Terri

I found this enjoyable, but to say that it was inspired by fairytale, myth, and folklore is really overselling it when several of the stories in here are riffs on Disney tales, not traditional fairytales. Still, it was a pleasant read and I would recommend it.

This is basically The Breakfast Club with murder involved. I tend to rate thriller/mystery books based on how quickly I figure out the twist, and this one I saw coming from a mile away. Still, it was enjoyable, but not enough for me to want to continue the series.

I'm honestly tired of Rowling trying to squeeze a cent out of every droplet of plot that she pulls out of her ass. I'm giving this two stars because I finished it, but none of the stories taught me anything new about the Potter universe and it just felt like a cash grab.

TW: pedophilia, child abuse

I'm not sure where to start with this one. I enjoyed the mystery, which was really the only thing that kept me reading (skimming) through this one. But as other reviewers have pointed out, Madison (the 5-, later 8-year-old) was depicting as bizarrely mature for her age, whereas the 30-year-old adult Naomi often seemed more like a child instead. I'm not sure whether this was intentional or not, but it didn't do the story any good.

There was also the repetitive prose, and the stinted dialogue. Somehow everyone in this story spoke like Data from Star Trek (i.e never using contractions). The side characters all blended into one, and I found myself cringing more than once at how obvious it was the author wanted every moment to be “deep”.

I was also disturbed by the way the author shows Madison responding to her abuse. I understand her wanting to please her captor to prevent punishment, and a part of her that craved human contact. But I found some of the word choice disturbing and questionable. Saying (from Madison's perspective, again - an 8 year old child) that they reached the “pinnacles of heaven” at night, while her abuser raped her was just ridiculous and grotesque.

I found Eleanor funny and relatable, and I thought her process of coming out of her shell was realistic and encouraging. I also loved her friendship with Raymond, and even though it was left open at the end I felt that they both genuinely loved and cared for one another and that it would result in a real relationship.

Very few self-improvement or skill-based books have resonated with me the way this book did. Voss' writing style is clear, entertaining, and instructive. Not only are his stories enjoyable, but they're informative and memorable, which has allowed me to apply many of his techniques in my own life with success.

Skim captures the melancholy of drifting away from a friend, and the humor of highschool even in the midst of suffering through it. Kimberly is a relatable character, and it's hard not to feel sorry for her even though she's really the most well-balanced character in the entire story.

“But literature, the best of it, does not aim to be literature. It wants and strives, beyond that artifact part of itself, to be a true, part of the composite human record—that is, not words but a reality.”

The first work of Mary Oliver's that I've read, and it has encouraged me to read more.

A return to the real Anne, the one that seemed to disappear briefly in book 3. Many moments that made me laugh and smile, and tear up. The letter format of the first few chapters threw me off a bit, but the transition to the narrative format was smooth and evened things out. Rebecca Dew was a highlight for me.

As with Ripley, Highsmith has the uncanny ability to create a murderer that you sympathize with. Bonus points for the addition of pet snails, a nod to her own hobby.

One of the best collections of short fiction and fantasy. As usual, Neil Gaiman crafts a unique world with just a handful of words and allows you to watch.

Original, enjoyable, and as magical as you would expect from something curated by Neil Gaiman.

Not as gripping as her other novels, but still enjoyable nonetheless. There is definite suspense, I was on edge the entire time I read this.

Much like The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife drifts between the present-day relationships of mother and daughter, and stories of a complicated past. It's enjoyable, difficult to predict, and emotionally charged.

I wasn't sure of this book at first - I even gave up on it about 10% in - but for some reason I felt compelled to finish it. I'm glad I did. It's not an easy read, emotionally speaking, but it was worth it.

I decided to read this book as an attempt to remedy my opinion of Bourdain. While I can't say that I completely succeeded, the book itself was enjoyable and his writing style was compelling. The fact that he allows himself to fade into the background and let the food take the spotlight probably helped, because I attempted to read one of his cookbooks later and couldn't handle it.

While I found myself smiling at a few of the jokes, many of the short stories left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I don't mind dark huor, but this humor was often cruel, at the expense of someone less fortunate, the author seemed to have no qualms tossing around racial slurs with the unspoken excuse of these memoirs taking place in “different times”, and the final story centered around a suffering animal that finally needed to be drowned.

I've read Sedaris before and enjoyed his writing style, but I'm not sure I'll be coming back for more. Not my cup of tea.

What a twat.

I enjoyed this at the beginning but I was expecting more of a collected summary of his best tidbits from the essays, and this turned into more of an autobiography that I didn't care much about since I hadn't yet read the essays. Might come back to this later after reading the essays.

Always worth a re-read, one of Wilde's greatest accomplishments. Some might say it is his greatest accomplishment, though I am biased due to my love of Dorian Grey. Witty, romantic, and expertly paced. I could spend hours discussing this play (and in fact I have). Something everyone should read at least once.

This book gave of the feeling of being inside on a stormy day. It's oddly peaceful, even though it's extremely sad. I found myself enthralled from the beginning. I had no idea what to expect when I picked it up, but I was pleased with the ending.

Aesthetically rich, captures the essence of childhood summers. Despite the interwoven hints from the “present” of what is to come, the story remains fresh and there is a real sense of suspense and mystery.

This is honestly one of the best - if not the best - collection of short stories that I've ever read. Every story felt like a feverish dream, the kind you wake up from feeling unsettled without knowing exactly why. My favorites were Beautiful Stranger; The Bus; Louisa, Please Come Home, The Summer People; and The Rock - though every story was impressive in its own right.

Sort of saw the twist midway through the story but my eyes still went wide when it was confirmed. Very atmospheric, enjoyed it and would re-read.

This book was informative and interesting, but I felt that too much space was dedicated to the author's annotated list of works, especially when the author herself had stated the importance of reading a text before getting an outside impression of it from an introduction or editor's notes.