Battleborn: Stories | 
^^141 stranger speculating, musing on plans for young woman he rescued from near death. Simple but moving in the knowledge that his plans for Magda=reminiscences of wife‘s lost pregnancies. Interruption of a simple list of baby equipment needs with the devastating declaration “How the barren cling to the fertile.” Is this Harris‘s self-reprimand, “knowing better,” or a cruel insertion by narrator? Both? The shift from SHE to WE so simple & killer.
pickUneven start, skip to last 5 stories in collection=pretty killer. Set mostly in Nevada & California, evocative landscapes from ghost town theme park to ocean to desert to Gold Rush camps. Sibling relationships, orphaned adults, reluctant mothers & partners, time & becoming. Precise & driven prose. Strangers seeking connection, friends avoiding becoming strangers. Strong observations & good pacing. Sometimes research pokes through. Memorable. 2012
Day 15: freebie. My theme: books about where I‘m from. #riotgrams #amreading #bookworm #bookstagram #bibliophile #bookish #booknerdigans #author #bookblogger #tsundoku #writeropolis #greatreads #readmorebooks #raconteuse #coolgirlsread
pickRaw, grotesque and beautifully written collection of short stories. This has moved to my #Top10.
Holy Great Pumpkin, @nomadreader your package is incredible!! Thank you so much for all the selections, you did an amazing job! I've been eyeing Battleborn at my bookstore for months 😍 The others weren't on my radar but I can tell they will be excellent fits, especially Sunshine State. Love it all, thank you again 😊❤️
Not pictured: the Lindor truffles I already started eating 🍫🙈
#halloweengoespostal
#fallbookexchange
pickTen short stories on the American West, some very good.
Picture: Pristina, Kosovo
Reading a story or two in Battleborn before I head to bed with In the Woods later.
Finally went to the Last Bookstore today! I go to LA a couple times a year and have never been! I got a staff pick as is my typical when visiting a new bookshop. Such a fun adventure!
It's Nevada Day! Today I honor my crazy state and a fantastic writer and native Nevadan, Claire Vaye Watkins.
I'm really not a fan of short stories. If they are good, I invariably want more of the story. Both of these authors have written stories that leave me completely unsatisfied, the highest praise that I have for short stories.
#shortstories
#booktober
6 is probably a record month for me. I've started listening to audiobooks on the way to work in an attempt to stay on top of my ever-growing TBR! 😆
pickBeautifully written stories that pack an emotional wallop. I didn't really connect to some of the subject matter, but these definitely make me look forward to reading her novel. #24in48 #readathon
This has been on my radar a while. Excited to dive in! This will be my "award winner" for Book Bingo!
pickHaunting, real collection of short stories that take place out west, primarily Nevada and California. Watkins writes with sharp, gritty sentences that make you feel like the land is also a character in the story. Covers a wide range of topics like mining, relationships, connections, and identity. #ReadWomen
"The loudspeaker will emit a disembodied human breath. Things will never be the same, it will say, as if she needs to be told this. As if she doesn't know the instability of a tall tower, a city's hunger for ruin. As if this weren't what she came for."
pickI'm half way through and really enjoying this dark, gritty read. Watkins paints an intimate picture of the psychology of her characters without being heavy-handed.
#seasonsreadings - somber, short stories set in the desert...what is more Christmas than that? 🙃
Favorite epigraph in Battleborn. @goodinfluences has me paying attention to them!
bailed
