Maybe you’ve got a lot on your plate, or maybe you have a short attention span. Either way, if you’re looking for a book to read that won’t take up too much of your time, check out one of these titles from the JMRL catalog:

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer – Describes the 12th expedition to “Area X,” a region cut off from the continent for decades, by a group of intrepid women scientists who try to ignore the high mortality rates of those on the previous 11 missions.

Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole – Returning to Lagos after several years in New York City, a young Nigerian writer rediscovers his hometown as both a foreigner and a local while reconnecting with old friends, comparing Lagos to the home of his memory and realizing how he himself has changed.

An Event in Autumn by Henning Mankell – When Inspector Kurt Wallander discovers a shallow grave in the garden of his new house, he investigates the truth about the residence and its previous owner.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid – A young Muslim American, Changez is living the American dream, with a Princeton education and high-paying job, until the events of September 11th force him to confront his personal allegiances.

Walks With Men by Ann Beattie – After graduating from Harvard in 1980, Jane embarks on a live-in affair with forty-something writer Neil, a man who shares with her his bizarre rules for living life.

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan – On their wedding day, a young couple–Florence, daughter of an Oxford academic and a successful businessman, and Edward, an earnest history student with little experience of women–looks forward to the future while worrying about their upcoming wedding night.

Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill – An unflinching portrait of marriage features a heroine simply referred to as “the Wife,” who transitions from an idealistic woman who once exchanged love letters with her husband and who confronts an array of universal difficulties.

The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone by Adele Griffin – When a celebrated New York City teenager, known for her subversive street art, mysteriously dies, her life is examined in a series of interviews with her parents, friends, boyfriends, mentors, and critics.

We the Animals by Justin Torres – Follows the intense family life of three brothers living in the shadow of their parents’ passionate love, and their own profound sense of family unity and belonging.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes – This intense new novel follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he has never much thought about–until his oldest friends return with a vengeance, one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present.

This list was put together with help from Reference Librarian Joanna Duffett.