short stories

Fictional History of the United States….

2007, Books in Bed, Fiction, Queer, short stories /

I was avoiding Fictional History of the United States With Huge Chunks Missing because I errrr thought it was non-fiction. I didn’t really pay attention to the title, just knew something about US history was on the library shelf, getting closer and closer to the top of the pile, and I just wasn’t feeling like reading it.

I mentioned my hesitation to TW and she informed me that it was fiction and really good and funny. She was right. Very amusing. I’m sorry I waited so long to read it.

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Throw Like a Girl: Stories

2007, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, short stories, Women /

I don’t usually like short stories very much. And a book of short stories is just too much of a not so great thing. Throw Like a Girl might be the first book of short stories that I’ve ever really loved. OK maybe the Atwood book that Sassy sent me, I really liked that one too. Other than that, can’t think of any others that I’ve liked this much – enough to drop into the “favorites” category.


Once again, I can’t remember who recommended this or which blog I saw it reviewed on – but thanks, whoever you are.

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Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

2006, Books in Bed, short stories /

Is everything written by Haruki Murakami a little odd? First Wind-Up Bird, then Kafka on the Shore and now the short stories in Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. And what’s with all of the “zoo” stories?

I didn’t dislike any of the stories, though Crabs made me a little ill and I’ve suggested TW might want to skip that one, and some of them I really did like. They were all just a little odd, a little unusual, a little skewed somehow. Like all of Murakami’s books, I guess.

Did you like Kafka on the Shore? If you did, then you’ll probably like these short stories too. If you didn’t – then skip them.

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As Seen on TV

Non-Fiction, short stories /

I requested As Seen on TV from the inter-library loan system when we were attempting to listen to Ann Patchett’s book, Truth & Beauty, about her friendship with Lucy Grealy.  TW was not impressed with Truth & Beauty or with Lucy Grealy but I was interested.  We never got past the first CD of Truth & Beauty but As Seen on TV was easy to read.

TW laughed her way through the first chapter or two and said Lucy Grealy should have been a blogger.  She’s write.  The first story was true blog, the others not so much.  Her political rants, thankfully not many, were a little boring and I found myself just wanting to get on with it.  The rest of the book, well worth reading.

I do find myself wondering if I really want to read her auto-biography or not.  It’s on the shelf right now, maybe I should just leave it unread and be happy with the short stories.  I’m afraid, after I read her biography, I won’t like Lucy nearly as much as I do right now.

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Atwood!

2 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, short stories /

Sassymonkey is awesome! She sent us a video for Michelle (whic is on the lesson plans for Tuesday) and along with it she sent us an autographed copy of Margaret Atwood’s The Tent! I was seriously surprised. I mean I knew she was going to send the video, which was terrific but I had no idea she was going to send the book. She totally made my day.

What makes the surprisey gift so much better is that I really enjoyed the stories. The stories are very very short, just a few pages each, which makes it quick and easy to read in small bits throughout the day. And the stories were just a little “odd” but not too “odd”. Some sounded very “Atwood-like” and others not so much. Almost all of them made me smile. The drawings were a nice inclusion to the book, too.

While I liked them all, I really enjoyed “” (Like God, I like a balanced Heaven) and “Chicken Little Goes Too Far” (I umm am a Chicken Little fan, shhh don’t tell anyone).
Thank you sassymonkey, you’re the BEST!

If you clicked the link to sassymonkey, you’ll see her review of seeing Atwood in person recently – what’s funny about this is that I tried desperately to get The Penelopiad to her before Christmas, when her package was lost, and damn Chapters couldn’t guarantee it in time so I cancelled it in favor of a snack basket that promised before Christmas arrival and ended up not getting there in time. I knew I should have stuck with the book!

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No Vindication for Me, Magic Instead

2005, Books in Bed, Fiction, Mystery, Non-Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy, short stories /

You might have noticed a new book, well two actually, appeared on my reading list and that means I’ve given up on Wollstonecroft and Vindication I just couldn’t do it. Maybe another day, another time, but right now I’m having trouble enough reading. So, I gave up. The first part of it wasn’t bad, it was just a little bit too slow for me to stay focused on.

Instead, I turned to Magic for Beginners. A book of “magical” short stories that were, indeed, about magical topics. But like a lot of short stories, I hated the endings of almost all of them. The stories were terrific and then the ending just went really WEIRD in what felt like an attempt to just finish and finish quickly. I’m ok with weirdness in a story about magic, zombies, witches, etc… but the weirdness has to make SOME sense based on what has happened in the first 10-20 pages of the story.

I loved the faery purse story. Loved the canon story. Enjoyed the catskin story. The endings worked for these. Was really enjoying the zombie/painting story when the ending poofed out on me. The stone rabbits story was really terrific but again, what was with that ending????

Now, I’ve picked up Jasper Fforde’s The Big Over Easy, which TW said was good but not up to par with the Thursday Next series, which is too bad…

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Ghost Town

1 Comment / 2005, Books in Bed, Fiction, short stories /

Somehow I found myself reading three books at once, I never do that and it was pretty troubling to find myself in that position. I settled down and finished About My Sisters and then finished Ghost Town, a book of short stories about NYC.

Three short stories that were just long enough that I couldn’t finish a complete story during a 15 minute work break. HMPH. I prefer my short stories a little shorter. The stories were, uh, weird. To put it mildly. The first set in the revolutionary war period, the second about the time of the civil war and the third – you guessed it, 9/11. Weird stuff.

I thought they were going to be “ghost stories” but they weren’t. They were stories about weirdness, bad things happening, people just a little short of a full deck. Weird stuff, did I mention that? Now, back to Zipporah…no weirdness there at all, lol.

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