Alethea Black

So I'll just admit I'm a sucker for short stories. There's something about such small windows into life that gets me every time, and for a truly excellent writer, I always marvel at how they managed to pack so much character, so much feeling into a mere few pages. This is one of those collections.

Alethea Black is more in touch with the human soul than most. Almost every single story in this collection touched me to my core, even when it was Ms. Black's hilarity rather than her sadness. The stand outs for me: "That Of Which We Cannot Speak", "Good in a Crisis", "The Summer Before", "Mollusk Makes a Comeback", "Double-Blind" and of course, probably my favorite, "Someday is Today." Every one of these stories flutters with an originality and heartbeat all its own, whether it's Ms. Black explaining a gathering of nerds or the longing and desperation of a 20-something for a purpose.

I also enjoyed that the book felt tied together by a singular theme of characters trying to decide something large and possibly life altering, or looking back with hindsight on such a decision. I think it's hard sometimes to see those decisions when they're coming in your own life, and so it's always rewarding to see someone who has managed to confront those moments with such authenticity.

Read this book when you're sad to know that you're not alone. Read this book when you're happy to simply experience a few revelatory moments of the human experience.… (meer)