As hosted by The Book Mine Set, the first meme I'm participating in for Book Blogger Appreciation Week is Short Story Mondays (and yes, it's barely Monday anymore, but there's still some Monday left on the West coast!). This was a hard meme for me to pass up, since at Harper Perennial where I work, we just spent the summer, and are now heading into the fall, celebrating the short story and since one of my favorite books of all time is Tim O'Brien's collection of stories, The Things They Carried. Part of the short story celebration included the launch of the website Fifty-Two Stories, where a new short story is presented every week of the year.
This summer saw the publication of short story collections by writers both classic and contemporary. These six classic short story collections from by Tolstoy, Cather, Dostoyevsky, Crane, Melville and Wilde feature fantastic new cover designs, and each includes a story by a new writer in the back. Read a classic--learn about a classic-in-the-making.
Among the contemporary collections published, there are two I believe are perfect for book clubs -- Lydia Peele's Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing and Simon van Booy's Love Begins in Winter.
"Lydia Peelle has given us a collection of stories so artfully constructed and deeply imagined they read like classics. It marks the beginning of what will surely be a long and beautiful career," said Ann Patchett. Browse inside the book to see for yourself and check out the reading group guide. "The stories of Love Begins in Winter are stylistically brilliant and emotionally beautiful. I found myself gasping, literally gasping, at surprises so perfectly attuned as to be inevitable. Simon Van Booy is an extraordinary writer, and this is a book to be read and reread again and again," said Binnie Kirshenbaum, author of The Scenic Route. Browse inside Love Begins in Winter and check out the reading group guide. I have a complete set of all these books to give away. Simply post a comment about your favorite book of short stories. I'll choose one random winner from all the comments received (US and Can only) by midnight Wednesday September 16th! In Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing, Lydia Peelle brings together eight brilliant stories—two of which won Pushcart Prizes and one of which won an O. Henry Prize—that peer straight into the human heart. In startling and original prose, she examines lives derailed by the loss of a vital connection to the natural world.
On the verge of giving up—anchored to dreams that never came true and to people who have long since disappeared from their lives—Van Booy's characters in Love Begins in Winter walk the streets of these stark and beautiful stories until chance meetings with strangers force them to face responsibility for lives they thought had continued on without them.
