25 Essential Novellas

We love novellas. They’re just so gratifying: how pocket-sized they are; those slim spines; their punchy, often devastating language; entire worlds you can devour in a single sitting. When we decided to feature novellas in this year’s Essential List, we knew we were going to have fun.

But first, we had to roughly define what “novella” means to us, since it turns out there is no agreed-upon definition. Should we go by page count? Word count? Vibes? After much discussion, we decided to aim for books that are under 40k words long.

Powell’s booksellers submitted more than 100 titles for consideration — proof that our love for novellas runs deep. There were a few that felt like shoe-ins for this list, but had to sadly be disqualified because they’d been featured on a previous Essential List. From there, we had to narrow the list down, which was very difficult work! Somehow, we managed.

Below, you’ll find our 25 essential novellas. On this list, you’ll find novellas that are piercing and beautiful, surreal and idiosyncratic, eerie and whimsical, iconic and classic. There are masterpieces and fables on this list, stories that are metatextual and mesmerizing, and books that dissect gender roles, sexual identities, racism, capitalism, betrayal, loss, and so much more.

We bet that if you started now, you could read all 25 of our essential novellas by the end of the year. Go on: we dare you.