“The Elephant Vanishes - Stories” by Haruki Murakami

 I found this book of short stories oddly compelling, despite of, or because of their surreal aesthetic. Some of the imagery reminded me strongly of David Lynch, particularly the story about the TV people. And strangely enough, speaking of David Lynch, there was even a story about a dancing dwarf.

“The Blackhouse” by Peter May

 This book was a page turner for me, which is rare. I certainly didn’t expect repressed memories of sexual abuse to be the key to the whole plot. The descriptions of the Hebrides Island and customs were vivid but overly long. Towards the end, I was skimming them.

“Ghostwritten” by David Mitchell

 This is my least favourite of the books I have read by Mitchell. It is overly long, overly wordy, and confusing. It may have helped a bit if I had read the electronic version, because that would have enabled me to hyperlink back to characters who appeared in different “stories” within the novel. I think everything was cleverly linked together, but I eventually lost interest. I skimmed over the last section, which involved a NY DJ, and perhaps I missed a bit of the novel’s structure and meaning because of it. But I don’t really care. That last section was too abstract.

"When You are Engulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris

 As usual, this was an enjoyable set of essays by David Sedaris. I did have to look up his biography to understand the context of a few of the stories. In particular, I found out that he is gay, and lives with a partner who is from Africa.

“Night Gaunts and Other Tales of Suspense” by Joyce Carol Oates

 Another set typical of this author. She certainly does have a “sick” imagination. I enjoy the weirdness of her stories.

“Return of the Trickster” by Eden Robinson

 I thought the third book was not very good. It was way out there in unbelievability, and the writing was not always clear. Very little actually happened.

“On Chesil Beach” by Ian McEwan

Much of the book reads like a clinical study of sexual problems on a honeymoon night. I found this to be a rather odd style and kept wondering why the author chose to write such a book. But the last section is beautiful. It describes the man’s life post annulment and his realization as to how much he had lost by being inflexible in his pride. He had failed to see how much the woman had offered him by describing her current dislike of sex and saying he could sleep with other women if he wanted. This offer was made in the 1960’s and was later described as being ahead of its time.

His lack of patience and empathy gave him an empty life. He did nothing after her speech to him, and he saw that it had been to his great loss. He never loved anyone that much again. And his wife had been merely waiting for him to acknowledge his love, and she would have run back into his arms.