For our final week of our July book club, we’ve rounded up four follow-up reads to Karen Hofmann’s Echolocation (NeWest Press) that’ll keep the short story times rolling.
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If the badassness of the woman in “Virtue Prudence Courage,” spoke to you…try…Waiting for the Cyclone by Leesa Dean (Brindle & Glass)
If you put your hands up for fierce, unapologetically real women, look no further than Leesa Dean’s Trillium Book Award-shortlisted collection Waiting for the Cyclone, a short story ride to brace yourself for. Like Hofmann, Dean fleshes out complex and hard-to-forget female characters who don’t always act in ways you’d expect in whip-smart stories that snatch you up and take you away.If the existentialism of the stories in Echolocation spoke to you…tryThis Wicked Tongue by Elise Levine (Biblioasis)Like Karen Hofmann in Echolocation, Elise Levine shows that novelists also make great short story writers: both Hofmann and Levine are skilled at getting to the crux of existential-y themes in bite sizes. This Wicked Tongue delves into the human condition with stories that probe the complex inner workings of people mining for deeper meaning in their lives, stories Quill & Quire say are “powerful and vivid and packed with an emotional punch to the heart.” If the messy, complicated relationships in the stories got your heart in emo overtime…try…The Barista and I by Andrew Szymanski (Insomniac Press)Despite how relationships pan out in Echolocation, one thread ties them together: its characters are always looking for ways to connect with the people around them. Andrew Szymanski’s debut collection also explores meaningful connections: its characters struggle to put aside anxieties and neuroses in the face of potential love, ruminate on their pasts as they open themselves up to the future, and idealize love despite experience.If you thought the descriptions of nature and settings in Echolocation were the bees knees…try…Lands and Forests by Andrew Forbes (Invisible Publishing)
Similar to Echolocation, Lands and Forests is a grab-bag of compelling stories that dig at the emotional core of women and men who mourn, face disappointment, discover new passions, and are often shaped by their environments. There is government-sanctioned flooding, drones, wildfires that consume whole towns, and surprises and delights under every rock.* * *That’s a wrap on Echolocation. Catch up on the month’s happenings with our introduction to July book club, staff discussion, and interview with Karen Hofmann. Remember you can still Echolocation until August 31st.Also, make sure you get a copy of August book club pick, Missy Marston’s wild, funny ride of a novel, Bad Ideas (ECW Press)!
