Get ready for Novellas in November 2021!
Novellas: “all killer, no filler” (said Joe Hill).
For the second year in a row, Rebecca of Bookish Beck and I are co-hosting Novellas in November as a month-long challenge with four weekly prompts.
New this year: each week we will take it in turns to host a “buddy read” of a featured book we hope you will join in reading.
We’re announcing the challenge early to give you plenty of time to get your stack ready.
(We suggest 150–200 pages as the upper limit for a novella, and post-1980 as a definition of “contemporary.”)
1–7 November: Contemporary fiction (Cathy)
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson – including a giveaway of a signed copy!
8–14 November: Short nonfiction (Rebecca)
The Story of My Life by Helen Keller (free to download here from Project Gutenberg. Note: only the first 85 pages constitute her memoir; the rest is letters and supplementary material.)
15–21 November: Literature in translation (Cathy)
Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima
22–28 November: Short classics (Rebecca)
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (free to download here from Project Gutenberg)
We’re looking forward to having you join us! Keep in touch via Twitter (@bookishbeck / @cathy746books) and Instagram (@bookishbeck / @cathy_746books) and feel free to use the feature images and the hashtag #NovNov.
Have you any novellas lined up for November?
Do let us know in the comments!
Novellas in November Reading Challenge #NovNov Novellas in November
Cathy746books View All →
I am a 40 something book buying addict trying to reduce the backlog one book at a time!
746books.com 
I enjoy Novellas in November, and I’ve got 10 books to choose from — and that’s just the Australian ones!
I’ve got three by one of my favourite C20th authors Helen Hodgman and another from the C20th, Barbara Hanrahan. One SF, one satire, and one that was a Miles Franklin nominee. So it’s going to be hard to choose, a nice problem to have. My NF shelves tend to be groaning with heavy tomes, but I might have a couple tucked away where I can’t see them at the moment.
So I’m looking forward to November — thanks for hosting!
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That’s great Lisa, sounds like you have loads to choose from. I actually have an Australian book lined up – Moral Hazzard by Kate Jennings, recommended by Kim.
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Oh yes, that’s terrific. Spiky, if you know what I mean…
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Excellent. I like spiky 🙂
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Oo thanks for the warning. Debating going for a novella every day in November, though might be setting myself up for a fall…
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Now THAT would be impressive 😊
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I have a permanent novella stack with about 20 in it at the moment (excluding Maigrets of which I have another stack) – so I’m ready already! Territory of Light was so brilliant – I reviewed it for Shiny.
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Excellent. Glad to hear you enjoyed Territory of Light, I’ve heard great things.
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Okay. Just gone through my spreadsheet. I have at least 25 to choose from, so no excuses!
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Love it!
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Your timing is impeccable! Just last night I’d started to pick out ‘nine novellas for November’ as a way of shifting some shorter books off my TBR, so I’m definitely in.
Of course as soon as I’m aiming for 9 there are 11 that I really want to read and, while Ethan Frome was already on my list, I’m going to be tempted by all the group reads. It’s a nice ‘problem’ to have!
My list so far that needs cutting down (and may pick up some of the other group reads):
Mother of 1084 – Mahasweta Devi
The Dead Lake – Hamid Ismailov
The Search Warrant – Patrick Modiano
Wide Sargasso Sea – Jean Rhys
The Good Life Elsewhere – Vladimir Lorchenkov
Passing – Nella Larsen
Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton
The Old Man Who Read Love Stories – Luis Sepúlveda
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Elizabeth and Her German Garden – Elizabeth von Arnim
Woman at Point Zero – Nawal El Saadawi
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They all sound perfect! THe only one I’ve read is Wide Sargasso Sea, which I really enjoyed.
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I hear such good things about Open Water – I’ll look forward to your review!
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Thank you!
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I’m tempted! 🙂
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yay!
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I enjoyed this last year, so I shall have to look and see what I’ve got that fits the bill for any or all of those weeks. Last year I only read Bruce Chatwin’s Utz and Cath Barton’s In the Sweep of the Bay but maybe I’ll manage one or two more for #NovNov this year (though not the Wharton as it’s not been long since I first read it).
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I hope you can join in Chris!
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Wonderful! Love a good novella so will do my best to join in!!
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Great stuff 😊
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I have a fiction that is only 83 pages. It is an early play by Martin McDonagh, the movie director who directed ‘In Bruges’ and ‘Three Billboards in Billings, Montana’. It’s called ‘The Pillowman’, and my review will appear either late this week or early next week.
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Oh, now I see this doesn’t happen until November.
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I adore The Pillowman Tony, I saw it on stage a few years ago and it was so powerful. I’m a big fan of McDonagh’s plays.
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I didn’t participate last year but hope to this year. Thank you for hosting and looking forward to seeing what others are reading!
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Thanks so much!
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I’ll be interested to see reviews of Open Water; I read it a little while ago and was a little ambivalent. I’ve got some put aside for N in N anyway – White Fragility I think fits and I have a novella novel by my friend Katharine d’Souza, and I’m pretty sure I have something else lurking on the back of the TBR shelf, too. I’ll look forward to joining in general, even if I don’t manage the prompts as such!
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No problem Liz, I’ve heard mixed things about Open Water myself but am interested to read it.
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Definitely a reading challenge I enjoy, so glad it’s happening again.
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Brilliant Ali, you always make great choices!
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Enjoy your Novella November, Cathy.
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Thanks Carla x
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I will be participating. I have a notion to read only novellas in November, but don’t know if I can stick to that or not. Worth a try, though.
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I love it – probably because they are so lovely and short 🤣
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I loved taking part for the first time last year, Cathy, so I am off now to check my shelves and Kindle for some suitable length reads to join in again! 😃
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Thanks Jessica, I always find a few treats in November!
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Looking forward to reading a few novellas. I love the buddy reading idea!
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Thanks Naomi!
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Just posted my shortlist which includes Open Water. How are you going to run the buddy read? So many chapters per day or just read the book within the week?
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Just reading the book within that week Karen and we’ll share other posts.
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Nice!
November is a busy month with several booking events, but I’ll read at least The Invention of Morel for #NovNov. Thanks for hosting this again
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It really is a busy month, but it’s always a good excuse to mix challenges!
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I’m planning to buddy read with you! My fav novellas are by Fredrik Backman: And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer and The Deal of a Lifetime. Thanks for your buddy read suggestions!
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That’s great Carol, glad that you can join in.
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Searching for novellas but I see in the comments some great suggestions!
Ready to join in #NovNov 2021!
PS…prefer Irish novellas….still searching!
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Try Claire Keegan Nancy – Foster and Small Things Like These are gorgeous novellas.
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Thanks for the tip!
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I have a question. Is there a lower limit for number of pages?
Obviously, I don’t want to go down to short story length, but is 75 pages too few? I have found novellas that are only 50-60 pages.
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I don’t think we have a lower limit Tracy – I know some novellas are also classed as long short stories. One of the ones I’m planning to read is 72 pages.
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Thanks, Cathy. That is helpful.
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I’m reading a novella now, and I have a review of a novella going up next week… Also, I downloaded Ethan Fromme a long time ago, but never got around to reading it. Maybe I’ll use this as a good opportunity to do so finally.
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Excellent! Looking forward to eharing about your reads
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