Hello, valentines!

All week long, I've been dying to jump in and contribute a post to the Literary Love event (being hosted by Estella's Revenge, Doing Dewey, Love at First Book, and From Isi).  Each day, I wake up and say, "This is the day!  I will write this post TODAY!"  And then...Tater Tot wakes up and wants to be fed, and Small Fry wakes up and starts demanding eggs WITH CHEESE, and we have to be at playgroup by 9:30, and the sink is full and I have to work out at some point? and did anyone go grocery shopping this week? and now suddenly it's 9pm and please just hand me a glass of wine so I can watch more Olympics.

So, in honor of me not having time to do anything ever, I thought I'd give you a quick list of my favorite short (ish) novels that pack a big punch in a small number of pages.

1. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Much like all of Albom's other work: beautiful, moving, thought-provoking, no matter what your religious beliefs.  One of my all time favorite books!

2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
An inspiring story that's sure to make you think about what your "personal legend" will be.  I wish I had gotten this as a high school graduation gift--it would have given me a lot to mull over!

3. Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
Kind of cheating, because this book is not short.  BUT, it's made up of short STORIES (novellas, really), so that works, right?  I love SK's short works and this collection is phenomenal.  (Also, not super horrific/gory, for those that shy away from his more...brutal stuff.)

4. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
One of my favorite classics!  Not only is the storyline engaging, but I like the allegorical message it conveys about human instincts and society.

5. Naked Pictures of Famous People by Jon Stewart
It's Jon Stewart.  Writing like Jon Stewart.  You need no further prompting.

What are your favorite short books?