Books Written in Letter Form

If you needed more evidence that letter-writing is a lost art form, just look at the US Postal Office's announcement today that it will cut Saturday delivery service. While some of us still wait impatiently for our Netflix DVDs to come via snail mail, long ago are the days we hurried to the mailbox to look for a letter from a pen pal. Now we just check our email, texts, Twitter, or Facebook messages.

Yet we likely miss something from this constant contact. Without taking the time to sit down and write a letter to a distant friend or family member, our communication has become more practical, short-form, and casual. Letters, often written with more intention, can include details that reveal the everyday and sometimes intimate details of the writer's life. These qualities also appealed to authors, who have used the form to tell their stories. Novels written in letter form fall under "epistolary novels," and if you've ever read one you know they can be hard to put down. Here is a selection of books penned in letter form you might want to write home about after you finish them.