Skinny Books

A list of 30 skinny books, mostly short novels or novellas. It might have something to do with my desire for instant gratification, or my slow reading speed, but large novels frighten me. However I really like to find a great skinny read. Here are some I've culled from around the house that I've enjoyed. Don't you hate to have people recommend books? Talk about ego.

01. Envy—Yuri Olesha (1927, U.S.S.R.)

02. The Big Window—Peadar O’Donnell (1955, Ireland)

03. Waiting for the Barbarians—J.M. Coetzee (1980, South Africa)

04. Franny and Zooey—J.D. Salinger (1961, USA)

05. Silas Marner—George Eliot (1861, UK)

06. Coming Through Slaughter—Michael Ondaatje (1976, Canada)

07. God Dies by the Nile—Nawal El Saadawi (1974, Lebannon)

08. Three Tales—Gustave Flaubert (1877, France)

09. The Immortal Bartfuss—Aaron Appelfeld (1989, Israel)

10. The Thief and the Dogs—Naguib Mahfouz (1961, Egypt)

11. Diary of the War of the Pig—Adolfo Bioy Casare (1969, Argentina)

12. Offshore—Penelope Fitzgerald (1979, UK)

13. At the Bottom of the River—Jamaica Kincaid (1984, USA)

14. The Left-Handed Woman—Peter Handke (1977, Austria)

15. Heart of a Dog—Mikhail Bulgakov (1925, U.S.S.R.)

16. The Fur Hat—Vladimir Voinovich (1983, Germany/Russian)

17. Dreams from Bunker Hill—John Fante (1982, USA)

18. The Compass Stone—Fernando Arrabal (1985, Spain)

19. Giovanni’s Room—James Baldwin (1956, USA)

20. Snakes and Earrings—Hitomi Kanehara (2004, Japan)

21. Jacob's Room--Virginia Woolf (1922, UK)

22. The Blind Owl--Sadegh Hedayat (1937, Iran)

23. Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather—Gao Xing Jian (2004, China)

24. Cane—Jean Toomer (1923, USA)

25. The Yellow Arrow—Victor Pelevin (1993, Russia)

26. The Saddest Summer of Samuel S.—J.P. Donleavy (1966, USA)

27. Miss Lonelyhearts & The Day of the Locusts--Nathaniel West (1933/1939, USA)

28. Moderato Cantabile—Marguerite Duras (1958, France)

29. A Month in the Country—J.L. Carr (1980, UK)

30. Venus in Furs—Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch (1870, Austria)

.