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1. Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill

Granta / BuzzFeed

Dept. of Speculation, a series of short dispatches from the front line of a marriage, is
by turns hilarious and heartbreaking, and often both in the same sentence.

Anna James

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@acaseforbooks

Good grief Dept. of Speculation is good. Beautifully,

heartbreakingly, profoundly good.
3:27 AM - 27 Feb 14

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2. Animal Farm by George Orwell

Penguin / BuzzFeed

Orwells classic allegory is as sharp and biting as when it was first published nearly
70 years ago, and just as relevant. Well worth a reread.

3. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley

Jackson

Penguin / BuzzFeed

A gripping tale of murder most foul on the estate of the Blackwood family, Shirley
Jacksons final novel is the kind of book youll want everyone to read just so you
can talk about it.

Juliet Mushens

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@mushenska

Still thinking about We Have Always Lived in the Castle - what a

clever book. Want to discuss it with someone!
9:31 PM - 31 Aug 14

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4. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

Penguin / BuzzFeed

A book about cultural identity as much as politics, The Reluctant Fundamentalist

follows a Princeton-educated Pakistani as his life in America collapses post 9/11.

5. Heartburn by Nora Ephron

Virago / BuzzFeed

In Nora Ephrons hilarious novel, based on the breakdown of her second marriage,
group therapy and infidelity share the page with recipes for pot roast.

6. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas

Adams

Tor / BuzzFeed

If Monty Python had done science fiction it might have been like this. At once
supremely silly, laugh-out-loud hilarious, and as British as dead-parrot jokes.

7. Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? by Lorrie Moore

Vintage / BuzzFeed

A woman in a loveless marriage recounts a childhood friendship in this beautifully

crafted tale of innocence and growing up.

Paige Occeola

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@ohnopaige

There's a tenderness to Who Will Run the Frog Hospital that is

equal parts remorse and remembrance (poignant?). Overall a great
novel.
2:49 PM - 01 Sep 14

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8. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Penguin / BuzzFeed

Achebes classic novel follows Okonkwo, a man who finds himself at odds with
society and history amid the changing cultural landscape in Nigeria. 209 pages.

9. The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Melville House / BuzzFeed

The story of a woman trapped in her marriage was condemned when first published
in 1899, ending Chopins career, but is now rightly recognised as a classic.

Lucy Caldwell

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@beingvarious

Reading and loving Kate Chopin's The Awakening. "Even as a child

she had lived her own small life all within herself."
3:42 PM - 30 Aug 14

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10. Shopgirl by Steve Martin

Hyperion / BuzzFeed

An exploration of loneliness, softened by Martins witty observations and dry

humour, Shopgirl follows the titular character as she navigates life in Los Angeles.

11. The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

Harper Collins / BuzzFeed

Classic Christie, classic Marple. When the body of a young woman is discovered in
the library at Gossington Hall, the hunt is on to find out whodunnit.

12. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Ballentine / BuzzFeed

In a future America, books are outlawed and firemen burn any that are found. One
of Bradburys best.

13. The Giver by Lois Lowry

Houghton Mifflin / BuzzFeed

Explores similar themes to Fahrenheit 451, but written for young adults. Dont let the
recent film adaptation put you off.

14. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Knopf / BuzzFeed

An examination of life and the narratives we construct for ourselves that won the
2011 Man Booker Prize.

Caitlin

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@Caitlinellen__

'The sense of an ending' by Julian Barnes is the best book I have

ever, ever read. Read it in a few hours, could not put it down
4:18 AM - 31 Aug 14

15. Sula by Toni Morrison

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Knopf / BuzzFeed

Sula follows the contrasting lives of two girls growing up in a poor, black Ohio
neighbourhood, and the different paths they choose.

16. The Dig by Cynan Jones

Granta / BuzzFeed

A sparse, dark, brutal novella about a Welsh farmer struggling to make a living from
his sheep, and an unnamed man digging up badgers to bait.

Scott Pack

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@meandmybigmouth

So I read The Dig by Cynan Jones yesterday. An intense poem of a

novel. Quite wonderful writing. Do check it out if you can.
1:31 PM - 03 Mar 14

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17. How to Get Into the Twin Palms by Karolina

Waclawiak

Two Dollar Radio / BuzzFeed

An absurd, delightful novel about a Polish immigrant in Los Angeles who schemes
to reinvent herself in order to gain access to the Twin Palms nightclub.

18. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan

Vintage / BuzzFeed

Two friends plot the downfall of a politician in this Booker-winning novella.

19. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Penguin / BuzzFeed

Although frequently challenged for its depiction of gang violence and youth
drinking, The Outsiders is in fact a classic morality tale wrapped up in 60s street
gang culture.

20. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Simon & Schuster / BuzzFeed

This story of an ageing, down-on-his luck fisherman fighting to reel in the catch of a
lifetime won Papa a Pulitzer. Some love it, some dont. A must-read either way.

21. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Farrar Straus Giroux / BuzzFeed

This multi-award-winning young-adult novel deals with the trauma caused by rape,
and the difficulty victims often have in reporting and talking about sexual assault.

Nikki

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@Nikkayme

I read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson when I was 14. It changed

my life and made me see beyond the safety of my world. #yasaves
12:15 PM - 05 Jun 11

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22. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Scribners

Nick Carraway encounters reclusive billionaire Jay Gatsby at a party. Jazz ensues.
You may already know the story, but like one of Gatsbys lavish soires, Fitzgeralds
sparkling prose warrants revisiting.

23. Rape: A Love Story by Joyce Carol Oates

Carroll & Graf / BuzzFeed

The aftermath of a gang rape on a young mother is explored in a searing indictment

of rape culture and the lack of justice, care, and understanding for victims.

Dan Therriault

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@dantherriault

Finished "Rape, a love story" by Joyce Carol Oates. A punch to the

gut. When you get your breath back, you realize, you needed that
punch.
6:12 PM - 12 Aug 14

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24. The Quiet American by Graham Greene

Vintage

A seasoned English journalist in Vietnam watches as a young American turns good

intentions into bad policy and bloodshed in this powerful anti-war allegory.

25. The Passion by Jeanette Winterson

Vintage / BuzzFeed

A fantastical, lyrical love story set during the Napoleonic Wars.

Helena Fitzgerald

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@helfitzgerald

finished 'the passion.' made a noise. stared helplessly into space.

turned back to the first page and am now reading it again.
#winterson
4:17 AM - 14 Jan 13

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26. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

Scribner / BuzzFeed

The classic fable of a seagull who wants more. Unwilling to conform to the norms of
his flock, Jonathan goes in search of a higher purpose to life.

27. Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

Cape Poetry / BuzzFeed

A novel in verse, Autobiography of Red gives voice to a minor character in Greek

mythology, updating his story to the present day. There are those who love it and
those who havent read it. Be the former.

Michele Filgate

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@readandbreathe

My mind is completely blown after reading Anne Carson's

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF RED for the 1st time. Her sentences are
tattooed on my brain.
11:43 PM - 28 Nov 12

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28. The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker

Vintage / BuzzFeed

A stream-of-consciousness journey into the mind of a man on his lunch break.

Alexis C. Madrigal

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@alexismadrigal

Rereading The Mezzanine for the 3rd time -- it explains so much

about our times. Anyone know how to contact Nicholson Baker?
6:21 AM - 06 May 14

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29. At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom by Amy

Hempel

Harper Perennial / BuzzFeed

A collection of 16 utterly compelling, gorgeously crafted short stories.

30. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Farrar, Strauss and Giroux / BuzzFeed

A horror novel following the 12th expedition into the uncharted Area X. Any guesses
what happened to the previous 11 expeditions? Nope, weirder than that.

Colm Linnane

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@Librarydotcolm

Also really enjoyed Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer, imagine Iain M

Banks scripted Lost as a Tarkovsky homage.
5:16 PM - 29 Aug 14

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31. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Farrar, Strauss and Giroux / BuzzFeed

Babbitts beloved fable about immortality will outlive us all.

32. Being There by Jerzy Kosinski

Grove Atlantic / BuzzFeed

A brilliant satire about a gardener turned political pundit.

33. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead

George

Puffin / BuzzFeed

The story of Sam, a boy who runs away from home to live in the Catskill mountains,
where he befriends a peregrine falcon he names Frightful.

34. The Neon Bible by John Kennedy Toole

Grove Atlantic / BuzzFeed

Written when Toole was just 16, but not published until after his death. Well worth a
read for fans of his A Confederacy of Dunces.

35. Speedboat by Renata Adler

Harper Perennial / BuzzFeed

An experimental novel that defies literary convention and category, this mix of
fiction, critique, memoir, confession, and essay demands to be experienced.

Alex Preston

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@ahmpreston

Am recommending to EVERYONE my read of the summer Speedboat by Renata Adler. Best novel I've read in such a long
time.
4:04 PM - 12 Aug 14

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36. Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel

Garci Mrquez

Penguin / BuzzFeed

An ageing journalist requests a virgin prostitute for his 90th birthday, but instead of
sex, he finds love for the first time.

37. If Youre Not Yet Like Me by Edan Lepucki

Novella / BuzzFeed

A darkly comic novella in which the narrator tells her unborn daughter the story of
how she came to be. A romantic comedy with the emphasis on comedy, not
romance.

Rebecca

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@rlhazelwood

Finished with If You're Not Yet Like Me, by Edan Lepucki: Well,
okay. This is as perfect a short story/novella as ...
http://t.co/v6VKBaIF9w
6:17 AM - 07 May 14

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38. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

Harper Perennial / BuzzFeed

A woman assigned to deal with the estate of an old flame finds herself in the middle
of a secret war between two mail distributors in Pynchons satirical novel.

39. The Lover by Marguerite Duras

Pantheon / BuzzFeed

In 1930s Saigon, a young French girl enters into a passionate affair with the son of a
wealthy Chinese family that threatens to tear their families apart.

40. Breakfast at Tiffanys by Truman Capote

Penguin / BuzzFeed

The narrator befriends a young New York society girl, Holly Golightly, who relays
tales of her dates with wealthy men, and finds himself entranced by her.

92Y

Truman Capote Reads Breakfast at Tiffa

16:59

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41. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Penguin / BuzzFeed

Ethan Frome struggles to tend to his farm and his wife then her beautiful cousin
comes to stay.

42. Times Arrow by Martin Amis

Vintage / BuzzFeed

In a reverse narrative, the protagonist moves backwards from death towards the

storys beginning and his role in one of the most horrific events in recent history.

anonceleb

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@anonceleb

the concept and the audacity of Martin Amis to pull off Time's
Arrow. Stunning!
11:45 PM - 28 Aug 14

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43. Lucinella by Lore Segal

Melville House / BuzzFeed

A witty and searing indictment of the 70s New York literary scene, in which a poet
observes her peers at a writers colony upstate.

Emily Freyer

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@emfreyer

Excited doesn't begin to cover it. Lucinella's the weirdest, most

wonderful book I've read in years http://t.co/WMxVjmZgAi
@melvillehouse
12:35 AM - 01 Oct 13

44. Night by Elie Wiesel

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Penguin / BuzzFeed

A harrowing account of the authors time in Nazi concentration camps.

45. A Room of Ones Own by Virginia Woolf

Penguin / BuzzFeed

An essay in narrative form, arguing against the treatment of women both as fictional
characters and as writers of fiction in a male-dominated literary world.

46. Ablutions by Patrick deWitt

Granta / BuzzFeed

An alcoholic bartender in Los Angeles observes the lonely, broken, and grotesque
characters who populate his bar, among whom he may be the most broken.

Ranjit

Follow

@qtfan

Patrick deWitt's Ablutions is an astonishing first novel with a second

person narrative. Brutal yet brilliant and visceral. I loved it.
12:40 AM - 16 Sep 11

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Why not take a stroll to your local bookshop and buy

one?
This list isnt exhaustive. If theres a short novel weve missed, please add it in the
comments below so others might enjoy it. Oh, and just because you can read these
in a day doesnt mean you have to. Happy reading!
H/T to Flavorwire / Reddit / Go Book Yourself.

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Tagged: books, achebe, douglas adams, novella, novellas, orwell, penguin, reading, short reads, the giver, win