Hello everyone! Today’s prompt is top 5 smol books. I enjoy reading novellas and other short works because I can finish them quickly and feel accomplished. lol. Here are some of the shortest books/stories I’ve read and enjoyed. The covers all link to the book’s Goodreads page, and I’ve included the official covers and synopsis when available. Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm, and is now being hosted at Meeghan Reads!

The Man and the Crow by Rebecca Crunden (24 pgs)

Some witches curse, others are cursed. And sometimes, the cursed want revenge.

This short story was previously published in Spellbinding: An Anthology of Magic (2019).

The Fall by Ryan Cahill (95 pgs)

The Order have watched over the continent of Epheria for thousands of years. But there are those who believe The Order has had its day. That it is corrupt, indulgent, and deceitful – that it is ready to fall.

The City of Ilnaen is on fire.
Dragons fill the skies.
Traitors fill the streets.

The Fall is a prequel novella that takes place four hundred years before the events in Of Blood and Fire – book one in The Bound and The Broken series.

Rosebud by Paul Cornell (916 pgs)

“An elegant, elegiac examination of identity, fictionality, God and humanity itself”—Tamsyn Muir

A multilayered, locked-room science fiction novella from Paul Cornell in which five digital beings unravel their existences to discover the truth of their humanity.

“The crew of the Rosebud are, currently, and by force of law, a balloon, a goth with a swagger stick, some sort of science aristocrat possibly, a ball of hands, and a swarm of insects.”

When five sentient digital beings—condemned for over three hundred years to crew the small survey ship by the all-powerful Company—encounter a mysterious black sphere, their course of action is clear: obtain the object, inform the Company, earn lots of praise.

But the ship malfunctions, and the crew has no choice but to approach the sphere and survey it themselves. They have no idea that this object—and the transcendent truth hidden within—will change the fate of all existence, the Company, and themselves.

Malicious Compliance by E.M. Lindsey (134 pgs)

There’s nothing like an epic fall from grace.

Relationship: over.
Career: trashed.
Home: lost.

And somehow, it gets worse when I move into a run-down apartment with a neighbor who’s made it his mission to make my life a living hell. Reeling from my tragic breakup, all I want to do is collect the shattered pieces of my life and put them back together in a shape I recognize, but it’s hard to do that when the jerk next door is keeping me up all hours of the night.

Whatever he does with his loud woodworking tools, obnoxious nineties punk music, and his constant complaints about my working hours, sleep is now a fantasy. Where I once composed music, I now spend my nights entertaining myself with visions of revenge.

But as the war between us continues, things start to shift, and I come to realize our lives might not be that different after all. Where I once loathed the sound of him singing Sex Pistols and using his table saw, now I’ve come to crave it. And I’m starting to think that maybe a faceless stranger I’ve never met might be the key to finding the man I’d lost the day I met my ex.

I’m not sure if the universe has any kindness in mind, but maybe during the holidays, I’ll find my way to hope.

Malicious Compliance is the first in a slow-burn, holiday romantic MM duet featuring enemy neighbors to lovers, the merits of the DIY punk scene, a series of bad dates, and an eventual steamy happily ever after. It is book 1 of the Loose Lips Sink Ships duet, ending in a small cliffhanger. Books must be read in order.

The Jade Setter of Janloon by Fonda Lee (144 pgs)

Fonda Lee returns to the world of the Green Bone Saga with a new standalone novella.

The rapidly changing city of Janloon is ruled by jade, the rare and ancient substance that enhances the abilities and status of the trained Green Bone warriors who run the island’s powerful clans.

Pulo Oritono is not one of those warriors. He’s simply an apprentice jade setter with dreams of securing clan patronage and establishing a successful business. His hopes are dashed, however, when a priceless jade weapon is stolen from the shop where he works.

Now, Pulo has three days to hunt down the thief, find the jade, and return it to its rightful owner if he wants to save his future prospects, the people he cares about, and his very life. The desperate mission will lead Pulo to old vendettas, vast corruption, and questions about everything and everyone he thought he knew.

So, there you have it. My top 5 smol books. What short books are your favorites? Let me know down in the comments!