Spring into Short Stories

"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow."
~Proverb

"A little Madness in the spring
Is wholesome even for the King."
~Emily Dickinson

"Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!'"
~Robin Williams

Happy spring! What will you do to celebrate? It's not too late to sign up for LuAnn's Spring into Short Stories reading challenge. Basically, you are required to read and review a short story, of fifty pages or less. Of course, you can read many more short stories if you choose to, or read and review a collection of short fiction. For this challenge I'll resume reading some anthologies I started a while back, Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto, In the Driver's Seat by Helen Simpson, and Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. This springtime challenge runs from March 20 until June 20. Please visit the Spring into Short Stories Reading Challenge blog for more details and to sign up.

Mailbox Monday (or Thrift Shop Saturday)

Maybe I should call this post Thrift Shop Saturday, because I found these books at a new thrift store that my daughters and I walked to on Saturday afternoon. While I often receive books in the mail, this is only my third official Mailbox Monday, which is hosted by Marcia from The Printed Page. I've decided to catch up on my reading a bit before I receive more books in the mail, or find them elsewhere, although obviously this is by no means a hard and fast rule. And who can resist browsing through books at a thrift shop, and making discoveries?



Here's what I brought home:

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff--and it's all small stuff, by Richard Carlson, first edition, published in 1997, which I got because we all sweat the small stuff, too much of the time. I've been enjoying these short essays; the very act of reading them makes me feel calmer, instantly.








Interpreter of Maladies, a collection of short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri, published in 1999, was my second find. How could I ignore a book that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and The New Yorker Debut of the Year? The New York Times Book Review said that Lahiri "breathes unpredictable life into the page", and as a fan of short fiction, I'm quite excited about reading these stories.

What books arrived in your home recently, by mail or from elsewhere?