7 Short Story Collections to Read When You Can’t Commit to Novels

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Novels are often my first reading choice. I like to spend time with characters, getting invested in their lives, watching them grow, change, and even die (no matter how painful it is). But every reader knows that reading a novel requires commitment which, these days, with how fast-paced and image-driven our world has become, is harder to manage. If, like me, you occasionally find it difficult to commit to novels, short stories might be just what you need.

In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of short story collections to read when you can’t commit to novels. From a book that depicts the complexities and loneliness of immigrant life to another that encapsulates the ‘Nigerian weird’, the collections on this list are perfect reads between novels.

Read our recommendations below:

elsewhere, home

author: leila aboulela

Genre: fiction

In the thirteen stories that make up this 2018 collection, Leila Aboulela explores the complexities of displacement, identity and belonging among immigrant communities. From the story of a young woman who embarks on a painful journey down memory lane after running into a former classmate from her younger years in Khartoum to the story of the young Sudanese student in Aberdeen whose need for connection pushes her into an unlikely relationship with a Scottish man, the stories in this ‘beautiful and desolate’ collection are full of homesickness and immigrant loneliness.