Hello! Welcome to Monty's Summer Reading Blog. I have decided that, after a year of reading stuff for my thesis, I will spend the Christmas holidays reading whatever the hell I want!
So I began a bit early, reading Robert Shearman's Tiny Deaths before my thesis was due. This collection of short stories is AMAZING. I cried at nearly every story (which is a good thing). Shearman creates slightly odd worlds that are so subtle and smooth that I had no trouble believing when Hitler's dog starts talking, and the like. He manages to capture human emotions through simple yet beautiful narrative. Also I love the cover art, 'Black Holes' by Rachel Goodyear.
My favourite story in the collection is 'Static,' a story about a man who wakes one morning to find that his TV is bleeding. It's a heartbreakingly beautiful story.
Tiny Deaths is a collection that I will most definitely re-read, to the point that the pages are so dog-eared and smeared with tears and tea that I'll have to buy another copy.
My holidays still haven't started yet, as I still have an essay due, but I have the second collection of Shearman's short stories, Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical. And yeah, I couldn't resist starting to read it. I'm seven stories in, and loving it. I'll post a proper review when I've finished the book, and also my essay.
I hope you all will join me on this reading adventure, and maybe some of you can read and blog along with me.
Happy readings!
-Elimonster
