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The Architect of Flowers by William Lychack

Posted on June 18, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • Only this last year have I become a short stories fan – and the reviews on this one looked fantastic.

I  also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

The stories in William Lychack’s dazzling new collection, The Architect of Flowers, explore the inevitable distance between people in loving relationships. With minute and perfect details, Lychack observes the overlooked moments of everyday life—the small failings between parents and children, the long-held secrets in married life—to find hope in the darkest of situations.   A small town policeman steels himself to shoot a family’s injured dog; an old woman secretly trains a crow to steal for her; a pregnant woman brings home a box full of chicks to raise in the yard; a hybridizer’s wife discovers the perfect lie to bring her family magically together again. Lychack’s characters yearn to re-enchant the world, to turn the ordinary and profane into the sacred and beautiful again, to make beauty serve as an antidote to grief. From ghostwriter to ghost runners to ghosts in a chapel, these stories are extraordinary portraits of life’s tender humiliations as well as its sharp rude jolts.

My Review:

It’s fairly recent that I’ve become a short stories lover.  Deborah Willis’ Vanishing and Other Stories converted me and I’ve been on the lookout for other collections that would wow me as much as that book did.

While Lychack’s collection in The Architect of Flowers didn’t quite do that, it still impressed me.  There were a few stories in this collection that had me gasping at the beauty, laughing at the turn of bad luck involving a set of chicks  and crying with sorrow at the circumstances surrounding everything from a dog’s death to the premature death of a husband.

I found Lychack’s writing to be gorgeous and what I’ve come to expect of well-written short stories.  It continues to amaze me that so much information, backstory, character development and life can be infused into so few pages.  It’s like sitting down in the middle of a movie for one scene, but not feeling as if you have missed anything by not seeing the beginning of the end – or nothing worth seeing because you were given the heart of the story right then and there.

Put this on your list if you enjoy short stories.  You won’t be disappointed (and I’d love to talk with you about them too!)

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The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus by Sonya Sones

Posted on April 26, 2011
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Reason(s) for Reading:
  • The title was quirky and fun and.. I had no idea it was poetry.

Summary from Goodreads:

Celebrated YA novelist Sonya Sones makes a HUGE splash with her first adult novel, The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus, spinning a funny, fierce, and piercingly honest coming-of-middle-age story about falling apart and putting yourself back together. Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neckmeets Elizabeth Berg—boldly original and endlessly enthralling—The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus is a luminous, brilliantly told story of life, marriage, and parenthood that you will not soon forget.

My Review:

The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus is a book of poetry.   I don’t do poems.. usually.  I don’t get them, I never have gotten them.  However, I blazed through this book in a few hours one afternoon.

While I haven’t experienced much of what the book is talking about, these poems brought home the reality of it all.  They spoke of pain, happiness, loss, motherhood, aging and death in a way that kept my attention, in spite of the verse (or perhaps, because of it).  I began this book thinking I would be bored and ended it with a feeling of regret that there wasn’t more.

If you are a fan of books like Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck then you will love this charming, beautiful little book of poems.

 

About the Author

For more reviews on The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus by Sonya Sones, please follow the book tour.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from TLC Book Tours. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Updates

Posted on May 15, 2008
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I have been incredibly silent here as of late simply because my life here in Georgia doesn’t permit me to spend time at the computer like my life in Illinois did and I find I really don’t mind at all.

Things have been stressful lately. The hardest part of going through a family break-up is trying to maintain a low level of stress so the kids don’t react. It’s amazing how in tune with my feelings both Cole and Grace are, and how willing they are to give me a hug or huge smiles whenever they think I might be sad or unhappy. Our bond has grown leaps and bounds since last fall and more than ever I am thankful that God has taken care of me, despite all the struggles I’ve had with anger and despair over the last few months.

Now that the divorce is in the final stages I feel as if we can finally start releasing some of the stress. Plans for this summer are the busiest plans I’ve ever had for a summer. We have my mother visiting (she arrived last night) for two weeks, and in that two week period we are heading to Disneyworld. Plans there include the Pirate and Princess party as well as me being able to hook up with an old friend.

After we get back from Disney the kids will be heading to Colorado for their first of two long visits to their mother in Colorado, so I will be heading to Seattle to visit another two great friends that I haven’t seen in several years. I love Seattle so much and am very much looking forward to spending some of the hot Georgia June time in nice, cool Seattle.

After we all get back the children are here for another two weeks then back to Colorado they go for another three weeks. When those three weeks are done it’s nearly August already and we’ll be looking at back to school time. I feel like the summer is already over when I look at our calendar!

So that is what is happening in a nutshell around here. Prayers are coveted. Please keep Cole, Grace and Scott in your prayers. My students are having some major health issues (one had a heart attack and another a relapse in cancer), so prayer for them and for a few more students for me would be appreciated.

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