#was a fun read and i really like kate atkinson's style

[genyathefirebird]

chomping on my arm about gwen x niven

[shortskirtsandsarcasm]

Not the End of the World Review

I am not and never have been a fan of short stories – so why do I keep reading short story collections? We may never know. However, I am a big fan of Kate Atkinson, so I took the plunge and I do not regret it. The stories themselves are connected, some more obviously than others. They are realistic stories with a garnish of bizarreness surreality that makes you sit up and pay attention even more, hungry to see how it all fits together and where the characters end up.

No matter my personal aversion to short stories, Kate Atkinson's writing style is like a crisp New Zealand sauvignon blanc. What made me love Life after Life and A God in Ruins runs through this collection. The magic is not lost in this different medium and Atkinson's motif of creating stories within stories continues in this collection.

I would highly recommend this Decameron-reminiscent story collection. Combing through and finding all the connections between stories is as much fun as journeying through the actual narratives. This collection is fabulously imaginative and compelling and I really enjoyed reading it.

[bookramblings]

Festive Spirits: three short stories

Author: Kate Atkinson

Published by: Penguin Books

Pages: 72

Format: Hardback

My Rating ★★★

‘Lucy would have challenged anyone not to cry at the sight of their child in a Nativity play. Even a sheepish Maude, even a scowling Beatrice – currently attempting a Chinese burn on an adjacent angel. A shepherd shouted something incomprehensible to Joseph. One of the Wise Men wet himself. Beatrice waved enthusiastically – a little too enthusiastically – at Lucy from the angelic choir. It was better than any religion, Lucy thought.’

Three festive tales from the brilliant pen of Kate Atkinson.

All author’s royalties and profits in support of Sightsavers.

My thoughts

Festive Spirits features three short and well-formed tales with a yuletide theme, written by bestselling author Kate Atkinson.

This was my first time reading her work, and I enjoyed the way Atkinson writes. She has pieced together a lovely few short stories, which are mostly very festive and fun. Admittedly, as a short story collection, you don't get a lot of depth but there are some great observations here. These stories won't take long to read at all, but there is enough there to keep you satisfied. The writing is pretty simplistic, but the style seems to really fit for this collection. I would describe the stories as short non-traditional holiday tales that give hope. They are fiction works about finding hope, joy, and love in the little everyday things, and I really liked the book in that way.

I read the book on Boxing Day morning, which seemed the appropriate time to delve into a light-hearted and easily digestible read like this. I swept through it in one sitting, and it was sweet and nice. It’s hard to say much more as the stories themselves were just so short. This volume makes for a cosy read in a quiet moment during the whirlwind festive season.

Overall reaction: