The Overbooked Bibliophile

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Bookstore Wedding  by  Alice Hoffman  picks up five years after the events in  The Bookstore Sisters . The Gibson sisters, Sophie and Isabel, who have since returned to Brinkley’s Island, run the Once upon a Time Bookshop with a bakery section selling delectable treats based on their late mother’s recipes. Isabel and Johnny Lenox are planning their wedding for the fourth time, after their last three plans fell through at the last moment due to unforeseen circumstances. The narrative follows Isabel and Sophie as they navigate the challenges that come their way as they plan for Isabel’s wedding. “Love makes you do unexpected things. It’s never what you think it will be.” This is a lovely story that revolves around themes of family, sisterhood, love, second chances, community and of course the therapeutic value of books and reading. Stories such as these are rarely unpredictable, but what makes them special is the journey to the end and Alice Hoffman doe...

Rating:⭐⭐⭐ With varied themes and interesting characters,  The Book of Witty Women  features an interesting mix of fifteen short stories written by women writers. Given the title and description of this anthology, I was hoping for a light-hearted read, but unfortunately, “laugh-out-loud” funny or “witty” it was not. I won’t be sharing individual ratings for the fifteen stories in this anthology like I usually do in my other reviews, simply because I have mixed feelings about most of them (arising from my preconceived notions for which I blame the title and the description, once again) and had I not been expecting a stronger element of wit or humor, this anthology would have garnered a higher rating. As with most anthologies, I did like some more than others.  Double Date  by  Lucy Vine ,  Care Home Capers  by  Wendy Hood  and  Go Your Own Way  by  Kimberley Adams  were entertaining reads and I was mildly amused by a few ot...

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐ I thoroughly enjoyed this short story featuring three retired professors who meet weekly to reminisce about their lives and careers over cheese and their beverage of choice. Their discussions turn to the topic of one of their common friends, Fern, a writer who was targeted in a coordinated effort instigated by a fellow writer to ruin her literary career years ago. The friends believe that this incident created a situation that exacerbated exacerbated her declining health. We follow them as they go about devising a plan to avenge their friend (who is unaware of their intentions). As they weigh their options with meticulous precision, it soon becomes evident that framing and executing a foolproof plan might prove to be a tad more complicated than they had anticipated. Touching upon themes of aging, friendship, loyalty, revenge and professional jealousy  Cut and Thirst  by  Margaret Atwood , is a quick entertaining read. I loved the banter between the friends (st...

Rating: 4.5⭐ Table for Two: Fictions  by  Amor Towles  is a fascinating collection of stories featuring distinct characters and varied themes in contemporary and historical settings, written in elegant prose. Of the seven stories in this collection, the first story is set in communist Russia and New York, the following four in New York and the final story is set in Los Angeles. The Line  (4.5) follows a Russian peasant named Pushkin whose wife, inspired by Bolshevik ideals, moves them from their village to Moscow and then to New York in an attempt to realize their full potential.  The Ballad of Timothy Touchett  (4.5) follows an aspiring writer whose search for inspiration leads him to take a job as an assistant to a rare bookseller, unaware of what would be expected of him in his new workplace. When a man befriends a fellow traveler while stranded in New York City due to inclement weather he has no idea what his evening with his jovial companion will entai...

Rating:  3.5⭐ When a cleaner at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao discovers a pair of young lovers in a passionate embrace during her morning shift – a naked man and a woman in a wedding dress - everyone, including Detective Aitor Larramendi who is looking into the case, is flummoxed by how they entered the museum and spent a whole night there without being caught on security cameras. As the indignant Detective interrogates Bibiña Aranda and her lover Indar Zubieta, their accounts of the events from that night and how they ended up together leave him with more questions than answers. With elements of magical realism, romance and humor  Lovers at the Museum: A Short Story  by  Isabel Allende  is a delightful read. Though all my questions weren’t answered (the story was a tad too short to explore the fantastical elements mentioned in the narrative), I found the characters interesting and was both amused and entertained. I enjoy Isabel Allende’s writing and would lov...

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Written with wisdom, much emotional depth and insight, the stories in  Old Crimes: and Other Stories  by  Jill McCorkle  depict how secrets, mistakes, and regrets can leave an indelible impact on the human psyche and relationships. Despite the short length of each of these stories, they are emotionally heavy reads that inspire pause and reflection. In the first story,  ” Old Crimes”  (4.5/5), we meet a high school teacher who ruminates on her memories of a trip to New Hampshire from decades ago when she was a college student. Her encounter with a six-year-old girl in the run-down inn where she was staying prompted her to think about her own expectations from life and influenced her perception of cruelty and evil in the world -thoughts that have remained with her through the years. “The Lineman”(4.5/5) revolves around a telephone lineman who tries to come to terms with how human connections and relationships have been impacted by dependence on t...

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Hive and the Honey  by  Paul Yoon  is a brilliantly penned collection of seven stories set across varying time periods and continents exploring the experiences of the Korean diaspora, touching upon themes of identity, displacement, the migrant experience, loss and regret. In  Bosun , we follow a South Korean immigrant who, after a short stint in jail, begins working in a casino in Canada. (4/5)  Komarov (5/5) revolves around a North Korean defector, a resident of Barcelona who travels to a small hill town on the Costa Brava to meet a Russian boxer who might be the son she left behind. Set in the Edo period,  At the Post Station (4.5/5) follows a samurai who is tasked with escorting an orphan boy to his own people. We meet a Korean couple, both children of North Koreans who settled in London, whose chance meeting with a young Korean boy leaves an indelible imprint on their lives in  Cromer (3.5/5) Set in 1881,  T he Hive and the Hon...

Rating: 4⭐ Never Whistle at Night :An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology  edited by  Shane Hawk  and  Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.  features twenty-six stories written by indigenous authors. Surrealism and the supernatural, indigenous folklore, traditions, beliefs, racism, legacy and generational trauma are only a few of the themes that are explored in this collection of “dark” fiction. I wouldn’t describe the vibe of these stories as nightmare-inducing but more than a few will leave you feeling unsettled and pondering over what you just read. Do take your time with these stories as they are heavy reads despite the short length. My ratings for the individual stories are as follows:  Kushtuka by Mathilda Zeller : 5⭐  White Hills by Rebecca Roanhorse: 4.5⭐  Navajos Don’t Wear Elk Teeth by Conley Lyons: 3⭐  Wingless by Marcie R. Rendon: 3.5⭐  Quantum by Nick Medina: 4.5⭐  Hunger by Phoenix Boudreau: 4⭐  Tick Talk by Cherie Dimaline: 4⭐  The Ones Who Killed Us by...

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Goodbye Cat  by  Hiro Arikawa  (translated by  Philip Gabriel ) is a collection of seven stories revolving around the relationship between cats and their humans as told from the perspectives of seven cats and their families with much wisdom, heart, and humor. Written in simple prose, the stories vary in length and tone and touch upon themes of love, loyalty, companionship, family and grief. In the first story, The Goodbye Cat (4/5), we meet an elderly cat who endeavors to change into a supernatural spirit so that death won't separate him from his human family. A new father rescues a kitten from a recycling bin and in caring for it, learns much about fatherhood. Bringing Up Baby (4/5). A family is perplexed by their new cat’s devotion to their indifferent father in Good Father/ Bad Father (4/5). In Cat Island ( 5/5), we follow a young boy’s experiences on a trip to an island inhabited by cats with his father and his ...

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐ “We need a moral: let us be patient with each other and with ourselves, and suffer the diverse paces at which we move through one another’s time and space.” Ladies' Lunch and Other Stories   by  Lore Segal   revolves around a group of friends in their 80s and 90s. While many of the stories have been previously published throughout the author’s illustrious career, a few are relatively newer. Through the course of ten of the sixteen short stories, we follow Ruth, Bridget, Farah, Lotte, and Bessie, friends for over four decades who have a lifetime of memories they share over their luncheons, as they also confront the challenges of aging, loneliness, loss of friends and family, the COVID lockdown and much more. Though the ladies’ luncheons and their discussions form the larger part of the collection, we also get a handful of “other” stories ranging from themes of childhood memories, the Holocaust, age related ailments, and nostalgia. Insightful, heartfelt and bitt...

Rating: 3.75⭐ When true crime writer and podcaster Harley Granger arrives in the small town of Little Valley, New York, just days before Christmas, bookstore owner Madeline Martin is compelled to revisit a traumatic event from her past. It has been over a decade since Madeline survived a vicious attack that left her seriously injured. On the same night, her close friend Stephanie was murdered and two other girls, also friends of Madeline and Stephanie, disappeared. Madeline’s then-boyfriend Evan Handy was convicted of the crime and was sentenced to life in prison. Madeline survived, though her memories of the events of that night remain cloudy. She has made life for herself in her hometown, keeps busy with the bookstore and takes care of her ailing father who was once the Sheriff of the town, but is wary of romantic relationships. Evan Handy maintains that he is innocent, and Harley Granger is in town to find out as much as can about the old case as well as the most recent disappearanc...

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐ So Late in the Day: Stories of Men and Women  by  Claire Keegan  is the most recent collection of the author’s short stories comprising three of her previously published works. Even though I had already read two of the three short stories in the collection, I was more than happy to read them again. That’s the beauty of Claire Keegan’s work. Every reread provides something new to ponder upon. In the first story  So Late in the Day  (4/5), we meet the protagonist, Cathal, in the course of his routine workday. The date is a significant one (which is revealed later) and throughout the day his thoughts often drift to Sabine, the woman with whom he had been in a relationship. As he reflects on the relationship – the highs and the lows- he is compelled to assess how his attitude toward Sabine and women, in general, contributed to the end of their relationship. In  The Long and Painful Death  (4.5/5), we meet a thirty-nine-year-old writer in reside...

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐ Dragon Palace  by  Hiromi Kawakami  (translated by  Ted Goossen ) is a fascinating collection of short stories that revolve around themes of transformation, human behavior and emotion and surrealism. In the first story  Hokusai  (3/5), we follow a strange encounter between a depressed young man and a person who claims to have once been an octopus. In  Dragon Palace  (4/5), a young woman is visited by her great-grandmother, who was once a god who used a creative method of manipulating her followers.  Fox’s Den (3/5) follows the relationship between a fifty-three-year-old caregiver and her elderly patient. In  Mole  (5/5), we meet an anthropomorphized who holds an office job in the human world and shelters unhappy and lonely human beings in his home in an underground hole. We follow a married young woman, unhappy with her life and interactions with her boyfriend, neighbors and the deity that inhabits her kitchen in  T...

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ As is the case with most anthologies,  The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2023  was also a mixed bag. The anthology features twenty-one short mysteries written by contemporary authors and a bonus story by Edith Wharton. I liked that each of the stories began with a brief introduction about the author and enjoyed getting to sample the work of so many authors, many of whom I had never read in the past. Some of the stories also end with a note by the author about the inspiration behind the story. I must mention that the Introduction by Amor Towles, in which he discusses how the “Mystery” genre has evolved, was a fascinating read. My ratings for the stories are as follows: The first story, “Blind Baseball” by Doug Allyn (3.5/5), revolves around a tontine insurance scheme. This was a gripping read but ended abruptly. “The Adventure of the Misquoted Macbeth” by Derrick Belanger (4/5) is a mystery featuring Sherlock Holmes and is one of ...

Rating: 4.5⭐ Normal Rules Don't Apply  by  Kate Atkinson  is a remarkable collection of loosely connected short stories featuring a cast of interesting characters (enchanted and otherwise) combining elements of speculative fiction, surrealism, mystery, fantasy and folklore, humor, drama and much more. These stories revolve around themes ranging from dystopian, evolution and conservation of our planet and its resources, the human condition and life choices , accountability and consequences, family and motherhood, among others. The collection begins with a story of an apocalyptic event that selectively affects humans and other living species (Void) . A vicar’s daughter’s questions about and fairy tale about lost fairy queens and princesses might lead to some surprising revelations (Spellbound) . A deceased woman reflects over her life , marriage and her previous assumptions of the afterlife much more while trying to recall how she met her end in  Blithe Spirit . A midd...

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ There Is No Death in Finding Nemo  by  Jeffrey M. Feingold  is an entertaining collection of seven short stories varying in theme and tone, featuring characters who are real and relatable, as are the dilemmas they face. The first story, The Narcissist’s Library (3/5), revolves around a young woman who, ignoring her sister’s advice, embarks on an ill-fated relationship. Not a favorite, but I did like how it ended. In The Mirror (4/5), we meet a man in his mid-sixties whose preoccupation with youthfulness and body, image blurs his reality. An apprentice baker and innovator’s ideology and well-intentioned efforts to address food supply shortage and hunger issues result in a clash with those looking to profit from their own business ventures in Avram’s Miracle (3.5/5). In The Box (5/5), a mysterious gift from a stranger enables a young art professor to approach the challenges of online dating and modern relationships in a r...