Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week, she posts an idea relating to books and encourages other book bloggers to respond with their own top ten lists.
This week’s topic is “top ten favourite novellas/short stories.” I tend not to read a lot of novellas so this list was difficult for me to put together, but here are a few of my favourites:
1. The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo
I know this is technically an anthology, but I absolutely loved this collection of beautifully crafted, dark fairy tales that subverted their source material. My favourite of the group, though, was When Water Sang Fire.
2. Opal by Maggie Stiefvater
I technically haven’t read this one yet, but I already know that I’m going to love it because a) it’s Maggie and b) my love for The Raven Cycle is neverending.
3. The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado
The Husband Stitch weaves folk tales and urban legends into an exploration of societies expectations for women – a discussion that is so important and increasingly relevant. I wish I could make everyone give this a read.
4. The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
This short story provides literal holiday magic to the otherwise contemporary anthology entitled My True Love Gave to Me, reminding me once again how much I love Taylor’s exquisite writing,
5. Midnights by Rainbow Rowell
Like #4, this can also be found in the My True Love Gave to Me anthology. The idea of exploring a relationship by revisiting the same night each year (in this case, a New Years Eve countdown) was so interesting, and I was impressed by how invested in the relationship I became despite only seeing such small windows of time.
6. The Birds of Azalea Street by Nova Ren Suma
This short story can be found in Slasher Girls & Monster Boys, a delightfully creepy anthology. This story was beautifully written and poetic, despite its creepy context.
7. The Assassin and the Underworld by Sarah J. Maas
While I’m less enamoured with the Throne of Glass series right now, I loved The Assassin’s Blade when I first read it – and I absolutely loved seeing Sam and Celaena’s relationship develop in The Assassin and the Underworld.
8. The Boy in the Smoke by Maureen Johnson
This is another one that I haven’t yet read, but I love the Shades of London series so it stands to reason that I’ll love this as well.
9. The Wide, Wide Sea by Patrick Ness
The Chaos Walking series is one of my all-time favourites, so I jumped at the opportunity to return to that dystopic world. And, of course, Ness continued to pull at my heartstrings with this short story.
10. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
At under 100 pages, I’d count The Little Prince as a short story. I haven’t read it yet (shameful, I know!) but I purchased a copy when I was last at Shakespeare and Company and can’t wait to give it a read – from what I’ve heard, it’s absolutely adorable.
What are some of your favourite novellas/short stories? Leave me a list or a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post below.
Lots of people are recommending Her Body and Other Parties. I’ll have to add to my list! My TTT: https://mwgerard.com/short-and-sweet/
I definitely recommend it – it was a really interesting collection of stories!
I didn’t even know Maggie Stiefvater had written a short story for the Raven Cycle. I love that series so much <3. Great list 🙂
I just heard about it a few weeks ago – I’m really excited to give it a read!
I love Leigh Bardugo! I will have to check The Language of Thorns out!
My TTT: http://synopsesbysarge.com/2018/07/17/top-ten-tuesday-novellas-short-stories-i-still-need-to-read/
I definitely recommend it – the stories were so dark and atmospheric!
I need to pick up My True Love Gave to Me at Christmas time, I really enjoy Let It Snow last year so I need another wintry read for this year!
Jade @ BookMuffin recently posted…Series I Will Not Be Finishing (and Some I Still Need To Start)
It’s the perfect winter read! I loved Let It Snow as well – I just read it for the first time this past Christmas.
Fabulous list! There are a few on here that I’d like to check out.
I hope you enjoy them! 🙂
I haven’t read any of these but i need to get to Assassin’s Blade eventually! Great post!
I really enjoyed it, so I hope you do too! Happy reading. 🙂
I love The Little Prince! I only read it recently but it has such a beautiful style and tone. Great list!
I’m glad to hear you loved it! I’m hoping to make it my next read.
I need to catch up on the Grishaverse, because I have The Language of Thorns in my bookshelf and I have yet to pick it up! Good list!
I definitely recommend it! Only a few of the stories take place in the Grishaverse, so I’d say it’s safe to read without having finished the series.
I had totally forgot about some of these anthologies! Definitely need to read the short story by Rainbow Rowell.
It was really cute (as expected from her, really).
The Little Prince is very good, but it has been a while since I read it. I’ll have to revisit it some time. Here is our Top Ten Tuesday
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I love revisiting old favourites so I hope you get a chance to re-read it soon.
The only one of these that I’ve read is Opal! I’ll be adding the rest to my list.
I hope you enjoy them when you get around to giving them a read.
Nice list! I really need to get onto reading more books/stories by Maggie Stiefvater; it’s been way too long! Here’s my TTT: https://emilyweatherburnblog.wordpress.com/2018/07/17/top-ten-tuesday-short-stories-novellas/.
I definitely recommend it – her Raven Cycle series is one of my all-time favourites.
I really want to read A Language of Thorns. Glad you enjoyed it so much. Nice list.
It’s one of my absolute favourites so I hope you’ll be able to check it out. Happy reading!
Love your picks, especially the Slasher Girls and Assassin’s Blade, which I need to get to!
Thank you! I definitely recommend both of them. I’m excited to hear what you think! 🙂
Her Body and Other Parties sounds like an interesting read – added it to my TBR!
It was really thought-provoking – I highly recommend it!
I’ve not read any of these books although have read quite a few of the authors. A lovely list that I need to go away and check out.
Lynn 😀
I hope you enjoy them! Happy reading 🙂
Oh my gosh, we must have really similar reading tastes because this list is FLAWLESS! I haven’t read The Language of Thorns yet but will be reading it soon. I adored Opal, Her Body and Other Parties, Slasher Girls & Monster Boys, and The Assassin’s Blade! I want to reread My True Love Gave to Me this coming winter because I don’t remember it very well. Great list!
Thank you! I’m so glad that you love all of these books. I’m planning to re-read My True Love Gave to Me over Christmas as well – it’s the perfect winter read. Enjoy!
Oh these are some brilliant picks for this weeks topic. I wish I’d remembered to add Slasher Girls and Monster Boys to my list because that’s a collection I loved, and yes I really enjoyed The Wide Wide Sea too. I get what you mean about Patrick Ness not needing loads of pages to tug at the heartstrings.
Great post. 🙂
Thank you! I’m glad to hear you loved The Wide Wide Sea – I’m really excited to give it a read.
There are quite a few titles here that I need to read! I really want to give The Language of Thorns a try soon. I love Bradugo so much. 🙂
I definitely recommend it – it’s such a wonderfully dark anthology
Great list! I’m reading The Little Prince right now. So far, it’s okay.
Aj @ Read All The Things! recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Short Stories Of All Time
I hope it gets better for you. Happy reading!
I love The Language of Thorns! And yes, The Assassin and The Underworld is definitely one of the best stories in the Blade bind up. I still haven’t read the Opal short story, but I want to.
Jo recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday #168
I hope you enjoy Opal when you give it a read!
I still need The Little Prince I think. Though I do own a copy. The Language of Thorns was great and I loved the illustrations.
I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed it! I hope you’re able to get around to reading The Little Prince soon.