Uncommon Type: Some Stories

Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks 403 pages

I have to admit that the only reason that I picked up this book because I wanted to see if they were published because author Tom Hanks is movie star Tom Hanks, or if they were worthy of publication. I’m happy to say that the latter is the case.  Now I won’t say that I loved all of them, but I did find the majority enjoyable.

My favorite story was “Christmas Eve 1953.” It starts out with what seems to be a remembrance of one family’s Christmas Eve traditions. I wondered if they were the Hanks’s rituals. Then after the kids have gone to bed, the story takes a nosedive into how the holidays aren’t happy for everyone. You see, turns out Father/Virgil is a vet who suffered several amputations. Every Christmas Eve, around midnight, an old Army buddy, Bud, calls him. They catch up and remember the ones who didn’t make it home from the war.  Truly poignant, and I found myself wiping away a tear a time or two.

My least favorites were four interludes: “Our Town Today with Hank Fiset.” They were okay, but really didn’t touch on the human condition…or me…as his other stories did.

There stories that had the same characters as other stories; a bit of Sherwood Anderson’s “Winesburg, Ohio.”  It was fun to hear about characters such as Anna, Steve Wong and MDash. I felt a kinship with these characters because I had read about them earlier and sort of knew them. Another characteristic aspect that each story had was a typewriter. I was always eager to find out how Hanks would work into the stories.

I highly recommend “Uncommon Type: Some Stories.”  Therefore, it receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

The Merry Spinster

Shirley J.                Adult Fiction            New Spins on Old Tales with Fractured Endings    190 pgs

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Every Day Horrors by Mallory Ortberg

Oh my dears, these are not the tales as Disney would have told them, all these familiar classics have a little bite and venom to them.   From the little princess who goes 9ut in the woods to find her 6 brothers missing for many years with lots of story in that time to how when she is supposed to be living her happily ever after, her prince is not quite so charming and her enchanted brothers save her one day by pulling out a giant sized can of Whupass on the blaggart and his kingdome.   I especially liked the Merry spinster version of the Velveteen Rabbit when like Pinocchio once the rabbit's boy believes him to be real he becomes real and life blossoms from tragedy.    There are optional ending takes on Beauty and the Beast,  the Goose Girl, new twists on true love, ie. take the ring and vanish.  THe take on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is more like going down the rabbit hole with Alice.turning into a when good friends go bad situation and they try to convince him he has lost his mind- Bad Friends!  Bad Friends!   A few different Mermaid stories, one with marriage, children, poison and kidnapping, there is a transgender tale of the Frog and the Princes that  has so many read between the lines moments and inuendos it almost rates a R rating and the Flounder and the Fisherman becomes a tale of no matter you just can't please some folks and end up sticking it to yourself by trying.   Very interesting spins on old tomes.   I think I would recommend this one to adults who have already been through a few jaded times in their lives and will appreciate where these stories are coming from.   All in all, I have to say I did like this book and the not entirely happy endings it delivers. 

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Saffron and Brimstone

 Saffron and Brimstone: Strange Stories by Elizabeth Hand  240 pages

Summary from Goodreads: This new collection (an expansion of the limited-release Bibliomancy, which won the World Fantasy Award in 2005) showcases a wildly inventive author at the height of her powers. Included in this collection are "The Least Trumps," in which a lonely women reaches out to the world through symbols, tattooing, and the Tarot, and "Pavane for a Prince of the Air," where neo-pagan rituals bring a recently departed soul to something very different than eternal rest. Written in the author's characteristic poetic prose and rich with the details of traumatic lives that are luminously transformed, Saffron and Brimstone is a worthy addition to an outstanding career.

And here's what I thought: I re-read this book usually once a year because I enjoy some of the stories so much. Each time I read them, I usually re-discover something I had forgotten about, which is fun. The first story, about an unusual young woman and moths, never fails to captivate me. And I really love The Least Trumps, as well. Hand's writing style is really descriptive and evocative and I often savor a sentence or two in a story. Her description of being tattooed is the most accurate I've read -- "It's more like carving your own skin with the slanted nib of a razor-sharp calligraphy pen or writing on flesh with a soldering iron." 

Welcome to the Monkey House

 Welcome to the Monkey House: A Collection of Short Works by Kurt Vonnegut   331 pages

I had a completely different impression of the writer I thought Kurt Vonnegut to be.  For some reason I had the idea that he was more of a scientific writer so I was surprised to read his short stories.   Most have the feel and prose of an earlier time, say the 40s or 50s although he did go all Ray Bradbury and do sci-fi futuristic in several of them.    For the most part the stories were o.k., some I didn't care for as much as others, but, some were very entertaining and made me smile.   If you like short stories you will most likely appreciate these, too, however, having said that, honestly, this is not a book I would recommend.   The stories were o.k. but to me only just o.k.    They weren't terrific which I honestly expected Vonnegut's writing to be.    I finished it but nothing really spoke to me much in these stories,  A few good ones but nothing to really shout about.

Full Throttle: Stories

Full Throttle: Stories by Joe Hill  480 pages

"In this masterful collection of short fiction, Joe Hill dissects timeless human struggles in thirteen relentless tales of supernatural suspense, including "In The Tall Grass," one of two stories co-written with Stephen King and the basis for the terrifying feature film from Netflix.

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," soon to be an episode on Shudder TV's Creepshow, 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.

Replete with shocking chillers, including two previously unpublished stories written expressly for this volume ("Mums" and "Late Returns") and another appearing in print for the first time ("Dark Carousel"), Full Throttle is a darkly imagined odyssey through the complexities of the human psyche. Hypnotic and disquieting, it mines our tormented secrets, hidden vulnerabilities, and basest fears, and demonstrates this exceptional talent at his very best."

I used the summary from the publisher here, because that's easier than trying to summarize 13 different stories.  As usual, I enjoyed some of the stories more than others --- and I quibble with something in "Late Returns," but that was my favorite story of the bunch. "Faun" is also really good -- quite creepy and you feel like you get a good ending. I like Hill's writing and find that his stories get better the longer he writes; I didn't really like Horns or Heart-Shaped Box, but by the time he gets to The Fireman, he's golden.

Joe Hill is Stephen King's son (if you didn't already know that) and some of his writing definitely has that King feel to it.  It's especially nice to see two stories here that they co-wrote.

His Hideous Heart

His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler, 480 pages

Whether the stories are familiar to readers or discovered for the first time, readers will revel in Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tales, and how they’ve been brought to life in 13 unique and unforgettable ways.

Contributors include Kendare Blake (reimagining “Metzengerstein”), Rin Chupeco (“The Murders in the Rue Morge”), Lamar Giles (“The Oval Portrait”), Tessa Gratton (“Annabel Lee”), Tiffany D. Jackson (“The Cask of Amontillado”), Stephanie Kuehn (“The Tell-Tale Heart”), Emily Lloyd-Jones (“The Purloined Letter”), Hillary Monahan (“The Masque of the Red Death”), Marieke Nijkamp (“Hop-Frog”), Caleb Roehrig (“The Pit and the Pendulum”), and Fran Wilde (“The Fall of the House of Usher”)

I wish I didn’t have such high expectations for this book going in, or I might have been less disappointed by it. I love Poe’s work so much, so seeing this anthology come-up I was thrilled at the prospect of reimagined tales. Sadly, I felt like the stories included here were just okay. One or two caught my attention, but overall, the feeling was less disturbing, more mildly spooky. Some of the stories just didn’t feel well put-together.

Would I still recommend this book? Yes, because I think it’s important that Poe’s writing is still being talked about and is being brought to new readers in a contemporary way. If you are a major fan of Poe, like me, just don’t go into this book with the bar set high. Give to those who are looking for an introduction into horror and want to start off with something light.

Exhalation

Exhalation by Ted Chiang, 350 pages

Ted Chiang is not a prolific writer; in Exhalation, his second published volume of short stories, there are only two works that were not previously published elsewhere. This is unfortunate because there is nothing I would love more than for Chiang to churn out a volume of brand new short stories every year. He somehow manages to be supremely elegant and profound in every single one of these stories and he makes it look completely effortless. How can he be so good at creating detailed scientific thought experiments (branching quantum universes! time travel!) AND sympathetic, flawed, relatable, memorable characters all in the span of a single short story? I actually took notes (a thing I almost never do while reading) about "The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling" because I loved it so much.

If, as is the case for many folks, your only experience of Chiang's craft is the movie version of Story of Your Life (aka Arrival), do yourself a favor and pick up Exhalation. Then go back and pick up Stories of Your Life and Others. Chiang is a master of the sci-fi short story.

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk:

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk:  A Modest Beastiary by David Sedaris        Audiobook: 3 hours      Paperback  Book: 192 pages

Aesops fables for the older crowd.   Enlightening little ditties all starring animals that deal with all sorts of moral dilemmas in which satisfactory if not always satisfying outcomes are the norm.   Well done,  David Sedaris many of these short stories are laugh out loud funny while others will make you ponder and go hmmmm.   All of the stories are first rate and if you are a David Sedaris fan, which I am, you will love them.   A different side of David Sedaris, but a fun one.   I do highly recommend this one to any and all readers.  Kids will love the animal imagery even if they don't get all of the inuendos.   Adults will get a kick out of the savvy intellectual animals.  Pure fun. 

 - Shirley J

All the Names They Used for God

All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva, 256 pages


This a collection of short stories. All of them have some element of either fantasy, science fiction or the supernatural. A lot of the stories involve how women deal with adversity. The woman or women may not be the main character(s) but the woman is central to the story.

I can't say that I didn't like any of the stories. I didn't like some of the endings but that was mostly because I wanted the story to keep going.

My favorite stories were "Robert Greenman and the Mermaid" and "Logging Lake". "Robert Greenman and the Mermaid" is about a mermaid who summons fish to feed a shark and a fisherman who is enchanted by her. "Logging Lake" involves a man who has just broken up with his long term girlfriend. He starts dating a woman who takes him out of his comfort zone. One of their early dates is to go on a hiking trip to Glacier National Park. The events of the trip are life changing.

The prose in these stories is excellent. I enjoyed this collection of short stories and would recommend it to anyone who likes short stories or speculative fiction.

You Know You Want This

You Know You Want This: Cat Person and Other Stories by Kristen Roupenian, 225 pages

Summary from Goodreads: You Know You Want This brilliantly explores the ways in which women are horrifying as much as it captures the horrors that are done to them. Among its pages are a couple who becomes obsessed with their friend hearing them have sex, then seeing them have sex…until they can’t have sex without him; a ten-year-old whose birthday party takes a sinister turn when she wishes for “something mean”; a woman who finds a book of spells half hidden at the library and summons her heart’s desire: a nameless, naked man; and a self-proclaimed “biter” who dreams of sneaking up behind and sinking her teeth into a green-eyed, long-haired, pink-cheeked coworker.

Spanning a range of genres and topics—from the mundane to the murderous and supernatural—these are stories about sex and punishment, guilt and anger, the pleasure and terror of inflicting and experiencing pain. These stories fascinate and repel, revolt and arouse, scare and delight in equal measure. And, as a collection, they point a finger at you, daring you to feel uncomfortable—or worse, understood—as if to say, “You want this, right? You know you want this.”

The stories start ordinary enough but somewhere along the way they take a turn. I wouldn't classify most of the stories as horror but almost all of them have the element of the macabre. Despite the fact that most of them don't have happy endings I kept wanting to read the next story and see if it was different. The stories are very good but I can't say that I liked them and yet I am glad I read them and would highly recommend this book.

The Mammoth Book of Erotic Romance & Domination

The Mammoth Book ofErotic Romance & Domination edited by Maxim Jakubowski, 547 pages

“With the publication of 50 Shades of Grey BDSM gained new popularity. This captivating collection of stories brings together outstanding and newly-commissioned material by some of the best authors in both the erotica and romance genres. They explore aspects of BDSM focusing on sex-positive and life-affirming scenarios that will arouse and seduce.”  I enjoyed some of these stories more than others but most of them were pretty good.  Anyone who enjoys the genre will like this collection of stories.

Stories of Your Life and others

Stories of Your Life and others by Ted Chiang, 10 hrs 23 m, 333 pages

This is a collection of the author's first eight published stories. All of the stories were good but my least favorite was the first one - "Tower of Babylon". It was slow to get going but had a good ending. It was the author's first published story which could be why it wasn't as good.

The title story, Stories of Your Life was the basis for the movie Arrival and it is what drew me to this collection. However, it wasn't my favorite story in the collection. I would say my favorite is a toss up between "Understand" and "Liking What You See: a Documentary".      

"Understand" is about a man who is given a life saving drug that unintentionally makes him more intelligent. After several doses, he is super intelligent and has control over his body. While he is constructing his grand philosophy he finds out there is another like him. He realizes there can only be one of them which leads to a showdown.

"Liking What You See: a Documentary" is set in the future where your ability to tell if people are beautiful or ugly can be turned off. The documentary is of people at a college debating and then voting on whether everyone at the college will be required to have the procedure while they are attending.

I would recommend this book to fans of science fiction and fantasy.        

Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams

Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams by Philip K. Dick, Audiobook: 6 hrs. and 56 mins., Hardback book: 213 pages


The ten short stories in this collection were the inspiration for the episodes of the TV show from the title. There is an introduction before each one from the writer of the corresponding episode. The introduction includes how the episode differs from the story and how it inspired the writer.

I liked all of the stories but the last one, "Autofac". On a post-apocalyptic Earth automated factories continue to search for resources and make things despite humans not needing them. The humans attempt to stop the factories by pitting one factory against another. Something about just didn't appeal to me.

My favorite were "Sales Pitch" and "The Hood Maker". "Sales Pitch" involves a robot that is trying to sell itself to a husband and wife. It won't take no for an answer. After all the advertising the husband has endured he refuses to give in and comes up with an extreme solution. In "The Hood Maker" someone is making hoods that protect the user from being mind-read but the powers that be don't like this. After all, if you have nothing to hide, why should you mind if your mind is read? The hood makers are trying to avoid being found by the authorities but time is running out. The ending is not what you expect.

I find it hard to describe Philip K. Dick's writing so I will provide a quote from one of the introductions. Kalen Egan and Travis Sentell: "He used science fiction as his personal laboratory, testing the limits of humanity and reality over and over again, seeing where they broke and where they held together." I would highly recommend this to fans of science fiction.

Midnight Mass

Midnight Mass by Paul Bowles, 162 pages

Midnight Mass is a collection of a dozen short stories, most of them set in the author's adopted Morocco, mostly involving interactions between the local Arabs and the European and American immigrants, which the locals mostly get the best of.

Bowles' Arabs are neither noble savages nor benighted barbarians, but people, characters rather than plot devices, situated in rather than determined by their circumstances.  His Europeans are rather bloodless by contrast, uncentered, disoriented, and complacent.  His stories rarely surprise, instead, they progress with a kind of elegant inevitability.

You Think It, I'll Say It

You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld   226 pages

In this collection of stories, Sittenfeld brings the reader a number of memorable characters. There's a high-powered lawyer on her honeymoon who encounters someone who tormented her in high school. A suburban mom fantasizes about the downfall of an old friend whose lifestyle empire may (or may not) be built on a lie. A woman entertains the idea of an affair only to come up against the facts of her own personality.

These are just a few of ten stories in this collection.  While I didn't love every story, I actually enjoyed reading all of them and found that some of the characters really stuck with me after I finished the book.  I like that the author plays with ideas of class, gender roles and relationships and to me, all of the characters felt very realistic. I also liked that sometimes, I would start a story and feel like I was learning more about the main character as I went along; I like that not everything is explained right away, so that you may start with an assumption and then as the story continued learn that it's better to actually not make any assumptions.  Which actually is the premise behind of the stories!

Interior Darkness

Interior Darkness by Peter Straub, 478 pages

“These 16 stories by renowned horror author Straub plumb the depth of the human consciousness, bringing to light the darkness that lives in each of us and exposing the secrets we keep-not only from the world but from ourselves. "Blue Rose" depicts the first steps of a child down the path of sociopathy; "Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff" reminds us that the old adage "what goes around comes around" is very true; and "Ashputtle" presents a twisted version of one of the world's most beloved fairy tales.” All of these stories were ok but none really spoke to me.  Fans of Straub’s work will probably like it, but I just thought it was ok.

Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Other Stories

Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Three Other Stories by Truman Capote    140 pages

It’s been decades since I last read the title novella in this short book.  I kept in on my shelf as I had never gotten around to reading the other three stories. That is why I chose this title to read as my June selection in my 2018 reading resolution. I’ve seen, and loved, the movie of the same name at least a dozen times.

Now that I have re-read the second of Capote’s masterpieces, I was majorly disappointed.  Set in New York City during the 1940s, the irreverent Holly Golightly adores the good life. She dates older men, stays out all night, and has little regard for her new best friend, the new guy in her building, a writer. Still, by the time I got to the end I was bored with Holly. She just seemed to do the thing over and over in each scene. 

But let’s talk about the other stories. First is “House of Flowers.” It is an odd little story that I really didn’t care for. Set in Haiti, Ottilie is a prostitute, a customer favorite.  The bordello’s madam does her best to keep Ottilie happy by giving her things the other girls must do without. She must decide whether to remain at the house or become the wife of Royal Bonaparte, a man from the mountains. I didn’t care for the ending at all.

Second is “A Diamond Guitar.” Set in a prison in Alabama, the two main characters are both convicts. Mr. Schaeffer is serving a 99-year sentence for murder and Tico the new guy on the block, serving a two-year sentence for stabbing two men. They attempt to breakout, with the ultimate goal of obtaining aa prized guitar.

The third story was my personal favorite and catapulted this review to three stars (up until then, it was going to get one. In “A Christmas Memory,” narrator Buddy is looking back the last Christmas he spent with this much-older cousin in rural Alabama. Every Christmas season they spend four days making thirty-one fruitcakes, evening going as far as sending one to President Franklin Roosevelt. It’s a fun, yet sad story that often rings of Capote’s own childhood.

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Three Other Stories” receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Sit

Sit by Deborah Ellis, 139 pages

"The seated child. With a single powerful image, Deborah Ellis draws our attention to nine children and the situations they find themselves in, often through no fault of their own. In each story, a child makes a decision and takes action, be that a tiny gesture or a life-altering choice." This collection of stories almost made me cry.  Most of them are sad but still hopeful.  This would work for reluctant readers because of the length and the fact that it would be easy to stop at any time or skip a story if they wished.  Kids who like realistic stories will also like it.

The Most Important Thing

TheMost Important Thing: Stories About Sons, Fathers & Grandfathers by Avi, 216 pages

“One of the most beloved writers of our time presents seven short stories exploring the vital ties between fathers and sons. Luke sees the ghost of his father but can't figure out what Dad wants him to do. Paul takes a camping trip with the grandfather he's just met and discovers what lies behind the man's erratic behavior. Ryan has some surprising questions when he interviews his prospective stepfather for the job. In a compellingly honest collection of stories, multiple-award-winning author Avi introduces seven boys--boys with fathers at home and boys whose fathers have left, boys who spend most of their time with their grandfathers and boys who would rather spend time with anyone but the men in their lives. By turns heartbreaking, hopeful, and funny, the stories show us boys seeking acceptance, guidance, or just someone to look up to. Each one shines a different light on the question ‘What is the most important thing a father can do for his son?’" This was a good, solid collection of stories.  I think that it would have a lot of appeal for elementary age kids, especially boys.

Three Sides of a Heart

Three Sides of a Heart, Natalie C. Parker, 448 pages

This is a collection of short stories, all having to do with love triangles of various kinds – taken very loosely, which is a fun twist. Many of the stories are queer, some are abstract, and some are fairly run-of-the-mill. Most of them I enjoyed, although there was one in particular I found completely confusing – it shifted POV-character constantly and presented the same three characters in different settings, with little indication of a shift. Maybe I would’ve enjoyed it more upon a second, more careful read, but by the time I finished that story I was so relieved to be done with it I didn’t think of going back.

This is a pretty good collection. The diverse and many-faceted interpretations of what exactly a love triangle could be bring unexpected pleasure to the read, and if one particular story doesn’t catch your interest, they’re all pretty short and the next one might.