Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It: Stories, by Maile Meloy

Short stories that really draw you in. Mostly domestic, marital situations. Some stories you wish would be expanded into full novels. The author has clear talent – Raymond Carver caliber.

RATING: * * * * * One of the best
Reviewed by: ShGr

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Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories, by M. R. James

This is the perfect time of year for reading ghost stories, as the leaves change, the nights lengthen, and the temperature drops.   One of the best horror story writers I have ever read is an Englishman named M. R. James (1862-1936). Never heard of him?  Once you read his stories, you will never forget him. James slowly chills you to the freezing point and scares you till your skin prickles.  His stories well deserve being called classics. Many are anthologized in horror story collections here at the Newton Free Library. However, one story is nowhere near enough.  You need a book like this one where you can keep on reading.  A warning. They are best read when someone else is around and about.  You read them alone at your own risk.

RATING: * * * * * One of the best
Reviewed by: veagenlib

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Nothing with Strings: NPR’s Beloved Holiday Stories, by Bailey White

The short stories collected here were originally read by the author on “All Things Considered,” one on each Thanksgiving Day over a number of years, although most are not about that holiday. Magical, quirky, charming and a little sad, they are set in small Southern towns. I especially enjoyed the title story and the story “Meals-on-Wheels.”

RATING: * * * A good read
Reviewed by: kh

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A Master’s Parting Gift

The world lost one of its greatest literary minds in January with the death of John Updike. But as fate would have it, Updike left a collection of short fiction unpublished at the time of his death. My Father’s Tears and Other Stories will be Updike’s last contribution to a remarkable body of work. In this collection of 18 stories, to be published June 2, Updike takes us from his native Pennsylvania to Spain to India and back again, offering a multi-faceted portrait of the American experience. The stories and their subjects may vary, but the constant is Updike’s graceful, poignant, keenly observed prose.