Delirium Stories: Hana, Annabel and Raven by Lauren Oliver

I adore Lauren Oliver. Like, I had to use italics just to emphasize how great my love for her is. So of course I'm going to read every word she ever publishes (and more, if I could get my hands on them...). I actually read each of these three stories separately, but Delirium Stories: Hana, Annabel and Raven by Lauren Oliver is a collection, also available in paperback, that combines all three of shorts originally available as ebooks. They all take place in the Delirium universe, and each has a different main character, providing insight into the world, and flushing out the story further from the main three books in the trilogy.

Like always with these short stories, you don't need to read Delirium Stories to understand what goes on in the Delirium trilogy. What they share isn't necessary, or it would be a part of the actual books. But that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. Firstly, because, like I said, Oliver's writing is amazing. Secondly, I think each one adds a little more insight into the world, from different perspectives, and they help deepen the reader's understanding and knowledge of what happens in the books. So I do think they are worthwhile, if not strictly necessary.

In the first story, Hana, you get to see some of the events that actually take place in Delirium, but from the perspective of Lena's best friend, Hana. Like all of Oliver's books, this was well written with some beautiful imagery, especially involved flyers/papers flapping in the wind, that suck with me in particular. Descriptions like this:

"The wind kicks up, rustling all those flyers, the exhortations of safety. The flyers lift and sigh in unison, like a thousand people waving white handkerchiefs, a thousand people waving good-bye."

Hana's voice is so clear and real in this story, but the moment that leaves the biggest impact is definitely the ending-- such a wow moment.

The second short story is Annabel, and I thought this was pretty cool because Annabel is actually Lena's mother, and she is quite a mystery in the first two Delirium books. I really liked her story, even more than Hana. I found that her voice was a bit vulnerable but strong, in a way that reminded me a bit of Lena. Somehow, despite having all these different female narrators, Lauren Oliver still makes them distinct though and I never thought I was reading a different character than I was.

Annabel alternates between the past and the present in the same way that Pandemonium, but one thing remains constant-- you can't help rooting for Annabel. Her mother's love was just so strong, and she had just such a spirit, that you really just want things to work out for her. The relationship between her and her husband was heartbreaking.

Finally, Raven is the third and final story in Delirium Stories. Also for the record, I am writing these reviews about a year after reading these (except Raven, which I read in April 2013) and wow that is hard. I still need to review Requiem as well. Remind me to stop procrastinating on reviews for a year-- I think some from 2013 will remain unreviewed, but hopefully I can get on top things a bit better for 2014? Anyway, back to this review!

Like Hana, there was an interesting twist to Raven that I didn't expect, but reading her point of view was probably the least interesting of the three in terms of adding to the Delirium world. That said, she is a really strong individual and character, and like always Oliver kept my attention. Reading this before Requiem, and later knowing what happens in that book makes this story even more heartbreaking.

Overall, there's not a lot I can say about Delirium Stories because I waited way too long to review them. But based on what I remember, they were all enjoyable, well written, and heartbreaking in their own way. They aren't necessary, but they are lovely, and if you're a fan of the Delirium Trilogy I definitely recommend checking these out as well (they would make no sense at all if you're not a fan/not reading the books).

Mini Reviews: Birthmarked and Unearthly Tie-In Short Stories

Two of my favourite recent trilogies; Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien and Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, both had connected online-only content released right around the time the third and final novels were. I was really excited to read both, and thought I'd give my opinion on whether or not they are worthwhile.

First is "Ruled", a short story by Caragh M. O'Brien that takes place between Prized and Promised in her Birthmarked Trilogy. Like O'Brien's other short story, "Tortured"– reviewed here– which takes place between Birthmarked and Prized, it's also told from Leon's point of view.

It's a sweet story, that shows Leon visiting Gaia, wanting to give her a bracelet but instead ending up participating in a birth. It really helps to show Leon's outsider status, how he doesn't really belong. It also really shows how Leon feels about Gaia's distance. Reading the other books from Gaia's perspective, it's a lot easier to see where she's coming from when she has a hard time committing to Leon, whereas reading from his perspective is heart-breaking.

I did have a problem with vocabulary though, because at  one point, Leon calls Peter a "tool" and I definitely don't remember that vocabulary from the other Birthmarked books, though it's possible it was used, but in this context at least it took me out of the world O'Brien had created. It might have especially been a problem because with a short story there is so little time to bring that world alive again, every word counts.

Even though "Ruled" didn't blow me away like the full novels in the Birthmarked Trilogy have, it was definitely an enjoyable quick little read with some further insight into the characters, and after finishing Promised it was nice to return to the series, even for a moment.

"Radiant" is actually a novella-length story by Cynthia Hand that takes place between books 2 and 3 in the Unearthly Trilogy. Interestingly, unlike the full novels that are told strictly from Clara's perspective, "Radiant" alternates between Clara and Angela's viewpoints.

As always, I adored Hand's writing and I definitely think picking up "Radiant" is worthwhile. Unlike most ebook tie-ins, like "Ruled", that might provide a bit more character insight, "Radiant" actually provides more story insight. I haven't read the final Unearthly novel, Boundless, yet so I'm not sure how much will be revealed in it, but there is definitely new material and things I didn't know about the story just from reading Unearthly and Hallowed. "Radiant" also ends on a pretty intense note.

It was also really interesting to experience the Italian setting of "Radiant" as it takes place during the summer after Clara's final year of high school, following her mom's death and breakup with Tucker. So of course there wasn't any Tucker, just a few thoughts of him, and that was definitely something I missed. Angela's boy does play an important role though, and there is quite a bit of intrigue there that definitely left me worried about where things are going next. Ultimately, even though "Radiant" might not technically be necessary, I think it was a hundred percent worthwhile to read before picking up Boundless and I'm so glad I did.

Overall, two well-written tie-stories that I would definitely recommend picking up. "Ruled" is more of a quick bit of insight into Leon's thoughts, as well as seeing Gaia participate in a birth which was also pretty cool. In contrast, the much longer "Radiant" has time to develop new aspects of the story, which means I think picking it up is not only necessary, but a thrilling and enjoyable experience. I'm sad to see both the Unearthly and Birthmarked trilogies come to an end, but glad to have this extra time with them thanks to O'Brien and Hand's online stories. These are definitely two series I'll be recommending for years to come.

Meghan Review: Love, in Theory by E.J. Levy

Love, in Theory by E.J. Levy is a gorgeous collection of short stories examining the nature of love, need, desire, and connection in human experience. Levy’s prose is compelling and poetic, succeeding in embodying each character with complexity and uniqueness. This is an especially impressive accomplishment because Levy dives deeply into all types of love—affairs, new romances, decades of marriage, gay and lesbian relationships, family feuds—with the same meticulous attention to detail and voice. It’s this kind of fluidity that makes it easy to understand why this collection is a winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction.

My favorite story within the collection was the final one, “Theory of Dramatic Action.” This piece tells the story of a graduate film student redefining love and boundaries after a life spent fearing commitment and pain. All of the film details within the text (things like rising character arcs and film angles) added to the mood, and certainly taught me a lot I’d never even considered about movie-making. Another element of this story that stood out to me was the use of second person point-of-view. It made the story very immediate and visceral, and allowed it to be read almost like a script itself, correlating with the sections labeled “Act 1” and “Act 2” within it, and sticking with the larger thread of film.

In addition to its film details, “Theory of Dramatic Action” problematized faithfulness and sexual orientation in a way I’d never imagined before, touching on elements like sadomasochism and affairs with authority figures. This entanglement of love and lust and fear is all described best in the text itself: “You wonder, idly, if the appeal of the love triangle can be traced back to the Trinity or if it is more archaic, more biological than that, if it has been there from the start, from the moment we entered the world: a mother, a father, a child.” Throughout the collection, Levy raises questions such as this—where did love come from? When did this need begin? And is what we theorize as love really love at all?

Recommended to: lovers, fighters, and people coming out of bad break-ups or diving into new romances, teenagers who doodle hearts in the margins.

Release Date: September 15th 2012  Pages: 224  Format: E-book
Source: TLC Book Tours  Publisher: University of Georgia Press  Buy It: Book Depository

This is a review by Meghan. You can find her here on Goodreads or on Twitter @meghanc303

Mini Reviews: Divergent and The Gathering Tie-in Short Stories

Note: These reviews contain spoilers of the novels that the short stories tie into, Divergent and The Gathering.

I like to review every book I read, even the tiny ones, and so last time I read a couple short stories that tied into novels I'd loved I did some mini reviews on them (see here). Now I have stories from two other awesome authors, Veronica Roth with a tie-in for Divergent and Kelley Armstrong with two tie-ins for The Gathering. Although both novels have sequels I've read recently, and loved, it's been about a year since I picked up the originals and these stories were a great opportunity to revisit some crucial scenes from those novels.

Roth's Free Four and Armstrong's The Invitation retell scenes from the original novels from the perspective of the male love interest, which seems to be common in these free tie-in short stories, as that's what happened in both Miranda's Eleven Minutes and O'Brien's Tortured. But if that's a new thing for authors to do, I'm not complaining, as I loved the insight into what those moments would have been like for the guys, and it was great to get a chance to find out exactly what the character's voice was like.

In Free Four by Roth, she retells the Divergent scene that involves Four throwing knives at Tris, his future girlfriend. As a reader we get to see how Four feels about her, before any of the romance has had a chance to happen. Tris is such a strong narrator in the Divergent Trilogy that it was really cool to see what she is like from an outside perspective. Unsurprisingly, this is a really intense read– even though you know that Tris isn't going to get a knife into her face, I found myself anxious as things unfolded, because that's how Four feels. Overall, it was really cool to see the other side of the story, and I hope that Roth decides to do this again with an Insurgent scene in the future.

The New Guy and The Invitation are two bonus short stories available in a special e-book of  Kelley Armstrong's The Gathering, but she's also posted them on her website which is awesome. Like Free Four they really compliment the original novel and provide plenty of spoilers if you haven't already read it. If you have picked up The Gathering then these are both a great way to get a little more insight into the characters and the events that unfolded.

In The New Guy, Maya has to deal with her first day back at school, a day that used to be her best friend Serena's favourite day, and it includes some flashbacks into what life was like two years ago when Serena was still alive and gives the reader an even better idea of her personality. It also contains the first meeting between Rafe and Maya, which I thought was really interesting to read especially since I knew how things ended up between them.

The second bonus short story from The Gathering is The Invitation, which is written from Rafe's perspective and shares the scene when he goes to Maya's birthday party. It also showed some interaction between Annie and Rafe, which I found especially neat to read about because I got to see how Rafe felt about his sister, and how much he wanted the "real" Annie back. As a result, it was even more clear why Rafe was willing to use Maya to make that happen. Armstrong also did a great job of showing the complex dilemma going through Rafe's mind, even as he was happy that Maya might be the one he was looking for, he was already dreading having to tell her the truth about what he was doing there, already realizing that it would probably be impossible for her to trust him once she found out the truth.

Overall, I really enjoyed all three of these short stories. Free Four, The New Guy and The Invitation all give added insight and development to two amazing novels. It is especially neat to read scenes you already know from the perspective of another character, and I feel like Roth and Armstrong both did an awesome job with the new point-of-view and male voice. I don't think any of these short stories work on their own, but if you've read and loved Divergent and The Gathering like I have, you'll definitely want pick up these stories as well.

Radio Belly by Buffy Cram

It's been way too long since I read a short story collection, but Cram's first book Radio Belly was a perfect reintroduction to the genre. It's a mix of quirky and serious, whimsical and sad and each story manages to be complete and satisfying on its own. While of course I had favourites, there wasn't a specific story that I would recommend skipping or that I didn't enjoy in some way.

In Radio Belly, Cram excels most when her stories are a little less literal. My favourites were the weirdest. There are nine stories, beginning with "Mineral by Mineral" in which a woman finds herself with a deep hunger for soil and other inedibles after her life falls apart. It's insightful and observant, the wry comments at which Cram is so good, passages like:

"If she had a warning label, it would read: “Good friend, not great. Talks more than listens. May or may not have a conscience. Manipulative in an emergency. Needs constant attention. May or may not be capable of authentic connections. Should not be exposed to displays of sickness, grief, shame. May contain traces of fraudulence."

In the second story, "Love Seat" was one I had difficulty to connecting to; it's a sort of twisted love story involving the Grateful Dead and a lot of tanning lotion and a radio show host. I actually enjoyed the beginning, before it got into all the Grateful Dead stuff, since I've never listened to the band and all the connections and symbols just didn't make sense to me. It might work better for an older, or more musically literate, reader.

"Large Garbage", the third story, was previously published in Darwin's Bastards, a collection edited by Zsuzsi Gartner (author of Better Living Through Plastic Explosives), who seems to be mentor of sorts for Cram, based on her author's note. "Large Garbage" was another story that was just twisted and strange enough to work, without losing me as a reader. It's filled with Cram's strange images and comparisons like,

"I was wondering how, exactly, was I different from this mushroom? I ate, I slept, I too grew larger and paler by the day."

"Mrs. English Teacher" and "Refugee Love" were the two stories I enjoyed the least from Radio Belly. In many ways, they were also the most normal. In the first, a young woman goes to teach English in a war-torn country, and although "Mrs. English Teacher" is filled with social commentary, the way it is shared often veered on slightly boring for me. "Refugee Love" is an older woman looking back on the 80s and dating and love, and once again, it felt well-written but uninspired, and I never connected with the narrator. Cram has such a vivid imagination, and in these two stories, it doesn't feel like it is reaching its full potential.

In contrast, the title story, "Radio Belly" and the final one in the collection, "Floatables: A History" were both incredibly odd and incredibly wonderful. "Radio Belly" features a young woman who starts receiving weird transmissions from her stomach following an appendectomy, while "Floatables" takes place a top of a rubber island, created in a post-apocalyptic world where mother nature is not to be trusted, only the rubber is beginning to peel away and reveal something suspiciously green.

Overall, Radio Belly was a strange and enjoyable collection of stories. Even though a couple missed the mark for me, I found myself loving Cram's quirky and original perspective, as well as her observant description and unique story-telling. Readers looking for a fresh short story collection, or even just something a little out of the ordinary, would be well served by picking up Radio Belly and I am excited to see what Cram publishes next.

Mini Reviews: Birthmarked and Fracture Tie-In Short Stories

So one of the great things about the internet is that many authors have started to release tie-in short stories to accompany their novels. Of course, nothing too curial can happen in these (they save that for the books!) but it does give the reader the chance to get some added insight, often from a different character perspective. And the best part is when, like the two I'm reviewing today, they're free.

Tortured is set between Caragh O'Brien's debut novel, Birthmarked and its sequel, Prized. I think it works best if you've already read the first two books, just because there were some aspects of Prized that I didn't expect, and if I'd picked up Tortured first that would ruin them. Definitely not to be read until after Birthmarked though!

This short story is written from Leon's perspective, and it gives the reader a chance to experience first hand what a strong character he is. The Birthmarked Trilogy is really driven by the strong, female, lead character Gaia, so it was nice to see that O'Brien gave her a courageous love interest. Tortured is also heart-breaking because Leon, like Gaia, doesn't know if the other has survived. Having read Prized, and knowing what happens next, makes Tortured all the more painful. Overall, a nice short addition to a fantastic trilogy, recommended if you loved the books.

In Fracture, Megan Miranda's debut novel, a lot changes in eleven minutes for Delaney Maxwell. Those are the eleven minutes she spends trapped under the ice, while her best friend Decker tries to save her. In the free tie-in short story, Eleven Minutes, the reader gets the beginning of Fracture from Decker's perspective, including the time Delaney spends in a coma. Because Eleven Minutes is written from Decker's perspective and takes place early on, there is no hint of the paranormal that haunts Fracture. The result was actually a short story I preferred to the full novel.

Unlike Tortured, I actually think Eleven Minutes works on its own as a short story, but if you read it without having picked up Fracture it will likely leave you desperate for answers about what happens next.

I think what surprised me most about Eleven Minutes was what a compelling contemporary story it was– it even left me hopeful that Miranda decides to write a full-length contemporary in the future. There were also some beautiful phrases, like "Is this how it feels to drown? Maybe you didn’t even realize you were cold, dead, until something living touched you." And of course, having a look into the events from Decker's perspective only made me more fond of him.

Ultimately Tortured and Eleven Minutes are very different, but what they have in common is that they are two short stories, two different love interests having their say, and two great, quick reads for fans of the books they accompany.

The Secret Lives of People in Love: Stories by Simon Van Booy

The Secret Lives of People in Love is the debut collection of short stories by Simon Van Booy, which I picked up after reading (and loving) his second book, Love Begins in Winter. That's backwards of how I usually do things, but due to availability and wanting to get the books read in time for the book tour, I delved into Van Booy's second collection first. What this meant was that when I went to read The Secret Lives of People in Love, I was expecting the stories to be a certain way, and was surprised to find them quite different, although with the same incredible lyrical beautiful writing present in Love Begins in Winter.

The major difference between the two collections is the length of the stories, while Van Booy's first collection has 19 stories in, his second despite being of a similar length has only 5. The Secret Lives of People in Love contains stories of only 3 pages, with the longest being about 20 pages. What this means most of the time is that while the reader gets a rich look into the lives of the character, it is also a very brief look, in a sense that reminded me very much of Raymond Carver in What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (despite their writing styles being extremely different). This flash into an often gray and saddening world is both poetic and tragic in Van Booy's skilled hands.

There are too many stories to discuss each one individually, but overall I enjoyed them although there were definitely a few that didn't have much impact. The collection simply didn't have the consistent power that is present in Love Begins in Winter, perhaps because of the difference in length, meaning that the reader has so much less time to get to know the characters before they vanish. One story that I loved was "Apples" in which a shoemaker plants an orchard of apples in New York City to remember his daughter. Another one that stuck with me was "As Much Below as Up Above" in which a man narrowly escapes death and contemplates the demise of so many of his friends. 

Each story in this book was a soft moment in time, mean to be savoured instead of rushed. Ultimately, The Secret Lives of People in Love is a calm and quiet collection, filled with beauty although not- as I found Van Booy's follow up Love Begins in Winter to be- overwhelmed with it. I'm not always a fan of short stories, but I know that no matter the form I will be certain to pick up whatever Simon Van Booy publishes in the future.

Release Date: May 1st, 2007
Pages: 175
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This review was a part of TLC Book Tours. Click here to read what other tour hosts thought. For the purpose of this review I was provided with a copy of the book which did not require a positive review. The opinions expressed in this post are completely my own.

Love Begins in Winter: Stories by Simon Van Booy

I admit I picked up Love Begins in Winter: Stories by Simon Van Booy at the wrong time. What I mean is I picked it up when I was in bed, near sleep, thinking I'd just get a taste of the collection, read one story and fall peacefully asleep. From the very first sentence Van Booy had me hooked, and it didn't matter that what I thought were short stories were in fact near fifty pages in length, I made it through 2 of the 5 before finally being forced to sleep by heavy eyelids despite the fact that I didn't want to put down the book. I felt this way not because Love Begins in Winter is any kind of adventure thriller novel, the only adventure Van Booy delves into are those of the ordinary life and love.

Love Begins in Winter is a collection about meeting strangers, about beginnings, about fresh snow and new love. The title story appears first in the book and centres around an aging cellist who feels alone in the world since the death of his childhood companion. When he meets a woman who also suffered a great loss at a young age, the possibility of new life forms and grows between them. "Love Begins In Winter" was filled with beautiful phrases, word by word Van Booy made me fall in love, phrases such as "Grief is a country where it rains and rains but nothing grows. The dead live somewhere else- wearing the clothes we remember them in." and "Language is like looking at a map of somewhere. Love is living there and surviving on the land."

The second story in the collection was "Tiger Tiger", focuses on a doctor and her boyfriend, a man with parents whose marriage is on unsteady ground. He gives her a book written by their family doctor, and years later she picks it up only to realize the insight it has into her own life and the unexpected nature of love. Some of the excerpts from this book were quite intriguing, for example "Adult fears are idealized to the point where they become too big to fit through the hole they originally came through." Overall, it was probably my least favourite story in the collection though, as I found myself more emotionally distant from it than the other stories.

In the third story, "The Missing Statues", the love comes from a stranger and its impact radiates for years to come as the kindness of a gondolier is never forgotten by the man a young boy grows to be. In "The Coming and Going of Strangers", a boy falls in love with a girl he has never spoken to, a love that has no reason and yet is stronger than anything he has ever felt. The ending of the story was definitely a surprise, but the more I thought about it the more I felt it was perfect.

Love Begins in Winter ends with the story "The City of Windy Trees" in which a man travels to a new country to meet the daughter he never knew, the result of a one-night stand many years ago and the dream he never acknowledged. It is a touching story about redemption and what it feels like to move from a life alone to a life of love. The characters in Van Booy's collection are loners until they find love, although it doesn't always appear in obvious ways.

Ultimately, Love Begins in Winter was a beautiful and powerful collection from an author I will be certain to follow in the future. I already have his first collection of stories and his novel to read and I am excited to delve into more of his poetic writing. Although the title story was certainly my favourite, the others in the collection didn't disappoint my initial expectation. I may have read Love Begins in Winter in summer but it is the beginning of what I am sure will be a long lasting love affair with Simon Van Booy's beautiful prose.

Release Date: May 1st, 2009
Pages: 226
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This review was a part of TLC Book Tours. Click here to read what other tour hosts thought. For the purpose of this review I was provided with a copy of the book which did not require a positive review. The opinions expressed in this post are completely my own.

A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman: Complete Short Stories by Margaret Drabble

Published together for the first time, A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman: Complete Short Stories includes fourteen short stories by Margaret Drabble, the author of seventeen novels. Although I had not read any of Drabble's novels I am always interested in discovering a new author and as a lover of short stories I figured that I'd start with these bite-sized doses of her writing before delving into something longer. Appearing in chronological order based on the date they were published, A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman begins in 1964 with the most recent story being from 2000, covering almost forty decades of Drabble's career.

The collection begins with the story, "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" and the first line, "It was the kind of party at which nobody got introduced." which immediately caught my attention. The story itself was one of my favourites in the book, centering around a man interested in catching the attention of a beautiful young woman at a fancy party. He manages this by lighting her hair on fire. Drabble captures the glamour of the moment perfectly.

Next in A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman is "Hassan's Tower" in which a man honeymoons with his wife, a woman he once loved deeply but now feels distant from. Reflecting on her he thinks:

"Others found her beautiful, so beautiful she must be, and it was his fault only if he had ceased to see it."

Drabble's writing is concise and observant, and the women she writes about are strong as well as distinctly English. I describe them this way because although many of the women are pushing against the norm of the time, the stories maintain a proper tone. Drabble writes in a way which is more polished than raw. Although her writing is technically flawless, at times I did crave a little more emotion in stories like "Faithful Lovers" which despite their tumultuous subject matter, in this case two people having an affair together, maintained an air of detachment.

Many of the characters are working women, from a playwright in "A Success Story" to a TV personality in "A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman" to a scientist in "The Caves of God". In such stories, particularly "A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman" and "Homework", Drabble attempts to reconcile the working woman who still loves her children and family and who wants to have both.

One of the most interesting things about a collection like A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman is the ability to see the writer evolve of time. Although the stories were not written in the exact order they were published, the characters still seem to age throughout the stories. She begins with a young man at a party, but later introduces a mother, then a woman who has already been divorced twice. Most of the later stories involve older women who somehow seek to escape to escape their ordinary lives. Although these later stories were still interesting, I found them less exciting and spontaneous, and perhaps it is simply my own age which makes it difficult to connect with such main characters.

The two stories of the collection which stuck with me the most were "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" and "A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman". What these stories have in common is Drabble's ability to quietly tell the opposite of what the reader would expect, and although in the end their resolution may not be explicit, she has given you just enough to get to know the characters and become intrigued by the outcome, wondering what will happen next. Ultimately, A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman is a collection of varying but quiet strength which would be interesting not only to those who are already familiar with Drabble, but also anyone looking for an introduction to this reserved but powerful writer.

Release Date: May 18th, 2011
Pages: 256
Source: ARC From Publisher
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Separate Kingdoms by Valerie Laken

Separate Kingdoms by Valerie Laken is a collection of eight short stories, three of which take place in Russia and the remaining five which take place in the United States. Although the stories are unrelated, Laken shows the distinct differences between these two 'kingdoms' and different aspects of living in each country is explored throughout the collection. Many of the characters in Laken's writing are somehow damaged, there is a boy who is blind, a man who looses his thumbs, and a woman who has had her leg amputated. Even those who are not physically impaired often have another barrier to overcome, for example a lesbian couple looking to adopt a child. None of the characters in Separate Kingdoms are perfect, instead they are all human.

Laken's writing is quiet yet satisfying and her perceptive way of looking at the word is both appealing and bleak. Although many of her stories end without a clear resolution, they manage to feel complete, each one a distinct moment in time. In "Family Planning" two women travel from the United States to Russia to adopt a child, but as same-sex adoptions are not allowed they must pretend to only be friends. When they arrive, they find there is a second child also available and they must choose between the two children and decided which one to take home. Each woman wants a different child, and the decision they are forced to make is heartbreaking. In the story, Laken writes "A family was a thing that stretched out beyond where you left off, made meaning of you." This is a perfect summary for the collection, which is full of Laken looking into ordinary lives and making meaning out of ordinary moments.

The characters in the collection are troubled and confused, and the premise behind the stories is frequently an unhappy one. Ultimately, Separate Kingdoms is a strong and memorable collection because of the realistic ordinary darkness it contains and Laken's strong and beautiful voice does an incredible job of telling these stories. 

Release Date: March 29th, 2011
Pages: 224
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This review was a part of TLC Book Tours. Click here to read what other tour hosts thought. For the purpose of this review I was provided with a copy of the book which did not require a positive review. The opinions expressed in this post are completely my own. 

Better Living Through Plastic Explosives by Zsuzsi Gartner

Better Living Through Plastic Explosives is the second collection of short stories by Zsuzsi Gartner, who previous published All the Anxious Girls on Earth over a decade ago. The dark satire present throughout the collection often reminded me of Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart, a novel I unfortunately did not enjoy. For example in "Once We Were Swedes", Gartner writes:

"It was the year provincial health insurance had started covering Botox injections and teeth-whitening technology for the disenfranchised."

Offering the same kind of dystopian culture critique and later even describes the woman as having "pillowy Jolie Lips^TM".  It is the same story which centres around a woman who speaks to her husband in IKEA slang, complete with a glossary at the end, she says things such as "Slabang" which means funny (alarm clock)- but I just didn't find the concept slabang. That was the problem I had almost instantly with Better Living Through Plastic Explosives, I simply don't find this kind of writing funny, and because the dark humour is almost by definition, emotionally distant, I didn't find myself connecting with the characters either. That's not to say I didn't enjoy portions or find them specific parts interesting, but it never got to the point where I was excited about the writing.

My favourite story in the collection was probably the very strange, "Floating Like a Goat", which is a letter from a mother written to her daughter's first grade teacher when she learns her daughter did not meet expectations in art class, "What I would like to focus on is your insistence that a drawing is not complete until the child has filled in the background." she writes.

In "Someone Is Killing the Great Motivational Speakers of Amerika", motivational speakers hide out in the woods for reasons I could never quite discern but I believe had something to do with bioenergetics though I am also not quite sure what that is or what the characters connection to it was. The characters themselves have a variety of interesting names, from Cinders to Pudding, although if those are their actual names or supposed to be nicknames I don't know. The story is full of mentions of current technology as being outdated, old Nintendo DS, nanos, and the new new Conan O'Brien show, but to me it felt mostly like meaningless name-dropping- it provided context but it didn't emotionally connect or even make me laugh.

One glitch that really bothered me happened in the final story, the title on in the collection, "Better Living Through Plastic Explosives" about a terrorist turned suburban mom. I was reading an advance copy, so hopefully this was fixed in the finished edition, but the main character's name switches back and worth from Victoria to Lucy which was very distracting. Unless somehow I was confused and they are actually two characters, in which case the story was even more over my head than I initially thought.

The collection as a whole comments on modern culture, twisting things to the extreme and then showing the reader what the distorted view looks like. At times this was interesting, but overall, Better Living Through Plastic Explosives was just not meant for me. I have already read plenty of positive reviews and there is nothing technically wrong with Gartner's writing, so I can honestly say this was a matter of preference. If you enjoy the kind of stories I have described in this review and Gartner's dark sense of satire, then you are likely to have a much better experience with Better Living Through Plastic Explosives than I did.

Release Date: April 5th, 2011
Pages: 256
Source: ARC From Publisher
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What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver

“Mel thought real love was nothing less than spiritual love. He’d said he’d spent five years in a seminary before quitting to go to medical school. He said he still looked back on those years in the seminary as the most important years of his life.”

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love is Raymond Carver's classic collection of short stories. Unfortunately, this may have been another case of me having heard a few too many positive comments about Carver, and this book in particular. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, but I somehow expected something more. Even writing this review, I find it difficult to specifically recall most of the stories, and there were only a few that really touched me. That said, Carver's style of writing is definitely unique and something that has been emulated by many writers since. The stories have a quietness to them, the writing is sparse and simple, and they focus on men and woman without ambition and without direction. It is just a glimpse into their lives, peeking in and then vanishing just as quickly.

One story I particularly enjoyed was "I Could See the Smallest Things" where a woman has a midnight chat with a neighbour her husband was once friends with but had a falling out, the man is killing slugs. Afterwards, the woman goes inside to her sleeping husband, the drool on his face reminding her of the slugs she just saw. The title short story is one of the longer ones in the collection, although still pretty short, and "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" was a memorable reflection on what love means to different people. When Carver is successful his stories are looks into the lives of the ordinary through a dirty lens which blurs the nonsense and keeps only what is essential.

Overall, the book provides some simple and beautiful moments but the lack of resolution in the stories was a technique which didn't always work for me. The stories are all very bleak and occasionally run together because I didn't find that there were any ups and downs to the collection but that it mostly ran at a similar frequency. Also, perhaps due to the brevity of many of the stories, I sometimes I felt as if Carver really hadn't let the reader know enough about the characters to get me interested or invested in the story. Ultimately, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love is a good introduction to a famous contemporary short story writer but although Carver peeked my interest, he didn't capture my heart. 

Release Date: 1981
Pages: 144
Overall: 3.5/5
Source: Personal Copy (Gift from Laala)
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The Mother Who Stayed: Stories by Laura Furman

The Mother Who Stayed: Stories by Laura Furman is a collection of nine short stories, divided into three trios in which the stories are connected. When I first read about it, I was eagerly anticipating its release, but unfortunately the stories were dull and unemotional resulting in a disappointing experience for the book as a whole.

The first story, "The Eye" definitely didn't suck me into the book. I felt like there were details that were unimportant, like what some girls grew up to become, that were never referenced again or actually related to the story. It felt like a wisp of something, and seemed more like an excerpt than something complete. By the second story "The Hospital" I had begun to fall in love with Furman's writing but craved more from the stories themselves, this one in particular provides a glance into a mother who is sick in the hospital and her daughter and friend both come to visit her. The basic premise has so much potential and yet Furman barely glazes the surface. What she does touch on is beautifully described, for example she writes:

"Eva's lips parted and she touched them with her tongue. Love, she meant to say, love was always wonderful, no matter, no matter, no penalty for love. This wasn't true. She wanted to say something that was true."

I wanted more than a few lovely sentences, I wanted the stories to fill me with passion and emotion and in that regard they failed. The final story in the third section centers is written in the third person, "The Thief" is the story of Rachel, taking place three years after her mother's death, as she spends occasional afternoons with her friend from camp Caitlin who has an abusive boyfriend. When Caitlin's mother's pearls go missing Rachel is the first suspect. The tension between Rachel and the man from the insurance agency was incredibly well done, and I loved how Furman wrote about Rachel wondering if she actually had taken them, and if so where they had gone. The reader got soaked into that slightly fantastical world of childhood friendships and how they are not always two-sided. But once again, the story was but a glimpse into a world.

The second third of the book begins with "A Thousand Words" in which a widower deals with her husband's sudden death. Following his death, she begins to write of the beginning of her marriage, just as an old and flaky friend, Marian, from that portion of her life reconnects with her. I was mostly indifferent to it. "Here It Was, November" centers on a biographer writing on Marian's life after she has died, attempting to guarantee both of their places as writers.

"Working in the service of the dead, biographers quit their labors only when the sole remaining task is the impossible- resurrection."

In "The Blue Wall" Marian's daughter Dorothea who she gave up for adoption deals with the lost of her adopted parent and takes in Marian when she becomes ill.

The third trio of the book includes "The Blue Birds Come Today" which contains more names and dates than a reader could reasonably be expected to keep straight, especially in a short story. Each character is so briefly and sparsely described that it is impossible to form a connection to any of them, or have any emotional reaction to the story of a family with many children, many of whom die of various illness at a young age, in the mid 1800s.  In the next story, "Plum Creek", Dinah and her father have been abandoned by her mother, but travel to attend the funeral anyway, ultimately returning to their home in Plum Creek. I wanted passionate emotion from Dinah, a young girl who has lost her mother twice, but instead Furman wrote with the same detached style which failed to capture my heart.

The collection ends with the title story, "The Mother Who Stayed" which is by far the longest story in the book and after being let down by the stories so far I hoped this final one would redeem it. It picks up with Dinah again, several decades later after her husband has passed on. Childless, she instead takes an interest in a local girl, Amber, and pays her to transcribe dairies she's found in her house, which the woman from the 1800s had kept. As Dinah and Amber try to discover what happen to their owner, she hopes this is an opportunity for Amber to leave the abusive relationship she is in. "The Mother Who Stayed" is by far the best story in the collection, which proved what I feel about Furman's writing which is that she is at her best when she gives the story space to develop. Unfortunately, most of the stories in The Mother Who Stayed barely skim the surface of the deep issues they attempt to address, leaving the reader unconnected to the characters and uninterested in the outcome.

Release Date: February 1, 2011
Pages: 224
Overall: 2/5
Source: E-galley from Publisher 
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