002 the highest award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Gold Medal in Fiction. He twice won the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. He won the PEN/Faulkner Award three times. In 2005 The Plot Against America received the Society of American Historians’ Prize for “the outstanding historical novel on an American theme for 2003–2004.” Roth received PEN’s two most prestigious awards: in 2006 the PEN/Nabokov Award and in 2007 the PEN/Bellow Award for achievement in American fiction. In 2011 he received the National Humanities Medal at the White House, and was later named the fourth recipient of the Man Booker International Prize. He died in 2018.

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Books You Love

'carrie' turns 50 here are the best stephen king novels — chosen by you.

Stephen King's first novel, Carrie, turns 50 years old on Friday, and in honor of her birthday we asked you to share your favorite King stories with us. Above, Sissy Spacek stars in the 1976 film adaptation. Pictorial Press Ltd/ Alamy Stock Photo hide caption

Stephen King's first novel, Carrie, turns 50 years old on Friday, and in honor of her birthday we asked you to share your favorite King stories with us. Above, Sissy Spacek stars in the 1976 film adaptation.

Stephen King's first novel, Carrie — the story of a bullied telekinetic teenager who gets viciously pranked at prom — turns 50 on April 5. In honor of Carrie's 50th birthday (we sure hope menopause is going better for her than puberty did!), we asked you to tell us about your favorite Stephen King story.

We heard from more than 1,200 of you in just a few days. Many of you told us that Stephen King helped you become readers. Stephanie Larson of Cleveland, Ohio, wrote "no matter where I am — from an academic conference to a busy bus — I'm likely to find a fellow 'Constant Reader' whose reading life, like mine, has been transformed for the better by King."

Many of you balked at the idea of choosing just one favorite Stephen King story — after all, he's written nearly 100 novels and novellas since Carrie was published. "This is an unfair and impossible question," Michelle Smith of Mantua, Ohio, told us. "SO HARD!!!" said Bill Cobabe of Ogden, Utah.

But ultimately you each settled on a favorite (though some of you just couldn't stop at one), and this is what you told us. ( Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.):

Hundreds of readers wrote in to say this 1978 novel — about a super-flu that has the capacity to wipe out nearly everyone on Earth — was the best King they'd ever read. At 1,000+ pages you said it was very long, but very worth it, and you appreciated how the book balanced horror and hope. Also, you'll never see the Lincoln Tunnel the same way again.

Many of you read or re-read The Stand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Meghan Balough, an epidemiologist in Salt Lake City, said this novel "has never been more relevant than it is today." Marc Wright, of Monona, Wis., said The Stand (which he re-read every summer for 20 years) helped him decide to become an epidemiologist.

"There were many parallels between how the world reacted in The Stand and what we saw play out in real life during the pandemic," said Peter Szeltner of Montello, Wis. "At least we didn't have to fight the devil himself while rebuilding society."

Courtney Nichols of Lawrence, Kan., noted that "The evil in the book is not just the disease that destroys the world, but it's also extremism and selfishness, it's radical leaders who use fear to control." David Yaffie of Sugar Land, Texas, said The Stand takes readers on an American Odyssey, blending "biowarfare, apocalypse, religion, horror, adventure, and the intensities of human relationships into a page-turning, eyeball burner of a book."

The Coronavirus Crisis

Stephen king is sorry you feel like you're stuck in a stephen king novel.

About a month into the COVID pandemic, Stephen King spoke with Terry Gross on Fresh Air. "I keep having people say, 'Gee, it's like we're living in a Stephen King story,' " he told her. "And my only response to that is, 'I'm sorry.' "

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This genre-spanning time-travel book tells the story of an English teacher who finds a portal to the past and attempts to prevent the JFK assassination. "As a history teacher, I often reflect on how the story of the world could have diverged from its current reality if certain events had unfolded differently," writes Kate Jacobsen, from Brooklyn Park, Minn. "This was a well crafted tale and a reminder that history must remain the same, but we need to learn from it."

King is known best for his horror, but readers said they loved the romance in 11/22/63. "It's odd not to choose a horror book when talking about King ... but I think 11/22/63 was a perfect combination of a little bit of everything," said Gabriela Teixeira of Kenmore, Wash. For self-described scaredy-cat Emily Wise, of Lexington, Ky., 11/22/63 was an opportunity to finally read one the horror master's books: "I've always heard wonderful things about King's writing ... I was thrilled to be able to read 11/22/63 and still sleep at night!"

Readers appreciated the ending of the book as well as the Easter eggs and references to other King works sprinkled throughout. They also felt like they got to travel back in time thanks to King's historical details. "I wanted to find that diner and test the portal myself," wrote Robin Smith of Hilliard, Ohio.

Author Interviews

Stephen king plots to save jfk in '11/22/63'.

King told NPR that he first tried to write this book in 1971, but that he wasn't ready as a writer — and the wounds of the assassination were still too fresh. For Baby Boomers, "11/22/63 was our 9/11," King said. "I'm glad that I waited."

The Dark Tower Series

OK, we'll allow it: Lots of you wrote in to say that the entire Dark Tower series was your favorite King work. This "magnum opus" released over three decades follows a "gunslinger" named Roland. "Sci-fi Western epic with a killer train, a profound coming of age, and the ultimate David and Goliath gun fight. No John Wayne needed. What could be better?" asked Shawnice Shankle, of London, Ohio.

Readers relished the series' memorable moments — even the heartbreaking ones — and many (though not all!) of you loved the ending. With its many references and Easter eggs, Doug Kuriger, of Colona, Ill., said the series felt like King's "love letter to his Faithful Reader."

Two titles within the series were nominated more than any others: The Gunslinger , the first in the series, hooked you with its incredible first line: "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." And the fourth in the series, Wizard and Glass, illuminates Roland's backstory.

"The series is a great adventure that fluidly moves through space and time," wrote Stephanie Aberle of St. Paul, Minn. "The characters are perfectly flawed and the story lines are eternally engaging. Call it an adventure or obsession; it is a well written literary journey that I did not want to end!"

Dozens of you wrote in to share that It "scared the bejeezus" out of you as teenagers. The 1986 novel follows a group of friends who return to their small town decades after they fought off evil there when they were kids. (A lot of you are grownups who are still scared of clowns.)

Kat Jordan, in Kansas City, Kan., said she loves the book because it works on so many different levels: "There is the fictional horror of a killer clown, but there's also true world horror of racism, sexism, and homophobia to contend with."

"It's an exploration of childhood, both its joys and its traumas, and how they shape the people which we become," said Lynn McKenzie, of Baltimore, Md. "The sections about the children are nostalgic and wistful, but they also recapture the terrors which children have of the thing under the bed or the creature which lurks in the night. It also doesn't shy away from the real abuses of childhood: parental neglect, verbal, emotional and physical abuse, and how it affects children throughout their lives."

Kathleen James of DeKalb, Ill., acknowledged that some scenes from the book "have aged like milk on a summer day." Several readers called out one particularly disturbing and problematic sewer scene.

But for many of you, It is the quintessential King novel. Deirdre Murphy of Cleveland, Ohio, said the book "perfectly encapsulates everything that Stephen King is known for: a small town Maine setting, childhood fear, the trauma of everyday life, and a supernatural threat invading otherwise normal lives."

The Shining

Karen Waelder of Syracuse, N.Y., first read The Shining when her son was a newborn: "I would read it sitting next to his crib as he slept because I was too scared to be alone," she recalled. "Somehow his little presence gave me the courage to go on to the next page!"

The 1977 novel follows the Torrance family — Jack, Wendy, and their son Danny — as Jack takes a job as caretaker of the isolated Overlook Hotel. Only young Danny can sense the sinister nature of the place. Jack is struggling to stay sober and many readers connected to the book through its themes of alcoholism and domestic violence.

"I love how this book gets into the head of every character," said Sarah Margeson of Montrose, Colo. "I am an addictions counselor and I appreciated how the book portrays Jack's battle with alcohol use disorder."

Many readers felt Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film adaptation starring Jack Nicholson didn't do the book justice. (And a lot of you also developed a lifelong aversion to topiary animals.)

Salem's Lot

This 1975 vampire novel terrified you. That undead child scratching at the window!

It's been decades since she read it, but to this day, Melissa Farrow of Holden, Mass., cannot sleep with her neck exposed. Marianne Calilhanna of Phoenixville, Pa., slept under the covers with her Raggedy Ann doll's head poking out — "so the vampires would go for her first." Dirk Beuth, of McGrann, Pa., admitted he took the book off of his parents' shelf without their permission and then "borrowed" one of his grandmother's rosaries to keep himself safe. Diana Carson of Auburn, Maine, shared the book with her friend who was so scared that she put the book in her freezer — they still laugh about that 40 years later.

Many of King's books take place in small town Maine, and readers particularly appreciated the uniquely New England setting of this novel. "I love that Jerusalem's Lot, this small town full of flawed real human beings and history, feels like a character itself in the novel," said Maggie Jones of Tucson, Ariz. "Stephen King's characters always feel whole, the sum of their personalities and experiences adding up to a fully drawn creature. And I love that not all of his characters are people, sometimes they are houses, objects, or places."

And a few honorable mentions

More than 1,200 of you recommended more than 40 titles and we have to stop somewhere, but we did want to shout out a couple more books we kept seeing over and over:

Pet Sematary , 1983 : "The book is about cats and kids. Very scary combo," wrote Julie Luker, of Eagan, Minn.

The Long Walk, 1979 (published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman): "Maybe it's a metaphor for the long walk of life or just a heartbreaking little dystopian gem, but in The Long Walk, there are no monsters per se, just the twisted rules of a race with only one winner and lone survivor," said Robert Winship, of Washington, D.C.

The Talisman, 1984 (co-authored with Peter Straub): Two of you wrote in to say you named your children after Jack, the protagonist in this story! "When I first read it, I was the same age as Jack, the hero, so I identified strongly with him," wrote Dawn Martinez, of Albuquerque, N.M." I felt like I was cheering on a friend. Sometimes I still wonder what he's up to."

Misery, 1987: This book, as one reader put it, is "a game of chess" between a romance novelist Paul Sheldon and his unhinged "No. 1 fan" Annie Wilkes. " Misery shines because of how claustrophobic it is," wrote Hayden Dunlap, of Raleigh, N.C., "The protagonist is entirely dependent on his captor for survival, a horror made worse as the novel unfolds and reveals the depths of her unbalanced mind."

The Eyes of the Dragon, 1984: Joy Starke, of Seattle, Wash., says her father introduced her to this book when she was young. She wrote: "I remember being touched that King wrote it for his daughter and in doing so, he had toned down the gore. It was a wonderful fantasy tale — full of unexpected twists, memorable character flaws, and strategic, personal triumphs. I loved it!! And my dad did too! It was one of the first books we bonded over."

Needful Things, 1991: "Who would think that a new man moving into a town and opening a thrift store could create such a bone-chilling and terribly frightening story? King would and that's what makes him the Master of Horror," said Samantha Elwood, of Louisville, Ky.

Different Seasons, 1982: The films The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Apt Pupil (1998) and Stand By Me (1986) all have their origins in this collection. "Four novellas — each of them extraordinary" wrote Julie Slater of Jacksonville, Ill. "This is great starter King for anyone who is not sure King is for them."

Finally, anyone who has read this far will appreciate Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Readers praised the book for its practical and pragmatic how-to approach to writing and the behind the scenes glimpse it offered into King's process.

Thanks to all of you who wrote in to share your love of Stephen King with us. And happy birthday, Carrie!

This story was edited by Meghan Collins Sullivan .

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A Novelist Comes Home to Bury Her Words, and Brings Them Back to Life

In Julia Alvarez’s “The Cemetery of Untold Stories,” a boneyard in the Dominican Republic becomes a rich wellspring for discarded narratives.

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By Luis Alberto Urrea

Luis Alberto Urrea’s most recent novel is “Good Night, Irene.”

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THE CEMETERY OF UNTOLD STORIES , by Julia Alvarez

The best stories live within us long after the final word; characters and places continue beyond the lines on a page. Yet the image of all the unfinished, unsatisfying, impossible stories we leave in our wakes haunts the writer as well as the reader. And with more than 20 books published across a three-decade career, no one may be haunted more than Julia Alvarez.

The hero of Alvarez’s seventh novel, Alma Cruz, is a writer from the Dominican Republic who has come to the United States and created a literary life, beginning with critically acclaimed books about the motherland and evolving into a chronicler of life in the U.S.A. (Longtime readers of Alvarez’s work will recognize her own trajectory, from her early classics like “How the García Girls Lost Their Accents” and “In the Time of the Butterflies” through poetry, memoir, children’s books and more.)

The famous author has always wrestled shadow and sunlight, laughter and agony, into tales that sometimes felt like ghost stories. Readers knew to seek the truths behind the narrative — to find sorrow in the funniest scenes, or the unexpected outburst of joy in a somber one. Of course, I am speaking about Alma Cruz. (But also, Julia Alvarez.)

One day, Alma decides she has had enough with the fame game, the big career and its ups and downs. She comes to a lovely conclusion: It is time to return to the homeland she fled, and she will take all the drafts of her unfinished or unpublished books and lay them to rest there, giving each a proper burial. She buys a plot of land and begins to build a graveyard.

The locals become a fantastic choir of curious, suspicious, baffled neighbors: One rumor has it that “the place will be a resort, which would provide employment for maids, gardeners, waiters, cooks, watchmen”; another imagines “a grand house, complete with a swimming pool, a tennis court, a mini putting green.” Still another posits, “A baseball academy would be a dream come true for the tigueritos roaming the streets. Keep them out of trouble.” But when they realize Alma is building a graveyard, the outburst is comedic: a cemetery! Fear of zombies immediately clashes with the fear of homeless people defecating in mausoleums — and what kinds of jobs, by the way, are there in a boneyard? They have more reckoning to do when they realize Alma intends to put her stories in the ground, literally.

Word goes out that the great author has returned, and the locals flock to her like butterflies, everyone eager to share. A festival of storytelling breaks out in the tropics. Are the neighbors hoping to bury their own or are they giving life to tales untold? No matter. Rumors and gossip, histories and familial dramas swirl around Alma. “A little bird told me. Había una vez. Cuentan los viejos. Some scandal on the news, who is sleeping with whom, what fulano has done or said to fulana, a juicy chisme, a hot rumor. …” Amid the chatter, Alma’s own stories, the ones she has come home to bury, somehow find their place.

Soon Alma is meeting with architects, and more characters join in the cumbia of story — the dueling Perla and Filomena, who have not spoken for 30 years but keep each other’s phone numbers just in case. It is a shadowy feud, of course: “Way back, Filomena destroyed Perla’s peace of mind. The story has been buried so deep, it should have rotted into oblivion. But like Lazarus in la Biblia, it keeps coming back to life.”

Indeed. Here comes the fabulous Bienvenida (it means “Welcome”), with her tragic history that Alma cannot resist. She was once, you see, the wife of the dictator, Trujillo, a loyal and devoted first lady who is cast aside when she is unable to produce an heir. Eventually, El Jefe falls for the charms of another woman — “jealous and possessive, with a will equal to his own” — and Bienvenida’s “death knell comes when this mistress gives birth to a son.”

Men and boys, too, join in with their dramas and secrets, pride and regrets. As voices and stories are set free, it feels like a carnival, a festival. Alma’s first-person voice is jostled. We do not care; we are already in the warm sun and the sea wind and the cooking smells and the music of the dance.

As the book accelerates, the characters seem to become their own novelists. They rewrite their lives, they revise their histories, they reinvent their ongoing myths even as Alma is planning to bury her own stories in their troubled, sacred earth. Only an alchemist as wise and sure as Alvarez could swirl the elements of folklore and the flavor of magical realism around her modern prose and make it all sing.

The camino that “The Cemetery of Untold Stories” travels — from Vermont to the Dominican Republic, from literary fame to chosen retreat, from modern American writing to a profoundly Latin American tone — is lively, joyous, full of modern details and old tall tales. Any reader with roots and ancestors in other lands lives in a multiple-narrative story, one that we try to share with everyone, though we have to translate it. Yet we also go back to the ancestral home, and find ourselves translating our Yanqui life as well. Which story is the truest?

This often witty, occasionally somber and elegiac novel begins with a simple exhortation, in English: “Tell me a story.” It ends on a melancholy and evocative note. Spoiler alert: Another single line, this time in Spanish after the last page concludes, announces, “Este cuento se ha acabado.” (This story has ended.) A definitive slam of the door.

THE CEMETERY OF UNTOLD STORIES | By Julia Alvarez | Algonquin | 256 pp. | $28

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The week’s bestselling books, April 7

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Hardcover fiction

1. James by Percival Everett (Doubleday: $28) An action-packed reimagining of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

2. The Women by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin’s Press: $30) An intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

3. The Hunter by Tana French (Viking: $32) A taut tale of retribution and family set in the Irish countryside.

4. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Riverhead: $28) The discovery of a skeleton in Pottstown, Pa., opens out to a story of integration and community.

5. Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange (Knopf: $29) Three generations of a family trace the legacy of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

6. Until August by Gabriel García Márquez, Anne McLean (Transl.) (Knopf: $22) The Nobel Prize winner’s rediscovered novel is a tale of female desire and abandon.

7. North Woods by Daniel Mason (Random House: $28) A sweeping historical tale focused on a single house in the New England woods.

8. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (Knopf: $28) Lifelong BFFs collaborate on a wildly successful video game.

9. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (Knopf: $28) An orphaned son of Iranian immigrants embarks on a search for a family secret.

10. Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle (Atria Books: $27) A heartbreaking novel about what it means to be single, what it means to find love, and ultimately how we define each of them for ourselves.

Hardcover nonfiction

1. The Creative Act by Rick Rubin (Penguin: $32) The music producer’s guidance on how to be a creative person.

2. Atomic Habits by James Clear (Avery: $27) An expert guide to building good habits and breaking bad ones via tiny changes.

3. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt (Penguin Press: $30) An investigation into the collapse of youth mental health and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

4. Age of Revolutions by Fareed Zakaria (W.W. Norton & Co.: $30) Inside the eras and movements that have shaken norms while shaping the modern world.

5. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (Simon & Schuster: $28) A memoir from the star of TV’s “iCarly.”

6. The Wager by David Grann (Doubleday: $30) The story of the shipwreck of an 18th century British warship and a mutiny among the survivors.

7. There’s Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib (Random House: $32) A poignant, personal reflection on basketball, life and home.

8. Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen (Dutton: $30) A vivid, expert picture of what the handful of minutes after a nuclear missile launch would look like.

9. Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley (MCD: $27) A deeply moving and suspenseful portrait of friendship and loss.

10. How to Know a Person by David Brooks (Random House: $30) The New York Times columnist explores the power of seeing and being seen.

Paperback fiction

1. Dune by Frank Herbert (Ace: $18)

2. Happy Place by Emily Henry (Berkley: $19)

3. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, Ken Liu (Transl.) (Tor: $19)

4. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (Penguin: $18)

5. Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson (Penguin: $18)

6. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury: $19)

7. Trust by Hernan Diaz (Riverhead: $17)

8. Horse by Geraldine Brooks (Penguin: $19)

9. Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert (Ace: $18)

10. Never Whistle at Night by Shane Hawk (Ed.), Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. (Ed.) (Vintage: $17)

Paperback nonfiction

1. All About Love by bell hooks (Morrow: $17)

2. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann (Vintage: $18)

3. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (TarcherPerigee: $19)

4. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (Vintage: $17)

5. Palo Alto by Malcolm Harris (Back Bay Books: $23)

6. Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino (Harper Perennial: $21)

7. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi (Picador: $20)

8. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. (Penguin: $19)

9. Caste by Isabel Wilkerson (Random House: $21)

10. Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton (Harper Perennial: $18)

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April 1, 2024

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March 20, 2024

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The Los Angeles Times bestsellers list comes courtesy of the California Independent Booksellers Alliance (CALIBA). Established in 1981, CALIBA is a mutual benefit 501c(6) nonprofit corporation dedicated to supporting, nurturing and promoting independent retail bookselling in California.

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Ursula K. Le Guin : The Hainish Novels & Stories (boxed set)

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Each volume features an introduction by Ursula K. Le Guin

ROCANNON’S WORLD

PLANET OF EXILE

CITY OF ILLUSIONS

THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS

THE DISPOSSESSED

STORIES Winter’s King Vaster Than Empires and More Slow The Day Before the Revolution Coming of Age in Karhide

APPENDIX Introduction to Rocannon’s World Introduction to Planet of Exile Introduction to City of Illusions Introduction to The Left Hand of Darkness A Response, by Ansible, from Tau Ceti Is Gender Necessary? Redux Winter’s King (1969 version)

THE WORD FOR WORLD IS FOREST

STORIES The Shobies’ Story Dancing to Ganam Another Story or A Fisherman of the Inland Sea Unchosen Love Mountain Ways The Matter of Seggri Solitude

STORY SUITE: FIVE WAYS TO FORGIVENESS Betrayals Forgiveness Day A Man of the People A Woman’s Liberation Old Music and the Slave Women Notes on Werel and Yeowe

THE TELLING

APPENDIX Introduction to The Word for World Is Forest On Not Reading Science Fiction

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John Barth, novelist who orchestrated literary fantasies, dies at 93

His comic novels and metafictional stories made him a giant of postmodernism.

John Barth, a novelist who crafted labyrinthine, fantastical tales that were at once bawdy and philosophical, placing him on the cutting edge of the postmodern literary movement, died April 2. He was 93.

His death was announced in a statement by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he was a longtime faculty member. The statement did not say where or how he died.

Mr. Barth was the author of about 20 books, among them the short-story collection “Lost in the Funhouse” (1968), a landmark of experimental fiction, and the comic novels “The Sot-Weed Factor” (1960) and “Giles Goat-Boy” (1966).

The former was included on Time magazine’s 2010 list of the 100 greatest English-language novels, and in 1973 Mr. Barth won a National Book Award for “Chimera,” a collection of three interrelated novellas that retold the mythical stories of Perseus, Bellerophon and Scheherazade. (Mr. Barth, not for the last time, appeared as a character in the work, making a cameo as a smiling genie who offers Scheherazade, or “Sherry,” fresh material for the stories she tells each night.)

Despite such acclaim, Mr. Barth’s books were sometimes criticized by peers as academic, pretentious and willfully obtuse. Where novelist John Updike offered praise, favorably comparing the marital dramas of “Chimera” to his own work about domestic discontent, writer Gore Vidal offered a scathing assessment: Mr. Barth’s books, he said , were “written to be taught, not to be read.”

Mr. Barth was, in fact, for many years a professor, teaching English and creative writing at his alma mater, Johns Hopkins. While he saw himself as a teacher as much as an author, he believed he was writing squarely in the tradition of storytellers such as Homer, Virgil and the imprisoned character of Scheherazade, whose storytelling prowess led her captor to spare her life.

He was, he said, a kind of literary arranger, enacting in literature what he had briefly done in his youth as an orchestrator for a jazz band.

“An arranger is a chap who takes someone else’s melody and turns it to his purpose,” Mr. Barth told the Paris Review in 1985. “For better or worse, my career as a novelist has been that of an arranger. My imagination is most at ease with an old literary convention like the epistolary novel, or a classical myth — received melody lines, so to speak, which I then reorchestrate to my purpose.”

Mr. Barth’s “reorchestrations” made him one of the foremost practitioners of postmodern literature, a movement that he helped define as the blending of straightforward storytelling techniques with the involuted, playful, frequently self-referential devices of modernists such as James Joyce and Samuel Beckett.

He was perhaps at his postmodern best — or worst, depending on one’s tastes — in “Lost in the Funhouse,” the title piece of his first story collection and a formative influence on the late David Foster Wallace .

The story shifts seamlessly between a traditional narrative — about a young boy’s trip to a hall of mirrors, located at a beach resort near Mr. Barth’s hometown on the Eastern Shore of Maryland — and observations on the nature of narrative itself.

A story, Mr. Barth seemed to suggest, was itself a kind of funhouse, one in which readers are made to believe that they are experiencing something real and true, rather than an artifice constructed out of words on a page.

“So far there’s been no real dialogue, very little sensory detail, and nothing in the way of a theme ,” the story’s narrator observes early in the piece. “And a long time has gone by already without anything happening; it makes a person wonder. We haven’t even reached Ocean City yet: we will never get out of the funhouse.”

John Simmons Barth, whose father owned a candy store, was born in Cambridge, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, on May 27, 1930. He went by Jack, complementing his twin sister, Jill.

Mr. Barth played the drums in a local jazz group and briefly studied orchestration at Juilliard music school in New York before transferring to Johns Hopkins.

“As an illiterate undergraduate,” he once told the New York Herald Tribune, “I worked off part of my tuition filing books in the Classics Library at Johns Hopkins, which included the stacks of the Oriental Seminary. One was permitted to get lost for hours in that splendiferous labyrinth and intoxicate, engorge oneself with story.”

His interest was in narrative: sprawling epics such as “The Ocean of the Rivers of Story,” a multivolume work originally written in Sanskrit; Giovanni Boccaccio’s “The Decameron”; and Richard Burton’s translation of “The Thousand Nights and a Night,” which taught him how to pace epics and led to a fascination with stories within stories.

After graduating from Johns Hopkins with a bachelor’s degree in 1951 and a master’s in English in 1952, he planned a trilogy of short realist novels to address themes of suicide and nihilism.

The first two volumes — “The Floating Opera” (1956) and “The End of the Road” (1958) — were well-received but left Mr. Barth feeling unsatisfied. While teaching at Penn State, he later told The Washington Post, “I realized that realism was tying my hands.”

He responded by ditching plans for his third novel and — finding the playful, parodic voice that dominated most of his later work — launching himself to literature’s experimental fringe.

The result was “The Sot-Weed Factor,” a darkly funny, 800-page satire of Colonial Maryland that drew inspiration from a 1708 poem of the same name. In Mr. Barth’s telling, the poem’s author — a “rangy, gangling flitch called Ebenezer Cooke” — was a naive idealist grappling with the growing awareness that human existence is grim, fraught with violence and lacking in apparent purpose and meaning.

Written in the style of picaresque novels such as Henry Fielding’s “Tom Jones” and Laurence Sterne’s “Tristram Shandy,” the novel was “not for all palates,” the novelist and critic Edmund Fuller wrote in a review for the New York Times: “The plot itself is a parody in its incalculable complexity; a tissue of intrigue and counter-intrigue, ludicrous mock-heroic adventure, masquerades and confusions of identity.”

Mr. Barth’s follow-up, “Giles Goat-Boy,” was nearly as lengthy and even more outlandish. The book, its author once explained, was “a farcical allegory . . . of a goat sired by a virginal librarian on a computer.”

Improbably, it landed on the Times bestseller list for 12 weeks, helped along by praise from literary critics such as Robert Scholes, who hailed Mr. Barth as “a comic genius of the highest order” in a front-page review in the Times Book Review.

Mr. Barth continued his hyper-intellectual strain of writing in “Letters” (1979), a parody of epistolary novels that featured imagined correspondence between Mr. Barth and characters of his previous works, before turning to a more straightforward style in “Sabbatical” (1982).

The book was Mr. Barth’s most openly political work, and included about 20 pages of news clippings from the Baltimore Sun about John Paisley, a former CIA official whose body was discovered in the Chesapeake Bay in 1978, spawning conspiracy theories that he was silenced by the intelligence agency.

It also seemed to include elements of autobiography. Its protagonists were a husband and wife who, like Mr. Barth and his own wife, the former Shelly Rosenberg, sailed across the Chesapeake. (Mr. Barth, the owner of a 25-foot fiberglass sailboat, once told The Post that “one of the purposes of art is to give you boats you can’t afford.”)

A previous marriage, to Harriet Anne Strickland, ended in divorce. He had children, but information on survivors was not immediately available.

Mr. Barth received some of the most glowing reviews of his career for “The Tidewater Tales” (1987), a sequel of sorts to “Sabbatical.” The novel featured another husband and wife, this time with a male protagonist who appeared to be Mr. Barth’s literary opposite: a minimalist author who finds Shakespeare’s remark “Brevity is the soul of wit” to be “five-sixths too garrulous.”

The book, like his earlier work “Chimera,” featured a cameo from the mythical Scheherazade, whom Mr. Barth described as his “literary patron saint.”

“We like to imagine that our lives make sense, and storytelling is one way of ordering events,” he told the Times in 1982. “Of course, Scheherazade literally has to keep telling stories or she’s kaput. In a less dramatic way, that’s true of every writer in the world — you’re only as good as your next story.”

'3 Body Problem' cast addresses whitewashing criticism from fans of the original Chinese novels

Amid early criticism and fears of whitewashing, the cast of the highly anticipated sci-fi series “3 Body Problem” says it does justice to the original Chinese novels.

The Netflix series, developed by writer Alexander Woo and “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss, follows a group of London-based scientists and authorities who band together to fight a seemingly ​​all-powerful extraterrestrial threat after a slew of suicides alarms the scientific community.

When the Netflix series was announced, many fans voiced concerns that the novels would be culturally and thematically diluted in the adaptation.

Based on Liu Cixin’s acclaimed “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” trilogy, the eight-episode show is a departure from the source novels, which set the time-spanning story in China beginning during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, a time of violent upheaval.

On Reddit , one user noted that separating the setting from the cultural context seemed “unnecessary and flagrant.” Another commented they had doubts about the adaptation being led by non-Asian creators who were “rightfully criticized for their treatment of both women and [people of color]” on “Game of Thrones.”

But actor Benedict Wong, who plays Detective Da Shi in the Netflix adaptation, told NBC News the creators got the go-ahead from the author.

“Cixin gave Dan, Dave and Alex the blessing to move this story into a global story,” Wong said. “My character’s from Manchester, Jess Hong’s [is] from New Zealand, and we have Ye Wenjie [played by] Rosalind Chao and Zine Tseng, just to kind of show how global we all are telling this world story.”

The series, like the book, starts from the point of view of astrophysicist Ye Wenjie, who witnesses her father’s murder by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. The incident gives rise to her disdain for humanity and her subsequent decision to invite an alien civilization to conquer Earth.

Hong, who plays physicist Jin Cheng, said the show leaves the beginning intact while the changes broaden the story’s focus.

“Everything in the books that was referencing the Cultural Revolution has been essentially untouched,” Hong said. “But the rest of it is a way to globalize a story that was very heavily Eastern-focused into a Western perspective, a global perspective. Because we’re all from different countries, for the actors, you get to pull in all of these different storylines into one emotional core, which I think is quite brilliant.”

Chao, who portrays the older version of Ye, says the show doesn’t shy away from the lingering trauma of the Cultural Revolution.

“The seed is still that time period. It’s a period of trauma, emptying out of all hope, and great division. I do think they honored it,” Chao said. “My parents are immigrants. I’ve heard about it since growing up. And somehow the way they imparted that in this series made it more, you know, I could understand the trauma.”

Tseng, who plays the younger Ye, recalled remarks from the series’ Hong Kong director Derek Tsang, who “gathered every single one of us, saying, ‘It would be so great if we can do this and bring the honesty to the audience, to the story.’”

Tony Lee is a producer for Stay Tuned and NBC News.

Apple's App Store, Apple TV, other online services go down Wednesday

Multiple Apple online services including its TV and music platforms experienced outages Wednesday afternoon.

Some users reported being unable to access the App Store as well as Apple TV and Apple Music.

Other apps with reported issues include Arcade, Audiobooks, Books, Fitness Plus and the Apple Sports app, which launched earlier this year, according to the company's system status page .

Issues were first reported shortly after 6 p.m. ET peaking about 45 minutes later, according to Downdetector .

"There's a problem loading this content. If this continues, check your internet connection," Apple TV's error message said.

Outage reports on Downdetector had dropped to few dozen by 7:30 p.m. ET and continued to decline through the evening'

USA TODAY has reached out to Apple for comment.

Outage follows Meta issues earlier

The Apple outages comes as multiple Meta users faced issues using WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram earlier on Wednesday.

Downdetector reported around 82,000 incidents with WhatsApp, many of which were largely resolved within an hour.

Instagram experienced around 3,700 incidents while Facebook experienced about 1,800 for a couple of hours, according to Downdetector.

Apple says outage is resolved

Apple on Wednesday said it has resolved the App Store outage for its iOS and MacOS devices, CNBC reported.

The situation left many users confused wondering if they were the only ones affected.

"what’s going on why is the apple app store down?" one person wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

"Is anyone else having trouble loading the App Store or any of Apple’s apps, like Apple Music, TV+ or Podcasts?" another user wrote.