10 Short Books to Reach Your 2022 Reading Goal
Is anyone else unhinged enough to try and meet their 2022 book goal despite being 10 books behind? Just me?
If so, you’re in the right place. Normally by December, I would’ve given up, but for whatever reason, this year I’m determined to finish this goal. To accomplish it, I need to read eight books in five days…and I’ve already committed to the fact that one of them just has to be R. F. Kuang’s Babel for sentimental reasons. So, here we are.
To help, I’ve been compiling some shorter books I and others can read within a day or two to help us all cross that finish line. Is it cheating? I don’t think so. Especially if each of these books are worth reading in their own right. Here’s 10 books that will help us reach our reading goals. Good luck!
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
This has been on my list since I came across the shiny paperback version at Waterstones while I was in Oxford in September. The cover had gorgeous blue foil and a cat, so I was sold. Turns out, this is also a well-renowned Japanese series about a coffee shop that allows people to time travel for the length of time it takes for their coffee to cool. Obviously, this is the perfect cozy read for this time of year, curled up with your own mug of coffee or tea.
Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham
This book is so fun, especially if you are a Gilmore Girls fan. I highly recommend listening to it on audio because Lauren’s voice and way of telling stories is so similar to Lorelei’s that you’ll feel as though you’re back in Stars Hollow. She doesn’t just reminisce on her time on that show, though. She also tells great stories about growing up and getting her start in acting to where she is now, which, relatably, is a little lost. Plus, it’s only a 4-hour listen, and I finished it within 24 hours. She has a new book, Have I Told You This Already?, which just became available at my library, so I’ll be listening to that this week.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
There are plenty of Christie’s stories that you can read fairly quickly, but this one took my high school by storm for a reason. It’s a classic cozy mystery where 10 people are invited to an island and being murdered one by one, yet they all still have the time and desire to sit down for lunch and tea. It’s pretty delightful if you ask me, and not too long at around 270 pages.
The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking
As someone who studied abroad and Denmark and has told everyone she knows that Copenhagen is her favorite place on Earth, I don’t understand why I’ve never picked this up before this week. But, here we are, and it’s just as cozy and wonderful as you’d expect. I’ve been reading a chapter or two each morning, and it’s the perfect way to start the day. And, at a little over 200 pages, you could read it all in one sitting, though I recommend savoring it.
How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price
For the nonfiction, new-year-new-me people, this is a good one to pick up. It’s great because the first part is all about the science of why it’s so important for us to be spending less time around technology, and then the rest of the book is a 30 day challenge. I guess technically it makes more sense to give yourself 30 days to read this, but I think you could always read through it once and then start the challenge on January 1 to kick off a new year.
A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver
It makes sense to me to include a poetry anthology on this list because they can be enjoyed in spurts or all at once, and most of them are fairly short. This one by Mary Oliver is great if you rise before the sun does. It reflects on fall and winter mornings, nature and grief.
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
This is the longest book on the list, but it is not only worth it but I’ll bet you won’t need too much time to finish it because I found it to be a very fast read. I was up reading it at 2 a.m. because I couldn’t stop…and then I found myself sobbing in the middle of the night wishing I could call each of my best friends. Not for the faint at heart, it’s a great story for the new year as it asks the question, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” in a totally new way. My full (spoiler-free) review is linked here if you’re interested in reading more.
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
This book is a delight! I read the whole book in one sitting during a particularly beautiful spring day in college, and I want to read it again one day. It’s about a little town that claims to be the birthplace of “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” There’s even a memorial to the sentence in the square. But, then a letter falls off. And another. And as each letter falls, the town decides that its citizens can no longer use it in speech or writing, and it even disappears from the book itself. I think fans of Babel will really like this. It’s a fun and somehow suspenseful read that reminds us why language is vital to our survival.
A Spindle Splintered by Alix Harrow
This was a recent addition because I was surprised to learn it’s only 112 pages. This is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, in which Zinnia Gray has a mysterious illness that typically causes its victims not to live past 21. On her 21st birthday, her friend throws her a Sleeping Beauty-themed party where Zinnia finds herself literally living a fairytale. Harrow has released two in this series, so you could theoretically get two books in one day if you read A Spindle Splintered and A Mirror Mended.
A Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo and Dani Pendergast
The easiest—and most fun—way to read a book in one sitting is to pick up a graphic novel, and I chose this prequel since I’m planning to read the Shadow and Bone series in 2023. I really enjoyed the art in this book, and as a darkling-stan (in the Netflix series), I really appreciated the insight into his character. I’ve also realized recently that I don’t know much of anything about graphic novels, so that’s a category I’ve added to my 2023 TBR organization, but that’s a topic for another time.
