Short Books You Can ACTUALLY Read in a Day.

[@drummerchikk101]

I would love it if you dedicated a video about all of your favorite plays or plays you’d recommend. I’m an actor as well and I love getting new recommendations:)

[@laurakistemaker8918]

Yes!!!

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Actor luv 💕 And noted. I’ve done some funky shows. I also want to read more plays, so I’ll do my research and get back to you in a bit ✨

[@laurakistemaker8918]

@@AnaWallaceJohnson please read Love Loss and what I wore by Delia Ephron and Nora Ephron! I feel like you would love it

[@cathyg.9996]

I recently reread Of Mice and Men and was blown away. I read it in high school but didn’t appreciate it as much as I do now. I just love Steinbeck! I loved August: Osage County and I enjoy Eugene O’Neill’s plays also.

[@marikafolkesson6624]

I would love it if you could make a strictly “recommending plays” video. I recently got into reading them and loved it but I find it so much harder for some reason to navigate through than novels. I started with Miller’s “the crucible”, “death of a salesman” and O’Neills “long day’s journey into night”. P.S I think you’re fantastic!

[@Evergreenbloom]

The Awakening by Kate Chopin - one of my favorite books of all-time. I read it every year.

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

I started it Christmas Day years ago and never finished it!

[@AmandaKrutsick]

Oh I love a short book! Recitatif or The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, 84 Charing Crossing Road by Helene Hanff, and A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers are ones that come immediately to my brain! I also love a graphic novel or manga volume when I'm in the mood to consume a story in full but don't have time for a full-length novel.

[@orangeelliot]

I just read Recitatif for the first time and couldn't believe what an accomplishment that story was!

[@JohnSeney]

That is the very paperback version of "Of Mice and Men" I first read like 40-plus years ago, it looks in pretty good shape considering that! 😸😆

[@KostaParadise]

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller are a couple of other enjoyable plays you could read very quickly.

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

!!!! Absolutely agreed

[@kardra9714]

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark; just about anything by Edouard Louis (The End of Eddy, Who Killed My Father, A Woman's Battles and Transformations); Winter Love by Han Suyin; A Girl in Winter by Philip Larkin; The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton; Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au; Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers; Returning to Reims by Didier Eribon; Sweet Days of Discipline by Fleur Jaggy; Indelicacy by Amina Cain

[@kardra9714]

*Jaeggy, sorry

[@eghaeee]

chronicle of a death foretold by gabriel garcia marquez was THE shortie that made me embrace short books! also a girl's story by annie ernaux is such an interesting experience that i think is suited to reading in one sitting!

[@bethanycrenol4061]

Ana, the hair is really fantastic in this vid!!

[@paulineabe]

9:47 you sound exactly like Barry Keoghan 😂 love it as alwayssss❤

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Lmaoooo! Just watched his hot wings ep and loved every min

[@AnaSerroGomes]

When you mentioned Steinbeck I was sure you were going to talk about The Pearl. Guess I was wrong! But that's one of the only books I've ACTUALLY read in a day last year, and what a great experience it was. Would love to hear your thoughts on it. xx

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

I haven’t read it yet! But I’m sure when I do, it’s on!!

[@arsdeng]

the “abboouttty” in 4:44 killed me 😂😂 you are SO FUNNY 😭 love ur videos !!!!!!

[@MorganMorris-s8l]

Another amazing short book about a dog is ‘The Call of the Wild’. It holds such a special place in my heart. It’s perfection.

[@joejs7659]

I’d recommend the underrated short-story collection “the house of hunger” by the very great Dambudzo Marechera, so experimental, short, tragic, brutal and humorous.

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

I’m into experimental lately. I love a good crisis after I finish a novel

[@joejs7659]

@@AnaWallaceJohnson Same, it can be very therapeutic in a way.

[@AREMICO]

The gecko candle at the end killed me 😂😂😂 amazing video as always! 🤩

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Etsy has everything!

[@daisyt1982]

Thank you for the great recommendations for reading books. I have already read four of them that I would otherwise never have picked up so quickly, you have very good taste. Unlike other KZbinrs who mainly focus on books that are currently new and popular. Keep it up and I will continue to follow you, greetings Daisy (from the Netherlands).

[@poetrybysuhashani__]

this is great especially for a long flight or train journey - thank you for the recs! ✨🕊

[@peixemp4]

I loooove No One Belongs Here More Than You, Miranda July is really a master of weirdness. One very weird and short book I also love is The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada, maybe you would like it 😚

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

I’ve heard so much about it! If it’s short and weird, it sounds like it’s for me (also it could be describing me hehehe)

[@Purrfectblu]

Speaking of Gillian Flynn...I read The Grownup in less than a day. Novellas are a super way to get out of a reading slump or even, like you suggested, a short story! Thank you for so many recommendations. Your energy, passion, and enthusiam for reading has motivated me to read a book a week till the end of the year! ❤

[@ninamarch6128]

I haven't heard of a lot of these 🤣 but you made me laugh and sold them to me ❤

[@RhiannaVarney]

I love short books. I love it when they manage to capture an idea or theme perfectly. Great recommendations! I've found some great books from this 😊

[@josryder7841]

Cockroaches sounds like I have to be in a good mental space to read but at the same time sounds necessary to read! Thank you!

[@maramamhalhal9808]

it was one of my top five reads last year! amazing book but definitely very very heavy

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

You hit the nail on the head. Definitely be in a good place, but so good!

[@isabellasantiago6473]

Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger, one of my favorite books from last year

[@lauradone9232]

Heaven by Meiko Kawakami I'm thinking of ending things by Iain Reid James Baldwin - Giovannis Room Paradise Rot - Jenny Hval (Jesus, it's feel moist to read 🤢) Carrie by Stephen King Girl, interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Moist to read!! I want to read Hval. Waiting to find a thrift copy

[@lexa3787]

Loved this video, added so many to my list! This is my first video from you and I am always so delighted to find a booktuber who talks about books that aren’t YA/romantasy. Nothing wrong with those genres and I certainly read from them as well, but as an eclectic reader it is sooo nice to discover someone who recommends a variety of books. Your amazing sense of humor also doesn’t hurt!

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Thank you so much for being here! Yeah, I sometimes dabble in YA, but I love to see the weird books people are picking up, too :)))

[@stephanyyoder4507]

Great video, Ana! Here are my suggestions: The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff The Pearl by John Steinbeck Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson Persuasion by Jane Austen

[@AaronR.Williams]

This week, I read Fox 8 by George Sounders. It is a short story with illustrations about a 40-minute read. I thought it was good and creative. I am also currently reading Animal Farm and love it!

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

I saw Fox 8 in the library and remembered you recommended it! I haven’t read any Saunders yet either, so might have to give it a go

[@andremiralles2259]

if you like wild short stories, yo should definitely read Cortázar

[@juliami0609]

Ana i loved your videos since long ago, you are wonderful, love your sense of humor. Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors, Of Mice and Men made me cry ... powerful story, as well as everything that i've read by him.

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Thank you so much! I cried when I finished it, too

[@LittleMew133]

Thanks for the recs. I read A Movable Feast and reading Flush now. Enjoy them.

[@pragyamishra4376]

amazinggg. loved it.

[@michaelbissonette746]

John Steinbeck is the best novella writer. I highly recommend The Pearl by John Steinbeck .

[@laindarko3591]

Some books I've recently read in just a day or two and really loved are Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, Carmilla by J Sheridan le Fanu, Terminal Boredom by Izumi Suzuki, and The Employees by Olga Ravn. All a bunch of lil weirdos in their own ways haha. I think little books are great not because they're so quick to read (though that can be a bonus) but because the challenge of fitting a whole narrative into so few pages means the storytelling craft must realllly be honed to make it work.

[@hazesne]

Little candle lizard was giving me the eye. My fave short books of the last couple of years are - Heaven AND Ms Ice Sandwich, Mieko Kawakami; Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan; Open Water, Caleb Azumah Nelson; and Elena Knows, Claudia Piñeiro. Also, Lanny 🌿 Heh. In a similar vein to Lanny is Treacle Walker by Alan Garner, I can't recommend it because it was quite confusing and I feel like you need quite specific knowledge of the exact region of England Garner is from to be able to understand some of it, but at the same time, I think about it quite a lot... So maybe I did understand it on some level? Anyhoo, would love to see a video about your favourite plays.

[@kzhrar]

Have you read Julia Armfield? I think you would adore her work - Salt Slow (her debut short story collection) and Our Wives Under the Sea (her debut novel!). Her writing is just all-encompassing and wonderful and especially Salt Slow can be read in a day!

[@foxingboarder2744]

the problem i have with reading quickly is that i dont want books to end. movies, tv shows, etc. i enjoy having conclusions, but with books i could fall in love with a book and never want to finish it, which keeps happening. like if i finish these books then there's only the re-read and never again an initial read, i get too attached lol

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

I agree. I especially feel that way with family sagas. I want them to grow old and continue the family tree

[@MothsAreTheBest]

GIRL YOU HIT 25K!!!!!!!!!!

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Eeeeek, I know. Thank you for always being here 🥺

[@WRam-fo2sc]

Hi Ana, ever since I found your channel, I've begun watching your previous vids. My only question os how many times can you repeat the same suggestions? Other than that, I love your wit and reading choices. Speaking of which, to mention "Of Mice and Men" and NOT mention Steinbeck's "The Pearl" is almost sacrilege. Here are some suggestions of short books you may like. I've broken them down by category. Drum roll please: MYSTERY And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie (a book you'll never forget for reasons that will be obvious once you finish it a.k.a a one-time-experience) AUTO/BIOGRAPHY Go Ask Alice - Anonymous Death Be Not Proud - John Gunther Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom Sh*t My Dad Says - Justin Halpern CLASSIC Bless Me, Ultima - Rudolfo Anaya The Time Machine - H. G. Wells The Island of Dr Moreau - H.G. Wells The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck Lord of the flies - William Golding Carmilla - Sheridan Le Fanu (classic story that inspired Bram Stoker's 'Dracula') BLACK EXPERIENCE To Be Young, Gifted and Black - Lorraine Hansberry Black Like Me - John Howard Griffin NON-FICTION Longitude : The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time - Dava Sobel FICTION The Curious Incident Of the Dog In The Night-Time - Mark Haddon PLAYS A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller Inherit the Wind - Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams

[@Kiki-zu9ip]

I recently read "The Illiterate" by Agota Kristof and loved it. I picked it up because Murakami listed this book as one of the 51 books he can't let go of (in a Japanese magazine called Brutus Oct 2021).

[@SuperWMYB]

where can I find this list?

[@Kiki-zu9ip]

​@@SuperWMYB It was an interview done by a Japanese magazine called Brutus. I tried to put the link here but it gets deleted when I do. If you do a google search "村上春樹が手放すことのできない私的読書一覧" the article should come up.

[@Kiki-zu9ip]

@@SuperWMYB Every time I try to post a link, my reply gets deleted for some reason. I put the name of the magazine in my original comment.

[@maria83maria]

I would like to suggest you a play but from a german author Friedrich Dürrenmatt "The visit", is funny, is a descent to madness. You would like it for sure

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Descent into madness is definitely my brand

[@janehex]

The first time I read a whole book in one day, I was maybe in middle school, and it was "The Man Who Fell to Earth" by Walter Tevis. It clocks in at around 240pp for the lil paperback, and it just hooked me from the start, so I kept going until the end. I remember the edition I read being printed in a really unusual font, like Century Gothic or something.

[@nursemain3174]

My top four short books are the stepford wives by Ira Levin, Ariel by Sylvia Plath, animal farm by Orwell and Orlando by Virginia Woolfe

[@icarlyrocks1011]

I discovered the magic of reading plays not too long ago! I recommend Acastos by Iris Murdoch and All Our Happy Days Are Stupid by Sheila Heti

[@knitnkitten]

Plays tbr this year: Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet by Anne Marie MacDonald, Bernard Shaw's Plays Unpleasant, and I want to deep dive into King Lear - I miss out on so many allusions and social references being totally ignorant of this beefy one by the Bard☹️🙃🙂

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

I love King Lear. Absolutely wild ride, but really enjoy it

[@rosiexro]

If you happen to be interesed in Latin-american literature and want to practice some Spanish, Rosario Tijeras. Great and tremendously fascinating book to read in the pace of an afternoon. (I am not really sure if it has an English translation)

[@yumiyumiya]

i've just finished Flush and you recommended it! Oh my God!

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Flush is the cutest dog around!

[@tanyam6197]

Hi from Australia. Haha sounded more like a New Zealand accent. I’m finally reading East of Eden. Of mice and men next. Thanks Ana

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Hahahaha! I believe that. The Aussie accent is so hard to nail

[@tanyam6197]

@@AnaWallaceJohnson you made me smile

[@ReadingIDEAS.-uz9xk]

Old Man and the Sea. Heart of Darkness.

[@miglebudryte9991]

The Pigeon by Patrick Süskind. Great short book

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Perfume guy!

[@tonyakostova7228]

Ana, you should check out „Woe from wit” from Alexander Griboedov. I'm not Russian but I'm always suggesting you Russian literature! Love all of your content 🩵

[@HUHH460]

you'd probably enjoy a novella titled "ghost wall"!

[@simaopaideia]

Paul Auster's New York Trilogy - dedicate one day to each of them

[@FishareFriendsNotFood972]

Highly suggest The Road by Cormac McCarthy for a good one day book.

[@RACHELLOVECOKE]

Has anyone read The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds? ❤️ It is so simple, moving, and life-affirming; only 90 pages, in very basic prose.

[@sarah.emmanuelle]

I just read Red Light Winter by Adam Rapp. I didn't like it, although I could see how I might like it better if I saw it performed well. it's very subtle, very short... I think it would have been better if it was longer, and we had actually seen the Davis character not acting the asshole. I felt like it took a while to get it after reading it, it just felt crass and Christina felt two dimensional. So hmmmm.... I don't know if you've read it/seen it/performed it yet though but Heartbreak House is one of my favorite plays!

[@camillodimaria3288]

Am I a Redundant Human Being? By Mela Hartwig & Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo are a couple that come to mind.

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Noted!

[@littlebookish5287]

Adding to this list: Comfort me with apples One of my favorite books of last year❤

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Omg, I love that name haha

[@lauradone9232]

Cockroaches is such a tough read but a book that i will always own.

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Same. So hard. Going to reread it soon

[@courtenaywrites]

Recommendations: The Dry Heart by Natalia Ginzburg, Missing Person by Patrick Modiano, The Clown by Heinrich Boll, and Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille.

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

I want to read the Story of the Eye so bad!! I feel like it’s a fun ride

[@courtenaywrites]

Oh it is! It's gross but there's a meaning to it!@@AnaWallaceJohnson

[@sophias9686]

If there’s one thing Ana is going to do, it’s picking up books on the side of the road

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Lmaoooo Ana “side of the road” Johnson

[@hiramalik3818]

Can someone write all the books she talked in a book in comment section. Thankyou in advance

[@tine272]

some short books for a short month

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Baby books, baby month!

[@98pointseven]

I can believe you once played a seventeen-year-old. (Also: Very good Oz-TRY-lyn accent there!). Some notable short books: Cannery Row, which you already mentioned. (EVERYONE’S favorite. Also the sequel: Sweet Thursday.) A Sport and a Pastime (James Salter; vivid synesthetic observations; sexy too; highly recommended) The Lover (Marguerite Duras) Silas Marner (George Eliot said it was her favorite of her own novels). On Being Blue (Willaim H. Gass) Cape Cod (Thoreau) The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame; intended for children, but… ) Vox (the Nicolson Baker novel that Monica gave to Bill Clinton to encourage him to do phone sex with her). A Man’s Place (Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux’s memoir about her father). Pedigree (Nobel laureate Patrick Modiano’s memoir about growing up very louche in Paris). House of the Sleeping Beauties (Yasunari Kawabata). This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen (Tadeusz Borowski) Night (Elie Wiesel) The Stranger (Camus) Trout Fishing in America (Brautigan) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Dr. Hunter S. Thompson) Heart of a Dog (Bulgakov) Memories of my Melancholy Whores (Gabriel Garcia Marquez) Howard’s End (Forster) And my favorite play of all time: Mary Chase’s 1944 Pulitzer-winning masterpiece “Harvey;” (later made into the famous movie with Jimmy Stewart as Elwood P. Dowd). Beautifully crafted dialogue; every scene sparkling with memorable one-liners, e.g. after Dr. Chumley finally sees the big white rabbit himself and winds up lying on his own psychoanalytic couch, while Elwood assumes the role of therapist; Elwood tells Chumley that Harvey can make all his fondest wishes come true, and Chumley responds: CHUMLEY - Oh, I I know where I'd go. ELWOOD - Where? CHUMLEY - I'd go to Akron! ELWOOD - Akron? Oh, yes. CHUMLEY - There's a cottage camp just outside Akron - in a grove of maple trees -- green - cool - beautiful. ELWOOD - That's my favorite tree. CHUMLEY - I'd go there with a pretty woman. ELWOOD - Oh! CHUMLEY - A strange woman -- a quiet woman. ELWOOD - Oh!! Under a tree!?! CHUMLEY - I wouldn't even want to know her name -- while I would be just - Mr. Smith. Then I would send out for cold beer. ELWOOD - No whiskey? CHUMLEY - No. Then I would tell her things. Things that I've never told to anyone. Things that are locked deep in here. And as I talked to her, I would want her to hold out a soft white hand and say 'Poor thing. Poor, poor thing.' ELWOOD - And how long would you want this to go on, Doctor? CHUMLEY - Two weeks. ELWOOD - Wouldn’t that get a little monotonous? Just Akron, cold beer and 'poor, poor thing' for two weeks? CHUMLEY - No! It would be wonderful! ELWOOD - Well, I can't help Feeling that you're making a mistake not allowing the woman to talk. If she'd been around at all, she might've picked up some very interesting news items. And I'm sure you're making a mistake about all that beer and no whiskey - but it's your two weeks. CHUMLEY - Mister Dowd: Could he -- would he -- do this for me? ELWOOD - Oh, he could - and might. I've never heard Harvey say a word against Akron.

[@gisellegee5984]

One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich.

[@MothsAreTheBest]

Ok hello? My 2 favorite youtuber uploaded at the same time? If god is real, she loves me

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

She is giving all the loooove

[@spk6255]

I am deeply curious if you consume booktube content and what those channels might be. 😮

[@thepaperdavid]

I'm not sure the world needs any more cultural input now it has your turtleneck of turtlenecks, but okay... my favourite shorty of recent reads has been Boulder by Eva Baltasar. Lesbians on boats, how do they feel about motherhood? Read Boulder to find out.

[@nissasbookcorner]

GECKO CANDLE

[@jorgesuarez7073]

I think Flush is a very appropriate title. Just flush it down the toilet.

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Lmaoooo I love this comment

[@fatimayamin971]

Tuesdays with Morrie The five people you meet in heaven!! The Reader The alchemist Go tell it on the mountain (short for me lol)

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Omg, sobbed so hard at the five people you meet in heaven

[@xscerxx2308]

skillshare robbed me!!!!

[@xscerxx2308]

60 dollars they took from me

[@xscerxx2308]

still love you just saying

[@itseIv]

@@xscerxx2308 How?

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Oh no! Really?? I’ve had great conversations with them. Have you reached out to customer service to try to resolve it?

[@fernandoojeda2132]

😁😘

[@grisselkirkendall4497]

P r o m o S M