26 - The Shortest Book (by pages) On Your TBR list

[L Y N N]

The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list

I suppose it could be argued that this is an individualized prompt, but a listopia might help others discover a shorter book they would enjoy...so I'm including a listopia! :)

Listopia is HERE

[Ellie]

Well now this is an annoying prompt as I've discovered a load of books without page numbers and I'm sure I didn't have this problem last time this prompt came up?! It's probably an indie comic though, but I will need to get an export out and work through them.

[Sarah]

I chose the shortest thing that wasn't a short story being listed as a separate title, and my result was A Home Again!

[Erica]

Well technically it would mean reading a picture. Ok for me and I do t count those for challenges.

[Ron]

The Road Not Taken and Other Poems

Nothing like poetry since it can be very short sometimes. And I love Robert Frost.

[Milena]

Ellie wrote: "Well now this is an annoying prompt as I've discovered a load of books without page numbers and I'm sure I didn't have this problem last time this prompt came up?! It's probably an indie comic thou..."

I also now have a lot of books without pages on my TBR. So this is a new thing? I don't remember seeing it before.

[Milena]

Also, if I marked an audiobook as want to read, those come up first on my TBR since they convert hours as pages. Annoying.

[Mandy]

my shortest that is not in the middle of a series (3 short stories that take place after a book I haven't read) or unknown pages (or completely wrong page count) is Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation, Vol. 1

[Bea]

I have a lot of audiobooks on my list, so what looks short really isn't as audiobooks are hours...rounded up and listed as pages.

So what I thought was going to be easy and quick, now looks like it will take some time and effort. I might just go with the Listopia or use one of my library lists (which has books form all challenges in that particular library.

[Andrea]

After ignoring the books that are short stories or comics, I picked Galatea!

[chysodema]

I have three separate TBRs - my "throw them all on there" TBR, my separate nonfiction TBR, and my 2023 TBR, so I am letting myself pick from these 3 books:
The Cybernetic Tea Shop
Hearth Mage
Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness

[Ellie]

Milena wrote: "Ellie wrote: "I also now have a lot of books without pages on my TBR. So this is a new thing? I don't remember seeing it before."

It's always been possible, but I tend to add in missing page numbers when I add books to my TBR, so I don't know if they've had some data issues with all the updates.

[Kaia]

I have a few short stories, but also a play. I think I'll skip the short stories and go with No Exit by Sartre, which I was going to read for the afterlife prompt this year.

[Denise]

Mine turned out to be She and Her Cat. It was originally She and Her Cat: Stories, but I couldn't actually find that one, so going for the other one, which is a graphic novel.

[JoJo]

Im going to read Shine by Jodi Picoult.

[Nadine in NY]

Although I love short books, this prompt annoys me because my TBR is full of books with no page count plus individual short stories, short graphic novels, and picture books. And I don't really think any of them count for THIS category (I would use a graphic novel or picture book for ANOTHER category without hesitation, but somehow using one for "shortest book" feels wrong)

So I have to wade through all of that and pick out the titles that actually qualify. There's no ONE book for me. I do have a few good options, and I'll read either Brokeback Mountain or Lust, Caution (coincidentally they were both made into movies that I really liked)

[Ashley Marie]

Nadine in NY wrote: "Although I love short books, this prompt annoys me because my TBR is full of books with no page count plus individual short stories, short graphic novels, and picture books. And I don't really thin..."

I stumbled upon a copy of Brokeback a few years ago and read it over the course of an afternoon (probably could've done in an hour or less but was distracted with Real Life), and liked it a lot!

[Heather L]

It does feel like there are a ton more books on my shelf without page numbers than the last time this prompt came up. Sifting through all those plus short stories related to cozy mystery series, I finally came up with a few options.

* The Suicide Club by Robert Louis Stevenson (64)
* Candide by Voltaire (79)
* The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (108) (I’ve seen two movie versions, but have yet to read the novella)
* The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain (117)
* The Man Who Knew Too Much by G.K. Chesterton (124)
* A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf (128)

Since these are all classics, I’ll see if one makes it as a monthly classic group read.

[Nadine in NY]

Heather L wrote: "The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain (117) ..."



If you like audiobooks, STANLEY TUCCI reads this one!! I enjoyed it. (I've never seen the movie so I wasn't quite sure what would happen.)

[Heather L]

Thanks for the rec, Nadine. Maybe I’ll do a hybrid read-along while listening to it.

[Milena]

Nadine in NY wrote: "Heather L wrote: "The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain (117) ..."



If you like audiobooks, STANLEY TUCCI reads this one!! I enjoyed it. (I've never seen the movie so I wasn't quite sur..."

Ooh, that is definitely a reason to listen.

[Brandon]

Mine is The Art of Ducktales. I love the show and its art style, so this should be fun!

[Dea]

It's nicely ironic that my shortest TBR has one of the longest titles…

Killer Fashion: Poisonous Petticoats, Strangulating Scarves, and Other Deadly Garments Throughout History by Jennifer Wright

It's sort of an adult picture book, I think! (I skipped my audiobook TBLs and short stories, which came up first.)

It's also very, very different from my longest TBR, which is currently Anna Karenina!

Milena wrote: "Also, if I marked an audiobook as want to read, those come up first on my TBR since they convert hours as pages. Annoying."
I think usually it's the number of chapters in the audiobook that count as pages.

[Ron]

I'll most likely go with this poetry book by Joy Harjo: In Mad Love and War .

Poetry is usually the easiest when it comes to short books.

[StefanieFrei]

Ellie wrote: "Well now this is an annoying prompt as I've discovered a load of books without page numbers and I'm sure I didn't have this problem last time this prompt came up?! It's probably an indie comic thou..."

I have to scroll past 25 (!) pages of books without page numbers. And then, the first just do not make sense, some longer audio books, some books where I rather know they are not 5 or 6 pages but more.
I ended up with ... tadaaaa... a crochet instruction . Umpf. The first sensible small children's book might do.
Work needs to be done on page numbers for sure.

[Barbara]

I will be reading Notre-Dame: A Short History of the Meaning of Cathedrals by Ken Follett. It's only 80 pages! I had no idea it was so short, or I probably would have read it when I bought it right after I finished Follett's Kingsbridge series.

[Pie]

The Legend of Korra: Patterns in Time is 81 pages

[Matt]

The shortest thing I'm comfortable calling a book (as opposed to an essay or short story) on my TBR is The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark at 96 pages.

[Rachel]

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa - 198 pages

[❄ Nina ❄]

Luckily, my TBR is carefully curated, so it wasn't hard to find Mile 81 by Stephen King meeting the criteria...
Took me a while to get started, though, because let's just say that King is not my usual choice reading. Started and finished this morning, in broad daylight, because King has a tendency to slightly creep me out...

[Leona]

I read Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain Perfect Pronunciation. 32 pages.

[Karen]

Foster by Claire Keegan - 89 pages. And I want to see the film version "The Quiet Girl", as well.

[Lorna]

I chose The Little Prince and found it an interesting reflection on human society! I can see why this title is so beloved.

[Addi]

The Picture Of Dorian Gray

[LeahS]

Assembly by Natasha Brown is only 100 pages long but is a powerful book. We hear the thoughts of a seemingly successful young black woman as she is promoted in her job in a City of London bank and as she prepares for a party at the country estate owned by her boyfriend's parents. She relates the endless struggle to succeed against inbuilt prejudice and the legacy of empire.

[Katrina]

Re:union by Eric Liu

It is 17 pages long. I am trying to get through the books I have downloaded on my Kindle.

[Melissa]

Andrea wrote: "After ignoring the books that are short stories or comics, I picked Galatea!"

I just read this too! What a lovely little story.

[Laura Ruth]

I'm going with poetry: Names: Poems by Marilyn Hacker.

Shameless self-promo: for anyone into science fiction comedy, The Cosmic Turkey is only 161 pages. (Can also count for first-time author or book with a love triangle.)

[Sherri]

I read We Are the Light. 244 pages

[Ashley Marie]

I finally got around to picking up RF Kuang's The Drowning Faith for this one :)

[Heather]

I read A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers. It's the sequel to A Psalm for the Wild-Built. They're both short books.

I adore this series. It's science fiction set in nature. It's philosophical and character-driven. It's about a monk but not really about religion. And there's a robot who is more "human" than the humans who built it. It's a really lovely series.

[Melanie (aka DarkBeauty73)]

I READ the tales of beedle the bard

[Milena]

I read A Dead Djinn in Cairo for this.

[Katy]

I have no shame in calling a comic book or a graphic novel as a book so I'm going to go with iZOMBiE #14 as my choice for this prompt! It's 21 pages. I've had it on my "to read" list forever and I already own it (trying to avoid buying any books this year if I can..).

[Ron]

Dream Work

[Anshita]

I am reading Animal Farm by George Orwell. Based on different editions, this book has 100-150 pages, mine has 88.
I have read 1984 before, so I am excited about another Orwell book.

[Katy]

Anshita wrote: "I am reading Animal Farm by George Orwell. Based on different editions, this book has 100-150 pages, mine has 88.
I have read 1984 before, so I am excited about anot..."

Read it in school and remember really liking it.

[Ron]

Good luck reading Animal Farm. I read in h.s. and it was my most disliked book. I haven't read it since, but maybe as an adult I would have a different perspective on it.

[Rachel]

The Pearl Thief is a short, sweet novella by debut Bahraini author Noor Al Noaimi. It is set in Bahrain when it had fishing villages and a pearling industry. Here is my review

[Teri]

My rule is a book has to be at least 75 pages, so my TBR gave me An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde. I bought it cheap on Kindle, and it had 78 pages. I had watched the movie ages ago, and after reading the book I watched it again.