Hi, folks!
There are never enough reading events, right? I just heard about Novellas in November, hosted by Rick over at Another Book Blog and Laura over at Reading in Bed. The idea is simple: to read novellas throughout the month.
Here is my TBR for the event (as you can see, some of the books will overlap with German Lit Month)
- The Mussel Feast, by Birgit Vanderbeke, tr. Jamie Bulloch (2013. Original: Das Muschelessen, 1990)
- Die Kieferninseln, by Marion Poschmann, not translated (2017)
- Death in Spring, by Mercè Rodoreda, tr. Martha Tennent (2009. Original: La mort i la primavera, 1986)
- So Much for That Winter, by Dorthe Nors, tr. Misha Hoekstra (2016. Original: Det var så den vinter, 2016)
- The Kreutzer Sonata, by Leo Tolstoy, tr. Isai Kamen (2003. Original: Крейцерова соната, 1889)
- House of the Fortunate Buddhas, by Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro, tr. Clifford E. Landers (2011. Original: A casa dos budas ditosos, 1999)
- Nihilist Girl, by Sofia Kovalevskaya, tr.
- Herland, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1915)
- The Blue Room, by Hanne Ørstavik, tr. Deborah Dawkin (2014. Original: Like sant som jeg er virkelig, 1999)
- Resistance, by Julián Fuks, tr. Daniel Hahn (2018. Original: A Resistência, 2015)
- Eve out of Her Ruins, by Ananda Devi, tr. Jeffrey Zuckerman (2016. Original: Eve de ses décombres, 2006)
That’s it, folks! Could you recommend me some more novellas?
Yours truly,
J.

I’ve got that Dorthe Nors out from the library, and I just finished her (longer) novella, Mirror Shoulder Signal, and I *loved* it. So excited to read the the two novellas in So Much for that Winter next. I also really enjoyed The Guest Cat
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I have the Dorthe Nors on my kindle, and I was hoping to read it for WITMonth – which ended up not happening. I will try to pick it up this month 🙂 Good to know you loved the other book by her!
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That’s an interesting list and I’m very intrigued by Nihilist Girl!
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I am intrigued by it, too, Karen! It is supposed to be in the similar vein of The Boarding-School Girl…
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Yeah! So happy to have you aboard 🙂
Your list reveals something that I’ve noticed looking and many novella TBRs this month: novellas from the 2010s and from the early part of the 1900s. There seems to be a little bit of a spike in their popularity over the last few years, which is fantastic. Very eclectic list, I love it. Haven’t read any of these so I’m super excited to hear your thoughts on them. Happy reading!
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Thank you, Rick!
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Great list – I have another Dorthe Nors that I’m hoping to read for my Novels in Translation challenge so I look forward to hearing what you think about that one.
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Thank you, Cathy! I’ve heard good things about it 🙂
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I enjoyed the Mussel Feast when I read it a few years ago, quite a powerful story for such a slim book. I can see why it’s taught in some schools in Germany.
Love the sound of the Rodoreda, so I’m particularly curious to see what you make of that whenever you get around to it. Enjoy your November reading.
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Thank you, Jacqui! I am loving Vanderbeke’s writing so far – it feels quite claustrophobic. I am curious to read your review of it now.
And Rodoreda – yes, I am looking forward to reading it 🙂
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Have you read Nathanael West? He wrote only four short novels, and and the most famous is The Day of the Locust (but that’s 108 pages, so maybe too long; I think the others are shorter). By the way, I absolutely loved The Mussel Feast.
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I haven’t read anything by him – thank you for the recommendation, Kat! I will check if my library has any of his books. I finished The Mussel Feast today and loved it! I will try to find your review of it
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