This week we look at books read and reviewed, discover some of the best writing about literature on the blogosphere and highlight fascinating features from across the Internet.
Short Fiction
BOOK REVIEW: A Nail, A Rose
Brought back into print by Pushkin Press, Madeleine Bourdouxhe’s 1944 short story collection highlights the lives of conflicted female characters in beautiful prose.
THE CLASSICS CLUB: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
I share my thoughts on a collection of twelve short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.
THOUGHTS ON: Public library and other stories
A splendidly inventive collection of short stories from Ali Smith, author of How to be both, winner of the Baileys Women’s Prize and the Costa Novel Award.
BOOK REVIEW: The Unhappiness of Being a Single Man: Essential Stories
A collection of Franz Kafka’s short stories showcasing his dark imagination and wry humour.
1944 CLUB: Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
Collaborative book blogging: my contribution to the 1944 Club.
Margaret Atwood: The Works
A comprehensive checklist of Margaret Atwood’s publications from 1961 to the present day.
BOOK REVIEW: The Cake Tree in the Ruins
A necessarily brief review (I’m posting this from a sandy beach in Cyprus) of a dark but inventive short story collection set on 15th August 1945 – the day Japan surrendered and the Second World War formerly ended.
THOUGHTS ON: 24 Stories: of Hope for Survivors of the Grenfell Tower Fire
We look at an anthology of short stories written on themes of community and hope by a mix of the UK’s best known writers and previously unpublished authors, whose pieces were chosen by Kathy Burke from over 250 entries.
1977 CLUB: Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams by Sylvia Plath
Collaborative book blogging: My last minute contribution to the 1977 Club.
BOOK REVIEW: Ayiti
This debut collection from Roxane Gay is a unique blend of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, all interwoven to represent the Haitian diaspora experience.
THOUGHTS ON: ‘A House of Pomegranates’
A House of Pomegranates is a collection of whimsical short stories by Oscar Wilde.
BOOK REVIEW: Her Body and Other Parties
Carmen Maria Machado’s debut short story collection has marked her out as an effervescent talent in fermentation.
SHORT FICTION REVIEW: The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere
A heart-warming and original short story.
BOOK REVIEW: The Reservoir Tapes
Set in a rural village in England’s Peak District – an upland area at the southern end of the Pennines – The Reservoir Tapes was first aired on BBC Radio 4 as a specially commissioned short fiction series.
BOOK REVIEW: Stories: The Collected Short Fiction
There are no weak parts to Helen Garner’s collection – it is simply that some stories are more brilliant than others.
Cursory Comments on ‘Cat Person’
A controversial 4,000 word tale by Kristen Roupenian has appeared in The New Yorker.
THOUGHTS ON: Grimm’s Fairy Stories
Taken from the East European oral tradition, these stories were originally collated and published in Germany by the Brothers Grimm.
THOUGHTS ON: Me Again: Uncollected Writings Of Stevie Smith
Florence Margaret Smith (1902-1971), known to friends and readers as Stevie Smith, was a highly witty English writer, most famous for her perceptive, clever little poems.
THOUGHTS ON: The Awakening: And Other Stories
This short but impassioned novel, first published at the turn of the 19th century, portrays a new way of thinking; a dissension among the women of North America and Europe, which caused excitement and consternation in equal measures.