Reading Challenge: Book Recommendations

Books Under 150 Pages for Short Attention Spans

Note: The 150 pages is taken from Goodreads, so it's possible that they may be longer as eBooks, but they're pretty short regardless.

1. Wrapped Up in You by Talia Hibbert
2. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
3. Into the Uncut Grass by Trevor Noah
4. One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes
5. Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
6. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
7. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros 
8. POE: Stories and Poems by Gareth Hinds
9. Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez
10. Galatea by Madeline Miller

¡Recomendaciones! by Luis Alejandro Betancur Echeverry

Note: Books that do not have a link are not currently in the library collection.

1. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
2. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
3. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
4. Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar 
5. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
6. The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
7. Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar
8. Liveforever by Andrés Caicedo 
9. La Manzana de Oro by Zsolt Harsányi
10. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

7 Stories to Explore by Staci Dreyer

Note: Books that do not have a link are not currently in the library collection

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2. Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
3. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
4. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
5. Oddballs by William Sleator
6. The Secret Life of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell
7. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

10 Book Recommendations by Amber H. 

Note: Books without links are not currently in the library collection. 

1. The Sphere by Michael Crichton
2. The Fires by Sigridur Hagalin Bjornsdottir
3. White Oleander by Janet Fitch
4. The Mist by Stephen King
5. The Apprentice by Jacques Pepin
6. Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl
7. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
8. Jungle by Yossi Ghinsberg
9. Misery by Stephen King
10. One Second After by William Fortschen

An Excerpt from Joe Stickler's Must Read List

“I believe all these books are in the VCSU Library. All were chosen from a list of 79 books that I handed out in all my classes. I still carry several copies in my purse, so I am able to pass them out to people I feel enjoy reading.” 

1. One River by Wade Davis
2. Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
3. Rising from the Plains by John McPhee
4. Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner
5. Beyond the Hundredth Meridian by Wallace Stegner
6. The Sixth Extinction Event by Elizabeth Kolbert
7. Giants in the Earth by O.E. Rolvaag
8. King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild
9. The Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
10. Before the Dawn by Nicholas Wade

Book Sampler Platter by Katie Woehl

"It's hard to pick a 'favorite' top 10 so I just tried to offer a sample of books I've loved from a range of genres and authors."

Note: Books without links are not currently in the library catalog.

1. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
2. Normal People by Sally Rooney
3. The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
4. You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson
5. The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
6. The Women by Kristin Hannah
7. Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
8. We are All the Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin
9. This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
10. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

Road Trip Reads list by Tuya D.

“For those thinking about listening to audiobooks on the road this week, consider starting your journey with one of these excellent books. If you like fantasy fiction with a touch of horror and are interested in regional accents, start with "Book Eaters" by Sunyi Dean, narrated by the fabulous Katie Erich.”

1. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
2. A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power
3. The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
4. None of This is True by Lisa Jewell
5. Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
6. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
7. The Guest List by Lucy Foley
8. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
9. Caste by Isabel Wilkerson

9 Books from an Anonymous Community Member

Note: Books that do not have a link are not currently in the library collection.

1. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
2. Marley and Me by John Grogan
3. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
5. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
6. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
7. Missoula by Jon Krakauer
8. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
9. Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall

Faves of 2024 by Heather Kvilvang

Note: Books without a link are not currently in the library collection.

1. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
2. Euphoria by Lily King
3. This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
4. Mr. and Mrs. American Pie by Juliet McDaniel
5. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
6. The Women by Kristin Hannah
7. One Summer in Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris
8. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
9. The Family Ship by Sonja Yoerg
10. The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki

10 Interesting Book Recommendations from Janna Koehler

Note: Books without links are not currently in the library collection.

1. The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
2. The River we Remember by William Kent Krueger
3. The Women by Kristin Hannah
4. The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer
5. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
6. When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin
7. The People We Keep by Allison Larkin
8. The Maid by Nita Prose
9. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
10. 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand

A Small List of Favorites by Julie Crist

"There are so many more books that I love! The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton is favorite book. I have read it and listened to the audiobook many times. It is a historical fiction with a non-linear timeline that uncovers a family history. Even though thrillers are my favorite genre, I can't say that many reach the 5-star standard to qualify as a favorite. Verity by Colleen Hoover, for me, definitely reached that status. It is creepy! I also love any story that involves magical realism. The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods is captivating. This is only a small list of my favorite books. I love to read!" 

Note: Books without links are not currently in the library collection.

1. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
2. The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray
3. Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
4. Verity by Colleen Hoover
5. The Noel Letters by Richard Paul Evans
6. The Broken Ones by Sarah A Denzil
7. The Good Thief by Hannah Trinti
8. Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
9. The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
10. Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes

8 Great Picks From Gabrielle

Note: Books without links are not currently in the library collection.

1. Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow 
2. House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
3. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab
4. Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne
5. Fairy Tale by Stephen King
6. The Shining by Stephen King
7. The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak
8. Starling House by Alix E. Harrow