Short Story Wednesday: Tiny Tales by Alexander McCall Smith

 

I purchased Tiny Tales at the last Planned Parenthood Book Sale, in September 2022. The subtitle is "Stories of Romance, Ambition, Kindness, and Happiness." Alexander McCall Smith is a well-known author of mysteries, and he has written multiple series. I read the first book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series (twenty years ago) but stopped there. I have never tried any of his other writing, until now.

I was attracted to Tiny Tales because there are illustrations by Iain McIntosh between each set of stories. These are single-page cartoons, with the text written by McCall Smith. The format of the book is small, and the stories appear to all be very short, each under 10 pages.

The first set of stories is titled Tales of Love.

"Descent" 

This is a very short story (three pages), very silly, and also fun. It is about a young woman learning to do a parachute jump.

"Sister Angelica" 

This story about a former nun and missionary is a little longer. Angelica Docherty was recruited to the Order of the Little Helpers at a very young age, while in a Catholic Girls School just outside Austin, Texas. She eventually ends up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with her friend, Francesca. Angelica is no longer a nun but still doing good deeds.

"By Post" 

A man orders a bride from Thailand but she cannot speak a word of English. It is a sweet story with a lovely ending. 

"Takahashi Ichiro, Passenger-pusher" 

This story is told in first person by Takahashi Ichiro. He began his working life as a passenger-pusher, an oshiya in Japanese. He would push passengers into carriages on a train so that the doors would close efficiently. This is a real occupation, although maybe not as much used today as in the past. This was another light story with a happy ending, but my favorite part was learning about passenger-pushers.

I enjoyed these stories and the illustrated cartoons that followed. I will continue reading the stories and I hope they are all as much fun.

Short Story Wednesday: Sue Grafton and Alexander McCall Smith

 

Three weeks ago my Short Story Wednesday post featured two anthologies and one collection of short stories that I had purchased at the Planned Parenthood Book Sale in September. My SSW post last week was also about a book I had purchased at the sale, Elizabeth McCracken's short story collection, The Souvenir Museum.

So I might as well continue on that theme this week, with two more collections that I found at the sale. I have not started reading either one of these books, but I am sure I will get to them before the end of the year.

Kinsey and Me: Stories by Sue Grafton

Sue Grafton was well known for her Kinsey Millhone series, featuring a private detective based in Santa Teresa, California (a thinly disguised Santa Barbara). Starting shortly after the first book was published (1982), I read the first 5 or 6 books in the series. In 2016, I read the 7th book, G is for Gumshoe. I read that book mainly for the setting, both in place and time. I enjoyed the book but I am not in a rush to read more in the series. 

Description of Kinsey and Me at Goodreads:

A collection of stories that reveal Kinsey's origins—and Grafton's past. The nine stories that open the book show how fully formed Kinsey was from the beginning. The thirteen stories in the second part, written in the decade following her mother's death, feature Kit Blue, a younger version of Grafton herself, and reflect her troubled family life and the author's journey from anger to understanding and forgiveness.

Tiny Tales: Stories of Romance, Ambition, Kindness, and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith is also  a well-known author of mysteries, and he has multiple series. I read the first book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series but stopped there. I have never tried any of his other writing. I did find another one of his books at the book sale that I want to try: 44 Scotland Street. 

I was attracted to Tiny Tales because the short stories are accompanied by illustrations by Iain McIntosh. The format of the book is small, and the stories appear to all be very short, each under 10 pages.

Description of Tiny Tales, from the dust jacket flap:

In Tiny Tales, Alexander McCall Smith explores romance, ambition, kindness, and happiness in thirty short stories accompanied by thirty witty cartoons designed by Iain McIntosh, McCall Smith's longtime creative collaborator. Here we meet the first Australian pope, who hopes to finally find some peace and quiet back home in Perth; a psychotherapist turned motorcycle racetrack manager; and an aspiring opera singer who gets her unlikely break onstage. And, of course, we spend time in McCall Smith's beloved Scotland, where we are introduced to progressive Vikings, a group of housemates with complex romantic entanglements, and a couple of globe-trotting dentists. 

These tales and illustrations depict the full scope of human experience and reveal the rich tapestry of life—painted in miniature.