Top Five Short Reads for Mobile Reading

If you’ve been enjoying reading e-books on your phone, you might have found that longer novels don’t really fit with reading on a smaller screen or on the go. Lengthy series like A Song of Ice and Fire are entertaining reads but they are complex and take forever to get through. It can be hard to get into a series like this if your only reading time is on the way to work or whenever you get a few spare minutes to read on your phone.

There are, however, plenty of shorter things to read available from the Nook ebook reader app that can be read sometimes in just a few sittings and are easy to absorb while you are travelling, exercising, or taking in snippets of books on your phone. Here are just a few recommendations to get you started, which are all available as downloads from Nook:

1. Magazines

If you haven’t been using the Nook app’s magazine function then it might be time for you to start. Magazines are designed to be read in short bursts and provide just as much entertainment and interesting information as books. Many also contain short fiction stories, which are sometimes spread over several issues as serials. The Nook magazine store contains everything from National Geographic to Crochet World. You can even borrow magazines and periodicals and download them temporarily to your phone from some public libraries.

2. Graphic novels and manga

This is another great way to consume an entire ‘book’ in a short time, particularly if you like visual storytelling. Even if you don’t read comics regularly, taking a break from reading nothing but blocks of text might be refreshing once in a while and you may discover that graphic novels are a great way of telling stories.

Many comics are available for download on Nook and are easy to browse on a phone. If you’re a fan of movies and television, many franchises have comic adaptations or expansions on their stories, and you can find comics of everything from Star Trek to My Little Pony. Japanese manga has also become increasingly popular in the last decade and tells a wide range of stories from a different cultural perspective. For lighthearted fun try the Japanese manga Yotsuba&! (Yes, that’s how it’s really spelt!)Or for something more serious and political try V for Vendetta.

3. Short stories

Do you find some books tell good stories but tend to drag on too much? Even classics like Lord of the Rings are guilty of this. Many short stories tell an entire tale just as well as an 800 page book in a much shorter space. You can read an entire story in one sitting then move onto the next one. Classic short stories such as The Lottery or The Monkey’s Paw can often be found for free. Emerging authors trying to make a name for themselves often publish short story collections or sometimes one-off short stories on Nook to showcase their skills and build a readership for their longer works. Many of these can be bought very cheaply or even for free.

4. Classic novellas

Many of the best classic books are novellas, books which are too short to be a novel but too long to be a short story. Not only are these entertaining to read, but because they are in the public domain, they too can be downloaded for very cheap prices or even for free. You can claim to have read some of the world’s best literature without having to spend hours trying to make sense of Victor Hugo or James Joyce.

Classic stories such as A Christmas Carol, the Sherlock Holmes stories, and Heart of Darkness (the inspiration for Apocalypse Now) are all technically novellas and can be found in the ebook store.

5. Children’s and young adult books

If you have moved on completely from fiction for younger readers or consider it too childish then you are missing out on a lot. Today, young adult books are as popular with adult readers as with their target readership due to the risks they take and the complex and interesting stories they tell. Even stories for younger children can be surprisingly dark and complex, and all without having to be too long.

Whether it is for a nostalgia trip, to relax with a lighter story, or to see if all the hype for Twilight is worthwhile, don’t dismiss books for children and teens as they always have a place amongst adult readers as well. You may find something you enjoy.

No matter where or how you enjoy your mobile reading, you can always find something that is just right for you, be it long or short. You could complete an entire great story on the commute to work or during your lunch break to get you ready for the rest of the day.