Short "Ghost" Stories

The Grownup (2014) by Gillian Flynn

Very short story (originally written for a story collection) of suspense and twists, which leads you to question everything, and even keeps you guessing as to what genre the book fits into - horror? supernatural? mystery? suspense? All of the above? The ending is slightly unsatisfactory, but I found it more palatable in this short story format -- at least I only committed around an hour to reading it rather than a couple weeks, and the questionable nature of the ending was clearly the whole point of the story. Very clever, with some interesting characters.     


Springtime: A Ghost Story (2014) by Michelle de Kretser

Another short, somewhat confusing story. Unlike The Grownup, there was so little character development that even in the hour it took me to read, I still couldn't remember who some people were because they were presented in such a perfunctory and confusing way. Called itself a ghost story but had barely any ghost stuff in it, just a vague unease on the part of the main character that was not in any way translated to the reader. Reaction at the end: "huh?"

Overall, I think these were both interesting stories that made me think, and even though I didn't love either of them, the incredibly short reading time required by both stories I think made them worth it.

Keep reading! Beth

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

The Rosie Project (2013) by Graeme Simsion was a sweet, surprising story about a man with many idiosyncrasies who struggles with accepting his own limitations in a world that (frustratingly) does not operate in the logical, orderly way he requires.

When I first started this book, I was really worried that the author would mock the main character and use his different-ness as comedic relief. But Don was an incredibly sympathetic character and I enjoyed his story immensely, especially coming from his unusual but understandable perspective. The Rosie of the title was a very interesting and decently complex character, who had her own plot developed outside of being the main love interest in the story -- always appreciated.

I loved that, since the reader was treated to Don's thought process but not Rosie's, he came off as the more likeable character, despite his own social issues contrasted to Rosie's "normal-ness". My only very small complaint is that the ending seemed a little rushed, but then again the point of the story was really about the journey and not the ending, which left the main characters in a satisfying way. To that end, I have waffled about whether or not to read the sequel, The Rosie Effect, since finishing The Rosie Project. I really liked this as a self-contained story and am very reluctant to get into another story that might muddle the waters, so to speak. For now, I was happy to have read this as a very good, heat-warming, stand-alone novel.

"It was also obvious that Rosie had very poor taste in coffee -- or she had done as I had and ignored the label 'coffee' and was enjoying it as an entirely new beverage. The technique was working brilliantly." (201)

Keep reading! Beth