Short Stories

First Love, Last Rites, by Ian McEwan

April 5, 2012

I can sum up this collection of eight stories in one word: disturbing. I have some more words for it though, if you’re interested: macabre, beautiful, crafted, horrific, and tragic. But even better than my words are Ian McEwan’s words, quoted frequently below. But first, in general, note that I have to be rather opaque [...]

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Delicate Edible Birds and Other Stories, by Lauren Groff

December 28, 2010

Title: Delicate Edible Birds and Other Stories Author: Lauren Groff Pages: 320 Originally Published: 2009 Format I Read: Hardback Publisher: Voice/Hyperion Rating: ____________________________ I may have been living under some kind of rock, but I’d never heard of Lauren Groff before I received a review copy of her short story collection, Delicate Edible Birds.  I [...]

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Love Begins in Winter, by Simon Van Booy

July 2, 2009

Title: Love Begins in Winter Author: Simon Van Booy Pages: 226 Publisher: Harper Perennial Copyright: 2009 Format: Paperback Rating: ____________________________ Simon Van Booy is likely to become on of my favorite writers. His prose is heavy with meaning and yet playful. Love Begins in Winter is a collection of five short stories that are all [...]

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Tea and Other Ayama Na Tales, by Eleanor Bluestein

April 1, 2009

Title: Tea and Other Ayama Na Tales Author: Eleanor Bluestein Pages: 234 Publisher: BkMk Press Copyright: 2008 Format: Paperback Rating: ____________________________ Welcome to today’s stop on Eleanor Bluestein‘s blog tour for her debut book, Tea and Other Ayama Na Tales!  Today’s post is my review of Tea and Other Ayama Na Tales.  Then, Ms. Bluestein [...]

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Bookish Websites

February 18, 2009

I’d like to occasionally feature/point out/support bookish websites here at The Bluestocking Society. There are so many great resources out there! Here are two I’ve discovered lately. Paper Egg Inexpensive, collectible, designer, independent, limited-edition books. Need I say more? Here’s the blurb: Actually, welcome to this new thing we’re doing. The “we” is featherproof books, [...]

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The Fires, by Alan Cheuse

July 6, 2008

The Fires, by Alan Cheuse is a collection of two novellas or two short stories, depending on how you define “novella” and “short story.” (I’m counting the entire book as a novella for the Novella Challenge.) In any case, the two stories, “The Fires” and “The Exorcism,” both share themes of death, loss, cremation, fire, [...]

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“The Way up to Heaven”: A Feminist Reading

April 23, 2008

In “The Way up to Heaven,” Roald Dahl blatantly critiques the accepted societal roles of women in the mid-twentieth century while simultaneously critiquing the way the feminists went about achieving their aims. The main character in “The Way up to Heaven” is a housewife by the name of Mrs. Foster. Mrs. Foster has an important [...]

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