TTT: Quick Reads (To beat your reading challenge)

Hello lovelies! How are you? Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Artsy Girl and today’s topic is a freebie! Since it’s getting close to the end of the year and a lot of us are trying hard to catch up on our reading challenges, I thought I’d share some quick reads with you today. Most of them are very short, some of them have formats that make them very easy to read and a couple are just really hard to put down. I hope you’ll find something you want to read and good luck with your challenges!

1. The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill – 72 pages

This little graphic novel about a girl who rescues a tea dragon and makes new friends is one of the loveliest things I’ve ever read. Just thinking about it makes me feel soft. It’s got beautiful art, a sweet story and diverse characters. It’s also free to read online.

2. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor – 96 pages

Nnedi Okorafor is one of my favorite SF writers and this novella is a wonderful place to start with her work. It follows a Himbla girl who’s the first of her people to leave her home planet to attend an intergalactic university.

3. Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot – 143 pages

This nontraditional memoir about mental health by a Native American woman packs a very big punch, in it’s very few pages. It’s exquisitely written and very powerful.

4. The Queen of Ieflaria by Effie Calvin – 182 pages

This is a beautiful story about two princesses who’re about to enter an arranged marriage. It’s got intricate world-building, character development and a slow burn romance. And it’s only a novella!

5. The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan – 211 pages

My favorite David Leviathan novel is told in a very traditional format: it’s literally the dictionary of a relationship. Each page has a short text exploring what one word means in the context of their relationship. It’s brilliant.

6. Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed – 255 pages

This YA contemporary about a Muslim girl dealing with Islamophobia after a terrorist attack is equal parts sweet romance and impactful coming of age story. It’s one of the best contemporaries I read this year and a very quick read.

7. Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor – 266 pages

If you’ve read Laini Taylor’s other books, but not picked up this one yet you’re in for a treat. In this collection she tells three magical about the power of a kiss. It’ll make you fall even more deeply in love with her lyrical writing and wonderful world-building.

8. The Wicker King by K. Ancrum – 305 pages

This dark YA book about two boys intense relationship is told in very short chapter (often less than a page long) interspersed with multimedia elements like photographs, drawings, mixed tapes and more, which makes it feel about half it’s length.

9. The Surface Breaks by Louise O’Neill – 320 pages

Louise O’Neill’s feminist Little Mermaid retelling has the kind of prose that flows like water and before you know it you’ve read a couple hundred pages. It’s also gorgeous, so you won’t want to put it away.

10. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo – 360 pages

The longest book on the list is also one of the fastet to read. The protagonist is a Dominican girl from a strict religious family who’s a poet and her coming of age story is told in verse.

Have you read any of these books? What are your favorite quick reads? Have you finished your reading challenge yet? Or are you still working on it?