There's a unique magic to the short story collection. Unlike the sprawling landscape of a novel, each piece offers a concentrated burst of narrative, a fleeting glimpse into a character's life or a ...

Ever since she published her debut novel Prep in 2005, Curtis Sittenfeld has become one of America’s most beloved authors. The novels that have followed – American Wife, Rodham, Romantic Comedy – have ...

Are you trying to get back into reading? Looking for something easy to dip into during your lunch breaks, or in between dips in the pool while on vacation? What could be better than a book where each ...

Every time I get a recommendation request where one of the five recent reads contains a collection of short stories, I get extra excited because it means I may be able to recommend a book of short ...

James’ third novel and brilliant anticolonial critique (also a National Book Award longlist nominee) deploys a large cast of British and Indian characters. But its protagonist is a machine: an ...

For many years, I assumed that the appeal of a short story was that it was, well, short. Instead of slowly reading a novel over weeks, the reader of these bite-size plots can experience character ...

Each month, the Columbia Public Library offers selections from its collection related to a current best-seller or hot topic. Library Associate Beth Shapiro compiled this month’s selections. In ...

In new collections by Yiyun Li, Claire Keegan, Alexandra Chang and Lore Segal, interpersonal bonds are created and destroyed. By Kathleen Alcott The short-story writer “can’t create compassion with ...