As anyone who regularly reads my blog will know, I love reading, and I love reading a wide variety of books, magazines and journals. There is nothing I love more than shorter novels, novellas, short stories and short chapters. This is not to say that I discard the more weighty tomes, but in terms of practically the short pieces take the prize. So why am I a fan of the shorter piece? Well here are my top ten reasons:

1. You are less likely to drop a lighter, pocket-sized book into the bath (I’m referring to physical books here rather than e-books – wouldn’t recommend taking them into the bath with you).
2. Physical books are smaller and lighter than their longer companions and pack easily into suitcases, hand luggage and bags.
3. E-books occupy less space/memory on your device – hence room for more!
4. They are easier to read in a single sitting (or over a couple of days).
5. Shorter pieces/chapters are easier to read on public transport/between appointments/while waiting in queues. You can finish a whole chapter in the time allotted.
6. You can actually get a whole chapter in before you fall asleep with a book/e-reader on your face.
7. The pace of the story seems to move faster than for lengthy offerings
8. E-books (for short pieces, novellas and short stories) are often pretty cheap, so you can buy a whole bunch for the price of a single, longer books.
9. A collection of short stories can be picked up when you are ready. You can take as long as you wish to finish the whole collection and read other books between stories.
10. You can read more of them.

I guess my big point here is that they are a good fit for modern life, well my life at least. Do you prefer short books/chapters?