(Tin House Books)

What a startling and original collection of short stories! There are times in your reading odyssey that a full-length novel may be more than you are willing to commit to, and a short story — a world unto itself built in a handful of pages — is just what you need to wake up your brain and Kim Fu is the perfect author to do just that. She has already published two novels and a collection of poetry, and her artistry and craft feels perfected and honed in these stories. They jog in and out of reality, the premises far-fetched, but the people, their language, their interactions, are authentic and sympathetic. In one story, a group of girls who have been friends since early childhood, seize upon the appearance of wings on one of the group as an opportunity to bond anew, defy their parents and hover a bit longer on the cusp of make-believe. In another, a person suffering from insomnia is visited in the night by a literal sandman, who fills her with sand, the weight and the sift of it dropping her into the deepest sleeps of her life. Please do pick this book up and enter the world of Kim Fu, you will be ever so glad you did.

— Reviewed by Jenny Lyons. Connect with her on Instagram @jennysbookshop to find more great book reviews and recommendations. Look for these titles and more at your local bookstore.

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