Short stories have never been my cup of tea. It takes so much effort to get into the groove of a story that it seems pointless to have it end so quickly. After a friend suggested short stories via audiobook, I’m starting to change my mind. In audio form, short stories become podcast-like and I adore podcasts. Kelly Link’s Get In Trouble was a great starter collection. All of the stories could be classified as magical realism (which I love already) and are extremely well-written. […]
And another one…
Arthur Leander, ageing movie-star, dies of a heart attack on stage at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto. On stage is eight-year-old Kristen Raymonde, witnessing the death of a man who had been nothing but kind to her. Jeevan Chaudhary, former paparazzo photographer and entertainment journalist, now an EMT in training, jumps up on stage tries to save Arthur’s life with CPR. Later that evening, travelling home in the snow, he receives a phone call from a friend, working in the ER. There is a flu […]
A Book for Women’s History Month
This battle of wills was real and she would win. She would give herself fully. This moment was falling in love. [from “A High-Grade Bitch Sits Down for Lunch” about Beryl Markham] The sunrise is beautiful … but it will never be enough. She was questioning then, as she does now: what makes you empty and what makes you full? [from “Hazel Eaton and the Wall of Death”] Almost Famous Women is a collection of fictional short stories about real women who have appeared in […]
Last train to dementia.
My father’s mother and my husband’s maternal grandmother both passed away last year. They suffered from dementia and Alzheimer’s, respectively. It was just as painful for me to watch my grandmother waste away into a shadow of her former self as it was to have the same conversations with my husband’s grandmother knowing she would never know me for more than minutes at a time. I got that same sadness to a lesser degree while reading Sir Terry Pratchett’s latest Discworld book.



