Review 728: Interpreter of Maladies

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This is a collection of nine short stories. I found it mixed, a few I really enjoyed, while others not so much.

The characters in these stories are in the United States from India or Bangladesh. The stories explore the cultural aspects of the people while living in a different type of society. There is the juxtaposition of the way things are done in America to how these characters were raised.
I enjoyed the last story, The Third and Final Continent. A young man needs temporary lodging while he waits for his new wife to come to American and join him. He finds a room with an elderly woman, and he is very surprised when he finds out she is over 100 years old.

In the second story, When Mr. Pirzada came to Dine, is narrated by a child. Mr. Pirzada is now from Pakistan as the story takes place during the time of India being ripped apart. The family should now dislike and separate themselves from him as their home countries, but of course they do not. I thought this was one of the better stories as well.

Review 721: The Illustrated Man

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This Bradbury book is a series of short stories. The opening, prologue has a man who meets the illustrated man who warns him not to look to closely. But of course, he does. The images on his skin move and talk and tell these stories... An interesting frame, except it doesn't hold up in the final story.

Then the stories themselves have not aged well. All the women hold traditional roles. Many stories feature rockets going to Mars, or other planets, and it is the men. They hold the jobs; women do the domestic work. I suppose it is to be expected for stories written in the late 1940s-50s, but I had hoped for more imagination.

As mentioned, a rocket was in most of the stories. It felt there wasn’t enough variation of the stories. A few of the stories tended towards horror, or somewhat odd. Although the book is clearly science fiction, the writing focus was on the people and relationships, as much as you can in a few pages. The setting of a rocket going to another planet was just transportation. It wasn’t described how it was possible, nor how the time to travel was quick. What mattered to the story was the man being away.

Overall, the book was not as spectacular as I had hoped, just okay.

Review 700: The Secrets of Catspraddle Village

The Secrets of Catspraddle Village by Callie Browning
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was so short I almost didn't add it in.

This was a very short book of 5 short stories. The setting is Barbados, where the author is from, but set in a small fictional village called Bajan. They are all light-hearted, bit of humor and somewhat quirky. I found it a nice short break from some of the longer reads I've been working on. The audio book is barely over an hour, so it didn't take long to get through the book. 

Review 698: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This would be a great book if you are looking to improve your story writing skills. I’m not. I had hoped it would be useful as a reader, and it was that, but not as much as I hoped. The book is really geared towards fictional writers.

However, I did get to listen to seven, no, eight stories by classic Russian writers. The audiobook included a bonus story. For these stories and the bit extra, it was worth my time. My rating reflects what I expect how it would help writers.

Review 682: Upward Bound

Upward Bound by Woody Brown
My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars



This is a fictionalized autobiography, but with many viewpoints. The author and main narrator is autistic and has trouble communicating, only his mother understands him by using a letter board. Seeing a clip of Brown and his mother using the board and communicating, it appears that she interprets heavily, so maybe there are actually two authors for this book.

Despite that, the book on it’s own is heart-felt. It shows how people with disabilities can connect even when they have a hard time verbalizing words. One of the characters is so heart-breaking as he tries to communicate with blinking but no one seems to notice.

The book has the point-of-view with several of the people who go to Upward Bound, a day-care facility for adults with disabilities. The book also includes several of the people who work there, and one who does not. This one is a worker at Target, where the Upward Bound group visits every Friday morning.

There isn't a plot, but there is a trajectory of sorts, and through the different voices one can understand what this place is like. And the book while emotional, is not all heavy, there is some bits of humor as well.

I listened to an audiobook of this and it has a different narrator for each character. Most do not repeat, except for the fictionalized author, he appears for a few chapters.

Later edit: The author is most likely the named author's mother. If interested look up facilitated communication.

Review 676: Nickel and Dime

Nickel and Dime by Gary Soto
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This somewhat short book contains three related stories. They take place in Oakland, California in the 1990s.

The first story: We Ain't Asking Much the main character is Roberto Silva, happy to have been let go at Walnut Bank as a security guard. His job was replaced by a security camera. Soon enough though, Roberto finds himself out of money and homeless, trying to sell something in order to eat.

The second story called Literary Life has Silver Mendez as the main character. A poet past his prime and happy to have this reading a small college in central California. Once home he finds his stuff on the lawn and kicked out of his apartment. Mendez at least has a car for shelter and ends up befriending Roberto who’s been homeless for two years now.

In the last story called The Untimely Passing of the Clock Radio we return to Walnut Bank as the other security guard, Gustavo Hernandez, is about to retire. Despite working for the bank for years he doesn’t have much savings. Roberto appears in this story as well, five years after his parting with the bank, and now asking Gus for help.

These are not joyful stories, looking at Hispanic men as they become homeless, or very poor despite loyally working for a company for years. What I didn’t like his how the three men are portrayed as simple, not very intelligent. And yet, there is a wee bit of humor laced into these stories as well.

Review 608: Sleep A Bedtime Reader

Sleep A Bedtime Reader by Robert Peacock
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book did not do well to evoke the feeling of sleep or dreams. A few of the stories or poems did, particularly near the end. Generally the entries seemed random.

The imagery was weird. The book is printed in high-gloss full color pages. The images were more dream-like than the text.

Most of the authors I did not recognize but there were a few bigger names, also near the end of the book: Alice Walker, Lou Reed, Jack Kerouac, and the very last, one of my favorite was by Fran Lebowitz: Why I Love to Sleep. It was very funny. Alice Walker’s poem was good too.

The book is so short, I have no idea why it remained unread until now. Perhaps I did pick the book up a time a two (and forgotten) and wasn’t impressed. The book came to me through a mail order book-club I used to belong to, bought over twenty-five years ago. Without seeing it in person explains why I purchased it. Oh, and good cover image. Overall disappointing.

Review 601: The Way People Run

The Way People Run: Stories by Christopher Tilghman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A book of six short stories that are well written. They surprised me, as I enjoyed this collection more than I typically do with short story collections. This book is an exception. I am probably being generous with my rating, but in the genre of short story collections for me this one stands out as better than most.

While a few I really wished they were a start of something more, several others were fine leaving off where it ended, they felt complete. The six short story titles are:

• Something Important

• Room for Mistakes

• The Late Night News

• A Suitable Good-bye

• The Way People Run

• Things Left Undone

These all have a male protagonist. Family was a strong theme in these stories, often with the man seeming to be unsettled and not knowing where he fits in his life. He seems to be floundering, struggling in some way.

The subject matter wasn't the cinch with these stories, no, it was the writing style. How well the characters were quickly developed and felt fully formed and relatable in some way, even though I'm not that gender nor in those situations. Seems like I should search out some of Tilghman's longer works.

Review 568: Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This collection of 8 short stories took me longer to read than a typical book of similar length. It isn’t a long book either, under 250 pages. I think it is the format. It feels like the older I get the less I like short stories. Maybe I would have liked these better when I first got the book, over twenty years ago.

These stories had a little length to each, so they didn't feel like they ended entirely too early. One good thing about short stories is that if you don't like the characters, well it's over soon enough.

My favorite in the group was the last one: Doris is Coming. Here a high school student, Doris is trying to come to terms with the differences of black and while people. She is black and this is the 60s with Martin Luther King giving speeches, sit-ins at lunch counters and other protests. Doris doesn’t understand why her skin color should dictate a different drinking fountain.

All of the stories are told from the point of view of an African American, usually a young woman or girl. They are complete enough, more than many other short stories are. Some feel like they could be the beginning of a longer story, a few feel like what was given was enough.

Brief Review 515: Rejection

Rejection: Fiction by Tony Tulathimutte
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Not a book for me. Can I say I reject this?

Really don't like the style of post-modern/meta books, which this book falls into that category. If I'd known wouldn't have tried.

Review 510: Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations

Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations by Sarah Cleave
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very short anthology with seven short stories each from a different author from a different country. These countries all appeared on the "Muslim ban" in January 2017 for the newly sitting United States President at that time. The author countries are: Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Iraq and Yemen.

This book shows that people from around the world are more alike than dissimilar. We may have different customs and beliefs, but we all have same emotions. And same desires, such as wanting freedom to be yourself and not be hungry, be safe.

This was a very quick read, easily read in a few hours. Most of the stories are translations. There is only one story from each country. The book feels way to short.

Review 498: Kokoro

Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a classic Japanese work of literature, published in 1914. The first part is about the narrator meeting and befriending a man who he calls Sensei. The narrator is a student at a university in Tokyo. Sensei becomes someone he is fascinated by, who was reluctant to open up to friendship. Slowly they do become friends and when prodded Sensei will not discuss his past. Sensei doesn’t work, has a wife and maid, and visits the gravesite of a friend every month. He is an intellectual and the two often discuss philosophical idea.

The second part is concerned with the narrator’s family. His father is ill and he has gone back home in the country several times to visit with his father. The summer months he also goes home to stay and visit. After graduation he returns to his home and this part is very concerned with his father’s health, particularly after the Emperor falls ill and dies. During these days the narrator gets a letter from Sensei.

This letter takes up the last portion of the book. It is a recounting of Sensei’s past. It has to be one of the longest letters in a book ever.

This is not a book of action, rather one of contemplation and character study. One can take moral reasoning from this book as well, but that is not fully understood until the last.

While listening to this book as an audiobook I thought it was all one narrative. Upon finishing I read more about the book and found that it is described as three short stories. Perhaps, but it is about the same characters and the time line progresses through these three stories. It is more like three parts within a larger work, although conserving each as a short story does help to explain the seemingly abrupt endings.

Review 472: The Mysterious Life of the heart

The Mysterious Life of the heart by Sy Safransky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The writing is of a good quality throughout. The introduction says the selections when read front to back follow a journey. There is a sense of that, with more innocent and new love in the early selections, with later in love type love, following a terminal illness or death.

Overall the entries felt more geared towards the sad part of love. The love being focused on here is romantic love just about exclusively. Other types of love do seep into the stories, but it is the pairing up that is the theme.

Perhaps it was my wish for more on the new love, the joy of love and less on the disaster of love, and the pain of love lost. Yet I’m not sad to have read these stories and essays, and the poems interspersed were just right.

Of course, with all collections a few were more enjoyable than others, although with the quality of writing here none are poorly written. It is just my personal preference for maybe two or three that I did not enjoy as much, which is far fewer than found in most collections.

Review 466: American Spirits

American Spirits by Russell Banks
My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars


Russell Banks is a good storyteller. These are three stories that are located around the same area, a small town in Northern New York state. They are dark, full of troubled people. Banks certainly knows how to quickly draw a character.

There are three stories: Nowhere man, Homeschooling and Kidnapped. My preference is for the middle story, Homeschooling.

Can't say I fully enjoyed these stories. All were bleak and did not come to happy conclusions. The first the main character is unhappy about how he sold off the land that had been in his family for generations and gets into a feud with the man who had purchased it.

Homeschooling concerns itself with a family that just moved into the town, well more about the neighbors, a lesbian married couple who adopted four siblings who are of a different race. The new neighbors are concerned about how the children are being treated.

The last Kidnapped are descendants of the town's founder, Sam Dent. The elderly couple are kidnapped by some Canadian drug lords and their grandson who they raised is their hope for being released. Their grandson Stevie perhaps is autistic, not sure, but he is different and never had any friends while growing up.

Somehow a MAGA hat made its way into each story as well. Not clear why except to point out the political position for some characters, although politics really didn't play into these stories. There is an undertone of poverty, but really everyone is getting by okay with some doing better than others.


Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. And to Penguin Random House Audio for an advance audio copy.

Review 354: Liberation Day

Liberation Day: Stories by George Saunders
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Initial thoughts: Not sure why it took me so long to read that last story, it wasn't very long. Anyway, a few thoughts on the collection:

This is a collection of nine short stories. About half of the stories are fairly short, while the others are much longer, taking up most of the book. A few feel a bit gruesome, and may make one shudder with the contents, this is not due to gore, but for how humans may treat other people.

There is a bit of variety, and the author portrays different characters easily with just a few lines. All are intriguing providing a different way of looking at being human, living life in your own way.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Brief Review 340: Site Fidelity

Site Fidelity: Stories by Claire Boyles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quite enjoyed these stories. Nearly half were with the same characters, although years or decades later. It was almost like a novella sprinkled throughout. I will keep an eye out for what Claire Boyles writes next.

Originally had tagged Nevada - but only one or two stories had that location, most took place in Colorado.

Review 330: How High We Go in the Dark

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This book surprised me. It’s almost a series of short stories, as every chapter begins with new characters, yet it is all the same world and time advances. It begins around 2030 with a father going to the artic where his daughter recently died, and an ancient girl was discovered. Unfortunately, the remains had a virus that ends up creating a pandemic.

Here is where I wondered if I should stop reading. Did I really want to read about a fictional pandemic while in the (hopefully) tail end of a real one? Well, the writing pulled me in, quickly connecting strongly with the characters.

Later as the years pass, decades, there may be a connection to previous characters, such as the father’s granddaughter is a main person in a later chapter. These recurrences and calls to previous chapters help knit the book together in an interesting way.

I will definitely look for and read what Sequoia Nagamatsu writes next. Maybe even read this one again.

Read June 27-28, 2022

Review 329: AI 2041

AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future by Kai-Fu Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Unfortunately, I had a hard time with the format of this book. It is part fiction and part non-fiction. The book addresses several different areas of artificial intelligence and how it will impact our lives in the future. While these may not happen exactly, there is the direction AI is going towards today. To help make these concepts more appealing there is a fictional story demonstrating a specific aspect of AI.

The format made for too much repetition for me, with one author proving the framework, then the fictional story, then a recap and further explanation. The stories were long and with the before and after it was too much redundancy for me reading this book straight through.

My library bought a copy of this book and I see the appeal for college students studying artificial intelligence. They could easily pick the chapters that interest them the most and read those sections.

One interesting final note, just in the last couple of weeks a Google engineer claims their chat bot has become sentient, is this the end goal of artificial intelligence?


Read April 01-07, 20, then June 08, 16 - 2022

Review 255: Turbulence

Turbulence by David Szalay
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This is a short book made up of short stories. The stories are connected, slightly, and that was what drew me into reading this book. It is well written but like many short story collections, I wanted more.

The characters are drawn up quickly, you fall into their lives, then they are gone. Well, not entirely as each story has two main people in them, and you follow one of them to the next story with another person. They are connections.

Connections much like at airports when flying. In fact, each story starts with the airport codes from – to, and a third if there is a connection, as each is traveling to another location as well, Hong Kong is one of the most frequent.

I listened to the audiobook which was narrated quite well. But the airport codes were too quick for me to catch which cities are involved. In print that would be easier to deal with.

I enjoyed this, yet left wanting more.

Review 167: Always Happy Hour: Stories

Always Happy Hour: Stories by Mary Miller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There seemed to be the same character through most of the stories. Not much happens in any of them. They do have a way of placing you quickly in the story, but overall they are okay but not great.