Runaway (Alice Munro)

Our next book club book is an author (Alice Munro) rather than a book as such, as Runaway was my choice for this month. There has been some interesting blog discussion of Alice Munro in recent months - 50 Books wrote about Runaway here, and Munro more generally here. Diablevert also writes about Runaway here.

I really enjoyed Runaway - I hadn't read any short stories for a long time, and I'd forgotten how fabulously convenient they are to pick up and put down, and read several stories over your lunch hour. And Munro is an amazing author, who creates characters who claw at your heart within a few pages of meeting them. I don't think anyone should go through life without reading some Alice Munro.

Hopefully, book club will help me clamber to some other dizzying intellectual heights in analysing this collection ("Well, you know, I just thought it was like, really real, you know?") but I'll leave it here for now. Incredible collection of short stories - go read some Munro now, for the sake of your health.

The Turning (Tim Winton)

My uncle sent this book to me with a post-it stuck to the cover that said, "If you want to write short stories, you must read these."

They are fantastic short stories, some of which share characters, at different stages in their lives. They all centre around a small town in Western Australia. They're amazing, wonderful little pieces, with characters that portray depression and ugliness and beauty in a way that makes it seem as if you're sitting in a cafe, watching them across the street. And yes, it's a big inspiration to read, especially if you're wondering about how to plot a short story in terms of length, and how to make a character live within the confines of a short story. Winton makes his characters live within two lines - what skill. This is definitely a five out of five book.

Paying the Piper at the Gates of Dawn (Rosemary Edghill)

Mediocre fantasy short stories - 2 out of 5. (They really don't deserve any greater description.)