Five Books Under 250 Pages to Get You Out of a Reading Slump
Admittedly, I have been through several reading slumps this year alone. Reason being, that reading books factually requires far more effort than jumping on a new series to binge on Netflix. It requires more attention than falling into an endless scroll pit on TikTok, Instagram, or Twitter.
But when I exhaust myself by watching and scrolling, I turn to books. Upon reminding myself of the beauty, gift, and existence of literature, I first indulge in books that are relatively short. This helps to set my pace before tearing down through my TBR or ‘to be read’ list.
Here are some of the books that are all under 250 pages, that I used to get myself out of a reading slump;
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (224 pages)
This Pulitzer Prize winner Toni Morrison’s first novel from 1970 tells the story of a black eleven-year-old girl named Pecola Breedlove, set in Morrison’s girlhood hometown of Lorain, Ohio. Through Morrison’s mastery of bold and rich writing, the readers are brought to this vividly heartbreaking story. I’ve sympathized with Pecola and her wish to have blue eyes to be as adored and cheered as the white children of her country.
The Stranger by Albert Camus (123 pages)
The Stranger (L’étranger) was first published in English in 1946, by the French author Albert Camus. This novel follows a direct narrative of an ordinary man as he goes through his life after his mother’s death. In a little more than a hundred pages, Camus expounds on his philosophy through his protagonist, Monsieur Mersault.
In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan (144 pages)
Richard Brautigan discovers and captures the mindset of the counterculture generation in this book. People can travel as far as their dreams will take them in the world of iDEATH, where the sun shines a different color every day. They live peaceful lives in watermelon sugar, rejecting the aggression and hatred of the previous group at the Forgotten Works.
Existentialism is a Humanism by Jean-Paul Sartre (108 pages)
In one hundred pages captured from one of his lectures in 1945, Jean-Paul Sartre, known as the most dominant European intellectual of the post-World War II decades, expounds on his doctrine on existentialism. This text, although intimidating in hindsight, is a great introduction to existentialism and the philosophy of being.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (213 pages)
In this celebrated Japanese novel, we are introduced to four visitors and a small back alley café in Tokyo. This place allows them to time travel as long as they get back before their coffee gets cold. Sounds interesting, right?
These are only a few that I hope will help you get back into reading. You don’t have to feel pressured, though. Just like in any other thing, you may do it at your own pace. Perhaps, treat it as a gift to yourself.
