So, I haven't read a real book in what seems like forever. About halfway through my pregnancy I stopped being able to concentrate enough to read a novel, and I've barely had time since ltc was born. However, this week I decided I needed to fix that. So, I started with The Grownup by Gillian Flynn, which is really just a short story published in book form, but I finished it in one sitting with ltc making noises beside me in the activity seat, and now I'm reading The Drop by Dennis Lehane, which is also super short at just over 200 pages. Which is making me miss the Kenzie and Gennaro books all over again. So, my question is does anyone have any recommendation of short works of fiction that is fairly light reading?

I'm going to assume that you don't necessarily mean light in content, given Flynn and Lehane, so I'll recommend the [location] Noir series of books. They are all anthologies about a particular place, so Boston Noir, Manhattan Noir, New Orleans Noir, etc. The stories can be a little bit of a crapshoot, but generally good in my experience.

(Also, I really liked the movie of The Drop, even though it was D-A-R-K.)

No, I just meant light in terms of being able to concentrate on it while ltc says dada dada repeatedly. I think I have Boston Noir somewhere. I should look for it. Although I'm really not in the mood for a short story collection. More like a stand alone novella. With short stories I get stressed that I need to finish a story in one sitting. I know, I'm weird.

Although I'm really not in the mood for a short story collection. More like a stand alone novella. With short stories I get stressed that I need to finish a story in one sitting. I know, I'm weird.

Hah! I have this issue sometimes, too! I was going to suggest my friend Kathy's collection, Get a Grip:

[link]

Dark and funny and sad stuff.

sj, look through the Kindle Singles collection? I know there Amy Tan had one, and Jennifer Weiner. I think they're all still available.

I have a few of those on my kindle, I read a couple of the Weiner ones, which were good. Although I get annoyed when I get to the end and find out they're just a teaser for a novel.

lisah, heh. I love with buffistas there is always someone who understands your weird. That collection looks good. I grabbed it for when I'm in a different mood.

sj, I quite liked T. Kingfisher's "The Raven and the Reindeer". [link] It's a retelling of The Snow Queen, with a lot of Finnish folk culture stuff. It's about 190 pages.

The first two books I read after having Rose, when my concentration was totally shot, were Tina Fey's Bossypants and True Grit by Charles Portis. Loved them both!

Everything by T. Kingfisher is great, as is everything under her other name, Ursula Vernon. I got my niece the first of the Hamster Princess books last week, and she's racing through it.

A lot of Robin McKinley's stuff, especially the earlier stuff, is pretty light going, if you haven't read it before. (Except Deerskin.)