2018 Short Story Advent Calendar Unveiling: December 17

The swelling is slowly abating in my mouth, plus, I enjoyed today’s story. Things are looking up for me!


I felt like a bit of a rebel picking up this book back in December because I got it from the library, and no one had asked me to read or review it for them, I was simply reading it for (gasp!) pleasure. By Gaslight by Steven Price is one of those books that I…
Oh jeez guys, oh jeez. I seem to have been on a streak lately, reading books about children dying, being kidnapped, and other horrible things. Billie Livingston’s The Crooked Heart of Mercy continues this terrible theme as it begins with the accidental death of a two year-old, while he is at home with him Mom…

It’s been a rough 24 hours in our house, as we returned home from vacation to find our beloved Smokey had passed away. It feels like just a few short months ago we were mourning the death of her sister Pearl, so I wonder if the loss of her only feline companion shortened Smokey’s life…

Recording a book review for book tube was a great excuse to brush my hair and put on a little make-up, so I did just that for my latest read, This Has Nothing To Do With You by Lauren Carter. I still wore stretchy pants though, there’s no way I’m needlessly wearing jeans while this…

Cats! Books! A woman with glasses on the cover! This book just calls to me, for obvious reasons. Based on the font, colour scheme and title of this book, you would think it’s chick lit. My friends, it is most definitely not. It is quirky, it is funny, but there is no romance in it….

After a short hiatus from my booktube reviews, I’m back with a new one: The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman. As I mention in the recording, this is the July pick for my book club (register for the discussion here if you’re interested and live in Calgary!), and I really enjoyed it. Didn’t think I…
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I remember a friend loving Rufus W. around 2000, so you’re likely not far off!
phew!
Agree to disagree about this story. This one wasn’t for me. I’m not really sure what the point of it was, but at least the female protagonist seemed to be in charge this time. There were some clever turns of phrases throughout, but I liked the writing at the beginning of the story better than the end. I loved his description of nature, and it was hard to tell from the way the first encounter was portrayed whether he was writing about an actual deer, e.g., page 5, “He got down on his haunches, laid a hand to his long, skinny knee…”. But no magic realism here…nothing magical at all, really.
I agree; it does leave the reader more in and of the moment when you don’t place the story in a specific time.
I wouldn’t say I LOVED this story, but I did like it more than others. The calendar seems to be quite polarizing this year, which is half the fun :)
Kevin Barry was recommended to me by another reviewer years ago as a newcomer to watch – needless to say, I never got around to reading any of his stuff! Apart from the swearing, this sounds good. I may even add one of his short story collections to my wishlist…