Short Story
Arrival
Ted Chiang
SCIENCE FICTION Chiang Ted
Short Story
Ted Chiang has long been known as one of the most powerful science fiction writers working today. Offering readers the dual delights of the very strange and the heartbreakingly familiar, Arrival presents characters who must confront sudden change. In "Story of Your Life," which provides the basis for the film Arrival, alien lifeforms suddenly appear on Earth. When a linguist is brought in to help communicate with them and discern their intentions, her new knowledge of their language and its nonlinear structure allows her to see future events and all the joy and pain they may bring. In each story of this incredible collection, with sharp intelligence and humor, Ted Chiang examines what it means to be alive in a world marked by uncertainty, but also by wonder.
Ted Chiang is a master of writing short stories--usually Sci-Fi or Fantasy leaning--with an eye towards the scientific and academic. His stories stay with you. He often presents an idea, shows you the various sides of it, and then leaves it with you to come to your own conclusion. My favorite in this collection was "Hell is the absence of God." -Brian
How high we go in the dark : a novel
Sequoia Nagamatsu
SCIENCE FICTION Nagamatsu, Sequoia
Fiction, Dystopian, Science Fiction, Short Story
"For fans of Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven, a spellbinding and profoundly prescient debut that follows a cast of intricately linked characters over hundreds of years as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague-a daring and deeply heartfelt work of mind-bending imagination from a singular new voice. Beginning in 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work of his recently deceased daughter at the Batagaika crater, where researchers are studying long-buried secrets now revealed in melting permafrost, including the perfectly preserved remains of a girl who appears to have died of an ancient virus. Once unleashed, the Arctic Plague will reshape life on earth for generations to come, quickly traversing the globe, forcing humanity to devise a myriad of moving and inventive ways to embrace possibility in the face of tragedy. In a theme park designed for terminally ill children, a cynical employee falls in love with a mother desperate to hold on to her infected son. A heartbroken scientist searching for a cure finds a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects-a pig-develops the capacity for human speech. A widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter embark on a cosmic quest to locate a new home planet. From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead to interstellar starships, Sequoia Nagamatsu takes readers on a wildly original and compassionate journey, spanning continents, centuries, and even celestial bodies to tell a story about the resiliency of the human spirit, our infinite capacity to dream, and the connective threads that tie us all together in the universe"--
Sequoia Nagamatsu's How High We Go in the Dark consists of several fascinating short stories that feature characters whose lives are inextricably linked, even if not directly. If you're like me, this book will remain in the back of your mind for a long time. -Violette
Ghostroots : stories
Aguda, 'Pemi.
FICTION/Aguda Pemi
Short Story
In this beguiling collection of twelve imaginative stories set in Lagos, Nigeria, 'Pemi Aguda dramatizes the tension between our yearning to be individuals and the ways we are haunted by what came before.
Added by Jason
The Hotel Balzaar
Kate DiCamillo
jFICTION Dicamill Kate
Fiction, Mystery, Kids, Early Chapter Books, Picture Books, Short Story
At the Hotel Balzaar, Marta's mother rises before the sun, puts on her uniform, and instructs Marta to roam as she will but quietly, invisibly like a little mouse. One day, a mysterious countess with a parrot checks in, promising a story--in fact, seven stories in all, each to be told in its proper order. As the stories unfold, Marta begins to wonder: could the secret to her father's disappearance lie in the countess's tales? --
I am beyond excited for another Júlia Sardà illustrated title! I cannot wait to read this collaboration with incredible storyteller, Kate DiCamillo. -Casey
Swimming in Paris : a life in three stories
Colombe Schneck
FICTION Schneck Colombe
Literary Fiction, Short Story
In Seventeen, Friendship, and Swimming, Colombe Schneck orchestrates a coming-of-age in three movements. Beautiful, masterfully controlled, yet filled with pathos, they invite the reader into a decades-long evolution of sexuality, bodily autonomy, friendship, and loss. Schneck’s prose maintains an unwavering intimacy, whether conjuring a teenage abortion in the midst of a privileged Parisian upbringing, the nuance of a long friendship, or a midlife romance. Swimming in Paris is an immersive, propulsive triptych—fundamentally human in its tender concern for every messy and glorious reality of the body, and deeply wise in its understanding of both desire and of letting go.
Colombe Schneck is dabbling with biographical fiction here—each novella (there are three) from a different stage in her life (?) or her alter-ego's life (?). I’m not going to speculate on how closely these events follow Schneck’s life—because the focus should be on how good these stories are. In the first story, she discusses the shock of an unplanned pregnancy. The second story explores a lifelong friendship, grappling with the loss of a friend and how formative a friend’s influence can be. Schneck really shows how a single friendship can ebb and flow, change, and move throughout a lifetime. The last story is about having an affair after ending a marriage--the adjustment, excitement, and anxiety of starting a new romance. The overarching theme is growth and self-awareness and Schneck works with this theme through subtlety in language and narrative. But she is also direct in how she discusses complex issues, which is refreshing. This is the first time Schneck’s work has been translated into English—and I guess there is more to come. -Anne M
Ladies' lunch : and other stories
Lore Groszmann Segal
FICTION Segal Lore
Short Story
"Five close friends in their 90s meet, as they have for decades, for their monthly 'ladies lunch', to puzzle, and laugh at, the enigmas and affronts of aging. When one of their number is placed unhappily in a home the others conspire to spring her. Returning to her group of erudite, sharp-minded nonagenarians in Upper Manhattan offering startling insights into friendship and mortality. In the book's Other Stories, Segal includes tales from her acclaimed and prizewinning oeuvre to illuminate the hinterland of her characters - one of whom, like her, was a Kindertransport refugee. Beautifully crafted and profound, these stories distill the spirit of one of America's great authors to show us what a long life might bring."--Publisher.
Segal's collection of stories are both poignant and funny, capturing the fullness of feelings as her characters come to terms with living in their twilight years. Of course, Segal is a great author, but rarely do we see the work of an author in their nineties. There is something special here. -Anne M
Normal rules don't apply : stories
Kate Atkinson
FICTION Atkinson Kate
Short Story
"A dazzling collection of eleven interconnected stories from the bestselling, award-winning author of Shrines of Gaiety and Life After Life, with everything that readers love about her novels-the inventiveness, the verbal felicity, the sharp observations on human nature, and the deeply satisfying emotional wallop. In this brilliant volume, nothing is quite as it seems. We meet a queen who makes a bargain she cannot keep; a secretary who watches over the life she has just left; a lost man who bets on a horse that may-or may not-have spoken to him. Everything that readers love about the novels of Kate Atkinson is here-the inventiveness, the verbal felicity, the sharp observations on human nature, and the deeply satisfying emotional wallop. Witty and wise, with subtle connections between the stories, Normal Rules Don't Apply is a startling and funny feast for the imagination, stories with the depth and bite to create their own fully-formed worlds"--
Saying that Kate Atkinson's new book is a collection of short stories is a little misleading. While they could all stand on their own, the stories make more sense in how they are connected—how they call back and reference each other. And the connections are surprising and pretty fun. We have Atkinson's crime fiction, but also nods to fantasy and science fiction. As always, Atkinson brings her sardonic wit. -Anne M
The skull : a Tyrolean folktale
Jon Klassen
jFICTION Klassen, Jon
Kids, Early Chapter Books, Fiction, Paranormal, Short Story
"This is an old story. It is about a girl named Otilla who runs away. It is also about a house in the woods, and a skull who lives there, and a secret the skull has, and the night that Otilla finds out what that secret is."--
Jon Klassen’s signature offbeat humor takes a turn for the ghostly in this retelling of a traditional Tyrolean folktale. Steeped in shadows and threaded with subtle wit—with rich, monochromatic artwork and an illuminating author’s note—The Skull is as empowering as it is mysterious and foreboding and quite different from most of our chapter books on our shelves! -Angie
How high we go in the dark : a novel
Sequoia Nagamatsu
SCIENCE FICTION Nagamatsu, Sequoia
Science Fiction, Short Story
"For fans of Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven, a spellbinding and profoundly prescient debut that follows a cast of intricately linked characters over hundreds of years as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague-a daring and deeply heartfelt work of mind-bending imagination from a singular new voice. Beginning in 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work of his recently deceased daughter at the Batagaika crater, where researchers are studying long-buried secrets now revealed in melting permafrost, including the perfectly preserved remains of a girl who appears to have died of an ancient virus. Once unleashed, the Arctic Plague will reshape life on earth for generations to come, quickly traversing the globe, forcing humanity to devise a myriad of moving and inventive ways to embrace possibility in the face of tragedy. In a theme park designed for terminally ill children, a cynical employee falls in love with a mother desperate to hold on to her infected son. A heartbroken scientist searching for a cure finds a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects-a pig-develops the capacity for human speech. A widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter embark on a cosmic quest to locate a new home planet. From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead to interstellar starships, Sequoia Nagamatsu takes readers on a wildly original and compassionate journey, spanning continents, centuries, and even celestial bodies to tell a story about the resiliency of the human spirit, our infinite capacity to dream, and the connective threads that tie us all together in the universe"--
This is an amazing and devastating novel. I had to psych myself up each time to read it, because I would always end up sobbing. I'm glad I read it though. It's beautiful and cathartic. -Brian
First published in 2016, Mariana Enriquez’s collection of short stories set in modern Argentina combines magical realism, Gothicism, and horror into one poignant anthology. From houses whose doors close only to never open again, to protests in the form of self-immolation, Enriquez once again asserts herself as an internationally bestselling author. -Charlotte