caribousmom Rotating Header Image

Posts under ‘Short Stories’

Love Begins In Winter – Book Review

Jun 20th, 2009
by Caribousmom.
5 comments

And then suddenly an arm of sunlight reached through a high window and opened its hand upon her face. I saw her eyes as clearly as if we had been pressed against one another in a very small space. – from Love Begins in Winter, page 41 -
Simon Van Booy’s five story collection, Love [...]

Months and Seasons Makes International Award Long List

May 21st, 2009
by Caribousmom.
4 comments

For those of you who regularly read my blog, you already know that I think Christopher Meeks is a talented writer. I have read and enjoyed all three of his books: The Middle-Aged Man and The Sea (reviewed here), Months and Seasons (reviewed here), and his debut novel The Brightest Moon of the Century [...]

The Mechanics of Falling – Book Review

Apr 6th, 2009
by Caribousmom.
10 comments

Some people are too stupid to be afraid on a runaway horse. Some people seize up. Some people turn cold and clear inside, like Clay, and only start to shake afterward. Annie sails into trouble like she wants it to last forever, like she can skim off from fear only what’s precious. She almost [...]

Kate’s Short Story Reading Challenge

Oct 23rd, 2008
by Caribousmom.
2 comments

January 1 – December 31, 2008

Could you resist this button? Come on, be honest. You couldn’t. And neither could I…that, and I love the art of the short story.

Kate at Kate’s Book Blog (and A Curious Singularity) has come up with the 2008 Short Story Challenge. And she’s made it flexible and individualized…AND she’s given it its own blog. So there you go. I’m in.

I’ve chosen option #5 – the custom option. And here is my plan:

I. Read six (6) individual short stories by authors I have not read before and  which I will choose as I go along.

1. Black Ice, by Cate Kennedy (finished January 21, 2008; rated 3.5/5; read my review)
2. The Overcoat, by Nikolai Gogol (finished March 1, 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)

II. Read a minimum of three (3) collections chosen from these books:

1. Selected Short Stories of William Faulkner, by William Faulkner
2. The Country of Pointed Firs and Selected Short Fiction, by Sarah Orne Jewett (let it be noted that I have already read The Country of Pointed Firs and won’t re-read it, but all the other stories in this collection are up for grabs)
3. Open Secrets, by Alice Munro
4. Tooth and Claw, by T.C. Boyle
5. A Private State, by Charlotte Bacon
6. Friend of My Youth, by Alice Munro
7. All Aunt Hager’s Children, by Edward P. Jones

I reserve the right to change the titles or add to them…but, I promise you I will read six (6) individual shorts, and three (3) collections!

Months and Seasons – Book Review

Oct 23rd, 2008
by Caribousmom.
6 comments

These were adults with too much time on their hands. And didn’t they know that the projector, sound system, and speakers were all Japanese? Their dancing shoes were probably from Mexico or China. America’s jobs were going elsewhere and Americans were just dressing up and playing like kids. Gas prices were high. General Motors [...]

The View From Castle Rock – Book Review

Sep 28th, 2008
by Caribousmom.
6 comments

These are stories. You could say that such stories pay more attention to the truth of a life than fiction usually does. But not enough to swear on. And the part of this book that might be called family history has expanded into fiction, but always within the outline of a true narrative. With [...]

An Ex-Mas Feast, by Uwem Akpan – Short Story Review

Aug 24th, 2008
by Caribousmom.
7 comments

The sun had gone down on Ex-mas evening. Bad weather had stormed the seasons out of order, and Nairobi sat in a low flood, the light December rain droning on our tarpaulin roof. I was sitting on the floor of our shack, which stood on a cement slab at the end of an alley, [...]

Natalie, by Anne Enright – Short Story Review

Jul 26th, 2008
by Caribousmom.
2 comments

After reading The Gathering, I was eager to read more work by Anne Enright.  So when the 21st Fiction Yahoo group chose Enright’s short story Natalie to read and discuss, I was pleased. I read this story on-line at the New Yorker.
Natalie is narrated by an unnamed teenage protagonist who is laying in bed ruminating [...]

Mr. Bones – A Short Story Review

Jun 30th, 2008
by Caribousmom.
2 comments

My father, apparently a simple, cheery soul, was impossible to know. -From Mr. Bones-
Paul Theroux wrote this short story which appeared on line at The New Yorker in September 2007. The narrator is a man remembering his father from many years previous. Right up front, he tells the reader that not only is his [...]

Springtime On Mars: Stories – Book Review

Jun 29th, 2008
by Caribousmom.
9 comments

“For years, people imagined they saw canals dug into the planet’s surface. They called these canals proof of life. They worried what intelligent life on Mars might mean to us earthlings, to our safety. But, it was nothing. An optical illusion a cosmic misprint. There’s no life. There’s nothing.” -From Springtime on Mars, page [...]

← Earlier Posts