Mini-reviews: What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours and Summer Days and Summer Nights

Helen Oyeyemi is known for writing novels that are unexpected, a bit dark, and based on fairy tales. In What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours, the stories concern doorways and keys, sometimes in minor details and sometimes as an integral part of the story. Some characters jump stories, showing up as a protagonist in one and a minor character in another. As with many short story collections, I read some stories I adored and some that I really had to commit to finishing.

books and roses is amazingly executed and one of those stories I wished would spark a whole novel. It follows a young woman who was left on the steps of a monastery as a baby with a note and a key. She now works in a hotel doing laundry, where she encounters a wealthy painter who wears a key around her neck too. Their lives will intersect in incredible and magic ways. Oyeyemi seems to shine brightest when she is writing of the past, of fables and fairy tales like in drownings. But I also enjoyed the modern story a brief history of the homely wench society,where a group of young women prank a fraternity, and presence, in which a couple undergoes an experiment and sees the son they never knew. Helen Oyeymi is inarguably an incredibly talented writer and I will gladly explore any magic land she creates.

What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours
By Helen Oyeyemi
Riverhead Books March 2016
325 pages
From the library

YA writer Stephanie Perkins edited a story collection entitled My True Love Gave To Me, which features stories about falling in love during the magic of winter. The collection was so popular that a second one was released this May, which focused on summer flings. Summer Days and Summer Nights is a great way to find new YA authors and it features a wonderfully diverse group of characters.

In "Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail," a boy and a girl start a tentative romance in a summer town where a monster supposedly swims in the lake. It was the perfect start to a bunch of stories about summer. Libba Bray's "Last Night at the Cinegore" might be more of a horror homage than a love story, but it's a lot of fun. Perkins checks in with her characters from the winter book with "In Ninety Minutes, Turn North" and I loved seeing how the relationship between Marigold and North had changed. "Souvenirs" is the tale of two boys breaking up before going off to college at the amusement park where they both work. This is the perfect collection to relive the joy of your first summer love, while sitting on your porch with a cool glass of lemonade.

Summer Days and Summer Nights
Edited by Stephanie Perkins
St. Martin's Griffin May 2016
400 pages
Read via Netgalley

Review: My True Love Gave to Me

My True Love Gave To Me

Twelve Holiday Stories

Edited by Stephanie Perkins

St. Martin's Press 2014

321 pages

From the library

My knowledge of YA authors is rather slim. I've read most of Rainbow Rowell's books and of course know about the juggernaut that is John Green. Other than that, I tend to steer clear of the young adult section. When I do happen to wander over that way, it's rather daunting to know where to start. I thought this anthology of holiday stories might help me whittle down my list and pick a few YA authors to try. It did.  It was also a total delight to read and I can see myself buying this anthology and cracking it open each December.

These stories are all centered around the holidays, but I appreciated that they weren't all about Christmas. The first story, by Rainbow Rowell, was about two best friends at their annual New Year's Eve bash over several years. Two other stories feature Jewish protagonists and Holly Black even tackles Krampuslauf, which celebrates the evil spirit who visits bad children instead of Saint Nicholas.

Each of the writers featured in this collection wrote really good stories that left me wanting a longer story, perhaps even a whole book. Some of these characters are still in high school and others are in their first years of college, but there was a good balance of teenage impulse and the beginnings of understanding about relationships and responsibility. Shy is spending Christmas cat-sitting for his boss in "Angels in the Snow" and Maria from "Welcome to California, CA" is working in the local diner because of family financial problems.

There is also a variety of settings, time periods, and genres to be found between these covers. "The Lady and The Fox" and "The Girl Who Woke The Dreamer" are both set in the past and have supernatural flair. "It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown" and "Your Temporary Santa," on the other hand, are decidedly modern and feel like they might have happened to your friend or maybe even to you.

It's rare to find an anthology where you enjoy all of the stories. While I obviously had favorites, this is a fantastic collection of stories that celebrate the joy of relationships and the magic of the holidays. My True Love Gave To Me is the perfect choice to read while hiding out from your crazy family on Christmas, while lazing about on winter break, or just when you are craving a bit of holiday magic at any point during the year.