Sunday, May 2, 2021

Writers’ Pantry #68: Get Caught Reading Some Short Stories!

I love May. Not just because of the yummy weather, dear poets and storytellers, but also because May is Get Caught Reading Month and Short Story Month

I will celebrate the first by taking pictures of random strangers reading. All right, that might be a terrible idea So, I will just probably take a reading selfie or stalk my Piano Man and the not-so-Little Princess until I can catch them reading. The latter, I shall celebrate by rereading some of my favorite short story collections of all times: M Is for Magic by Neil Gaiman, The Decapitated Chicken and Other Stories by Horacio Quiroga, The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo, and a new collection I’ve yet to choose. 

Do you have a favorite short story collection? If yes, would you care to share a title and bit about why you love it? Maybe, your favorite could become mine too.📚😊

Share your poetry or your prose. Let your contribution be old or new, fiction or nonfiction, short or longish (if you choose prose, then your word count should be 369 words or fewer). One link per participant, please. The prompt will remain open for a week. Let us write, share, and get caught reading in May!

- for our next Weekly Scribblings, our dear Rosemary would like you “to think about places which are special to you for any reason, and bring them to life for us in whatever way you choose, in poetry or prose.”

27 comments:

  1. Thanks, dear Magaly, for reminding me how much I love well-written short stories. My long-lasting favourites, ever since first encountered many years ago now, are 'For Esme with Love and Squalor' by J.D. Salinger and 'Tip on a Dead Jockey' by Irwin Shaw. I also loved but never owned 'Blackberry Wilderness' by Sylvia Berkman, supposedly republished but I can't find. I'd love to find out if I'd still have such a high opinion of it now. My friend Helen Patrice's 'The Communicant and other stories' available on Amazon, is a recent speculative fiction gem, brilliant and often funny (and too little known, so no apologies for the plug).

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    1. I remember reading "For Esme with Love and Squalor" in The New Yorker website, but I haven't read any of the others. I shall keep an eye open.

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    2. Oh, and one should never apologize for promoting the work of friends. So, well done!

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  2. I too enjoy short stories, Magaly, and I can always find something in Roald Dahl's Kiss, Kiss, so wicked, with unexpected endings.

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    1. I'm extremely ashamed to say that the only thing I've read by Roald Dahl is The Witches. But an email from my public library said something about reading some of his work at Story Time. So, I shall get rid of my shame!

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  3. I love 12 red herrings and To cut a long story short by Jefferey Archer and Tales of Msytery & Terror by Edgar Allen Poe!

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    1. I haven't read To Cut a Long Story Short, but I love the title of the collection (and the description) so I shall pick up a copy. And I, too, love Poe's tales!

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  4. oops apologies for incorrect entry...Enjoy your Sunday everyone.

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  5. Hello fellow writers, I hope you're all keeping well. And Magaly thanks for this new piece of information, "May is Get Caught Reading Month" and encouragement to read. As for short stories, of late, I find myself drawn more to essays, and I'm currently reading Feel Free by Zadie Smith.

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    1. I haven't read essays as a collection in some time. Maybe this is a good reminder. I do love a well written essay.

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  6. I am reading --- Bijou Roy by Ronica Dhar

    Happy Sunday every one

    much love...

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    1. Very cool. Happiest readings to you, too, Gillena.

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  7. I've been very busy lately but I'm excited to find out about May, Magaly, thank you so much. Short stories - I have one with just a line I remember - "her fragrance is like the morning when papayas are in bloom." I have Jeffrey Archer's Collected Short Stories with Old Love as my fave from that book. There's Leo Tolstoy's How Much Land Does a Man Need? which was my report in World Literature class, (hence, I didn't forget, hahah!) and Poe's Ligeia for my taste for gothic horror.

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    1. That is such a yummy line, Hazel. I do love poetic prose. And Poe's "Ligeia" is a favorite of mine, too.

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  8. I need to pick up The Language of Thorns. LOL, I'm reading King of Scars now.

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    1. There is a possibility that someone already picked up for you... 😅

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  9. Good day, everyone!
    The only fun thing about May over here is that there are three public holidays during the month. Hurray for the workers! I read a book of poetry by Bukowski last month, and these last two days reading magazines at the library. Rolling Stone and Wired. :)

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    1. Oh my goodness! You get to read in the library? We aren't allowed inside the library yet, so I'm extremely jealous.

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  10. I haven't read a book of short stories in quite a while ... currently reading "The German Girl" ~~ I went rummaging in 'the vault' this morning. Cheers and thanks for hosting!

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  11. My favorite of all time is "Mama Makes Up Her Mind" by Bailey White. It's a collection of essays about life in the deep south, filled with wonderful humor and amazing insight. Published in the late 1990's, I believe.

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    1. Ooh! That sounds like my kind of read. Adding Mama Makes Up Her Mind to my list.

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  12. One of my favourites is Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber." Dark, bloody, fairytales for adults.

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