Tag: short story collection

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Disorder collection

Title/Author: The Best Girls/Min Jin Lee

Anonymous/Uzodinma Iweala

Ungirls/Lauren Beukes

Loam/Scott Heim

Will Williams/Namwali Serpell

The Beckoning Fair One/Dan Chaon

Genre: horror/thriller

These Amazon short stories are just so great. I’ve never read one that was awful. I like some more than others, of course, but they are a lot of fun. I was particularly excited about this one because they are horror-ish stories, which I love. Some are more graphic than others, but all are definitely worth reading.

From Goodreads: The Best Girls: An excellent student from a poor, traditional family in Seoul, the narrator has absorbed the same message her whole life: Only a boy can provide the family with dignity and wealth. Not her. Not her three sisters. Receiving approval only for uncomplaining sacrifice, she has resolved to take on her family’s troubles. She is a good girl. And she knows what good girls must do.

Anonymous: He’s a well-traveled consultant arriving home at a metropolitan airport. He’s also become accustomed to extra scrutiny for his brown skin and many-stamped passport. But when he’s whisked away, isolated, and chained in a stark white room without explanation, his reality crumbles. Because what he doesn’t know is the most damning evidence against him.

Ungirls: Actor and sex worker Nats is experienced at putting on a show. However, her new gig supplying intimate whispers for growgirls takes her to a place darker and lonelier than she could have ever imagined. The lab-grown dolls can respond to pleasure or pain; their synthetic heads contain only the simplest AI to prevent any pesky robo sex doll uprisings. But just because growgirls don’t have a brain, doesn’t mean they don’t have a voice…

Loam: Forty years ago, triplets Miriam, Louise, and Edward were swept up in a case of rural mass hysteria. Coerced into fabricating unspeakable lies about their first-grade teacher and her adult son, they were complicit in destroying two lives. Ever since, they have believed they are being followed by a presence still seeking retribution for their childhood sins. Unless their guilty consciences are conjuring as many monsters as their innocent minds once did.

Will Williams: Ever since high school, somebody’s been playing the echo game on Will Williams. A look-alike with the same tattoos and the same name has been following him. Starting by implicating Will in petty crimes, and escalating to offenses with serious prison terms, he’s undermined every attempt Will has made to get his life on track. Now, drifting from city to city, Will’s doing everything in his power to outrun his shadow.

The Beckoning Fair One: Ever since they were orphaned, Tyler has kept close tabs on his sister, Shannon. He has to, considering her weird and risky obsessions. Now she has a new one: an inexplicable crush on an odd-looking stranger. And what Shannon wants from her unwitting “honey boy,” Tyler can’t begin to fathom. Not until he follows his sister into the darkest corners of her desires.

The Beckoning Fair One was definitely my favorite, and it was also the most insane of them. I had no idea where it was going. Also, The Best Girls was a slow burn, but oh my that last line. I was floored. If you have Amazon Prime, be sure to check these collections out. There’s something for everyone. I absolutely love them.

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The One collection

Title/Author: Before Her/Jacqueline Woodson

Parable/Jess Walter

A Wedding Thing/Shea Serrano

Yes, And/Kristi Coulter

The Visitor/Dodai Stewart

Speed Grieving/Allison Ellis

Lila/Naima Coster

I’m really enjoying these Amazon originals short stories. However, this one was a little different. These were all non-fiction. I’m not normally one for love stories, but these weren’t your average boy meets girl tales. Some were girl meets girl. One of these was about a family pet, even. In any case, I did enjoy them all, but a couple were standouts to me.

From Goodreads: Before Her- Before Jacqueline Woodson met Juliet, before her own self-realization, there were decades of friends, lovers, and family who defined the woman she’d become. In this haunting story of memory and identity, Jacqueline shares the profound impact they had on bending the path of her life; how they informed the dreams of her future; and how each one—some lost, all loved—would bring her to Juliet, her one and only.

Parable- In this funny remembrance of an unusual triangle, Jess learns to accept what’s best for the one animal he has ever loved. After all, he gave his heart to the Australian shepherd mix he’d rescued. What alternative has he other than to give the restless girl her freedom? But in doing so, Jess discovers more about himself, the nature of affection and attachment, the inevitability of loss, and how much Millie means to so many.

A Wedding Thing- Two days before Shea and Larami Serrano were to be married, four months into her pregnancy with twin boys, she went into labor. Stuck in a hospital room, fearing the worst, and dismantling a year’s worth of preparations in a matter of hours—the couple decides that the show must go on. Told from Shea’s and Larami’s dual perspectives, this memoir shows the powerful bond that can arise from adversity, a sense of humor, and mutual trust.

Yes, And- When Kristi Coulter’s husband proposed, she didn’t admit her fears. When they exchanged vows, she didn’t reveal that she was terrified that marriage would ruin her life. During fifteen years of genuinely happy marriage, she never said a word about another man in her life. Then she comes clean—about all of it—and discovers a new world.

The Visitor- One cold, lonely night, Manhattan writer Dodai Stewart meets a charming stranger on an internet dating site. He’s sexy. He’s smart. He’s funny. There’s an instant spark. And one unavoidable catch: adorable Marco lives in San Francisco. So how far is Dodai willing to go, and how much will she sacrifice, to find that elusive One she’s heard so much about? Cross-country travel, emotional outbursts of love, and time will inevitably tell.

Speed Grieving- When Allison Ellis’s husband died of an unexpected heart attack, there was no playbook for a thirty-three-year-old widow with a breastfeeding infant. In her grief, she devised a practical strategy: find a new husband within twelve months. What transpired was a year of mourning, manic dating, and breaking hearts across Seattle on a deadline mission to heal her own.

Lila- When Naima Coster met Lila, they were girls of color in a predominantly white private school in Manhattan. As adolescents they found each other and needed each other. As each comes of age, and new bonds pull them apart, the friendship splinters. What happens when Naima and Lila turn to one another again—this time as women? And what will it take to recapture the connection that once meant the world to them?

Parable, about the family dog, was my favorite. It was hilarious. And, oddly enough, our family got a dog yesterday. This particular dog isn’t very loyal and keeps running away from home. Ends up loving the neighbor more, who also loves it. So the two families share her a lot. I also enjoyed A Wedding Thing because when you’re pregnant, babies have other plans! Thankfully all turned out well for the babies, but the wedding ended up differently than expected. This series has something for everyone, really. Love isn’t just about marital love. Love between friends, lovers, parents, pets, etc. I thoroughly enjoyed each unique story.

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Full Throttle

Title: Full Throttle

Author: Joe Hill

Genre: horror short story

PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt: an author who shares your Zodiac sign

I’ve read a lot by Joe Hill. The Fireman was my favorite, but I also enjoyed Heart-Shaped Box, Horns, and NOS4A2. I’m not a big short story fan, but I’m trying to read more. My strategy is to pick a book and read one a day, while I’m also reading other novels. It actually works well for me, and I’m definitely going to use this for my Stephen King story collections that I haven’t gone through yet.

From Goodreads: A little door that opens to a world of fairy tale wonders becomes the blood-drenched stomping ground for a gang of hunters in “Faun.” A grief-stricken librarian climbs behind the wheel of an antique Bookmobile to deliver fresh reads to the dead in “Late Returns.” In “By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain,” two young friends stumble on the corpse of a plesiosaur at the water’s edge, a discovery that forces them to confront the inescapable truth of their own mortality . . . and other horrors that lurk in the water’s shivery depths. And tension shimmers in the sweltering heat of the Nevada desert as a faceless trucker finds himself caught in a sinister dance with a tribe of motorcycle outlaws in “Throttle,” co-written with Stephen King.

There are some memorable stories in this collection. One is told entirely through tweets, which was excellent. One was formatted in a stair step fashion to mimic the plot. Another was told about an event from multiple perspectives of people on an airplane. “In the Tall Grass” was also co-written by Stephen King, and I know it’s also a Netflix movie, but I definitely will not be watching that. This story is so horrific, but great, but it’s one I know I won’t be able to stomach actually seeing. Overall, this was a great collection with some really creative stories, some really gruesome stories, and some really heartfelt stories. So far, Joe Hill hasn’t let me down.

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Topics About Which I Know Nothing

Patrick Ness is one of my favorite authors. As I’ve said before, you really just never know what you’re going to get with him. I’ve also reviewed a lot of his works like And The Ocean Was Our Sky, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, Release, More Than This, and Chaos Walking. I think there’s only one book of his that I haven’t read. And even though his books are really diverse and none are like the others, his writing is top-notch and creative. I’ve enjoyed them all.

This book was actually a short story collection, which I’m usually not a fan of. I really like a good long plot and development. And these stories were good, but only one was exceptional- “Gifted.” My fondness for it might have been because I used to teach middle school gifted kids, like the class in the story, and we did problem-based learning, also like the story. There were definitely the over-achiever, teacher-pleaser kids, and the cynical, distant kid. Ness got these stereotypes totally correct. The story was fun and dark and took my by surprise.

The rest of the stories were fine. I’m sure they appeal to short story fans, but it’s just not my thing. Overall, a nice collection to Ness’s works. I will continue to read anything by him.

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books and reading

Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls

I read Tampa, by Alissa Nutting, some time ago. And as hard as the story was to read, I was absolutely blown away by it. In Tampa, the main character is a middle school teacher who is obsessed with one of her students. She begins a sexual relationship with him. She is clearly a pedophile, preying on young men, but Nutting writes her so vividly and thoroughly, that even though you know what she is doing is beyond reprehensible, you feel badly for her because she lives such a miserable life. Tampa is a book that has stayed with me ever since I first read it.

Because I enjoyed Tampa so much, I wanted to read more of Nutting’s work, so I grabbed this short story collection, which (according to Goodreads) appears to be her only other published work. One is forthcoming in 2017, though. I admit that I’m not a huge short story fan. I can handle one here or there, but overall, I enjoy novels much more. That said, I really liked this collection a lot. The stories are all very adult oriented, namely sex in space, injecting ants into your body in the future, watching garden gnomes have sex (I loved this one, actually), going to Hell, and confronting the ghost of your mother.

I look forward to reading more from Nutting. I’ve been very impressed with how she handles taboo and unpleasant topics with care and, oftentimes, humor. To write such a varied collection of short stories shows her creativity and imagination knows no bounds. I highly recommend both of her books.