Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Christopher Green GENRE: Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: August 6, 2026 RATING: 3.4 stars. In a Nutshell: A short story collection spanning multiple genres. Set in Japan and elsewhere. Relatable characters with realistic reactions, even when the situations are surreal. A good collection that somehow misses the oomph to make it great. Still, an entertaining enough read. This short story collection contains eighteen stories divided across two sections. The first section contains eleven stories set in Japan (though the protagonists aren’t necessarily Japanese), while the remaining seven stories are the second section titled “Stories of Elsewhere.” There is no author’s note or foreword introducing the stories, but as I had read the author’s debut story collection, ‘Takeout Sushi’ , I knew what to expect and this collection worked on similar lines. I am usually not a fan of non-OwnVoices writers penning stories about a culture they don’t have first-hand experience of, but t...

AUTHOR: Darlene Madott GENRE: Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: September 1, 2026 RATING: 3.7 stars. In a Nutshell: A collection of ten stories with one character in common. Bonus content in the form of one essay and one novella. Stories about broken relationships, their consequences, and the challenge of moving on. Focusses more on mature love than young crushes. Literary in approach. The essay and the novella were not right for me, but the stories were quite good. Recommended. This collection contains twelve entries. The first ten are interlinked stories, all featuring a character named Francesca though she isn't always the central character of the narrative. Then there’s one essay documenting the author’s own experience with betrayal and heartbreak, and finally a novella focussing on imminent loss and grief. The first thing that attracted me to this collection was the title. ‘Closing Ceremonies and Dying Times’ is such an intriguing way of labelling a set of stories abou...

AUTHOR: Erica Bauermeister GENRE: Contemporary Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: May 2, 2023 RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary composite novel. One plot comprising multiple short stories. Character-oriented. Poignant, mellow, touching. An ode to books and everything bookish. After a long time, I had a soul-satisfying read. Definitely recommended. Plot Preview: 2010. Maine. Twenty-five-year-old Alice has always wanted to be a writer. But as she is inching towards her dream, a family tragedy throws her off her charted course. Her college professor encourages her to pour her emotions into writing. The result is a book that ends up finding its way to multiple people, and in many cases, altering at least a part of their lives directly or indirectly. This is a composite novel, where each chapter comes to us from a specific character’s point of view. We thus get nine stories written in the third-person perspective of various individuals, with the epilogue coming a full circle. One of ...

AUTHOR: Jaclyn Desforges GENRE: Speculative Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: RATING: Can't decide. In a Nutshell: A collection of somewhat absurdist short stories. Highly creative, but a bit too random in development. This collection has its merits but it wasn't the right book for me. A good option for those who don’t seek a destination but enjoy a meandering journey. The title and the cover called out to me so strongly that I had to try this collection. The description was also intriguing. Unfortunately for me (and the book), the stories had fewer babies and more weirdness than I would have liked. From the description, I understood this to be a speculative fiction collection. The thirteen stories herein are indeed speculative, but more towards the absurd side of the spectrum than the fantastical side. I don't mind absurd fiction when there's some rhyme or rhythm to the plot, but this set of stories was a combination of stream of consciousness and abstract bizar...

AUTHOR: Annalisa Crawford GENRE: Story Collection, Dark Literary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: July 24, 2026 RATING: 4.25 stars In a Nutshell: An indie collection comprising one novella and three short stories. Excellent atmosphere and lyrical writing. Dark and haunting. Much recommended. I've been a fan of this author ever since I read her story collection titled "The Clock in My Mother's House and Other Stories."  Since then, I've read three more of her works and enjoyed all of them. Safe to say that I now pick up an Annalisa Crawford work without even reading the blurb. A risky strategy, but with the right author, the reward is almost always assured. This latest book justifies my faith in her writing. The collection comprises one novella and three short stories. The novella takes up about 65% of the book. The mood in all four entries is somewhat similar: melancholic and haunting. The stories circulate around the same core topics of personal loss, grief, mental hea...

AUTHOR: Lari Don ILLUSTRATOR: Elise Carmichael GENRE: Folktale Collection PUBLICATION DATE: June 16, 2026 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A collection of ten magical Celtic stories . Simply awesome tales! Only the illustrations didn't work too well for me. A great book for children (and adults) who love fairy tales. This book contains magical stories from the Celtic isles. There is a wonderful map of the isles right at the start. I have long known the word “Celtic” but only when I saw this map did I realise how the Celtic Isles are places. The introductory note offers a little insight into Celtic geography and its significance. The collection has ten stories, which is a bit disappointing to be honest. Each story was so delightful in its tone and content that I couldn’t help long for more. The stories come from varied Celtic Isles: : Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and Brittany. Each location contributes one-two stories. The text retains the original Celtic s...

AUTHOR: Rachel Khong GENRE: Speculative Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: April 7, 2026 RATING: 3.45 stars. In a Nutshell: A collection of (mostly) speculative fiction stories. Excellent in creativity. Diverse in humans yet unified in emotions. Good writing and pacing. A bit too much of back-and-forth in a few stories. Recommended to SFF lovers. This collection contains ten stories, mostly from the speculative fiction genre. There is no introductory note or foreword, but the publisher’s note called this a set of stories "about love, life, and the anguish of becoming oneself in a time when it's so easy to be someone else." It sounds almost abstract, but oddly, it fits the stories well. The stories cover a wide range of emotions and timelines. Each story feels innovative, with no repetition of themes. The blurb says that they are stories about love, and it is right. But they aren’t about romance, which makes all the difference. The writing and the character development ar...

AUTHOR: Samantha Mills GENRE: Speculative Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: April 21, 2026 RATING: 3.65 stars. In a Nutshell: A speculative fiction collection containing some truly imaginative stories. Introspective and dystopian – a strangely effective combination. I love the creativity but the random back-and-forth in some stories was a bit challenging. A great option for those who enjoy speculative SFF tales. This story collection contains thirteen stories from the speculative genre. The stories come from varied speculative set-ups such as dystopian, fantasy, science fiction and paranormal. The collection begins with an enthusiastic introduction by Meg Elison. I had no clue who she was, but her writing in this foreword impressed me so much! It's one of the most lyrical and heartfelt introductions I've read. I was happy to discover that she too is an author because it means that this single collection has given me the names of two talented writers I need to keep an eye...

AUTHOR: Sofi Stambo GENRE: Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: June 9, 2026 RATING: 3.15 stars. In a Nutshell: An OwnVoices short story collection focusing on Bulgarian immigrant narratives. Too many stories for a single collection, but each is quite short. The immigrant vibe varies in quantity and quality, with some stories barely containing the theme. Minimal plot. Slice of life in style, which rarely works for me. This debut collection contains thirty-four stories. The number sounds quite high, but each story lasts barely 5-8 pages. Thus the page count of the book isn't that high at 312 pages. Some stories have minor linking elements in terms of place or characters but they still work as standalone narratives. There is no foreword introducing the collection or theme. Even the blurb is fairly vague in this regard. But on reading the stories, certain elements seem to come at regular intervals, the most common being the immigrant experience. However, the immigrant theme is qui...

AUTHOR: Colm Tóibín GENRE: Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: March 31, 2026 RATING: 2.1 stars. In a Nutshell: A literary short-story collection by the acclaimed Irish writer. Interesting variety of characters and situations. A bit haphazard in plot development. Flat in character development. Bleak. Feels very lengthy because of the slow pacing and meandering structure. Disappointing endings at times. Didn’t work much for me. This collection comprises nine stories, a few of which have been published before in other publications. The stories are set across multiple countries, Ireland included. I had grabbed this collection mainly for two reasons. One, I have enjoyed a majority of the literary works written by contemporary Irish writers and want to explore more Irish fiction. Two, I liked one short story written by this author for Amazon Original Stories. ( ‘The Shortest Day’ ) However, this collection just wasn’t for me. For one, the 300 pages seem endless as each story is terribl...

AUTHOR: Patrick Nzabonimpa GENRE: Short Story Collection, OwnVoices. PUBLICATION DATE: April 14, 2026 RATING: 3.4 stars. In a Nutshell: An OwnVoices short story collection set in Rwanda. Focused on ordinary citizens caught in unusual circumstances. The writing quality differs across stories, but the plots and characters are distinct enough to hold attention. The endings were a mixed bag for me. Still, a good option for fans of slice-of-life storytelling. This collection contains fourteen stories, each set in Rwanda. Though the setting is visible in many stories, the content is primarily character-oriented, with every story focussing more on its people than on the place or prose. There is no author's note or foreword introducing any theme to this set of stories. The title, though poetic, also doesn’t offer a big clue about the content. The blurb though has a significant clue: “ordinary Rwandans pushed to extraordinary choices […] confront the moments that reshape them—moments where...

EDITOR: Alice Hoffman GENRE: Essay Collection PUBLICATION DATE: March 10, 2026 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A collection of essays by various authors about some best dogs in the world. Given the reputation of the contributing authors, it’s not surprising that this is one well-written collection. A love letter to dogs and a must-read for all dog owners and dog lovers. At times, the cover of a book is such that you are tempted to grab it without doing any other due diligence. Look at the cover art of this book! Just see that unbridled bliss on that beautiful dog’s visage! Add to this, that amazing title! How is one to resist?! Thankfully, the book delivers exactly as the cover and the title promise, not making me regret my impulsive decision for even a second. I don’t often read essay collections, but if the theme of the essays is close to my heart, then I am willing to try the book. This book contains fourteen essays celebrating the joys and challenges of their canine companions. ...

AUTHOR: Elyssa S. Schwendy GENRE: Short story Collection, Retellings. PUBLICATION DATE: February 25, 2026 RATING: 3.2 stars. In a Nutshell: A fantasy story collection with known fairy tales in a different presentation. The stories ranged from decent to great, but the structuring of the individual tales and of the overall book didn't work for me, though this might be more a ME problem. This story collection contains eight main stories, each of which is supposed to be a modified version of a popular fairytale or folklore. I could recognise some of the source material, but wasn’t familiar with a couple of the titles. What I thought would make this collection stand out was the presentation framework - using a storyteller to tell us stories. The titular peddler, whose name is Verre, is the narrator of the tales. During a storm, she enters a tavern, feels that it's a "good night for telling stories", and sets up some exotic objects on a table. When curious customers walk to...

AUTHOR: Lim Sunwoo TRANSLATOR: Chi-Young Kim GENRE: Speculative Fiction Collection PUBLICATION DATE: February 10, 2026 RATING: 3.7 stars In a Nutshell: A speculative stories collection. True to the genre, with a good mix of real and surreal. Character-oriented despite having tricky plots. Good translation. A bit disjointed at times in the storytelling but on the whole, a great debut. Recommended. This debut collection contains eight stories that delve into human feelings while still reaching beyond the human experience into the surreal and the bizarre. It is ‘speculative’ in the true sense of the word, with each of the stories transcending logic without offering pragmatic justifications. There is no foreword or note introducing the theme of the collection. But the blurb says that these stories “explore feelings unseen, unconveyed, unexplainable” and that “each sparkling story asks you to look within, to encounter all that is desired and strange and possible in life and death.” This ef...