This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Vassar chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
Class workloads are starting to ramp up, making it more important–and more challenging–to make the time to relax and recharge. Here are ten books that are under 250 pages, perfect paired with a cup of tea to give your brain a break.
- The Seas, Samantha Hunt
- A lyrical exploration of a young woman’s neuroses in a small seaside town. She is in love with an older veteran and has convinced herself that her father is a mermaid after he is stranded at sea. The language in this novel is unforgettable and truly transformative for when you need to be anywhere but your desk.
- Hot Milk, Deborah Levy
- A story of mother-daughter dynamics set against the backdrop of a Spanish village. It grapples with sexuality, passion, and femininity, making even the complicated relationships it contains feel like a vacation.
- Jillian, Halle Butler
- An admirable feat of tone, this book is snarky from beginning to end. It’s about a woman who hates her coworker, their voices contributing to a genuinely hilarious satire on office culture and what we leave at home when we go to work (and class…?).
- Things We Lost in the Fire, Mariana Enriquez
- A surreal and haunting collection of short stories, making it a great choice for those who can only carve out small windows for reading at a time. It covers a range of societal issues in Buenos Aires, making it a thoughtful read, but its horror elements definitely keep pages turning.
- Widow Basquiat: A Love Story, Jennifer Clement
- A biography of the relationship between Jean-Michel Basquiat, Neo-Expressionist artist, and his girlfriend Suzanne Milouk as they navigate love, addiction, artistry, and New York City. It is poetically written and split into small vignettes that may be short but pack an emotional punch.
- Bluets, Maggie Nelson
- A lyrical meditation on the color blue and its cultural significance, broken up into brief numbered fragments. It evokes heartbreak and sadness, but also love and the beauty that exists in our relationships and our world.
- Play It As It Lays, Joan Didion
- A gripping story of a 1960s actress and what lies beneath the glamour of West Coast life during that era. A gritty and honest fiction by one of the great cultural observers of the late 20th century, it feels like it could be reportage–if one were willing to bear their secrets so intimately to a journalist.
- Crush, Richard Siken
- A beautiful and very slim volume of primarily free verse poetry with gorgeous imagery. You may want to keep your pencil case open for this one and have a highlighter ready.
- I Who Have Never Known Men, Jacqueline Harpman
- A gripping story of a group of women trapped in an underground bunker and what happens when they’re eventually exposed to the world. Thought-provoking and unique, this is an imaginative story while also being a poignant commentary on society.
- Greek Lessons, Han Kang
- A slim and quiet tale of the ways we interact with the world through our senses, and the poignancy of unlikely human connections. A great story to remind us how large the realm of experience is through an unusual and intimate connection between two people in a Greek language class in Seoul.