For Short Story Lovers: 31 Stories That Steven Beattie Thinks Are Terrific

Every year Quill and Quire's review editor Steven W. Beattie devotes the month of May to talking about 31 short stories that should be read by every lover of the genre.  Here's the link to this year's harvest, which looks terrific.

I must admit that I've not read most of the writers Beattie's picked this time around, but I'm making a list and intending to look for their works.  But he also includes several of my favorites, including Shirley Jackson, the American Richard Wright and Cynthia Flood. Definitely worth checking out. 

One quibble: it would be nice if Beattie included a printable list of the writers and the stories he's picked at the end of the exercise so you can take it with you to the bookstore/library.

Living with Sudden Riches: The List of My Desires and What Happens When We Get What We Want

One of the best selling books in recent years in France has been translated into English as The List of My Desires. In it a 47 year old very ordinary woman living in a small town wins about $30 million the first time she buys a ticket.  She keeps it a secret from everyone, even her husband, with some interesting but sad consequences.

One of the most amusing but scary scenes in the book is when Jocelyne picks up the cheque and is told what to beware of, now that she's rich.  The message is: sudden riches are usually not a good thing.

It's a book that my French book discussion groups found both a good read and an excellent starting point for discussions about what we really want.  In one of the English groups, a member had read it in translation and suggested it for next year's list (can't use it because at the moment there are not enough copies in the local library system.)

As for the truth about the nasty things that can follow winning big, today's New York Times contains a re-evalution of what happens.   "How to Win the Lottery (Happily)"  by John Tierney quotes some new studies which show that happiness may drop after a win when everyone you ever knew comes out of the woodwork, but can increase afterwards. People may "have to talk themselves into believing they deserved it," according to  Anna Hedenus, a sociologist at the University of Gothenburg, who did a study of 400 Swedish lottery winners.


Michael I. Norton, a social psychologist at Harvard Business School, adds keeping your win a secret  could help avoid bad consequences.  He says to tell  no one but your spouse; make no extravagant purchases or gifts at first, but slowly increase your spending and your giving so no one will suspect your newfound wealth.

Of course, in the novel, Joclyne's secrecy helps her not at all, and the NYT's story ends with a plea to secret winners to take part in a study of their experience. Tierney writes:
"We know you secret winners are out there. You have the power to disprove the curse of the lottery once and for all by writing me (or having your lawyer do it). We promise to protect your anonymity.  And we swear we won’t ask you to share the money.


The photo is a still from the French film which has its premiere this week, and for you who know French, here's the trailer. "

Mademoiselle Nancy: Building Vocabulary One Fancy Word at a Time

When I went looking on the web to find out the English name of Jane O'Connor's series of books about a little girl who wants to be chic, I was a little taken aback to discover she's Fancy Nancy.  We've been reading Mademoiselle Nancy to Jeanne (age three and a half) for about a month in French. 

Nancy says she plays better soccer when she wears  frou-frou socks, she thinks her family should take lessons in how to be chic, she loves fuschia (the chic or fancy way to say pink) and she is brought down to earth every time in a charming way, after having learned a number of new, gorgeous words. 

I haven't counted, but there must be at least eight books in the series, some of which were developed to expand the horizons of early readers. The stories in French would seem to be particularly useful for kids in French immersion.  Mademoiselle Nancy et le garçon de Paris, for example, takes place in some Canadian town where a newcomer plays "soccer" even though he comes from Paris: French kids would say foot.  But who's to quibble when Nancy is there to dance around.

Nancy's love for fancy words can come in handy when you're trying to get a child out of a potty mouth rut.  Jeanne thinks it's hilarious that there are other words for pipi and caca and actually will use them occasionally.