The Curiosities: A Collection of Stories

The Curiosities 
By Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton, Brenna Yovanoff
YA Short Stories

The Curiosities is more than the stories. Since 2008, these authors have posted more than 250 works of short fiction to their website www.merryfates.com. Their goal was simple: create a space for experimentation and improvisation in their writing-all in public and without a backspace key. This collection includes the stories and each author's comments, critiques, and kudos in the margins. Think of it as a guided tour of the creative processes of three acclaimed authors. 

I picked up this book because, yes, I was curious, it had Maggie Stiefvater's name on it-who writes some great books-and I believed it would give some great advice on writing. 

The Good: Some of these stories (and not just those by Stiefvater) are quite excellent and remained with me like a delicious aftertaste. I also enjoyed the humorous, hand-crafted drawings scattered throughout the book. 

The Bad: Not much about the actual writing process in this book. So that was disappointing. 

The Ugly: Many of these stories don't fall into the normal genres I read, which isn't necessarily bad, but they were ugly. There weren't many happy endings. And I might have had a nightmare from one of the creepier tales...

My rating: 2 out of 5 stars, though it would probably have been higher if my expectations of this book had been different. 

Have you read anything by these authors? What kind of books make you 'curious'? 

Three Little Pigs, Anyone?

 

Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, Blow by Daniel Nayeri
Genre: Four fictional short stories or novellas; each one a different genre











                                                 
 Straw House: "In this sizzling Western set on a farm filled with living toys, readers meet a young straw man who must lay his life on the line to defend his master's home, who loves a basil-eyed girl, and who searches for manhood through the fiery confusion of adolescence."

 Wood House: "Is a sci-fi tour de force that plunges into a hideous future not so far away, in which a teenage girl races to save the world from a nano-revolution perpetrated by a mega-corporation under the guise of ReCreation Day."

 Brick House: "Is a hard-boiled detective drama about the wish police in modern New York City. To prevent murder, the special forces of the Imaginary Crimes Unit must unravel and apprehend the secret deadly impulses held by a resentful boy against his parents."

Blow: "This story delivers a Shakespearean love story that brings together two feuding artisan families, narrated by none other than Death himself--a hero who may steal your heart in more ways than one."

My favorite of these stories was probably Brick House (The Wish Police) because I thought the plot was the most intriguing and I cared more for the characters. My second favorite would have to be Straw House (Toy Farm) because Nayeri did such a good job pulling off the whole toy-farm thing, except I was confused about some details of characters and plot that weren't resolved. The narrator of Blow (Doom with a View), which is Death, was pretty snarky and funny, but sometimes I grew annoyed with him because he would go on random tangents. And I wondered why he would know so much about the family and their problems if he had to accompany other dead people to the downstairs.

However, each of these stories was creative, definitely entertaining, and thought-provoking. I enjoyed his similes and vivid comparisons that link the reader to each world Nayeri crafted. He certainly has a gift for story-telling, even if I wasn't wowed by the words I read.

I give this collection of short stories a 3.5 and recommend it for 14 year olds and up.

What I learned: Thoughts can quickly turn into disastrous actions and love is what makes life worth living.

*Fun fact: Did you know Nayeri wrote all of these stories on his IPhone? Yep; it's true. What do you think of such a feat? Or is it even worth mentioning? Personally, my hand would have cramped up to resemble a claw, but that's just me...

A Review: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Mystery, Classical

"Set against the foggy, mysterious backdrops of London and the English countryside, these are the first twelve stories ever published to feature the infamous Detective Sherlock Holmes and his side kick Doctor Watson. They first appeared as stories in the Strand Magazine and feature some of his most famous and enjoyable cases, including 'A Scandal in Bohemia,' 'The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle' and 'The Red-headed League.' 

If it's snowy or rainy outside and you're bored, this is the perfect book to pick up. The stories are well told and highly interesting. Most of the stories are so short that you can read them in-between a longer novel or just for a quick, fascinating read. Each of the stories is fairly unique, and the way Sherlock handles each one, with so much insight and intelligence, surprised me every time.

I've been watching the BBC Sherlock episodes (check them out if you haven't; they're great), which helped pique my interest to read the original stories. And be warned, these tales are quite different than the modern retelling. Besides the obvious reasons (the original stories are set several centuries ago, for one), Sherlock is less of a jerk in these written stories, but just as observant. There is also less about his and Watson's relationship. In fact, there's not much character development at all, which bothered me the most about these stories. But perhaps there is more in Doyle's novels; I haven't read them yet.

Watson also doesn't have much of a personality in the stories or does much to help Holmes. He acts mainly as an observant narrator. I was frustrated with him several times for not knowing things that even I, the reader, could guess at. I'm not sure why Holmes always asked him to come along on his adventures, unless he merely liked having someone praise his exceptional abilities.

However, Doyle does well at what he probably aimed to do: write mysteries. Thus, I  award this novel a 3.5 and recommend it to 14 year olds and up.

Here's the link to theme song from the Sherlock episodes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-99pXoawt8  It's pretty epic.