As we hit the end of July, many of us are squeezing in a few more trips to the beach, or even one last beach vacation, before summer comes to an end. We all know it’s a staple of any beach day to bring a book to read while laying out in the sun, but let’s face it: sometimes reading only one book for the entire trip can be a bit boring. Or maybe your vacation is the only time you get to read and you worry you won’t finish your book before your everyday life starts back up. If that sounds familiar, here’s a list of books under 200 pages that you can read in one sitting, perfect to finish on your next trip to the beach!
Contemporary Fiction
Convenience Store Woman follows Keiko Furuka as she struggles to fit in… well, everywhere really. When she turns 18, Keiko begins working “Smile Mart,” a convenience store in Tokyo. She begins feeling “normal” at her new job now following the social etiquette rules in the employee handbook, as well as mimicking her colleagues’ everyday demeanor. That is until she begins to be pressured by everyone around her to get married.
In this emotional story of marriage and all the hardships that come with it, Jenny Offill’s main character “the wife” conducts an intense analysis of everything she and her husband have gone through over the years.
Coming of Age
Following the character Esperanza, The House on Mango Street explores her life as she grows up in Chicago and begins to face the challenges that come with being a poor Latina girl in America. It’s a horrifically realistic coming-of-age story about the joy and devastation that growing up brings.
Unlike any of the other short books listed in this article, Persepolis is a graphic novel. We know graphic novels are not for everyone, but we promise this one is worth a try. A true story of political unrest, war, and love, Marjane Satrapi recounts her childhood living in Tehran.
Horror
Shirley Jackson’s final piece of work, We Have Always Lived In The Castle, follows the mysterious Blackwood family. Consisting of an 18-year-old girl, her sister, and her uncle, the Blackwoods have become recluses following a family tragedy.
Lingun takes place in HOME, the town where the dead go to live. A story about grief, Lingun explores the inherently human nature of refusing to let go.
Mystery
Following Christie’s lesser-known detective Miss Marple, The Body in the Library starts with just that, a body in the library. The Bantrys are a rich and well-liked couple in their community. So when they find a young woman wearing heavy makeup dead in their home, they insist that Miss Marple needs to find the killer before either of them (and their reputations) are dragged through the mud.
Starring the author himself, this book follows Lemony Snicket on a particularly strange day that begins with him finding a note under his door that says, “You had poison for breakfast.”
Classics
Set during the Salem witch trials, The Crucible follows the hysteria that took place in Massachusetts during 1692-1693. When a young girl accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch, the town quickly turns on Elizabeth, demanding she be brought to trial. This play portrays the destruction that socially sanctioned violence can cause. Miller wrote this play as an allegory for the public persecution of presumed communists that was going on at the time.
Sula follows childhood best friends Sula and Nel as the grow up in the uplands of Ohio. But though once attached at the hip, their relationship changes when Sula leaves their small town to travel through America. When she returns to Ohio 10 years later, Sula and Nel are no longer living their lives side by side. Nel has a husband and kids, and Sula is enjoying living her life by her own rules. A story of friendship, tragedy, and love, Sula further solidifies Toni Morrison’s spot as one of the greatest writers of all time.
Romance
This regency-era love story follows ex-thief, and current lady’s maid Molly as she attempts to live an honest lifestyle for once. But Molly’s employer, Alice, makes this a bit difficult when it becomes apparent that she is enamored with Molly. So, when an old acquaintance of Alice’s shows up uninvited to a party, Molly steps in to help Alice get revenge.
Tyson Yang and his community have cultivated a very successful community garden on an abandoned Harlem lot. Although no one from the area owns this lot, everyone is very involved and proud of what they have created. But when determined, extremely in debt Magada Ferrer comes to town to sell the abandoned lot, the community garden is put in danger.
Short short stories
It wouldn’t be right to give you a premise for “The Lottery.” It must be read without any prior knowledge.
After the birth of her child, a woman is confined to one room to cure her “temporary nervous depression.”
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