Anything Is Possible

 

Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

Amgash #2

Fiction

2017

Finished on June 22, 2025

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Recalling Olive Kitteridge in its richness, structure, and complexity, Anything Is Possible explores the whole range of human emotion through the intimate dramas of people struggling to understand themselves and others.

Here are two sisters: One trades self-respect for a wealthy husband while the other finds in the pages of a book a kindred spirit who changes her life. The janitor at the local school has his faith tested in an encounter with an isolated man he has come to help; a grown daughter longs for mother love even as she comes to accept her mother's happiness in a foreign country; and the adult Lucy Barton (the heroine of My Name Is Lucy Barton, the author's celebrated New York Times bestseller) returns to visit her siblings after seventeen years of absence.

This is the second collection of short stories I've read this month, and I'm not a big fan of the genre, so I'm not surprised that I didn't love Anything Is Possible. The stories are more interconnected than those of Table for Two (Amor Towles), and some of the characters are familiar from my reading of My Name Is Lucy Barton, but the book is not one of my favorites by Elizabeth Strout. I struggled to keep track of the characters' relationships with one another as they overlap from chapter to chapter. Plus, the central theme to Strout's stories is shame and regret, and many involve mothers who leave their families. Thus, the overall tone is bleak and gloomy. The writing, however, is marvelous, so I was never tempted to stop reading. Anything Is Possible is best read right after My Name Is Lucy Barton, perhaps with a pen & pad in hand.

Table for Two

 

Table for Two by Amor Towles

Fiction

2024

Finished on June 1, 2025

Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

From the bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway, A Gentleman in Moscow, and Rules of Civility, a richly detailed and sharply drawn collection of stories set in New York and Los Angeles. 

The millions of readers of Amor Towles are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter six stories set in New York City and a novella in Los Angeles. The New York stories, most of which are set around the turn of the millennium, take up everything from the death-defying acrobatics of the male ego, to the fateful consequences of brief encounters, and the delicate mechanics of compromise which operate at the heart of modern marriages. In Towles’s novel, Rules of Civility, the indomitable Evelyn Ross leaves New York City in September, 1938, with the intention of returning home to Indiana. But as her train pulls into Chicago, where her parents are waiting, she instead extends her ticket to Los Angeles. Told from seven points of view, “Eve in Hollywood” describes how Eve crafts a new future for herself—and others—in the midst of Hollywood’s golden age. Throughout the stories, two characters often find themselves sitting across a table for two where the direction of their futures may hinge upon what they say to each other next. Written with his signature wit, humor, and sophistication, Table for Two is another glittering addition to Towles’s canon of stylish and transporting historical fiction.

I very rarely read short stories mainly because I don't enjoy them as well as novels. I feel that by the time I'm invested in the plot, and have come to care about the characters, the finale is upon me. I did, however, enjoy Amor Towles's stories in this recent release, many of which have an O. Henry feel to them with an unexpected twist at the conclusion of the tale. 

The second half of Towles's book is a novella that picks up where his debut novel, Rules of Civility, ends. I wish I had re-read that book before reading Eve in Hollywood. Towles provides some backstory, but I would have liked more. It's been over six years since I read the author's Rules of Civility, and the details are more than a little fuzzy. Also, the ending of the novella felt convoluted, and I wish I had kept better track of the role of each of the characters. Thus, the less than stellar rating. I must say, though, that his writing is marvelous, filled with subtle wit, and vivid imagery that places his reader directly into the setting. I'm tempted to read his earlier works again!

Speaking of which, you can find my reviews for those tooks here:

Rules of Civility (4.5/5)

A Gentleman in Moscow (5/5) - read twice

The Lincoln Highway (3.5/5)

Looking Back - Hearts in Atlantis

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
Fiction
1999 Scribner
Finished in July 1999
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Stephen King, whose first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974, the year before the last U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam, is the first hugely popular writer of the TV generation. Images from that war -- and the protests against it -- had flooded America's living rooms for a decade. Hearts in Atlantis, King's newest fiction, is composed of five interconnected, sequential narratives, set in the years from 1960 to 1999. Each story is deeply rooted in the sixties, and each is haunted by the Vietnam War.

In Part One, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," eleven-year-old Bobby Garfield discovers a world of predatory malice in his own neighborhood. He also discovers that adults are sometimes not rescuers but at the heart of the terror.

In the title story, a bunch of college kids get hooked on a card game, discover the possibility of protest...and confront their own collective heart of darkness, where laughter may be no more than the thinly disguised cry of the beast.

In "Blind Willie" and "Why We're in Vietnam," two men who grew up with Bobby in suburban Connecticut try to fill the emptiness of the post-Vietnam era in an America which sometimes seems as hollow -- and as haunted -- as their own lives.

And in "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling," this remarkable book's denouement, Bobby returns to his hometown where one final secret, the hope of redemption, and his heart's desire may await him.

Full of danger, full of suspense, most of all full of heart, Stephen King's new book will take some readers to a place they have never been...and others to a place they have never been able to completely leave.

My Original Thoughts (1999):

The first short story was very good, but sad and depressing. A boy's new friend introduces him to literature, yet has to leave when the "low men" find him. Kind of creepy in a subtle way.

I really enjoyed this collection of interconnected short stories.

My Current Thoughts:

If I ever decide to reread any of Stephen King's books, this will be on my list!

Looking Back - Tell Me A Riddle

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Tell Me A Riddle by Tillie Olsen
Fiction
1989 Delta (first published 1961)
Read in August 1997
Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

This collection of four stories, "I Stand Here Ironing," "Hey Sailor, what Ship?," "O Yes," and "Tell me a Riddle," had become an American classic. Since the title novella won the O. Henry Award in 1961, the stories have been anthologized over a hundred times, made into three films, translated into thirteen languages, and - most important - once read, they abide in the hearts of their readers.

My Original Notes (1997):

Four short stories. Social commentaries. Poor people, racial inequalities, elderly, etc. Quite good. I would enjoy hearing a professor's comments on each essay. Thought provoking.

My Current Thoughts:

I should look for this to reread, as I have no memory of any of these short stories.

Looking Back - When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple by Sandra Martz (Editor)
Nonfiction
1991 Papier-Mache Press
Finished on January 10, 1997
Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

This enchanting collection of fiction, poetry, and photographs evokes the beauty, humor, and courage of women living in their later years. More than 1.7 million copies have been sold, thanks to its universal message of aging as a natural gift of life. Winner of the American Booksellers Book of the Year Honors Award (1991), and two Benjamin Franklin Awards: for design and content, literature (1988), and for excellence and innovation in marketing, literature (1992), When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple has been applauded for its honest and inspiring approach to the much neglected topic of aging. When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple has created a network of support and encouragement: the sixty-plus men and women whose work is included, the readers who have taken the time to share how the book has touched their lives, and the booksellers who have so graciously recommended it to buyers. Stories and poems such as Warning, Like Mother, Like Daughter, Love at Fifty, Near Places, Far Places, and Dear Paul Newman tell of the endearing moments of joy -- and passion -- to be found in the rich and varied world of midlife and beyond. This award-winning anthology has earned a word-of-mouth popularity because, as the Los Angeles Times said, the time is ripe for such a message.

My Original Notes (1997):

I read the poetry and short stories in this book over the course of a year. After reading the whole book, only one poem caught my attention. It's titled "Translations" by Margaret H. Carson. Other than that, I didn't really care for the book.

My Current Thoughts:

This was certainly a popular book 20 years ago! I wonder, though, if I read it too early in my life. I was only 35 years old! Far from becoming an "old woman." However, I have no desire to find a copy and read it a second time, although I am curious about Carson's Translations. I may have to track that one down and see why it appealed to me when it did.

Looking Back - The Country Ahead of Us, The Country Behind

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

The Country Ahead of Us, The Country Behind by David Guterson
Fiction - Short Stories
1996 Vintage Books (first published in 1989)
Finished on January 6, 1997
Rating: 3/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

Like his novel, Snow Falling On Cedars, for which he received the PEN/Faulkner Award, Guterson's beautifully observed and emotionally piercing short stories are set largely in the Pacific Northwest. In these vast landscapes, hunting, fishing, and sports are the givens of men's lives. With prose that stings like the scent of gunpowder, this is a collection of power.

My Original Notes (1997):

By the author of Snow Falling on Cedars. Good, but not great. Short stories. The last was the best ("The Flower Garden"). Guterson writes beautifully. I just wasn't interested in fishing and hunting themes.

My Current Thoughts:

I wrote about Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars here. I really enjoy Guterson's prose, but I'm not a huge fan of short stories. It would be fun to go back and reread The Flower Garden, but I have no interest in revisiting the entire collection.

Looking Back - A Literary Christmas

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

A Literary Christmas Edited by Lilly Golden
Nonfiction
1992 Atlantic Monthly Press
Finished in January 1997
Rating: 3/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

The finest writers throughout the centuries have graced us with their literary visions of Christmas. Charles Dickens, O. Henry, Truman Capote immediately come to mind. Dozens of collections contain history's best. But what has been sorely missed on bookstore shelves is a collection of great contemporary Christmas stories by today's most gifted writers. Here, gathered in one volume, are twenty-seven stories that celebrate the spirit of Christmas present. In Ray Bradbury's tale an aging priest becomes reconciled with his past on Christmas Eve, while in Frank O'Connor's story a young boy's Christmas morning brings the end of innocence in the devastating knowledge that there is no Santa Claus. Paul Bowles tells the traumatic account of a small boy's Christmas that is overshadowed by his cruel father, while Ron Carlson offers an inspiring story in which a loving husband's unspoken Christmas wish is granted when his wife tells him she wants to have a baby. Though these stories share the subject of Christmas, whether as a central theme or as subtext, each explores a unique aspect of the holiday season and its psychological and emotional reverberations. And most important, in each of these marvelous stories, some uplifting, some deeply melancholy, we are given a Christmas tale of the highest literary order.

My Original Notes (1997):

So-so. So many of the short stories were depressing! I enjoyed these, though:

Bless Me, Father, for I Have Sinned by Ray Bradbury

Auggie Wren's Christmas Story by Paul Auster

Christmas for Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo by Ntozake Shange

Christmas by Harper Lee

Where You'll Find Me by Ann Beattie

The Night of the Magi by Leo Rosten

The H Street Sledding Record by Ron Carlson

My Current Thoughts:

I no longer own this book, so I can't go back and re-read these stories. After 20 years I have absolutely no recollection of any of them!

Love Begins in Winter

Love Begins in Winter: Five Stories by Simon Van Booy
Fiction - Short Stories
2009 Harper Perennial
Finished on 2/16/10
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)
Winner of the Frank O'Connor Prize 2009



Product Description

On the verge of giving up—anchored to dreams that never came true and to people who have long since disappeared from their lives—Van Booy's characters walk the streets of these stark and beautiful stories until chance meetings with strangers force them to face responsibility for lives they thought had continued on without them.

I've been hearing about Simon Van Booy's writing for a few years now. Bookfool is a huge fan and has mentioned Van Booy in over a dozen blog posts. (It's probably closer to 16, but I stopped counting when I hit a dozen.) She also has a marvelous interview with Simon posted on Estella's Revenge that I encourage you to read.

Being the romantic fool that I am, I chose to start Love Begins in Winter: Five Stories during the week prior to Valentine's Day. I was happy to see that this collection is comprised of only five stories. I like to spend as much time as possible with each character, plus I find it a little difficult to remember the details of the individual stories if there are too many in a single book. This was just right. Each story stood alone and I have no trouble visualizing the setting or the elements of each plot now that several days have passed since finishing the book. As Bookfool mentioned in one of her posts, this is the sort of book that calls out to be picked up, thumbed through for a re-read of a random passage or story. And I have to agree. The writing is exquisite.

I think music is what language once aspired to be. Music allows us to face God on our own terms because it reaches beyond life.

and

Grief is sometimes a quiet but obsessive madness.

and

If there is such a thing as marriage, it takes place long before the ceremony; in a car on the way to the airport; or as a gray bedroom fills with dawn, one lover watching the other; or as two strangers stand together in the rain with no bus in sight, arms weighed down with shopping bags. You don't know then. But later you realize--that was the moment.

And always without words.

Language is like looking at a map of somewhere. Love is living there and surviving on the land.

How could two people know each other so intimately without ever having told the old stories? You get to an age where the stories don't matter anymore, and the stories once told so passionately become a tide that never quite reaches the point of being said. And there is no such thing as fate, but there are no accidents either.

I didn't fall in love with Bruno then. I had always loved him and we were always together.

Love is like life but starts before and continues after—we arrive and depart in the middle.

And so I ask myself: Why didn't I fall in love with this book? I was easily drawn into each story. And the writing truly is quite poetic.

The billowing sail of a faraway boat holding the last of the day like a nugget of gold.

and

The beach was dark, and the sand had been packed hard by the outgoing tide. Rain lingered; like something said but not forgotten.

Maybe this is the sort of book that requires multiple readings. I can see myself taking the book on vacation, reading one story while flying to my destination. Reading another while lounging by a pool and reading yet another while sipping a cup of coffee in a bookstore. Perhaps it's not the sort of book to read cover-to-cover. So, yes, I'll keep the book, full of its quiet, spare prose, and come back to it again sometime in the future.

Read what other bloggers have to say about Love Begins in Winter:

Simon's writing is unflinchingly honest, an exploration of the flaws of humans and the love that binds them together. Unlike a lot of readers, I enjoy short stories but am well aware that very few people know how to do them right. Simon's stories never leave you dangling or drag on long after they should end. They vary in length and each is paced with perfection. (Nancy, of Bookfoolery and Babble)

Van Booy captures the essence of what makes us human, and how love can be found in the most unexpected places. Readers who love poetry will enjoy this collection of stories which often feel like long, narrative poems. (Wendy, of Caribousmom)

Both Wendy and Nancy have done great jobs summarizing each story, so be sure to click on the links to read their reviews.

20th Century Ghosts

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
Fiction - Horror (short stories)
2007 William Morrow
Finished 11/29/09
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)





Product Description

Imogene is young, beautiful, kisses like a movie star, and knows everything about every film ever made. She’s also dead, the legendary ghost of the Rosebud theater, and one afternoon in 1945, a boy named Alec Sheldon will have an unforgettable encounter with her... in the dark...

Arthur Roth is a lonely kid with a head full of big ideas and a gift for getting his ass kicked. It’s hard to make friends when you’re the only inflatable boy in town...

Francis is unhappy. Francis is picked on. Francis doesn’t have a life, a hope, a chance. Francis was human once, but that’s behind him now. Francis is an eight-foot tall locust, and all of Calliphora, Nevada will shudder to hear him sing...

John Finney is in trouble. The kidnapper locked him in a basement, a place stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. With him, in his subterranean cell, is an antique phone, long since disconnected... but it rings at night, anyway, with calls from the dead...

Eric is a twentysomething burnout, who just lost a girlfriend and a job. Once, though, he was the Red Bolt, and with his home-made cape he could fly. Now the cape is back in his hands, and Eric’s future is looking up... and up...

Nolan Lerner is guilty. His past is a thing choked with secrets, blood – and sunflowers. Only Nolan can tell the story of what really happened one summer in 1977, when his younger brother, an idiot savant named Morris, built a vast cardboard fort, with secret doors inside, doors leading into other worlds...

Like Morris Lerner’s impossible cardboard fortress, 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS is big enough to get lost in, a maze filled with exits into a vast country of the surreal. Showcasing an assortment of dazzling ideas, GHOSTS is irresistible, addictive fun.

I haven't read many short story collections (Alice Munro and Eudora Welty are the only two authors who come to mind), but I've always said I don't care for short stories. Those that I've read all seem to blend together and are quickly forgotten. I also dislike the feeling of finally getting to know the characters and their situations, only to have the story end abruptly. But Joe Hill has converted me, at least as far as his short fiction is concerned. I loved everything about 20th Century Ghosts! I savored each and every story over the course of 6 weeks (perhaps that's the key!) and found myself thinking about the characters and plots long after closing the book. I especially liked that the stories weren't all super scary and that some were a bit reminiscent of The Twilight Zone, without freaking me out so much that I had to sleep with a light on.

Until I became a blogger, I never used to read book reviews. I still don't read published reviews in newspapers or magazines, but obviously as a blogger, I do read reviews by my peers. "A masterful storyteller" has become the ubiquitous descriptor for authors of broad abilities. I am guilty of littering my reviews with this cliche myself. And yet, Joe Hill truly is a master of his craft. Much like a camp counselor sitting around a campfire with a bunch of scared little kids, he sets the scene, establishes the characters and ever so slowly and gently leads his audience down a path full of twists and turns and dark shadows, never losing them along the way, and often times pushing them faster and faster toward their ultimate destination and climax. No detail is wasted. No line of dialogue unnecessary. Each sentence a polished gem.

I think the basis for my enjoyment of this collection was that each story was so utterly unique. There were some that were creepy and surreal and others that were very subtle--even tender and sweet. I can glance through the table of contents and remember each and every story. I can remember which ones made my heart race and which made me shudder. This is one of those books I'll enjoy picking up again in years to come, if only to re-read one or two stories at a time. And now that I've come to realize that this is a genre I do enjoy, I'll have to give Hill's father's short story collections a chance. I hear he's also pretty talented. ;) Any recommendations?

Further praise from a fellow blogger:

Bookfool writes: 20th Century Ghosts is an anthology of short stories and they are wildly disparate--some literary, some magical, two with ghosts, at least one so scary I had to set the book down for a few days. While there were a few that left me with the feeling, "What was the point of that?", the vast majority were engrossing and it was the moments of truth, the powerfully straightforward language, the absolute believability of his characters and the stunning creativity that set Hill's writing apart. There is seldom a feeling of stepping outside the pages--that "Oops, he lost me," moment when the reader realizes s/he has lost the ability to suspend disbelief. In fact, I kept having to remind myself, "It's not real; it's just fiction." That is a pretty strong recommendation, in and of itself.

I can hardly wait to get my paws on Joe Hill's up-and-coming new release, Horns, due out on February 16th. From what I've read, it's even better than his debut novel, Heart-Shaped Box. Oh, boy!

The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted

The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation by Elizabeth Berg
Fiction - Short Stories
2008 Random House
Finished on 1/26/09
Rating 3.5/5 (Good)





Product Description

Exhilarating short stories of women breaking free from convention.

Every now and then, right in the middle of an ordinary day, a woman rebels, kicks up her heels, and commits a small act of liberation.

What would you do, if you were going to break out and away? Go AWOL from Weight Watchers and spend an entire day eating every single thing you want–and then some? Start a dating service for people over fifty to reclaim the razzle-dazzle in your life–or your marriage? Seek comfort in the face of aging, look for love in the midst of loss, find friendship in the most surprising of places?

Imagine that the people in these wonderful stories–who do all of these things and more–are asking you: What would you do, if nobody was looking?

I recently learned that Elizabeth Berg has just completed another novel, due out on April 28th. It's entitled Home Safe and the early product details sound intriguing! In spite of a few lackluster novels in the past couple of years, I still get excited when I learn about a new book by Berg. I've been reading her novels for over a decade and I believe this new release will be her 20th!

I spotted her current collection of short stories (The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation) at the library last month and decided to give it a try, hoping to find a gem or two in the collection. Well, I'm happy to say it was better than her last few novels. I'm not usually a big fan of short stories, but Berg has such a way of describing the most basic domestic scenes, full of details and images that help transport the reader into the lives of her characters.

The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted is very much a brain candy read that melts away after the final sentence is read. My favorites are "Mrs. Ethel Menafee and Mrs. Birdie Stoltz" (a story about two elderly best friends dealing with a fatal disease), "How To Make An Apple Pie" (a marvelous birthday letter with a rambling description of -- you guessed it -- how to make a perfect apple pie), and "Sin City" (about a sixty-seven-year-old widow who decides to bust out of her rut and start spending her children's inheritance). All the stories are entertaining, but I'd be hard-pressed to describe a single one in the lot in great detail! I really need to take notes the next time I pick up a short story collection. I always feel that they should be read one at a time, perhaps between a novel or two, so that the story can remain independent of all the others in the collection. Of course, I never allow enough time to read them in this fashion (especially if it happens to be a library book!), as I'm always chomping at the bit to finish one book and move on to the next. Not that I don't savor what I'm reading, but I don't do well with reading one book over the course of several months.

In any event, this was quite a worthwhile read; one which is tempting me to go back and re-read those three favorite stories. And once I've finished with those, I can continue to read Elizabeth Berg's entertaining blog while I wait for April 28th to roll around. That is, unless I happen to luck out and get an ARC!

A Christmas Memory

In my rush, I forgot to include my favorite passages from A Christmas Memory in yesterday's It's Fruitcake Weather post. It's been a year or two since I last read Capote's short story, so early this morning while the house was still quiet, I poured a cup of coffee and settled in to reread this favorite Christmas story.

Favorite passages:

We eat our supper (cold biscuits, bacon, blackberry jam) and discuss tomorrow. Tomorrow the kind of work I like best begins: buying. Cherries and citron, ginger and vanilla and canned Hawaiian pineapple, rinds and raisins and walnuts and whiskey and oh, so much flour, butter, so many eggs, spices, flavorings: why, we'll need a pony to pull the buggy home.

and

Now, with supper finished, we retire to the room in a faraway part of the house where my friend sleeps in a scrap-quilt-covered iron bed painted rose pink, her favorite color. Silently, wallowing in the pleasures of conspiracy, we take the bead purse from its secret place and spill its contents on the scrap quilt. Dollar bills, tightly rolled and green as May buds. Somber fifty-cent pieces, heavy enough to weight a dead man's eyes. Lovely dimes, the loveliest coin, the one that really jingles. Nickels and quarters, worn smooth as creek pebbles. But mostly a hateful heap of bitter-odored pennies.

and

The black stove, stoked with coal and firewood, glows like a lighted pumpkin. Eggbeaters whirl, spoons spin round in bowls of butter and sugar, vanilla sweetens the air, ginger spices it; melting, nose-tingling odors saturate the kitchen, suffuse the house, drift out to the world on puffs of chimney smoke. In four days our work is done. Thirty-one cakes, dampened with whiskey, bask on window sills and shelves.

From Amazon.com:

A Christmas Memory is the classic memoir of Truman Capote's childhood in rural Alabama. Until he was ten years old, Capote lived with distant relatives. This book is an autobiographical story of those years and his frank and fond memories of one of his cousins, Miss Sook Faulk. The text is illustrated with full color illustrations that add greatly to the story without distracting from Capote's poignant prose.