Lake Like a Mirror by Sok Fong Ho

In my attempt to read translated works as well as short stories, I chose this. It is written by a Malaysian Chinese author and shows a window into cultures that I had very little understanding of earlier.As with most short story collections (even by the same author), the standard of stories usually varies wildly. This…

Other Moons: Vietnamese Short Stories of the American War and Its Aftermath

Edited by : by Quan Manh Ha Translatedby Joseph Babcock When I started reading this, I wanted to make a good effort in the writing of the review because of the gravity of the content. I also found out a lot about America's war in Vietnam, most of which were news to me. There is so…

Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen

I usually have a problematic relationship with short stories. It takes a lot for it to feel complete enough in those few pages that amount to a story. Given this background, I am usually wary of picking up a collection. Then again, the rewards on a good day weigh heavier, and I was really tempted…

Mystery Follows her – Assorted authors

I have had a love-hate relationship with both short stories as well as cozy mysteries featuring enterprising young women. With this book, I wanted to test my interest in both. I recently loved a collection of historical cozies so I thought I might enjoy this one too. Debating and procrastinating this review held up a…

Hotel Du Jack And Other Stories by Dan Brotzel

I waffled quite a bit, back and forth with a lot of points for either idea about expanding on individual stories or writing an all-encompassing review. The latter plan gained more traction when I started listing out personal one line reactions and realised it would involve me saying more than the book does during a…

Not So Stories by Adiwijaya Iskandar; Joseph Elliott-Coleman; Raymond Gates; Zina Hutton; Georgina Kamsika; Cassandra Khaw; Paul Krueger; Stewart Hotston; Tauriq Moosa; Jeannette Ng; Ali Nouraei; Zedeck Siew; Wayne Santos; Achala Upendran

I do not remember reading the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, but I must have done because I felt a hint of recognition at the tone of some of the stories. I liked the content of the foreword, but I think that also set my bar incredibly high about what I was to encounter…

Take Us to a Better Place: Stories by Madeline Ashby, Hannah Lillith Assadi, Calvin Baker, Frank Bill, Yoon Ha Lee, Karen Lord, Mike McClelland, Achy Obejas, David A. Robertson, Martha Wells

This book is available for request till the 31st of May 2020 Usually, I am unable to give a breakup of individual reviews when I read books like this. Given that there are only ten stories and they vary very widely in the tone as well as the content I decided to try this one…

A Curious Place by Barbara Woodward

This is another experimental book that I had on my list for far too long and I should have gotten to sooner, especially since it was a morsel of a book for an adult. This is a fun set of fiction for children with the predominant focus being on kindness to animals and other people.…