Task #22: Read a collection of stories by a woman

[Book Riot]

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the twenty-second Read Harder task, from Celeste Ng, author Everything I Never Told You and the forthcoming Little Fires Everywhere.

[Book Riot]

A couple of posts that might help:

http://bookriot.com/2016/06/06/100-to...

http://bookriot.com/2015/10/13/44-fav...

[Stina]

Agatha Christie to the rescue again!

[Cheri]

There are collections of stories by Alice Munro, such as Runaway; The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel; and What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi.

[Beachesnbooks]

I highly recommend Kelly Link, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Amelia Gray's collections; I've read theirs recently and all were fantastic.

[Jody]

This prompt might give me the push to finally read The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor.

[Trudie]

I was tempted to head for Margaret Atwood as I know I like her but it would also be good to try new authors - Munro and Oyeyemi might be on my short list.
The Mantel is great, I listening to that on audio for the 2016 task.
Another good find from this year was Yoko Ogawa if you like your stories more creepy try Revenge.

[Ellie]

Since I only read the Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and I loved her writing. I'm going to read 'Moral Disorder and other stories'.

[Lindsey]

I'm planning to read Six Bedrooms for this one.

[Cheri]

I forgot to mention Tell Me a Riddle by Tillie Olsen. I've had a couple people recommend it to me and it sounds like a great collection of stories! "I Stand Here Ironing," one of the stories in the collection, is supposed to be amazing.

[Shanna]

I read this already, but American Housewife by Helen Ellis was great!

[Sheri]

There are a bunch of good ones. Collected Stories by Lydia Davis. Manual for Cleaning Womeb by Lucia Berlin. Any collection by Alice Munro. Birds of America by Lori Moore. Everything that Rises Must Converge, Flannery O'Connor. Any of her collections. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri. Can you tell I like this category lol?

[bubblegumpopper]

So, would a book written by a man about a woman's life/stories count? Or should it be written BY a woman? I have this book in my Kindle library that I thought might qualify:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

[Bonnie G.]

Chelsea wrote: "So, would a book written by a man about a woman's life/stories count? Or should it be written BY a woman? I have this book in my Kindle library that I thought might qualify:

https://www.goodreads...."

It says "by" a woman not "about" a woman. There are literally hundreds of great story collections written by women.

[Theresa]

If you are interested in nature & outdoorsy stuff then The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks by Terry Tempest Williams qualifies for this challenge. I bought it earlier but only read a couple pages before my sister...she says borrowed, I say stole :) it from me. I have it back now & am thinking about using it for this challenge.

[Becki]

For anyone that liked Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier has a couple books that would fit this category.

[[deleted user]]

How To Be Happy by Eleanor Davis is a fantastic story collection. She's one of my favorite comics creators, and How To Be Happy really shows her talent.

[Sheri]

I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen is a classic story and Tell Me a Riddle is a short Collection, a quick read. The Terry Tempest Williams sounds good; I loved her book Refuge. Oh and Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy (sp?) is good.

[Beth]

Finally going to dig into my Alice Munro for this one.

[Carla]

Melissa wrote: "I've had Almost Famous Women: Stories
on my shelf for a while and I think it fits this prompt."

I'm a huge fan of this book. Fabulous!!!

[Theresa]

Carleigh wrote: "Would a book of poetry and essays work for this? I just got a copy of Winter Hours by Mary Oliver and planned on using it for that category.
Also, is it okay to do these in any order since it does..."

I think that would count. Also, the order doesn't matter. You can read in any order & at whatever speed you want.

[Chris]

A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor will be my choice for this one.

[Olivia]

I've had Foreign Soil on my to read list for a while so it's an easy choice for this challenge.

[[deleted user]]

I've seen Jhumpa Lahiri's name over and over, but never picked up Interpreter of Maladies. I loved The Namesake.

[Henriette]

I think I might go with Isak Dinesen/Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen was her pseudonym), but I might change my mind.

[Chris]

The Safety of Objects by A.M. Homes. I read it earlier this year. Terrific, disturbing stuff.

[Katie]

I'm going to read either Whatever Happened to Interracial Love?: Stories, Interpreter of Maladies, or Difficult Women for this one.

[Beth]

I just picked up a copy of The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories on a trip to Chicago. Now I'm thinking I might save it for after the New Year.

[Tynisha]

So I'm torn between The Isles of Youth and What the world will look like when all the water leaves us by Laura van den Berg.

[Janelle]

I highly recommend Jhumpa Lahiri for this category. I don't typically really like short stories, but she approached it from an engaging and clever way.

[Jo]

I have so many of these on my TBR shelf.

Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology ed. by Ann VanderMeer

Shoggoths in Bloom and Other Stories by Elizabeth Bear

Somewhere Beneath Those Waves by Sarah Monette

A Portable Shelter by Kirsty Logan

A Cat, a Hat and a Piece of String by Joanne Harris



My favourites from the last few years are:

The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales by Kirsty Logan

Stone Mattress: Nine Tales by Margaret Atwood.

Jigs & Reels by Joanne Harris


Ursula Le Guin writes some ace short stories, too.

[Ann]

Things We Lost in the Fire: Stories by Mariana Enriquez has been translated from its original Spanish and is coming out in Feb. 2017. I've heard great things about it, and I'm letting it do double duty for Task #22, a collection by a woman, and Task #4, book written by a Central or South American author. It's described as, "an arresting collection of short stories, reminiscent of Shirley Jackson and Julio Cortazar." I'm a fan of both, especially Cortazar.

[Maryam]

I love Margaret Atwood writing very much. I'm going to select something from her.

[Bobby]

I am not sure about this yet, but I will probably read Everything That Rises Must Converge: Stories, by Flannery O'Connor, or something by A.S. Byatt, such as Little Black Book of Stories or Djinn In The Nightingale's Eye.

I recommend Seven Gothic Tales and Anecdotes of Destiny, by Isak Dinesen. The latter contains "Babette's Feast," which was made into a beautiful film.

[Elaine]

I read that a book of poetry will work so I can read Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur. I was thinking of using it for task #23 as well. It has some poetry for love but the others are about abuse, violence and survival. I've heard good things about it and it's been in my tbr list for several months now.

[Patty]

Carleigh wrote: "Would a book of poetry and essays work for this? I just got a copy of Winter Hours by Mary Oliver and planned on using it for that category.
Also, is it okay to do these in any order since it does..."

I always do these challenges as I find time - never in order and never by month

[Emily]

I´ll be reading either Herland and Selected Stories or Stone Mattress: Nine Tales

[Karen]

Please help! I need suggestions for task 23. Read a collection of poetry in translation on a theme other than love. Thank you!

[Heather]

I just had my first book released this year and it counts for #22. It's called But First... A memoir of a backwards life and it's told in essay style.

[S.]

I plan on reading Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and Other Stories. Im on a major Shirley Jackson kick lately.

The Lottery and Other Stories (FSG Classics) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0374529531/...

[Elizabeth]

I will most likely do something from Alice Munro, as I have been meaning to for years. This thread has given me other ideas though, so I am less certain.

[Teresa]

I might read The Lottery and Other Stories because I listened to an old time radio drama of The Lottery and enjoyed it. I may also read The Bloody Chamber... because it's a bloody chamber.

[Sheri]

I interpreted this task as short stories (i.e. fiction) rather than essays or poems. Thoughts?

[Lea]

I, too, am curious about "stories" vs essays. Is the intent that it be fiction?

[Rachel]

I also interpret it as stories (fiction, or possibly non-fiction), but not essays or poetry.

[Margaret]

I highly endorse The Unfinished Novel and Other Stories

[Ritika]

I would recommend The Thing Around Your Neck or Interpreter of Maladies or In the Country. Have read and loved them. I'm going to try some Alice Munro myself.

[Elizabeth]

I recommend Tillie Olsen's Tell Me a Riddle. It has four short stories set in mid-20th Century America. This was something I had read in my 20s and now re-read in my 50s, giving me an entirely new perspective on the stories and appreciation for Olsen's writing.

[Erin]

Carrie wrote: "I'm going to read Difficult Women by Roxane Gay for this task. I read Bad Feminist, and loved it. I'm excited to read this new one."

Yes!! Same so excited!

[Maddie]

Sheri wrote: "I interpreted this task as short stories (i.e. fiction) rather than essays or poems. Thoughts?"

Yes. Stories are fiction which are different than essays. See the description of Gay's new collection: Award-winning author and powerhouse talent Roxane Gay burst onto the scene with An Untamed State and the New York Times bestselling essay collection Bad Feminist (Harper Perennial). Gay returns with Difficult Women, a collection of stories of rare force and beauty, of hardscrabble lives, passionate loves, and quirky and vexed human connection.

A.S. Byatt has a great collection titled the Matisse Stories. There's also Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri; Cowboys are my Weakness by Pam Huston; Difficult Women by Roxanne Gay. So many good story choices!