Quick Reads Staff Picks (8/27/25)

Looking for a quick book to fly through in one sitting? We’ve got some recommendations, from short story collections to novellas!

AMANDA’S PICK: SEASONS OF GLASS AND IRON BY AMAL EL-MOHTAR

This enchanting short story collection from the author of THE RIVER HAS ROOTS and co-author of THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR is full of glimpses into gleaming worlds and fairy tales with teeth. These are Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, and Hugo Award-winning and nominated stories told in letters, diary entries, reference materials, folktales, and lyrical prose. If you love fairy tales with a twist, mythic retellings, and beautifully written short fiction, this collection is a treasure. El-Mohtar’s stories are rich with imagination and heart, making them perfect for readers who want fantasy that lingers long after the last page.

EMILY’S PICK: MORSEL BY CARTER KEANE

This is a delicious horror debut about learning to bite back when the world is intent on eating you alive. A woman determined to climb the corporate ladder takes an assignment in the rural hills of Ohio and quickly finds herself stranded in the middle of nowhere with a sabotaged truck, a dog she must keep safe, and something stalking her through the ancient Appalachian woods. If she can’t escape the woods in time, she’ll come face to face with the fact that her job isn’t the only thing that wants to eat her alive. This debut novella packs a big punch in its 200 pages. A feast for horror fans; readers who loved Parasite, Ready or Not, and The Menu looking for their next eat-the-rich fantasy will devour this book.

MARGO’S PICK: THE AGE OF CALAMITIES BY SENAA AHMAD

If you’re looking for a truly unique collection of short stories, THE AGE OF CALAMITIES is the perfect pick. This is a genre-defying, mind-bending debut collection of absurdist and speculative stories that are wildly inventive—it’s as if Carmen Maria Machado wrote The Substance, with help from Hilary Mantel. In these stories, Ahmad reimagines historical figures and events in unexpected ways, from Henry VIII trying to get rid of zombie Anne Boleyn, to a dinner party turned murder mystery featuring Nefertiti, Queen Victoria, and Marilyn Monroe. Haunting yet zany, each tale examines the surreal nature of today through the lens of yesterday, and explores how to reckon with the trauma of ill-fated times. It’s a thrilling ride that is sure to establish Ahmad as an exciting new voice.

HALLIE’S PICK: THE DEFINITIONS BY MATT GREENE

In this elegant and haunting dystopian story, a mysterious illness has erased people’s memories, leaving them nameless and stripped of identity. At The Center, a seaside rehabilitation facility, students are taught how to speak, behave, and prepare for reintegration into society. But as fragments of memory begin to resurface, cracks form in the rigid system, and some students start to question the definitions given to them. This intimate book tells a big story with extraordinary and heartbreaking twists that manage to make revelatory points about our moment in time, all in under thirty-five thousand words! The book’s slim length is absolutely part of its power.