Reading Recommendations: Short Stories

A new month means another batch of reading recommendations! July’s theme is Short Stories. I’ve compiled a list of short story collections to dive into when you’re looking to take a break from a traditional novel.

---

Fresh Romance Vol.1

 The critically-acclaimed anthology FRESH ROMANCE is finally available in print! Have you been wondering what the fuss is all about? FRESH ROMANCE is an exciting collection of romance comics from some of comics most talented creators, including Kate Leth, Arielle Jovellanos, Sarah Vaughn, Sarah Winifred Searle, Sarah Kuhn, Marguerite Bennett, and Trungles. From unhappy historical marriages to covert teenage romances, there’s something for everyone in FRESH ROMANCE.” 

Fresh Romance is an amazing collection of diverse narratives/love stories. There are four tales total in the first volume. One story is infused with magic, another is period drama, there is a café romance, and a beautiful retelling of The Beauty and Beast. Ruined, the historical story, was my favorite tale out of all four stories. I thought the writing was solid and each story left me wanting more. The art style were beautiful and I also appreciated the Q&A sessions after each story. It was a nice touch to learn how the stories came to life and the behind the scenes process.

---

Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora

Dominion is the first anthology of speculative fiction and poetry by Africans and the African Diaspora. An old god rises up each fall to test his subjects. Once an old woman’s pet, a robot sent to mine an asteroid faces an existential crisis. A magician and his son time-travel to Ngoni country and try to change the course of history. A dead child returns to haunt his grieving mother with terrifying consequences. Candace, an ambitious middle manager, is handed a project that will force her to confront the ethical ramifications of her company’s latest project—the monetization of human memory. Osupa, a newborn village in pre-colonial Yorubaland populated by refugees of war, is recovering after a great storm when a young man and woman are struck by lightning, causing three priests to divine the coming intrusion of a titanic object from beyond the sky...

A wonderful anthology of stories. It had such a wide variety of tales from enslavement to colonialism and Afrofuturism. I think there will be something for everyone to enjoy and many of the stories are thought-provoking as well (which I greatly appreciated. One of my favorite stories is A Maji Maji Chronicle in which a time traveler and his son who have special powers transport themselves back in time. In this place they are on the verge of war due to colonization of the land and if they interfere they might change history.

---

Dearborn

Spanning several decades, Ghassan Zeineddine’s debut collection examines the diverse range and complexities of the Arab American community in Dearborn, Michigan. In ten tragicomic stories, Zeineddine explores themes of identity, generational conflicts, war trauma, migration, sexuality, queerness, home and belonging, and more.

In Dearborn, a father teaches his son how to cheat the IRS and hide their cash earnings inside of frozen chickens. Tensions heighten within a close-knit group of couples when a mysterious man begins to frequent the local gym pool, dressed in Speedos printed with nostalgic images of Lebanon. And a failed stage actor attempts to drive a young Lebanese man with ambitions of becoming a Hollywood action hero to LA, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have other plans.

By turns wildly funny, incisive, and deeply moving, Dearborn introduces readers to an arresting new voice in contemporary fiction and invites us all to consider what it means to be part of a place and community, and how it is that we help one another survive.

This is one of the few short story collections where every story I enjoyed thoroughly. All of the stories offer insight into the Muslim community which discusses topics of culture and heritage and challenges that transcend ethnic identity. Since Dearborn is local to me I found myself heavily invested in the stories of this collection. Its a collection of tales that is well written and rich with characters that will stick with you long after you read the novel.

---

Krik? Krak!

When Haitians tell a story, they say “Krik?” and the eager listeners answer “Krak!” In Krik? Krak! In her second novel, Edwidge Danticat establishes herself as the latest heir to that narrative tradition with nine stories that encompass both the cruelties and the high ideals of Haitian life. They tell of women who continue loving behind prison walls and in the face of unfathomable loss; of a people who resist the brutality of their rulers through the powers of imagination. The result is a collection that outrages, saddens, and transports the reader with its sheer beauty.

Krik? Krak! is a wonderfully written collection of story of Danticat. Danticat knows how to weave together an excellent story with powerful characters that make an impact. I appreciated that she used a variety of characters (most of which are female) to offer the many perspectives of life in Haiti (and America). I learned a little more about Haiti’s background through reading this book and look forward more of Danticat’s works.

---

The Girl Who Married a Skull: and Other African Stories

Have you heard the one about the skull who borrowed body parts to pass himself off as a complete human so he could trick the village beauty into marriage? Well, what about when Frog and Snake’s daughters had a play date? Okay, okay. But surely you’ve heard the story about the crocodiles who held a vote on whether or not to eat a man that had saved one of their lives? NO? Wow. Have we got some stories for you.

The Girl who Married a Skull and tales is a spectacular graphic novel filled with a bunch of African tales. These tales all teach good life lessons similar to Aesop’s fables. Like all anthologies, some stories are better than other, but for the most part all the stories were engaging. I would have preferred less stories so that each story had more time to delve into the mythology and folklore. The varying art styles bright the stories to life in new ways. This is one installment this is part of a series so I’m curious to check out the rest of the Fables & Fairytales series.

---

That concludes my reading recommendations for short story collections. What books do you recommend or what are your favorites? Comment below!