These Books Get It Done in 300 Pages or less

[00:00:00][singing] [music] >> Hey, what's up? Hello. If you're new here, my name is Kayla and you are watching Kayla's Bookish Vibes. And in today's video, we are going to be talking about how some authors have been able to emotionally wreck me in 240 pages or less, and some authors have completely lost me by page 300. And I've been trying to figure out what are these authors doing where they're able to tell a complete story. Because when I finish these books, I never feel like there was anything missing. I don't feel like it should have been longer. I feel very satiated by the end of these books, very satisfied with the story and where it went. So, I'm going to be giving you guys some books, some of my favorite books that are all under 300 pages that I feel like did these things perfectly well with no wasted words. So, let's get into it. The first two books I feel like were super impactful and felt like they were longer than what they actually were because of the authors had a story to tell, okay? They weren't here to waste time. I'm not here for a long time, I'm here for a good time. I have a story to tell. Want to hear it? Here it go.

[00:01:12]That's the feeling I got when I read These Heathers by Meena Mackenzie. She had a very specific message that she wanted to get across and you could tell that there was a very specific story that she wanted to use to tell this message. And I feel like she stuck to that story and nothing else. This book took place over a weekend. So, it was a very short read and it felt very fast-paced. But by the end of it, I still felt very fulfilled. Like I felt like this was a full, well-rounded story and I know it's because she stuck to the story. There were no side quests, there were no unnecessary subplots of romance that was expounded on. It'll be like a historical fiction or a thriller or something and there's like this subplot of romance that is introduced but then it drops off and it's never even really completed. It's just there for the sake of being there, but it's like did it help push your story forward? I feel like with this book, there were no side quests. There was nothing that distracted us from the story. It was just the story and nothing else. In the same vein, the book that I just read that honestly inspired this whole video idea was James Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk. This book was so impactful for me, but it was so short. And I was trying to figure out I have read some thick books this year and they have not impacted me the way that this book has.

[00:02:27]There were very specific themes that James Baldwin wanted to get across and he knew exactly the story that he wanted to to use to get those themes across and he stuck to that story. I think it's very clear when an author has intentionality in their writing. It's like listen, I'm here to tell you this story. These are the themes and maybe the ideas that I want to tell you, but this is the story that we're going to use to tell you that. You as the reader can feel when it's very clear, you know?

[00:02:51]And I think those two books did that very well. Now these next two books I think really had an impact even though they're under 300 pages because every character had to earn their place on the page.

[00:03:02]Gloria Naylor's Linden Hills is one of my favorite books to read around the Christmas time. Really feel like in this book every character was there for a reason. Now are you going to remember every character's name per se? No, because a lot of the characters besides our main characters, a lot of our characters were just passing through, but they were passing through for a reason. There was a theme or an element tied to those characters that Gloria Naylor wanted to get across and she used those characters to get that message across. Under 300 pages, how many pages is this book? Oop.

[00:03:35]Uh.

[00:03:37]Cha. I thought it's 304 pages. So honorable mention.

[00:03:43]Honorable mention. It's four pages over the limit, but it's still a short book and I'm going to keep this in because I really enjoy this book and I think you need to to it and I don't talk enough about it.

[00:03:52]But, everything else I said stands. Each character has a reason to be there.

[00:03:56]They're not just like a filler character. Their characters are here to deliver something for you as the reader, and I feel like that is why this book is so impactful in such few pages. Same for J. California Cooper is family. This is historical fiction, and it's a family saga that spans over four generations and 230 pages.

[00:04:17]Four generations of family in 230 pages.

[00:04:21]Each character has a reason to be on the page. You're not meeting characters for the sake of meeting a character. No one is there to take up space, and every character is absolutely intentional.

[00:04:32]Each character reveals something either about family or resilience or survival, but it pushes the story forward, right?

[00:04:41]Each character is there for a reason, and it doesn't feel like wasted space.

[00:04:46]J. California Cooper, though, is the queen of short stories. She typically writes short story collections. So, I'm not surprised at all that she was able to do all of that in 230 pages, but highly recommend this book. Loved it. Next, some books that I feel like felt very full, very well-rounded, are because they are very emotionally dense. We're not going to be here long, but the time that we are here, I'm going to take you through there. And that's what I feel these books did to me. So, first we have Camilla's Roses by Bernice L. McFadden.

[00:05:19]Fantastic writer. The emotional toll that this book will take on you because these characters are going through. This is also somewhat of a family saga. We are getting multiple family members within multiple generations as well, and there's not a lot of pages here.

[00:05:35]There's only 237 pages. When I think about what I went through after reading this book, and it was only 237 pages, my mind is blown. The emotional depth, the emotional wreckage that you will have reading this book and feeling feeling for these characters is insane. Another book that I feel like everyone has read at this point is Yellow Wife by S. Jae Joneson. This is a short book. 275 pages and this book will absolutely wreck you. Emotionally dense.

[00:06:05]And my favorite, The Deep by Rivers Solomon. Look at the tabs on this thing.

[00:06:09]I can't wait to do a reread of this. 163 pages. This book is below 200. You could literally read this book in one sitting and the emotions that it's going to take you through, so worth it. It's a testament to these authors and their writing.

[00:06:26]Bangers.

[00:06:27]All under 300 pages and if you haven't read them yet, you need to read them.

[00:06:32]If for no other reason than because it's not going to take you all day. The last reason I think that some shorter books, specifically the two that I'm about to mention, are shorter but still have a very heavy impact, is because the authors trust the reader. They don't over explain in their books. I can't begin to tell you how annoyed I get when I'm reading a book and the author explains something that doesn't need to be explained. That's taking up page That's taking up pages. That's taking up words that you could have been using to do something else with.

[00:07:00]Don't over explain things to me as if I, the reader, can't infer or restate things three different ways because you want to drive the point home where it's like, but I got it the first time. We could have moved on at this point. These two books I think do an amazing job because the author trusts the reader to pick up what they're putting down.

[00:07:21]Dominion by Addie Kitchens.

[00:07:24]This author absolutely trusts her reader. She gives you just enough of the character, but she leaves you to connect dots, to draw conclusions.

[00:07:35]She's not going to give you the answer.

[00:07:36]She's not going to spell it out for you in this book, but you feel like by the end of it you know.

[00:07:43]Now, what you know may be different from what another reader who read the same exact book knows. I feel like that's the that's the balancing act of being able to trust your readers when you don't give us a finality or like a final thing.

[00:07:56]We can all be inferring something different. He definitely trusts the reader to understand and hear words that were not said. Now, I will say if you are someone who likes things spelled out for you, if you like for the author to hold your hand through the book from beginning middle to the end, you're probably not going to like this book because Addie definitely trusts her readers to infer and to hear things that were unsaid.

[00:08:21]Another book that I think does this extremely well is Model Home by River Solomon. Honestly, I think horror as a genre does this really well, right? Like they're not going to explain the symbolism for you. They're not going to spell it out. You're going to have to sit in the discomfort.

[00:08:38]You're going to have to piece together what this means. You're going to have to follow the family history and try to figure out well, what could this possibly mean for this character? I think I really love when authors trust their readers because it requires active participation from me. I will say these books tend to stick with me longer and I'm usually thinking about these books you know, weeks, months after I've read them because I'm still trying to think through some of the symbolism that may have been present or maybe they didn't give us like a finite answer to something and so now I'm like man, I'm really trying to like remember things that happened earlier in the book and trying to figure out like well, what what the hell happened? Like I have questions after, but it's making me think about the book after.

[00:09:23]I guess what I'm trying to say is they leave me with something to wrestle with, right? Like there's some ideas that I'm still trying to figure out with these books and that means that these books come up often in in mind. I definitely still think about this book.

[00:09:38]Absolutely. I kind of get that from If Beale Street Could Talk as well. I feel like great authors know that like the story doesn't have to end when I close the book. Like if you leave it open-ended, continue to like chew on this story long after I've read the book. If Beale Street Could Talk also did that really well. That's it.

[00:09:58]Those are my shorties. All of these I absolutely loved and they're all under 300 pages and I feel like they are all super intentional. Whether it's intentional about the characters that they chose to put in the book, the story that they wanted to tell, or leading you to the water but not forcing you to drink it. Okay? Trusting that you could dip your head down and get some water if you wanted to.

[00:10:22]I loved all of these. Please let me know down in the comments below what are some of your favorite books that are under 300 pages that absolutely blew you away.

[00:10:29]That was like, "Listen, this is not a long one, but it's a good one." And I feel like I need to say this is not me bashing longer books. I love a good thick book, okay? I love a good thicky-ana, especially if it's fantasy.

[00:10:42]But I'm just saying, there's an art to being able to tell a good full well-rounded story in under 300 pages. And now it has me side-eyeing some of the books on my shelf. Like, "What could you possibly have to say in this many pages? Like, what are we talking about?

[00:10:58]And why are we talking about it for so long?"

[00:11:01]>> [laughter] >> Thank you so much for watching. If you stay to the very end and you want to let me know, please leave this emoji. Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, and hype. And I will see y'all in my next one.

[00:11:12]Bye.

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