Welcome to Wafer-Thin Books!

What is this?

Wafer-Thin Books is a site aimed to support an informal monthly reading group hosted on Zoom by Brad Bigelow, editor of NeglectedBooks.com and ReadingPilgrimage.com.

What is a Wafer-Thin Book?

A Wafer-Thin book is a book under 150 pages long. Generally. For our 2024 reading group, we chose books in the range of 100 to 150 pages, but those are arbitrary limits. A Wafer-Thin book is one you can read in an evening, perhaps two.

2027 Group

In 2027, we will follow on the 2026 Reading Pilgrimage group with one focused on the Wafer-Thin Books of Henry James. Specifically, we will work through the Great Short Novels of Henry James edited by Philip Rahv. First published in 1944, this collection is still in print and many used copies are available at a moderate cost.

Four different editions of The Great Short Novels of Henry James, edited by Philip Rahv

The group will meet to discuss Henry James’s short novels on the following schedule, sticking to the order of the novels as they appear in the Rahv collection:

Month Title Discussion Date
March Madame de Mauves March 1, 2027

7-8PM GMT/2-3 PM EST
April Daisy Miller April 5, 2027

7-8PM BST/2-3PM EDT
May An International Episode May 3, 2027

7-8PM BST/2-3PM EDT
June The Siege of London

June 7, 2027

7-8PM BST/2-3PM EDT
July Lady Barberina July 5, 2027

7-8PM BST/2-3PM EDT
August The Author of Beltraffio August 2, 2027

7-8PM BST/2-3PM EDT
September The Aspern Papers September 6, 2027

7-8PM BST/2-3PM EDT
October The Pupil October 4, 2027

7-8PM BST/2-3PM EDT
November The Turn of the Screw November 8, 2027

7-8PM GMT/2-3 PM EST
December The Beast in the Jungle December 6, 2027

7-8PM GMT/2-3 PM EST