Five Fabulously Gorgeous Non-Fiction Books Under 200 Pages That Will Get You Back on Your Productive Feet

   Hi everyone 💖 How are you (booked up) today? Are you all booked up by work or by books? If it’s the former, you are in the right place and if it’s the latter, by what books – fiction or non-fiction? If you have been reading too much non-fiction and need a break to prevent your no-longer-all-fired-up-brain from being all fried up, check out this post, in which I recommend eleven electric novellas under 200 pages that will hopefully help you relax, restore and/or reset your brains, so that you are back on your productive feet. If you have been reading too much fiction and desperately in need of a dramatic change of scene or a change of the dramatic scene you keep finding yourself finding however, I can assure you, without an ounce of doubt, that you are reading the right post indeed.

   ‘Wait, what about us, those who are far from booked up in any sense of the phrase? Have you forgotten us, you foolish writer of this post, hmm?’ That, my friends, is the sound of the Greek chorus in my head.  Daft joke, yes, yet another of those. But of course I have not forgotten those of you poor souls who are desperately longing for some booking-up. Hugs. I’m here for you and so is my baby, this post. In no time you’ll be demotivated from demotivation, ready to fill your booking-less lives with fulfilling activities … like reading… 😂 Each of the wonderful non-fiction books I’ll be recommending are under 200 pages, so to those booked up by work, as I have said, you are in the right place. Let’s begin our bookish journey then, shall we? 📚

 

1)    The Unknown Unknown: Bookshops and the Delight of Not Getting What You Wanted by Mark Forsyth – 32 pages

You’ve read it right. In just 32 pages, this sweet, delightful and punchy book about bookshops is the shortest on the list. Talking to its knowledgeable, charming and witty author is definitely on my bucket list. With his signature infectious humour, Forsyth shares his engrossing bookish adventures and misadventures when he visits bookshops. I’m not someone who enjoy reading footnotes but his have been too compelling to miss! Just imagine! An absolutely engrossing storyteller who can make the soundest bookish arguments you have ever heard, hypnotising you into visiting or revisiting bookshops – but not only that, one whose footnotes are packed with well-cracked jokes, too! The only side effect of this gem of a bookish remedy is perhaps increased addiction to books and bookshops.

*The Unknown Unknown was published in 2014 by Icon Books and Mark Forsyth is represented by United Agents*

 

2)    Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs by Beth Ann Fennelly – 113 pages

Narrative non-fiction and (yes, and, not or) prose poem fans, this genre-bending gem’s for you. The author of this book is both a poet and a non-fiction writer, and this is evident in her writing. As its title suggests Heating & Cooling contains 52 micro memoirs, but what exactly are micro memoirs. Well, let me ask you this, ‘Are you familiar with flash fiction?’ For those of you who aren’t, they’re short short stories, usually under 1000 words, or slightly more or less, depending on who you ask. Add a ‘non’ and there you (almost) have it – micro memoirs are works of flash non-fiction consisting of tiny autobiographical slices of life, that from what I’ve found through reading the amazing Heating & Cooling, are absolutely yummy. From the previous statement you might have suspected that Heating & Cooling is the first collection of micro memoirs I’ve read, but you’re wrong – it’s in fact the second. The first, another great read, is called My Mess Is a Bit of a Life, but it’s over 200 pages so I’ll discuss it another day – important (she mentally pronounces with a Brit-ish glottal stop) to stay on topic, in it? Haha! H is for Heating (& cooling) and also for Humour – in this bookish context for stand-up-comedy humour and not just any humour – and also … for Hugs. I’m totally cool with the humour in Heating & Cooling because it is totally cool, but there is also so much hot-chocolaty warmth in the personal experiences the author has shared in this fun ride of a read. Cool in it. Stop the stupid pun Ashley. Cough cough. I particularly love the micro memoir about her (physically) hidden talent, though I won’t spoil it for you. Go read the book and find out for yourself. And, if you’re a writer eager to expand your writing repertoire like me, maybe it’s time we try writing some micro memoirs? Just saying – mostly to my (a [British understatement] bit) diffident and (a lot) procrastinating self 😉

*Heating & Cooling was published in 2018 by W W Norton Company and Beth Ann Fennelly is represented by Blue Flower Arts*

 

3)    Essayism by Brian Dillon – 152 pages

Another gorgeous genre-bending gem. As its title suggests this is a stylistically inventive essay collection about essays, though those words, I believe, have done it so much injustice because as stated, it defies genres, and even breaks rules and conventions, with electric sentence after electric sentence. Stop those daft rhymes Ashley! Anyway, each sentence in this collection feels like an essay on its own and many of you will no doubt find the sweetest of references to your favourite essayists! Want your beloved brains to be all charged up with productive current? Then what are you waiting for? 😜

*Essayism was published in 2017 by Fitzcarraldo Editions and Brian Dillon is represented by RCW Literary Agency*

 

4)    Failosophy: A Handbook for When Things Go Wrong by Elizabeth Day – 112 pages

When life gives you lemon, read Failosophy, relax and embark on your journey of self-discovery 💖 This uplifting book by the author and podcaster Elizabeth Day is filled with relatable, inspirational and light-hearted stories about failure, both from the author and her podcast interviewees. There is also an appendix in which those interviewed list what they consider as failures, some reasonable and others … um … just make fun of themselves? This book does not take failures too seriously. What it does instead, is spread cool growth and self-discovery vibes ✨

*Failosophy was published in 2020 by Fourth Estate and Elizabeth Day is represented by RML*

 

5)   Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – 80 pages

This powerful and succinct collection of, well, notes is not just for those who are grieving. It is also for those who are loving, both the verb and the adjective. I read it last year when a friend suddenly passed away. I found it hard to process my grief and this book helped. To those who are not grieving but who just feel lonely and in need of a supportive friend, this book is for you, or rather here for you, too. Adichie’s warm demeanour, which I can still feel radiating from the book through my bookish memory of it, is absolutely soothing. Reading her book is like talking to one’s best friend! I have not read We Should All be Feminists but apparently according to the Goodreads blurb of Notes on Grief, both the books were similar in style. Fans of Feminists would no doubt enjoy Grief, then.

*Notes on Grief was published in 2021 by Knopf and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie' is represented by the Wylie Agency*

 

   And here comes the end of our bookish journey today! Let me know what you have been reading or plan to read, fiction or non-fiction, in the comment? Always happy to receive book recommendations 😁