I begin this roundup with apologies for the complete miss of the scheduled July post. Someone has been a little . . .  Preoccupied? Busy eating tapas in Barcelona? Lazy? Perhaps a sniff of each. Never mind. Here I am with a catch-up and I’m pleased to say there has been plenty of action on the short story front.

Alice Bishop’s A Constant Hum uses fiction to explore the tragedy of bushfire, a subject those familiar with my own work will know is close to my heart.
Kim Forrester at Reading Matters found Bishop rose to the task with ‘care, kindness and great authenticity.’
Kate at Books are my Favourite and Best finds a delicacy to Bishop’s writing with this ‘rich and cohesive collection.’

Veronica at The Burgeoning Bookshelf notes the lyrical and perceptive aspects of Debra Adelaide’s Zebra and other stories but was left wanting as she felt ‘some of the stories seemed like a chapter pulled from a bigger story.’ Nevertheless, Adelaide ‘proves she can master any writing style’.

Jemimah at Oddfeather Creative reviews My Name is Revenge by Ashley Kalagian Blunt, a work consisting of a novella followed by three essays. Do take a moment to read Jemimah’s review which gives an idea of the historical importance of this work that brings to light the ‘psychological effects of denying atrocious events and what that can do to a person, a family, a nation’. You will most likely be inspired to read the book.

Lily Brett’s New York is reviewed by both Kim at Reading Matters and Bill at The Australian Legend.
Kim calls the work a ‘collection of confessionals’ with each piece carrying Brett’s ‘trademark dry, biting wit’. Bill’s thoughtful and perceptive review really left me with much to think about. Clearly both Kim and Bill are fans of Brett’s work and it is well worth reading both reviews to see the different perspectives.

Bill also reviews Rosaleen Love’s The Total Devotion Machine.

Nalini Haynes reviews Zombies vs Unicorns (audio version) for Dark Matter Zine and finds the anthology to be a fun read.  The collection is edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier. Haynes gives an insight into how the voices of the actors in an audio version can colour the writing.
Dark Matter Zine has other reviews by Nalini Haynes: Metro Winds by Isobelle Carmody (highly recommended for short commutes) and Foreign Soil by Maxine Benaba Clarke, audio (‘a masterpiece’).

Ashleigh Meikle over at the Book Muse reviews Suzy Zail’s Alexander Altmann A10567 (based on a true story) which takes ‘a topic that is dark, and depressing, and tells a story that younger readers can access . . .’

Aislinn Batstone gives a review of three collections in one post: Barking Dogs by Rebekah Clarkson (‘highly addictive’), The Bride Price by Cat Sparks (‘the pleasure is in the journey’) and Stirring Winds by Kelly Matsuura (captures impermanent beauty ‘beautifully’).

Check out the three reviews for Amanada O’Callaghan’s This Taste for Silence:
Rebecca Bowyer Story Addict finds it ‘beautifully written’ and is pleased that many of the stories carry older women as the main characters (I concur, Rebecca).
Likewise, Cass Moriarty finds the characters compelling and is enamoured of the ‘. . . descriptive language, evocative imagery [and] tightly controlled sentences . . .’
Kali Napier plucks out a favourite in her review. 

And here’s a few more short story reviews I urge you to view:
Theresa Smith Writes – 2019 Jolley Prize Winner Sonja Dechian’s The Point Blank Murder
Ashleigh Meikle  The Book Muse  – Miss Franklin: How Miles Franklin’s brilliant career began by Libby Hathorn (historical picture book)
Ashleigh Meikle The Book Muse  – The Silver Well by Kate Forsyth and Kim Wilkins
Cass Moriarty (via Goodreads) – the Happiness Glass by Carol Lefevre

So there we go . . . 28 reviews of 24 works.
Top Reviewers: Aislinn Batstone (3), Ashleigh Meikle (3), Nalini Haynes (3)

I thoroughly enjoyed all the reviews and I can see I have quite a bit of reading to catch up on myself.

About Me.
I write fiction, non-fiction and poetry. ‘Flame Tip’ (Hybrid Publishers) is my fire themed collection of shorts. I’m currently working on a water themed contemporary historical novel and I sometimes blog at www.karenleethompson.wordpress.com. You can find me on Facebook @karenleethompsonauthor.