Anthologies and short stories

Please visit our Book Bulletin 2019 crowdfunding project at CrowdPatch to buy recommendations for our Winter 2019 catalogue and to volunteer your skills, experience and contacts. All funds raised will support not-for-profit Jolabokaflod CIC’s forthcoming programme of events.

Roar
Cecelia Ahearn
(UK: HarperCollins, @HarperCollinsUK, 2018; USA: Grand Central Publishing, @GrandCentralPub, 2019)

In this singular and imaginative story collection, Cecelia Ahern explores the endless ways in which women blaze through adversity with wit, resourcefulness, and compassion. Ahern takes the familiar aspects of women’s lives – the routines, the embarrassments, the desires -and elevates these moments to the outlandish and hilarious with her astute blend of magical realism and social insight.

One woman is tortured by sinister bite marks that appear on her skin; another is swallowed up by the floor during a mortifying presentation; yet another resolves to return and exchange her boring husband at the store where she originally acquired him. The women at the centre of this curious universe learn that their reality is shaped not only by how others perceive them, but also how they perceive the power within themselves.

By turns sly, whimsical, and affecting, these thirty short stories are a dynamic examination of what it means to be a woman in this very moment. Like women themselves, each story can stand alone; yet together, they have a combined power to shift consciousness, inspire others, and create a multi-voiced roar that will not be ignored.

Recommended by:
HarperCollins: at The Book Marketing Society

With a heritage stretching back 200 years, HarperCollins is one of the world’s foremost book publishers, with a catalogue ranging from cutting-edge contemporary fiction to award-winning apps and everything in-between. William Collins & Sons was founded in Glasgow in 1819, first publishing Bibles, atlases and dictionaries, but later growing to release works from some of history’s great authors, such as CS Lewis, Agatha Christie and JRR Tolkien.

Sweet Home
Carys Bray
(UK: Windmill Books, @PenguinRHUK, 2017)

Meet the little boy who believes in miracles … Meet the mother who loves to bring babies home from the newborn aisle of her supermarket … Meet the husband who carves a longed-for baby out of ice as a gift for his wife … Meet the widow who is reminded of romance whilst pegging out the washing.

Awarded the Scott Prize for short story writing, Sweet Home weaves together moments of joy, heartache, sadness and unwavering love as told through seventeen very different notions of home.

Recommended by:
Alyson Shipley, Wife, Mum

Alyson describes herself as a constant reader, book hoarder and charity-shop grifter (for books, natch). She is not wrong. She is also an influencer and crime fiction superfan whose ‘life is a permanent TBR pile’.

Writers of the Future
(L Ron Hubbard presents: book 33)
David Farland (editor)
(USA: Galaxy Press, @galaxypress, 2017)

Explore diverse new universes of possibility through a variety of creative and fresh new ideas – all in one anthology. From dragons to mythical death dealers, from murder on the moon to deep space mystery, these stories bring you the hot new talent in science fiction, fantasy & horror.

Recommended by:
Galaxy Press: at BookExpo America

Galaxy Press was established in 2002 to meet the demand for works of fiction by bestselling author, L Ron Hubbard, In 2008, the company embarked upon a six-year program to re-publish over 150 short stories and novelettes written by the author in the 1930s and 1940s in the form of an 80-volume book and full-cast audio drama series. These stories span every genre from western and mystery to fantasy and science fiction. Galaxy Press also publishes the annual Writers of the Future anthology, featuring new authors selected by an elite panel of judges.

In His Own Write
John Lennon
(UK: Canongate Books, @canongatebooks, 2014; USA: Simon & Schuster, @simonschuster, 2010)

ABOUT THE AWFUL … I was bored on the 9th of Octover 1940 when, I believe, the Nasties were still booming us led by Madalf Heatlump (Who only had one). Anyway they didn’t get me. I attended to varicous schools in Liddypol. And still didn’t pass-much to my Aunties supplies. As a member of the most publified Beatles my and (P, G, and R’s) records might seem funnier to some than this book, but as far as I’m conceived this correction of short writty is the most wonderfoul larf I’ve ever ready.

Introduced by Paul McCartney, In His Own Write is John Lennon’s literary debut, a book of stories, drawings and poems that was first published in 1964 to great critical acclaim and became a phenomenon, selling over 600,000 copies in the UK alone and revealing a hitherto unseen side to Lennon’s artistic output and talent.

Recommended by:
David Stark, Founder, Editor and Publisher, SongLink and Cuesheet

David is a music-business professional with over 35 years experience in publishing, comprising creative networking between artists, writers, producers, managers, labels, and film/tv composers. He is also accomplished at journalism, editing publications, photography, occasional songwriting and studio production, playing drums, organising showcases, judging song contests worldwide, acting as researcher for industry awards and events. David also works as a 60s/70s music consultant for radio, television and the press. His areas of speciality are: song placement via SongLink International; and film, television and other media music placement via Cuesheet.

First Love, Last Rites
Ian McEwan
(UK: Vintage Books, @vintagebooks, 1997; USA: Vintage Books, @VintageAnchor, 1994)

Ian McEwan’s Somerset Maugham Award-winning collection First Love, Last Rites brought him instant recognition as one of the most influential voices writing in the UK today. Taut, brooding, and densely atmospheric, these stories show us the ways in which murder can arise out of boredom, perversity can result from adolescent curiosity, and sheer evil might be the solution to unbearable loneliness.

These tales are as horrifying as anything written by Clive Barker or Stephen King, but they are crafted with a lyricism and intensity that compel us to confront our secret kinship with the horrifying.

Recommended by:
Paul Atherton, Managing Director, Simple (TV) Productions Ltd (film/television)
Paul says: ‘My Catcher in the Rye, in that I read it in my teens.’

Paul is a British television producer and director, who was the first person to screen a film on the Coca-Cola billboard at Piccadilly Circus. His latest projects include: working with the Museum of Homelessness on an installation project to tackle stereotypes about homeless people (September 2018); and delivering a Video Diary Workshop at the Museum of London as part of CityRead London, a campaign to encourage reading and library use in the capital by highlighting one book for Londoners to read in one month (May 2019).

Christmas Days
Jeanette Winterson
(UK: Vintage Books, @vintagebooks, 2018; USA: Grove Press, @groveatlantic, 2017

For years Jeanette Winterson has written a new story at Christmas time and here she brings together twelve of her brilliantly imaginative, funny, and bold tales, along with twelve delicious recipes for the twelve days of Christmas.

Recommended by:
Sanne Vliegenthart, Freelance Digital Producer | Consultancy: Booksandquills; YouTube channel: Booksandquills

Sanne runs Booksandquills – a freelance consultancy to manage her skills as a digital producer, public speaker and YouTube vlogger – having worked as an Audience Manager at Penguin Random House UK. She offers many different ways to work collaboratively on digital projects via her Booksandquills social channels. Sanne specialises in young adult and twenty-something audiences, sustainable lifestyle, books, culture and travel. She excels at creating authentic influencer campaigns, engaging digital content and host events that connect with audiences: here are the freelances services she offers to clients.

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	Christopher Norris on Secret Santa 2022
	Bronwyn on Secret Santa 2022
	Richard on Let’s get the Icelanders…

Please visit our Book Bulletin 2019 crowdfunding project at CrowdPatch to buy recommendations for our Winter 2019 catalogue and to volunteer your skills, experience and contacts. All funds raised will support not-for-profit Jolabokaflod CIC’s forthcoming programme of events.

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