Some of the best reading time is the least comfortable: twenty minutes on a night bus, a break in the middle of a shift, the gap between two stops. A thick plot with many threads will not survive that. Books made of short, complete pieces will. Every stop is a good place to stop.
Five books that work in small pieces
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (2008). Thirteen linked stories about a retired maths teacher in a small town in Maine. Each one stands alone, and together they build a whole life.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (1984). Short vignettes, often a page or two, about a girl growing up in a Chicago neighbourhood. You can read one between stops.
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield (1930). A comic diary of a woman's year in an English village, in short dated entries. Dry, kind and very funny.
Short stories by Anton Chekhov (1880s and 1890s). Most run ten to thirty pages and end on a quiet note that stays with you. Any selection from your library will do.
Any Maigret novel by Georges Simenon (the first appeared in 1931). Short, atmospheric detective novels, usually around 150 pages, each with a new puzzle, so you can start anywhere.
How to read in small pieces
- Pick a book with chapters of five to fifteen pages, and make one chapter your goal for the ride.
- Read the last line of the previous chapter before you start. It takes five seconds and gets you back in.
- Choose a paperback with clear print. A bumpy night ride is not the time for tiny type.
- On a night shift, a fifteen-minute break is enough for one story. Keep the book where you will see it, not at the bottom of the bag.
Your library will have most of these, and a small paperback weighs almost nothing in a work bag.
