Okay, so, I’ve been digging into this book, “Best American Short Stories 2023,” and let me tell you, it’s been quite a ride. I started by just grabbing the book – saw it on the shelf, the title caught my eye, you know? “Best American Short Stories” sounded pretty darn good. Figured I’d give it a shot.
First thing I did was flip through it. Just getting a feel for what’s inside. I noticed right away that it’s a collection of twenty different stories. Twenty! That’s a good chunk of reading material right there. I read a little bit of Min Jin Lee’s intro part and she was talking about how stories are super important for us humans. “Without stories, we cannot live well,”. That’s deep, right?
Diving into the stories
Then, I just started reading. One story after another. And man, they’re all about relationships, but not the happy-go-lucky kind. More like the messy, complicated, sometimes broken kind of relationships. It started to get to me, all these stories showing the, uh, fractured side of how people connect with each other. It’s like, the world is full of this stuff, and these stories are just reflecting that reality back at you. So, I decided to take some notes on this.
- Started reading: Just dove in, no real plan, just story by story.
- Noticed a theme: Lots of stories about messed up relationships.
- Got a bit emotional: These stories started to hit me, you know? They’re real, in a way.
- Decided to record it: I felt like I had to write some of this down, share my thoughts. I mean someone needs to, right?
So yeah, that’s where I’m at with this “Best American Short Stories 2023” journey. I read somewhere that it is about what you do with your growing audience and your stories that can have a huge impact. That’s why I jotted down some thoughts and felt like I had to share. That’s how I am rolling with this. I’m going to keep reading, keep feeling all the feels, and keep sharing my thoughts on it. Maybe there are some lyrical or flash fiction types of short stories. I will try to find some good ones.
It’s definitely not light reading, but it’s good. It’s the kind of good that makes you think, makes you feel. And isn’t that what stories are supposed to do? Anyway, I just wanted to put this out there. Maybe someone else is reading it too, or maybe this will make someone want to pick it up. Who knows.
