Appreciation post: picking the short story collection over the big novel for our April read

Honestly, our club was split between a 700-page historical fiction doorstop and a slim book of linked short stories. I pushed hard for the stories, arguing we could actually finish it and have a real talk. We read 'The Office of Historical Corrections' and, tbh, the discussion last night was the best we've had in months because everyone read the whole thing. Has your group ever picked a shorter book and been surprised by how much better the chat was?

3 comments

3 Comments

tara1512d ago

I always thought a bigger book meant a better talk, but our last meeting proved me wrong. We read a short story collection and actually got into the details because everyone finished it. Guess a complete story beats half a long one.

johnh8212d ago

My old book club fell apart trying to tackle Infinite Jest. We spent six months on it and only three people even cracked page 200. The talks were just people apologizing for not reading. Switching to shorter works means the conversation is actually about the book, not our guilt.

blair_green8612d ago

So we're all just admitting we have the attention span of a goldfish now, right? @tara15 is onto something, my group tried a novella last month and for once no one had to fake-read the last 200 pages.