Astray | 
pickI‘m hit or miss with short stories, but I enjoyed this collection. Donoghue imagines and brings to life moments in the lives of real people from actual historical accounts. The stories were excellent and being given a window into the historical inspiration for each made them even better. Paperback shown here but I actually enjoyed the audiobook which featured different narrators for the different stories to great effect.
Whenever I post a TBR stack there‘s always one book that does NOT get read.
Any guesses for this stack?
pickThis was a really great book. A series of historical fiction short stories, Donoghue explores migration - across oceans, racial barriers, & the gender divide. Each is based on a true account, some well-documented. Donoghue delves into the psyches & motivations of the migrants, & of those left in their wake.
Definitely worth reading 📖
pickI had no idea what to expect with this book - it‘s part of this year‘s #syncya program. Once I figured it out, I enjoyed the stories and the explanations about them. I do like hearing how authors take inspiration from the smallest detail and expand it to a story or novel. The use of multiple narrators added to the experience of the audiobook.
pickFourteen tasty, often hard or sad, historical fiction short stories about strangers coming to town. Loved the transcript of a Melissa Block NPR interview with Donoghue as well - fantastic. Ebook from my #library! #shortstories
About to start this one. Love me some Emma Donoghue! I‘ve heard nothing about this one. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #amreading
pickI REALLY enjoyed this book. I imagine in being a historical fiction or non-fiction writer you come across really interesting events and characters in research and travels that may not make for a full length book, so you end up with a lot of intriguing bits & pierces. This book is a collection of stories that Emma has fleshed out from those historical bits. The concise afterwards she includes following each ⬇️⬇️
Tasty summer lunch to accompany the tagged audiobook. I am loving Donoghue‘s writing!
pickTo craft the stories in this collection, Donoghue drew inspiration from historical documents or news articles. After each story, the source material is briefly discussed, which I felt added a layer of interest. There were 2 stories I didn‘t care as much for, but I really enjoyed the rest.
This weekend, the local Friends of the Library held a booksale. I dropped in to see if I could find a book or maybe two and things went seriously Astray. The top four books are ones I‘ve read, but loved so much I wanted to have my own copies. Does anyone else do this?
pickA book of short stories that involved emigrants, runaways, drifters,lovers old and new, gold miners, counterfeiters, attorneys and slaves. Historical fiction at its finest. 5/5
bailedIn bailing on this after the first two stories, I am entertaining two reading-related hypotheses: (1) I just don't do well with most fiction that's based on real-life historical people, and (2) this being the second Donoghue book I've bailed on this month, maybe my deep love for 'Room' was the beginning and the end of things for Emma and me. I am certainly not going to try another of hers for a loooong time.
so-soDonoghue interweaves fact and fiction to highlight the book's theme: travel, both in the literal and figurative sense. The vignettes are intriguing, their characters are dynamic (and real...). I appreciated her overview of the source material at the end of each story.
#booktober #shortstories I didn't look terribly carefully but these might be the only short story collections I own. 😬
Writing stories is my way of scratching that itch: my escape from the claustrophobia of individuality. It lets me, at least for a while, live more than one life, walk more than one path. Reading, of course, can do the same.
panThis book is made up of short stories of people from the 19th century. I was not able to connect with the characters. I don't have many reasons besides that as to why I didn't like the book, it just wasn't a good fit for me.
This week's currently reading and to-read. My taste is nothing if not eclectic.
