Novellas in November

November is a very busy month when it comes to challenges. I am not sure why everyone wants to put their challenge in November, when we have so many other beautiful months in the year. Furthermore, the challenges are so interesting so I really would like to join them all. But, alas, not possible. I will go with my usual ones though, of which Novellas in November is one. The other two are Nonfiction November and German Literature Month.

Novellas in November is hosted by 746 books and Bookish Beck. Thank you so much for keeping up the tradition. Here are a few very simple rules, but head over to their websites for more info.

A novella is usually referring to a book of anything under 200 pages (even nonfiction). There will be one Buddy Read during the month which is Orbital by Samantha Harvey. It has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Personally, I rarely find the Booker Prize listed books interesting (but there are exceptions), but this sounds like a book I would like to read. It is about six astronauts on board a space station orbiting earth. There are no official themes or prompts giving us readers a free hand to choose. They suggest us to start with: "My Year in Novellas retrospective looking at any novellas you have read since last NovNov, and finish it with a New to My TBR list based on what novellas others have tempted you to try in the future." Here are my retrospective year in Novellas.

Novellas read since last November

When I started looking for the novellas I have read since last November, I did not really imagine I would find any. To my big surprise I did read 12 novellas, six fiction and six nonfiction.

• A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr 

• The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima

• Handbok i livets konst (The Handbook) by Epictetus (NF)

• Lessons in Stoicism by John Sellars (NF)

• Rivieran inom räckhåll, Med tåg till de bästa upplevelserna i södra Frankrike by Kristina Svensson och Maria Unde Westerberg (A guide to train travel in Europe) (NF)

• Det är inte jag, det är du, Att göra slut med Gud by Rosi Hageberg (the authors story of how she stopped believing in God) (NF)

• How to be a Stoic - Epictetus/Seneca/Marcus Aurelius (NF)

• Antinous: A Poem by Fernando Pessoa

• The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

• The Queen of Darkness and other stories by Grazia Deledda

• Garibaldi: frihetskämpe och folkhjälte by Sven Wikberg (about Garibaldi who fought for the freedom of Italy) (NF)

• Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie

The best novellas were two: The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima and A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr 

Which novellas will I read this November

For any challenge I try to find books on my TBRs so these three novellas come from there.

• Frauen, die lesen, sind gefährlich und klug by Stefan Bollman (also for German Literature Month) (Women who read are dangerous and smart) - a small book I found in the museum at Schiller's house in Weimar. He relates to paintings of women reading or in close proximity to a book and write a short reflection around it.

• The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope - haven't we all loved this movie. It will be interested to read the original story.

• On the Shortness of Life: Life is Long if You Know How to Use It by Seneca. Isn't the cover just fantastic?

couple of extra books in case I can find a copy ... and have time, which will be doubtful. But there is always another novella challenge.

• Come Rain or Come Shine by Kazuo Ishiguro

• Jakob von Gunten by Robert Walser

I am eager to see what you choose to read during this month. I am sure I will be inspired by your choices.