Life is busy, and time is short. But we don’t have to give up reading just because time in our day is limited.

Much as I love a doorstop book, sometimes it’s nice (or necessary) to select the opposite: a short book I can get through in a single weekend (or over 24 hours, if I’m on leave from work).

Here are five of my favourites:

Animal Farm by George Orwell (144 pages)

Ignore anyone who laughs at you when you tell them you’re reading this (as happened to me one day at work. I suspect the man in question thought I was talking about something else).

Subtitled “A Fairy Story” this George Orwell’s terrifying story is anything but. A novella about the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm, who overthrow their human master Mr Jones and take over the running of the farm themselves, it’s a satire about totalitarian regimes (specifically Communism) and what happens when idealism is replaced by corruption and greed.

Granted, communism isn’t the most cheerful subject to acquaint yourself with when you’re trying to relax, but Animal Farm is entertaining, powerful and horrifying in equal measure.

Shopgirl by Steve Martin (220 pages)

Yes, that Steve Martin. He’s a novelist too!

I read this one as part of a reading list challenge (a great choice if you’re unsure what to read or stuck in a reading rut). The prompt was “an author with the same initials as you”. I’m not the biggest fan of Steve Martin’s films, but I did enjoy the film version with Claire Danes and the man himself as her love interest. And so, over 3 long nights during the 2022 World Cup, I gave it a shot.

It is a fun read, telling the story of Mirabelle, a lonely, adrift shop assistant who works in an LA department store. Mirabelle is pursued by two suitors: the older, emotionally unavailable millionaire Ray, and penniless, equally adrift Jeremy. It’s dark, funny and just a bit cool. I loved it.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (180 pages)

You didn’t expect me to write a list of quick reads without including The Great Gatsby, did you?

The quintessential novel of the Jazz Age, The Great Gatsby is one of the few novels that both myself and my sister thoroughly enjoyed. The tale of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his doomed romance with the socialite Daisy Buchanan, told by Gatsby’s friend Nick Carraway, there is a reason this one regularly makes an appearance on lists of the greatest novels ever written.

It’s very readable, it’s concise, and it doesn’t meander. The characters are flawed but likeable, and most importantly they are relatable.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of making Jay Gatsby’s acquaintance, sit down this weekend and do so immediately. You may not want to leave!

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (104 pages)

One for a cold, dark night. I was gifted this as a student, as part of a bound boxset of mystery and horror novels. It was part of a larger collection of short stories by Robert Louis Stevenson. Many people know the phrase a “Jekyll and Hyde character”, and think they know the plot of this novella, but don’t let that put you off.

J&H reads like a mystery thriller, so if you’re not into horror novels (like me), there is still much here for you to enjoy.

It is very much the perfect novella, an absolutely riveting thriller. The plot races along at a breakneck pace (Stevenson himself wrote the original draft in less than three days), and if you’re anything like me, you’ll wish by the end that you didn’t already know what was coming!

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (192 pages)

One night in the days before Netflix and Disney Plus, I was bored out of my skull. I was in search of something to watch on TV and began channel hopping, when I came across a film called Wide Sargasso Sea. I had missed the first few minutes, but something about it grabbed me instantly. I was riveted and watched the whole thing. I’ve never seen it listed on any channel or any streaming service from that day forward. Searching fruitlessly for months to find a copy of the DVD (these were the dark days when such things were not instantly available), I decided instead to read the novel on which it was based.

A prequel to Jane Eyre, Wide Sargasso Sea is the story of Antoinette Cosway, a white heiress living in Jamaica, who meets and marries the young Mr Rochester. Thus follows the story of how their marriage disintegrates and she becomes the Madwoman in the Attic of Charlotte Bronte’s novel.

I later donated Wide Sargasso Sea to a book swap shop in Tenerife, in the hope that someone else would discover it and love it as much as I did. And perhaps one day the BBC will decide to show the film again!

What are your favourite quick reads?