📖 Some winter weekends call for staying in — warm, quiet, with a hot drink in hand. But escaping the cold indoors can make us feel restless quickly — Netflix binges lose their appeal, and even your current novel might feel like it’s dragging.

If reading more is one your 2026 resolution list and you’ve committed to an ambitious Goodreads challenge, we have some suggestions. Whether you’re working through a reading slump or need a palate cleanser before your next big read, here are some short, impactful reads you can finish in a single sitting.

📚 Bite-sized fiction

#1- So Late in the Day — Claire Keegan: This trilogy of short stories from the SmallThings Like These author explores dynamics between men and women through three distinct narratives: a man dumped by his fiancĂ©e (remaining oblivious as to why), a writer who receives an unexpected guest, and an unhappily married woman whose infidelity puts her in danger.

At around 100 pages, the anthology can be consumed in under an hour. Keegan’s prose is precise, and each story delivers an impact well beyond its length.

WHERE TO GET IT- You can find the paperback at The Bookspot, and the eBook on Amazon.

#2- The Seep — Chana Porter: Fans of Pluribus will find familiar territory here. The Seep follows Trina as she navigates a world transformed by the gentlest of alien invasions — a virus that causes humanity to share one consciousness, collapsing borders and financial institutions in exchange for happiness. Like Carol Sturka, Trina isn’t having it, and sets off to find a young boy seemingly unaffected by the change.

At 200 pages, it’s the longest on this list, but reads quickly. It’s a disorienting, absorbing sci-fi — good company while waiting more than a year for the next season of Pluribus.

WHERE TO GET IT- You can find the eBook on Amazon.

#3- Three Stories from Cairo — Gretchen McCullough: This short story collection is Cairo like you’ve never seen it before — all three stories share one crucial trait: they’re unapologetically risquĂ©. Written in both English and Arabic (the book itself is split in half), each explores a taboo or a facet of Egyptian society often kept in the shadows.

One story follows an apartment of unconventional outcasts; another traces animosity between an Egyptian mother and her “deviant” British neighbor. Reader discretion is (heavily) advised.

WHERE TO GET IT- You can find the paperback version at Diwan.

#4- The Crane Husband — Kelly Barnhill: A single mother comes home with a crane and announces him as her husband — her family just has to deal with it. From the author of When Women Were Dragons, this unsettling novella serves as an allegory for domestic abuse, generational trauma, and complicated family dynamics.

At 77 pages, it’s tightly written and well-paced — a strong introduction to Barnhill’s work.

WHERE TO GET IT-You can find the eBook on Amazon.

đŸ˜± Fleeting horrors

#1- The Fall of the House of Usher — Edgar Allan Poe: Not to be confused with the Netflix adaptation, Poe’s original is a slow-building dread. When the unnamed narrator visits his old friend Lord Usher at his decaying estate, intending to lift the man’s spirits, he finds a house with its own designs.

At 36 pages, it’s brief — though the 19th century prose may slow you down.

WHERE TO GET IT-You can find the eBook at no cost on Apple Books.

#2- The Yellow Wallpaper — Charlotte Perkins Gilman: A woman diagnosed with “hysteria” is prescribed isolation in a summer house. There, she begins fixating on her room’s yellow wallpaper, descending deeper into psychosis.

In fewer than 30 pages, Gilman delivers a harrowing account of a woman severed from reality. Over 130 years since publication, The Yellow Wallpaper remains a foundational work of feminist literature and a pointed critique of patriarchal webs.

WHERE TO GET IT- You can find the eBook at no cost on Apple Books.

#3- The Night Guest — Hildur KnĂștsdĂłttir: At 190 pages, this book may be longer than the others in this section, but it moves quickly. The narrator, IĂ°unn, wakes up daily with injuries she can’t explain — no break-in, no intruder. When attempts to get help fail, she investigates on her own, and what she discovers is genuinely unexpected — don’t bother guessing.

WHERE TO GET IT-You can find the eBook on Amazon.

#4- The Pigeon — Patrick SĂŒskind: The author of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer turns to a different kind of horror — the kind conjured by the mind itself. Middle-aged Jonathan Noel has built a life on a thin thread of routine and false stability. When a pigeon appears outside his door, it unravels him.

Over 77 pages, The Pigeon traces Noel’s quick psychological spiral. The premise may sound absurd, but the horror lies in recognizing that what seems trivial to most can be catastrophic for someone else, and that maybe we’re closer to madness than we’d like to admit.

WHERE TO GET IT-You can find the eBook on Amazon.

đŸ–‹ïž Poetry en passant

#1- Cairo: The Undelivered Letters — Mai Serhan: This is a collection of letters addressed to Cairo from its inhabitants — human and otherwise. The book explores the city through their struggles, dreams, and heartaches. A quick, thought-provoking read.

WHERE TO GET IT-You can find the paperback version at Diwan.

#2- Sea Prayer — Khaled Hosseini: This illustrated short story from the author of AThousand Splendid Suns follows a father and son preparing to board a refugee ship. As the father recalls memories of home, the gravity of their situation becomes clear.

Inspired by Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed up on a Turkish beach in 2015, Sea Prayer is spare in text but heavy in impact. The illustrations add an emotional punch that’s likely to leave a bruise.

WHERE TO GET IT-You can find the ebook on Amazon.

⭐ Honorable mentions

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