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Have you been picking up a book only to put it down? Have you been feeling overwhelmed by the idea of finishing one from cover to cover? Are you counting the number of pages left in the chapter every time you sit down with a book? If you’re doing any of that, and even if you’re not, let books with short chapters come to your sweet rescue.
A lot of readers believe that when books have short chapters, they’re easier to read. Personally, this plays out in a few different ways for me. When I read, I almost have a compulsion to stop at the end of a chapter. I cannot count the number of times I’ve gotten a call from my best friend only to ignore it and text her instead, “Hey, I will call you back once I’m done with my chapter.” When I’m short on time and feel like I will not be able to finish a chapter, I try not to start it at all and pause my reading session instead.
Short chapters come in really handy as I can quickly maneuver through them. I end up starting multiple new chapters and feel the reward circuit in my brain smiling triumphantly. If you’re looking for books with short chapters to help you get out of a slump, or even to get some words into a busy schedule, this list is for you. It has some books I love, and others I’m very excited about checking out. Hope you find something suitable for your attention span and reading quirks as well!
Lovely War by Julie Berry
Set during World War I, this is a story of four lovers — a shy pianist, a soldier who holds the dream of becoming an architect, a gifted musician being sent off to war, and a French woman who’s been treated awfully by Germans. It’s narrated years later by Aphrodite to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares. They wonder how love and war are so intertwined, bringing each other together and keeping each other apart. It’s a tale of drama, trauma, prejudice, music, and most of all, love.
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
This book gets raw and real about race in America. It was written as a response to the murder of Jordan Davis, a 17-year-old black boy. Justyce McAllister has a bright Ivy-league future ahead of him. But that does not make a difference to the police officer who puts him in handcuffs. Justyce feels lost, confused, and helpless, and he looks to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for guidance. He starts to write a journal addressed to him. This epistolatory novel is one that stays with you long after you’ve read it.
Almond by Won-Pyung Sohn & Sandy Joosun Lee
Yunjae has Alexithymia, a brain condition that makes it hard for him to feel certain emotions like fear or anger. However, his devoted mother and grandmother are unfazed. They’ve helped him in small and big ways to navigate the world. However, on his 16th birthday, an act of horrific violence leaves him alone in the world. He isolates him until Gon, another troubled teenager, arrives at his school and starts to bully him. With time, they realise they have more in common than they think, and their stories take an unexpected turn.
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
This is an autobiographical book about the author’s condition that left her bedridden with an undiagnosed illness. She encounters a common woodland snail, the Neohelix albolabris. She observes the snail and is intrigued by how it chooses to move through the world with its anatomy, defences, decision-making, and courtship rituals. It shows us the wonders of the natural world and how much there is to learn from it. It’s a story of resilience that’s told with grace and wit as a woman tries to survive life alongside a mysterious creature.
Icarus by K. Ancrum
Icarus is a high school student and a thief. He replaces priceless art with his father Angus’ forgeries. They have their reasons to steal Mr. Black’s art which we find out with time. Icarus sneaks in and out of the Black household and forms an unlikely friendship (possibly more) with his son Helios. The book is divided into multiple short chapters that make the story digestible. It’s a book that’s a bit bizarre and very queer. It explores cruelty while also being a celebration of quiet love. It made me realise and feel warm about all the moments of care that sometimes go unnoticed.
The Humans by Matt Haig
This is a short, quirky read that’s divided into short, bite-sized chapters. It’s written from the perspective of an alien that’s sent to Earth. You might think that the trope is overdone but it’s done so well in this book. We follow a member of a species that is far superior in intelligence to humans sent here to destroy information we can’t handle. He takes over the body of a professor and lives as one among us. It is filled with delightful observations and dark comedy. It’s such a vivid and raw lens into what makes us human and what would stand out about us to an intelligent life form that isn’t human.
The Push by Ashley Audrain
This is a psychological drama that follows a family of four. Blythe wants to be a loving mother to her baby, Violet, but can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong with her daughter. Her husband keeps dismissing her fears. Things seem to be well when their son Sam is born, and Blythe has the connection with him she’s always craved. But that falls apart and we get a deeper look into their lives. It makes readers question everything we know about motherhood. Trigger warning for this book include dysfunctional families, trauma, and mental illness.
With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo
Even Acevedo’s prose reads like poetry. This book is so gorgeous. Like all her other work, it has feminist themes of our struggles and solidarity as the book follows a teenage mother who wants to be a chef. All of Acevedo’s protagonists are in love with something and Emoni is in love with cooking. Each short, crisp chapter draws out your emotions. It’s a celebration of food, sisterhood, and family — the one you’re born into as well as the one you find.
If you liked this list of books with short chapters, also check out our short books archive.