| Title | : | Shelf Life: Fantastic Stories Celebrating Bookstores |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 189205809X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781892058096 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 |
| Publication | : | First published November 30, 2002 |
Shelf Life: Fantastic Stories Celebrating Bookstores Reviews
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If you love books, this is one of the best anthologies ever! Imagine stories by Charles de Lint, Neil Gaiman, Harlan Ellison, Gene Wolfe, and Nina Kiriki Hoffman (and a dozen or so other authors) all in one book. Well worth finding...
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I would imagine bookstores hold a special place in the hearts of readers everywhere. Whether it’s browsing in them hoping to find that unexpected treasure or just strolling through the aisles on the way to the coffee shop, there’s just something about a bookstore that affects us readers in unique ways. And so it was with great delight that I dived into this collection of 16 short stories all surrounding bookstore themes. Every one of them has some aspect of the supernatural involved: science fiction, horror, or fantasy.
Well-known authors abound: Charles de Lint, Jack Williamson, Gene Wolfe, and Harlan Ellison just to name a few. Some of these stories were fantastic while others were merely good, but all were intriguing reads. Perhaps my favorite entry here was not one of the actual stories, but rather the introduction by Neil Gaiman wherein he describes his own childhood fascination with the three bookstores that shaped his life-long love of reading. (His personal library pictured below):
If you like books about books and bookstores and people who love books, I suggest you give this collection a try. -
A collection of short sf/f/horror stories about bookstores. There is already a glut of tales about magical bookstores with wise old booksellers who always know exactly what book to give each customer, and this collection has a bunch of those sorts of trite tales. But it also has a few interesting and weird takes on the subject.
"From the Cradle," Gene Wolfe: Michael is obsessed with an old and priceless book kept in his bookshop, which contains a new allegorical tale precisely tailored to him every time he opens it to a new page. I didn't liked the allegories, and I didn't much like Michael.
"A Book, By its Cover," PD Cacek: an old bookseller saves Jews in Germany in 1938 .
"The Hemingway Kittens" by AR Morlan: Two adorable kittens with hand-like paws start living in a bookstore. The bookseller begins to suspect that they're reading the books at night. I really hated this because it's far too long for such a simple idea, and because there is no possible way on earth that
"Lost Books" by John Miller: A fantasy author (who wrote just one book) suffered terrible tragedy, roams the US, and then starts working at a used book store. There, he falls in love once more, but also begins to suspect that the store's proprietor is more than what he seems. This story bothered me, both because every damn character tells the main character how much they luuuuuved his one book (a random example from small talk between two people who don't know each other: "'The prose is cool and evocative, the characters are great. And the story!'" Sounds totally natural and realistic!) and because the idea of
"One Copy Only" by Ramsay Campbell: A judge finds a used bookstore in which unwritten stories can be read. She finds a great book by an author who writes grimdark fantasy doorstoppers nowadays, but the author denies ever writing it. The dialog felt unnatural. And for all the narrator's supposed problem with cycnical characters and gloomy endings, she's really unpleasant about other people: describing one man as having "a senile pony-tail", decries her supposed fave author because he has a weak chin and isn't as tall as his characters, etc. The author who writes the grimdark fantasy doorstoppers also drives a brand new Jaguar, which I find rather unlikely.
"Pixel Pixies" by Charles de Lint: A hobgoblin tries to save a bookstore from an infestation of pixies. Cute, though no substance to it.
"Blind Stampbed" by Lisa Morton: A bookseller finds out that his favorite customer has died and is now haunting the bookstore. A nice mix of creepy and sweet.
"Shakespeare & Co." by Jack Williamson: In the far future, the written word has been nearly stamped out. A boy's pawnbroker grandfather secretly supplies books to his family--and to the rebellion. I was pleased to find a sf story in here, but the revolution is summed up very rapidly and vaguely, which left me unsatisfied.
"Ballard's Books" by Gerard Houarner: Haunted by a conversation he overhears about a magical bookstore as a child, a man spends his entire life searching for it. When at last he finds it, . The main character is a selfish dimwit, and I had no patience with him. I liked finding a magical bookstore that, for once, was not good or evil.
"Books" by David Bischoff: An upleasant software developer kills some time in a bookstore that is clearly magical to the reader. He doesn't intend to read any of the books, but he does plan on selling the mint condition first editions he finds there.
"Escapes" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman: A young woman starts working in a magical bookstore. Its magic is her only protection against the creepy abusive boyfriend she's trying to leave. Good. I particularly liked that the other employees didn't immediately trust or like the main character--it made the story feel more natural, and the main character even more sympathetic.
"'I am looking for a book...'" by Patrick Weekes: Gorhok the Inmitigable searches for the book of power he needs to complete his dark and unholy ritual. But the magical bookstore has been bought out by a large chain store (with a coffee shop and all) and none of the employees know what Gorhok is talking about. Hilarious, and easily my favorite of the collection.
"The Glutton" by Melanie Tem: The other stand-out of the collection. Phoebe feeds on the stories of others, becoming their muse even as she sucks their essence dry.
"In the Bookshadow" by Marianne de Pierres. An employee at a bookstore begins to be haunted by terrible phantasms. I wish this had been written a little more clearly.
"Non-Returnable" by Rick Hautala: Manda has trouble getting rid of a book on psychic black holes, and each time she tries to return the book, she loses something else: a rug, a cat...a life.
"The Cheese Stands Alone" by Harlan Ellison. Cort is a disaffected dentist who finds himself in a strange town. All the shops are closed and dark except one: a bookstore in which every person stares fixedly at a single page in a book, never turning the page. I really liked the conceit here, in which people are trapped by their burning curiosity, but then the main character starts ranting in such a classic Ellison style that it broke the spell for me. -
A great collection of stories that are actually about books and bookstores!
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Bookstores were always where the magic was-at least for me. First job? Bookstore. Met future spouse? Bookstore. So I really delighted in Shelf Life, an anthology celebrating-you guessed it-bookstores. Not every story here is a perfect gem, but I can say I enjoyed all of the stories I read. The introduction penned by Neil Gaiman was noteworthy as well, something one can rarely say. There is an incredible amount of talent crammed between two covers here-there are stories by David Bischoff, Ramsey Campbell, Jack Williamson, Charles de Lint, Rick Hautala, John J Miller, Gene Wolfe, Lisa Morton, and AR Morlan. Best story honors have to go to Harlan Ellison, however-The Cheese Stands Alone appears to have been written circa 1981, but it is rendered so much more poignant due to Ellison's recent passing. Ellison was an author who meant a lot to me-with this story it was almost as if he was speaking to me from the grave.
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It was a struggle to get through this book as it seems all the short stories were written by kids.
most were difficult to read and even the couple decent stories...well, sucked! -
Well kiddos, we are starting out with a bold claim with this book report. This has got to be the worst collection of short stories I have ever read. Well at least the worse in memory.
Every single book in this collection is either unreadable, mediocre or just plain rubbish. And there are a lot of stories, so for all of them to be tripe is a feat in itself.
Well done, well done indeed.
This should have been lovely, a book full of stories about books and book shops. It is basically my happy place in paperback form. But my word the editor got it wrong. Very wrong. Apparently, he was sent 400 odd stories to be added to this collection and these where the ones he chose?!? I can only assume they came with money/sexual favours/offers he couldn’t refuse.
All the stories are of a weird bent, and I don’t mean weird in a good way, I mean weird in a ‘huh, what did I just read’ way. The only redeeming feature throughout was the fact all the stories revolved around books.
I’m not going to mark each book in my usual star fashion, as each story was either a –
🖤 – unreadable, so I gave up
🖤🖤 – barely entertaining
So, it is not worth my time.
Do yourself a favour if you want to read a book about books, read either The Starless Sea or The Shadow of the Wind. -
I was a little worried when I started reading Shelf Life. I couldn't get into the first story, “From the Cradle” by Gene Wolfe; but then I've never been a Gene Wolfe fan.
The second story, “A Book, By Its Cover” by P.D. Cacek, started slow and I was beginning to fear that I was wasting my time. But the story ended well, and I was somewhat encouraged.
The third story (“The Hemingway Kittens” by A.R. Morlan) was better; again it took a little while to get into it (I'm not a fan of cats and books together), but the story was pretty good.
After that the collection just took off for me. The remaining thirteen stories were all enjoyable (well, parts of “Escapes” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman may not have been enjoyable exactly, but it pretty good all the same).
My favorite stories were probably “Lost Books” by John J. Miller; “One Copy Only” by Ramsey Campbell; and “Ballard’s Books” by Gerard Houarner.
When I buy a multiple author anthology, I tend to scan the table of contents for names I recognize; and unless the theme is really interesting, I generally don't buy it unless I see at least a couple of familiar names.
Shelf Life meets that criteria and then some: half the names in the TOC were familiar. However, as it frequently happens, my favorite stories aren't necessarily by the authors I'd heard of. Ramsey Campbell's name was certainly familiar, but the names John J. Miller and Gerard Houarner were not.
Maybe I need to be less choosy about the anthologies I buy. -
Bookstores as central features of a collection of stories from masters of science fiction, fantasy, and horror - there is little else that would persuade me to select a short story collection to read. I seldom like short stories at all. When I do, the story I appreciate is buried in a collection that requires gritting my teeth to wade through. The 16 stories that Greg Ketter selected from the 400+ which were submitted to him are among the very best I have read. They are wonderfully imaginative, unerringly evocative of the very best bookstore experiences. The bookstore as Golem and protector. The bookstore as nurturing home. The bookstore as incubator of ideals and movements. The bookstore as arbiter of justice and recompense. If you love bookstores and are not averse to fantasy, do not miss this one.
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Short stories are frustrating at best!
If it's a good story you wish it had continued, if it's a poor story you feel you've wasted time reading it.
This collection of 15 tales has only about four or five worth bothering about.
Mind you the idea was a good one, building a collection around bookstores.
But some of them are simply pointless and so aggravatingly silly that it takes considerable control not to throw the book across the room.
I've yet to come across a short story collection that ticks all the boxes.
Ditto this one. -
This new collection of short stories celebrates the magic inside of all bookstores, literally as well as figuratively. It includes fantasy, science fiction, and horror, and is edited by Greg Ketter with an Introduction by Neil Gaiman. I think there’s something in it for every age. Read the rest of my review at
http://popcornreads.com/?p=4706. -
While not all the stories are fantastic, none are duds. And the really good ones more than make up for the ones that fall somewhat short.
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The stories were wonderful but the copy editing... not so much.
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I've recently started getting into short story collections, and therefore started running into the problem that almost everyone who reviews them run into: the quality varies. I ended up bumping this collection up a star for the niche content it provides--my favorite anthologies are either author's writing essays about books or short story collections with a very narrow prompt. In this case, the prompt for the collection was "sf short stories that take place in a bookstore".
I'll try to give a "snippet" review for each story, in case anyone is purchasing this book for one particular author. ***=standout story, makes me want to check out the author.
From the Cradle by Gene Wolfe: Nothing memorable, writing style fairy reminiscent of an artsy Iain Pears
A Book By Its Cover by P.D. Cacek: First standout of the collection. Highly original.***
Lost Books by John Miller: Predictable, but it was the story I felt probably had the most potential to be a full novella if given room to breathe.
One Copy Only by Ramsey Campbell: Full of wish fulfillment, this story felt fully realized and didn't veer off into the schmaltz the concept would have allowed.
Pixel Pixies by Charles De Lint: This particular story shows up in at least three collections, s I'd already read it before this one. That said, I've always enjoyed it***
Blind Stamped by Lisa Morton: Bit depressing, but it felt fully fleshed out.
The Hemingway Kittens by A.R. Morlan: Bit unusual, but the writing style was very pleasing.***
Shakespeare and Co by Jack Williamson: Probably the only true sci-fi story in the series. It was probably the most removed from the prompt than any other story, but it was decent.
Ballard's Books by Gerard Houarner: This one was placed close the other "depressing" story in the collection, so there is a possibility that my view towards it was tainted. The writing was fine, it just struck a very disagreeable note with me.
Books, by David Bischoff: Despite the fact that this story didn't feature as young of a protagonist as many of the other stories in the collection, this author's voice felt the most like YA to me. That isn't a bad thing at all--a reasonable amount of what I read is YA. It just seemed to have a different feel to it than the rest.
Escapes by Nina Hoffman: A few other stories in this particular collection try to hit some horror notes, and I really feel that Hoffman did it the best.***
I am looking for a book by Patrick Weekes: Easily the cutest/funniest story in the collection. It could easily be developed into a great forensics skit.***
The Glutton by Melanie Tem: Much denser and "literary" than the rest. It took be a bit to chug through it.
In the Bookshadow by Marianne de Pierres: I think I'm just too dumb to fully grasp the implications here, and I wish more of an explanation was present. That said, a lot of the one-liers did a good job establishing the sanity slippage in a short period of time.***
Non-Returnable by Rick Hautlata: It's horror was a little less streamlined than the other stories that went down that road, but the author did a good job at making the reader feel as muddled as the POV character. Weirdly, I liked it a lot more after I was finished with it.
The Cheese Stands Alone by Harlan Ellison: I feel awful for saying this about a legendary author, but this one just didn't work for me. -
Read this for the second time recently. Overall, nearly everything in it is enjoyable, though some stories are better than others. Probably not quite worth the full price, but I got it on sale, and got my money's worth. It's badly in need of a proofread and reprint, as it has many typos and obvious grammatical errors. And this is the second printing... All the stories herein are from 2002, except Pixel Pixies by
Charles de Lint from 2001, and The Cheese Stands Alone by
Harlan Ellison from 1981.
Minimal spoilage follows: -
Marvelous anthology fittingly subtitled Fantastic Stories Celebrating Bookstores by a variety of talented authors including Charles de Lint (“Pixel Pixies” emerge from a bookstore’s pc and are dealt with by the shop’s hob Dick Bobbins plus oak king’s daughter Meran Kelledy in a tale familiar to me), Nina Kiriki Hoffman (I adored Brannigan’s magic, especially the write-your-own-book-endings volumes that enable the titular “Escapes”), Harlan Ellison (“The Cheese Stands Alone” is the phrase used by the main character to rebuff Clotho and her trap), and several others I’ll have to search for such as Gene Wolfe (“From the Cradle” wherein Michael reads excerpts from an Incunabulum – 2nd millennium stories – that echo his life at each moment), A. R. Morlan (“The Hemingway Kittens”), and John J. Miller (“Lost Books” has a writer/drifter find work and lodging in ancient Mr. Amrou’s shop, and eventually learns his benefactor’s true identity and purpose). Kudos to the editor for reading hundreds of submissions and choosing ones which fit his criteria of having the bookstores themselves be an integral part of each tale. Definitely a keeper!
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How could I resist an anthology full of stories about bookstores? These are all solid, satisfying tales, but the narrow theme is made narrower by the fact they all feel very similar: set in our world with the fantastic creeping in slowly. I would have loved to see more variety in tone and content. One tale does depart dramatically from the overall vibe: Patrick Weekes' "I Am Looking For A Book ..." which is exactly and wonderfully what you would expect from the author of The Palace Job. This one and the story immediately following, "The Glutton" (Melanie Tem) were the standout tales in the anthology. "The Glutton" got to me on a deep level.
To recap: good quality, but not a lot of variety. -
Every short story book has a mix, as it should. You’ll like some, not others, so on the whole I find them incredibly hard to rate. I enjoyed quite a few of the stories here, my favourite being Pixel Pixies by Charles de Lint, but then I’m partial to the type of story he wrote. Others were interesting, but not my personal cup of tea, but still worth a read. I think overall I enjoyed the theme of fantastical bookstores for sure and the mix presented was a good smorgasbord of weird fiction, sci fi and fantasy. If you enjoy any of those genres, you’ll likely find something you enjoy and the others will expand your reading horizons a bit.
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A collector stories centered not around books, but bookstores. Delightful.
However, as with most anthologies, some stories are more appealing that others. I enjoyed most of these, but a few weee not my thing. All the stories fit within a range of speculative fiction - fantasy, sci-fi, horror. I’m generally not a fan of horror, though I was surprised to enjoy a few from that genre.
Some of the stories have quite a lot of sweating. Others have none. There is probably something for every book lover here, but don’t expect to like them all.
Overall, I enjoyed it. -
As an anthology of several stories related to bookstores, mostly with some element of fantasy, science fiction, or supernatural, there is a lot here to offer to various readers. There were some stories that I did skip over after a few pages, but there were several really good ones as well.
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It is nice to find others as captivated with bookstores as I am—particularly used bookstores, which are all slightly magical.
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A mix of stories, some more engaging than others but a fun themed read.
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There are a few decent stories in here but also several that are subpar or just haven't aged well. Which is too bad, because I absolutely love the topic.
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Fabulous stories! If you love books, bookstores, libraries....there is something for everyone and a wide variety!
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Some of the stories are very good; others are very weird. An uneven collection.
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A unique collection. I especially enjoyed Lisa Morton's Blind Stamped. Great story!
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Most anthologies, with a few rare exceptions, consist of a group of mid-level stories periodically punctuated by a gem of great writing. This anthology was one of the rare exceptions. However, this was not apparent to me at first and I sometimes forgot that it was exceptional as I read. This was due to the numerous spelling and grammar mistakes I found throughout the various stories/forward/introduction, the most glaring of which was the repeated misspelling of J.R.R. Tolkien's last name in One Copy Only by Ramsey Campbell (he spelled it Tolkein). All in all, this is an excellent anthology. In the end, I loved most of the stories but I was sad that the book ended on such a low note. The best way to describe the stories is; when they were good, they were excellent, when they were bad, they were horrendous. There were no middle-of-the-road stories.
~From The Cradle by Gene Wolf
I did not like this story at all. I found it tedious to read, hard to follow, and ultimately uninteresting as a whole.
~A Book, By Its Cover by P.D. Cacek
This was an interesting story but I did not like the how the premise was portrayed and I therefore ended up not liking the story as a whole.
~The Hemingway Kittens by A.R. Morlan
The first of my favorite stories from this anthology, The Hemingway Kittens was very interesting and well put together. Rik was horrendous, but his character worked in this story. Plus, books and kittens, what's not to love?
~Lost Books by John J. Miller
This story was the second of my favorite stories. I love the premise; history meeting the present in such a seamless poetic way. The characters seem so real to me, almost as if I had met them in real life. This story alone is almost enough reason for me to buy this book.
~One Copy Only by Ramsey Campbell
Glaring spelling mistakes aside (Tolkein, really? Come on!), this was a curious story that caught my attention with the first paragraph and did not let go until the last. I really liked it!
~Pixel Pixies by Charles de Lint
This story was made up of an interesting premise, likeable and relatable characters, and excellent writing! One of the best stories in the anthology.
~Blind Stamped by Lisa Morton
I liked this story. There were some confusing elements that were never really fleshed out, but the overall story came out well.
~Shakespeare & CO. by Jack Williamson
This story started out good and was very interesting. However, the ending was very abrupt and felt rushed. This idea might have been better served as a full fledged novel instead of a short story in an anthology.
~Ballard's Books by Gerard Houarner
Even though the initial idea of this story was engaging, I did not like how the story was staged. This, coupled with my dislike of the main character, caused me to heartily dislike this story.
~Books by David Bischoff
This story was just alright. The writing was good, but the story was not very interesting and the main character was a jerk.
~Escapes by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
I really loved this story! Some parts were confusing or a little on the darker side as stories go, but it was beautifully written and staged.
~"I Am Looking For A Book..." by Patrick Weekes
I could not even force myself to read this whole story. I thought it mind-numbing.
~The Glutton by Melanie Tem
This story, like "I Am Looking For A Book...", was extremely boring.
~In The Bookshadow by Marianne de Pierres
I did not finish this story either. Even reading the first paragraph was like watching paint dry.
~Non-Returnable by Rick Hautala
This story started with an interesting idea but got more and more confusing as it went on.
~The Cheese Stands Alone by Harlan Ellison
It took me a long time to finish reading this story because I kept losing interest in it. -
As you can obviously see, I'm a huge huge bibliophile. So when I saw this anthology about stories that feature a bookstore, I had to read it. However, I have fairly mixed feelings about the book. To me, the book had rather weak stories as it's starting and ending, but the middle stories were wonderful! I really really loved them. My favourite stories were:
The Hemingway Kittens: Successfully mixing kittens in a bookstore with science-fiction elements, this makes me want to grow up and start a bookstore with kittens in it! Well, almost. I don't relish the idea of having to clean up and feed kittens everyday. A really adorable story.
Lost Books: It's a ghost story (I mean, there's literally a ghost/undead person in it). But it wasn't scary and was really rather sweet. I enjoyed the idea of loving books through time and space.
Pixel Pixes: A tale with the fey in it! Well, it makes sense that such a story is here, because really, we're all introduced to fairies from books right? This was an entertaining story, and struck the right balance between the traditional fairies and the modern world.
Blind Stamped: Again, this story looks at loving books beyond the physical constraints. It appears that a lot of stories featuring ghosts like to do this. Still, I'm not complaining, I thought it was really well-written, a bit spooky at first but with a really cool ending.
Ballard's Books: Featuring a mysterious shop and a not-so-likable protagonist, this story looks at the idea of changing fate. Personally, I thought the protagonist deserved what was coming to him.
Books: Ahh, something about the addictive-ness of books. One of the creepiest stories, but very well-done. As a tip, don't read this as the last story before you go to bed. Especially if you bed faces a shelf of books. If you're anything like me, your imagination may get the better of you (;
Escapes: Another one of the books-literally-change-lives stories. But I thought it was really interesting. Plus, the author has created an engaging and sympathetic heroine, with a very distinct bookstore. I was really impressed with how the conflict-resolution plot was tightly written into a few pages. One of my favourite stories (along with the kittens)
I Am Looking for a Book.....: A parody of the 'book of power' and it has a protagonist that wouldn't feel out of place in Discworld. I laughed a lot while reading this book, and I thought it was very clever.
The rest of the stories (around 6 in total), I didn't quite understand. That, and I didn't really like the protagonists, made it a bit disappointed with the book. I think, if you're interested in this book, you should borrow it from the library first before deciding if you want to buy it. It's definitely one of those books you can read over and over again, but first, you have to decide if you want to re-read these stories.
Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.
First posted at
Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
