Well, October is over and November is here. For many bloggers that means it’s time for Nonfiction November. I won’t be participating this year. Instead, I’ve decided to join an event which I’ve only just heard of, though 2026 is the seventh year it has been held.

Novellas in November is a month-long blogging challenge co-hosted by Cathy over at 746 Books and Rebecca at Bookish Beck. I understand that, in previous years, there were weekly themes but this year that isn’t the case. Though, it seems to be a tradition to begin the month with ‘My Year in Novellas’ and round it up with ‘New to my TBR’.

A novella technically contains 20,000 to 40,000 words, but to keep things simple they define it as any work under 200 pages. And novella-length nonfiction counts, so you can still participate in Nonfiction November if you are so inclined.

I haven’t read a ton of novellas — one of my reasons for participating in the first place — so I don’t have anything to populate a ‘My Year in Novellas’ post. So, instead, I’ve decided to begin my journey with ‘My Years in Novellas’ and list all the novellas (and novella-length nonfiction) which I’ve read over the past few years.

Novellas

• Blockade Billy by Stephen King (3/5)
• Whiskers in the Dark: A Cozy Mystery With a Cat by Evelyn Pawsworth (2.75/5)
• Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter (4.75/5)
• The Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple #1 by Agatha Christie (3.75/5)

Novella-Length Nonfiction

• A Haunting Place: Bizarre, Eerie and Mysterious… the World’s Most Haunted Places by Glen Williams (2/5)
• The Little Red Yellow Black Book: An Introduction to Indigenous Australia by Bruce Pascoe & AIATSIS (4.5/5)
• Story of Vicente, Who Murdered His Mother, His Father and His Sister: Life and Death in Juarez by Sandra Rodríguez Nieto (2.75/5)

Which were my favourites?

My standout favourite from this list is Grief is the Thing with Feathers. I love the variety of formats, and I’ve never seen crying simulated in words so well!

Did I read anything from last years ‘New to my TBR’?

Well, as this is my first time participating in ‘Novellas in November’, I don’t have a ‘New to TBR’ from last year, so the answer to this question would have to be ‘No’.

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© Adele Walker November 2026