Just wanted to let you know about a few that I thought were pretty great.

Of course, Stephen King is a gimme.  He has several collections of short stories and the short story is something that he’s kind of passionate about.  A lot of times when people say that they haven’t read Stephen King because they’re just not sure about him, I recommend a short story collection so that they can get a taste of his writing without a commitment to a 1000 page book.  Some of my favorites collections by him are Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Night Shift, Everything’s Eventual, and Four Past Midnight.  All of his are good stuff though and if you are new to him or to short stories, this would probably be a good place to start.

Another classic is Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger.  I read this several years ago and thought it was good but didn’t really realize how much it impacted me.  There are stories here that come back to me over and over and over.  They are kind of these perfect, model short stories.  They give you a glimpse of a life while blurring some edges and telling a full story.  The first one, Perfect Day for Banafish, really is one of the best short stories I’ve ever read.  So, so good.

I was first introduced to Elliot Perlman though Seven Types of Ambiguity and it was pretty much love at first sight.  I thought that mammoth of a book was great and when I found out that he also had a short story collection, I was totally sold.  The Reasons I Won’t Be Coming is a collection of stories that from the descriptions just sound totally quirky, but end up having real heart behind them.  They are normal people in semi-normal situations and he just takes these ordinary lives and writes about them in a beautiful, poignant way.  For some of the stories, that really really works.  Some of them, not so much.  Worth reading the full collection though, mostly because I like what he’s trying to say.

I started The Whole Story and Other Stories by Ali Smith in the bookstore, and in a very uncharacteristic move, walked straight to the check-out and bought it.  I liked it that much.  It’s a skinny little book but it is kind of beautiful and I really loved the stories.  The first one, The Universal Story, will stop you in your tracks. So frigging good.  All of them are good, but for me, this one was worth buying the collection for.  So, so good.

I thought that The Memory Keeper’s Daughter was only so-so, but I thought that The Secrets of a Fire King by Kim Edwards was pretty great.  What struck me about this collection and what I remember most is how each story was its own deal, but that similar themes kept popping up in one story after the other.  There was a little spark every time there was this feeling of “recognition” and I think that it made the collection so much more powerful as a whole.  That flow took some mediocre stories and bumped them up a notch.  There were a few great stories here, but not all of them.  I still enjoyed it enough to include it on this little list, so that should say something, right? Right.

I just sat here and tried to brainstorm a couple more but came up with some stuff that’s good but not great, and I don’t want you to start off on the wrong foot if short stories are something new for you.  Give one of these collections a go and let me know what you think.  Anyone have any amazing recommendations that I’ve missed here?  Let me know!

Everyone knows that I love to read and that I plan on reading to Isaac until he does too, so I’ve gotten so many great books as gifts for him.  One of my friends even started collecting books for him when I first found out I was pregnant and gave me a whole basket of books at my baby shower.  It was the sweetest gift ever.  I literally cried.

I have just started organizing them and realized just how many he’s gotten. It’s unreal.  I just wanted to share them with you!

Check out my score from the last two days:

The first book there is The Doctor and the Diva, which I won from Jennie at Life is Short. Read Fast. I guess I didn’t get it at a book sale, but I got it in the mail yesterday so I’m counting it as part of my two-day book score!

The second pile is from a used bookstore in town.  We actually only have one that amounts to much and they were having a 50% off sale on all fiction. Here’s what I ended up with:  Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, School’s Out by Christophe Dufosse, A Woman Betrayed by Barbara Delinsky, Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman, and Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern. These all added up to eight bucks.

The last pile is from the Hudson Library Sale, which I’ve proclaimed my love for before. It is incredible.  Yesterday, here’s what I got there: The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus, Jesusland by Julia Schreeres, The Unheard by Josh Swiller, The Accidental by Ali Smith, This I Believe edited by Jay Allison, and Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult.  The damage was five dollars.

Two days, twelve books, thirteen dollars? Not bad. Not bad at all!

I was really on the lookout for lighter books.  With this kid on the way, my head is in a zillion different places and in the last week I’ve started several “heavier” books and just cannot keep focused at all.  I’ll find myself just staring at the page and not remembering the last 10 pages I read.  I needed something that I could read while totally distracted.  I think I did a pretty good job in that regard and I’m looking forward to digging into these!

I was shocked at how similar his story is to the Whiskey Robber story that I just reviewed yesterday.

Sometimes it seems like after I read about something, I notice it everywhere, but this is just uncanny.

Here’s the story: Barefoot Bandit: Folk Hero or Crook.

Wild.

I also have a habit of looking for cute ones on Etsy to give away and use myself.  Here are some that I currently have bookmarked:

You Are Here… on a bookmark… with a map. Clever and cute.

by seller annieWHERE.

This seller makes  a ton of fabric bookmarks.  For some reason, they just seem so sweet to me.  I love this one, but if you look in her store, I know you’ll find a ton that you can’t live without.

by seller StefanieKayDesign.

And.. my favorite. This is hilarious.  A knitted, squashed rat?  Morbid little me is pretty  much obsessed.

The seller is only selling the pattern, so you have to be on your knitting game to get this one.  If you do make one, just go ahead and make two and send me one. Thanks!

by seller kooklacreations.

This would be pretty  much perfect, although white furniture in our house would be a little risky.

This is really cute and really matches our “style,” but is stupid expensive:

And I’m pretty sure that this is from a hotel room, but it’s a little bit perfect:

While Googling, I also came across this, which made me laugh out loud. It has a light, room for like 80 books, and a wheel so you don’t even have to be stationary to read.  Hilarious.

www.marriedtothesea.com

I’m scared to even look at my Google Reader and see what that has in store for me….

I have a handful of books I’ve read to tell you about and I am jumping out of my seat to show you my new bookshelves!

Look at the little eyeglasses! So charming. (Hardy har, get it…. charming….)

by Etsy Seller countingstitches

Good advice, huh?  Adding to the nerdiness/coolness factor is the medium- this is printed on a Scrabble tile.  Good stuff.

By Etsy Seller PendantPixie

And this one is just darling.  Tiny pencil included? Don’t mind if I do.

By Etsy Seller lunasunshine

And you can actually write in this one. Be still, my heart.

by Etsy Seller ShyShirley.

The next few have ladders. Swoon!

And of course, the library of my dreams:

Belle was so lucky….