Recs if you like The Death of Ivan Ilych...

Shorter books (under 200 pages) that are part of at least one quest. Many are also in the public domain, making them easily accessible when you want to grind for that next badge.

Not all collections hold things you can touch. This one holds worlds that breathe, selves that dissolve, and realities that refuse to hold their shape. These are the fictions that live on the edge of what language can contain - and sometimes just beyond. Admission is free, through entry requires a signed waiver: the curator cannot be held responsible for any transformations that occur upon your exit. We welcome specimen recommendations!

If we are going to do Qwordy's the Hardest Reading Challenge You'll Ever Do 3.0 - we should probably get some Pagebound badges along the way! I'm specifically going to be adding books from Quests and readalongs that go past the July start date and match at least one of these title prompts: Periodic Table, Familial Terms, Rainbow of Words (also Joseph's coat), Numerical Titles, Titular Counting 5+, Pun in the Title, and First & Last Name in the Title. Recommendations welcome!

For when you need to wallow in melancholy and misery: a collection of pessimistic, cynical, downbeat, depressing, doom and gloom fiction for my disillusioned friends.

More to come!

Got the holiday blues? Check out my list Christmas with the Cranks!

For when reading a classic feels too daunting. Classics under 200 pages!

The Entire Collection of Penguin's Little Black Classics

NOTE: the ones with non matching covers just won't switch to the LBC edition no matter what I do

As seen on Lithub

Various titles, from Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Baltic, & Balkan authors.

Something compelling to make you think

Some of these are more depressing than others... ☕

short but emotionally intense (and sometimes morally uncomfortable) books

Keeping up with the 700+ books featured on Overdue since 2013

All the books in the little black classic collection from Penguin.

Just a list of books I've read from around the world, hoping others will find it useful.

George Saunders' ENG 650 syllabus at Syracuse University. Starting with Turgenev's The Singers and finishing with Chekhov's In the Ravine. "This class is intended not as a survey of the Russian short story, but rather as a chance to read (very closely) a selected number of great stories from that tradition, with an eye to craft... What we really want to accomplish is to improve your fiction." Feel free to link your weekly 3-5 page reflection per story in the comments!

List of classics for those interested in the genre.

They are pretty, they are tiny, they are collectable, but have you read them all?

books dealing with the process of mourning and grieving the loss of a loved one

Comment as to what should I add to this list!