13 Short Stories to Read Over Thanksgiving

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Soon we'll all be commuting home for the Thanksgiving break. We need something good to read on the train, bus, and plane, right?! But not everyone wants to commit to reading a whole book. Here are some short stories and novellas from our favorite authors:

01
The Grown-Up by Gillian Flynn

The Grown-Up by Gillian Flynn

When scam artist finds a new mark, will she get more than she bargained for? The Grown-Up ($3, originally $10) is another thrill ride by Gillian Flynn.

02
The Tailgate by Elin Hilderbrand

The Tailgate by Elin Hilderbrand

In The Tailgate ($2), we meet Dabney and Clen as college kids, years before their appearance in Hilderbrand’s blockbuster The Matchmaker. When Dabney travels to Yale to visit her sweetheart Clen, what will she find?

03
Disconnected by Jennifer Weiner

Disconnected by Jennifer Weiner

In Disconnected ($1), recovering alcoholic Shannon Will is determined to stay sober. She gets a new life, complete with new cell phone, to prove it. But what happens when she starts getting strange texts that threaten to derail her recovery?

04
Cat and Jemima J by Jane Green

Cat and Jemima J by Jane Green

Cat and Jemima J is a short story featuring one of Jane Green’s most beloved characters, Jemima J, and one of her newest, Cat, from this Summer’s bestselling Summer Secrets.

05
Mammy Walsh's A-Z of the Walsh Family by Marian Keyes

Mammy Walsh's A-Z of the Walsh Family by Marian Keyes

We’ve come to know and love Marian Keyes’s Walsh family in her bestselling novels — Watermelon, Rachel’s Holiday, Angels, Anybody Out There, and The Mystery of Mercy Close. Keyes delivers another laugh-out-loud read with Mammy Walsh's A-Z of the Walsh Family ($7), which is all about, well, the Walsh family . . . from someone who knows!

06
Larger Than Life by Jodi Picoult

Larger Than Life by Jodi Picoult

Larger Than Life ($2) is a heartwarming story of a researcher studying memory in elephants. When she finds an orphaned young elephant, it makes her think of her own childhood, and her relationship with her mother.

07
Friend Request by Patti Callahan Henry

Friend Request by Patti Callahan Henry

Friend Request ($1) is a true nonfiction story that inspired Henry’s novel And Then I Found You. When a child that her sister gave up for adoption contacts her on Facebook, all of their lives change in a drastic and meaningful way.

08
A Hint of Strangeness by Susan Isaacs

A Hint of Strangeness by Susan Isaacs

A Hint of Strangeness ($2) centers around Marianne Kent, who comes home one day to find her mother murdered and decides to become her own detective to solve the crime.

09
The Gin Lovers by Jamie Brenner

The Gin Lovers by Jamie Brenner

For Manhattan socialite Charlotte Delacorte, the roaring '20s and the scandalous flapper revolution taking place outside her door are not a part of her sheltered world. But when her rebellious young sister-in-law comes to live with her, all that is about to change. The Gin Lovers ($20) is a first in a sexy six-story series.

10
My Own Miraculous by Joshilyn Jackson

My Own Miraculous by Joshilyn Jackson

My Own Miraculous ($1, originally $4) is a coming of age story of a 17-year-old girl named Shandi Pierce who gets pregnant, but there’s just one problem: she’s still more parented than parent. Four years later, she’s still living with her mom. But an incident with her son makes her realize that she needs to grow up — and fast.

11
Honeymoon in Paris by JoJo Moyes

Honeymoon in Paris by JoJo Moyes

Honeymoon in Paris ($3) is the story of two different Parisian brides, living in two very different times, that serves as a prequel to The Girl You Left Behind.

12
Isabel Spellman's Guide to Etiquette: What Is Wrong With You People by Lisa Lutz

Isabel Spellman's Guide to Etiquette: What Is Wrong With You People by Lisa Lutz

From the author of the beloved Spellman Files books comes Isabel Spellman's Guide to Etiquette: What Is Wrong With You People by Lisa Lutz ($2), a laugh-out-loud funny etiquette guide, written through the eyes of Isabel Spellman.

13
Beginning Again by Sarah Pekkanen

Beginning Again by Sarah Pekkanen

A story of love after heartbreak. Beginning Again ($1) continues Pekkanen’s other short stories, All Is Bright and Love, Accidentally, but is told from the viewpoint of an entirely different character.