Tiny Books to Read in an Afternoon
If you're wondering where to start...
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Choose The Bird Watchers for a triumphant novelette set in a world like ours, but with more gadgets and a bit more terror. A Nobel Prize-winning couple lives in a rotating apartment building where they watch birds and the government watches them. Their reality turns out to be stranger than either of them imagined.
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Read The Acoustic Arborist for a haunting, lyrical novelette that explores themes of art and impermanence. The arborist is a woman who can trim trees so they play music in the rain. The love story is between two women, and explores things like love at first sight, and what it means to have a muse.
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If you feel up for a devastating and achingly beautiful short story, The Hole is a fast-paced psychological drama about a man who keeps trying to cheer up his wife by remodeling their house. If you've ever felt like a home renovation was getting out of control, you'll appreciate this catastrophic suburban nightmare.
Pick One to Get Started
The Bird Watchers
Novelette
Speculative Fiction
25 pages
What if your wife decided the birds outside your windows held the keys to the universe?
Rob and Helen Dalton live in a world like ours, but with more gadgets and a bit more terror. From the balcony of their rotating apartment building, they watch birds while someone watches them. For decades, Helen conducts secret experiments, searching for the truth about their lives. Then one day, a special bird appears, and all the secrets come tumbling out.
The Bird Watchers is literary fiction with a speculative twist. It's about how unconditional love sometimes means not looking too closely, and what happens when you're finally able to see. You can read this novelette in an hour, but it will linger with you like a novel. Perfect for readers who enjoy Ted Chiang, George Saunders, and stories where intelligence wins.
The Acoustic Arborist
Novelette
Magical Realism
25 pages + extras
What if the trees in your backyard could play music when it rained?
When a Seattle arborist learns how to trim trees to play simple melodies in the rain, audiences are dazzled by sounds they don't understand. After she falls in love with the strong-willed Gracie, the arborist is inspired to create symphonies in the trees. It's beautiful enough to make listeners fall in love with strangers. Then she goes viral. But as the impact of her music grows, adoration turns to obsession, and her fans grow dangerously jealous of the love behind it all.
The Acoustic Arborist is a novelette: short enough to read in an afternoon, with the scope of a novel. It combines literary fiction with magical realism to explore impermanence and the efforts we make to hang on to what we hold dear.
A good match for readers who enjoy Jennifer Egan and George Saunders. The ebook includes a YouTube playlist of the songs in the trees, so you can listen along while you read.
The Hole
Short Story
Psychological Fiction
15 pages
If you've ever felt like the earth might open up and swallow you, maybe it can
Kevin loves his wife June so much he'll do anything to make her happy. New kitchen, new floors, new everything. But June stays in her sweatpants, staring at the empty spot in their yard. And when a landscaping project hits an unexpected snag, the hole that opens up isn't just in their lawn.
The Hole is a fast-paced psychological horror story: a complete nightmare in just 15 pages. Easy to read and hard to forget. Perfect for readers who enjoy Shirley Jackson, George Saunders, and stories about home renovations spiraling out of control.