From guilty pleasures to timeless classics, here is a small list I have composed of digestible novels (and one play) to read during finals— or even just the December scaries:
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (178 pages)
Minus the crimes, this will make you want to escape to Paris after exams. But if I finished my recommendation of the book here, it would completely miss the point of the novel. The story itself is heart-breaking, filled with the characters’ inner battles with self-acceptance, morality and desires. We endure the pain of a protagonist, an American outsider, alienated and feeling rejected by much more than just a foreign country.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (184 pages)
If you are the type of person who refuses to listen to Christmas music before December begins, then I am guessing you will refuse to read this currently. However, if you are like me and cannot get enough of the Christmas spirit, then time to remember what the festivities are truly about and dream of a Dickensian Christmas (without the ghosts and Dickensian economy to match…).
The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie (70 pages)
Honestly, any Agatha Christie book will do during breaks. There is one for each season, for almost any country you dream of visiting, and for any type of protagonist ever created. Her love for thrill is unmatched, and you will hardly be able to put down her novels. This play has similar effects, however much shorter, but not lacking any less of the tension, and matches the season perfectly, as a snowstorm is at the heart of the suspense.
Beauty and the Beast by Madame de Villeneuve (141 pages)
If your mind immediately jumps to singing furniture in a Disney fairytale, then perhaps remove that image before you start this. Madame de Villeneuve’s La Belle et la Bête is the original version and therefore the blueprint for all the adaptations that came after. It is darker, but still filled with fairies, curses, and romance, of course.
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (377 pages)
Ok, so sue me. But this is a classic. Well, perhaps not one that comes up when you search up “all-time classics,” fine, but a classic read, nevertheless. If you are looking for something digestible, then here it is, and do not let the page number scare you. It is light-hearted and educational regarding Greek mythology, and action is at the heart of it! Sure, it is written from the narrative of a 12-year-old, but we all read War Horse, where a horse is narrating…
Photo by Maithilee Shetty on Unsplash