A couple weeks ago, I stopped in the library just to pass ten minutes time before an appointment nearby...and I walked out with three books. Of course. I've already told you about Ru (read it - short, concise, lovely) and now on to the two other books.
Blueprints for Building Better Girls - a collection of short stories by Elissa Schappell, I was intrigued by the title.Very intrigued. And the framework - interconnected short stories - is one of my favourites. So I picked it up. And it was good. Realistic, gritty, sometimes awkward stories of a variety of relationships, mostly romantic, over several decades. I wanted more stories about multiple characters, which is a definite positive. Nothing wow-ed me in a profound way, but it was decent literature. Something a bit darker than your average vacation read, but not much work to get through.
Life is About Losing Everything by Lynn Crosbie. Again, the title drew me in. As did the cover design. And the back cover, which described this as part memoir and part fantastical fiction. Oh reeeeeeeeeeeally. The excerpt on the back was lovely and poignant and I wanted more. But I was underwhelmed by the first seventy-five pages. The life vignettes were certainly raw and at times fantastical, and I liked the non-linear structure. However, I didn't feel much of a draw towards the narrator, and the vignette format made it difficult to dive into a plot. Basically, there is a depressed woman, and a lot of men, and some drugs. I wanted to persevere, and I wanted things to get better for her, but the book was due back at the library, and I decided renewing it would be too much effort. I'm a big disappointed, mostly because it looks like quality Can Lit. And maybe it is.
Blueprints for Building Better Girls - a collection of short stories by Elissa Schappell, I was intrigued by the title.Very intrigued. And the framework - interconnected short stories - is one of my favourites. So I picked it up. And it was good. Realistic, gritty, sometimes awkward stories of a variety of relationships, mostly romantic, over several decades. I wanted more stories about multiple characters, which is a definite positive. Nothing wow-ed me in a profound way, but it was decent literature. Something a bit darker than your average vacation read, but not much work to get through.
Life is About Losing Everything by Lynn Crosbie. Again, the title drew me in. As did the cover design. And the back cover, which described this as part memoir and part fantastical fiction. Oh reeeeeeeeeeeally. The excerpt on the back was lovely and poignant and I wanted more. But I was underwhelmed by the first seventy-five pages. The life vignettes were certainly raw and at times fantastical, and I liked the non-linear structure. However, I didn't feel much of a draw towards the narrator, and the vignette format made it difficult to dive into a plot. Basically, there is a depressed woman, and a lot of men, and some drugs. I wanted to persevere, and I wanted things to get better for her, but the book was due back at the library, and I decided renewing it would be too much effort. I'm a big disappointed, mostly because it looks like quality Can Lit. And maybe it is.
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