Tenth of December

I have been on the wait list for this book as well as for my book club meeting about this book for weeks.  Finally a spot opened up at the meeting so I broke down and bought the book.  I had heard nothing but great things about it, but I purposely stopped reading anything about the actual stories so that I could come to it with a clean slate.

I really enjoyed the stories.  I enjoyed how they made me think. I enjoyed how they, sometimes, made me feel uncomfortable.  I enjoyed the strong emotions I felt while reading them.  In one short story, this author could elicit feelings in me that some authors do not do within a full novel.  That says something. The story that I enjoyed the most was The Semplica Girl Diaries. I also enjoyed the title story, Tenth of December. 

Some of the stories feel like they are happening in an alternate real world. There are recognizable aspects of our current world, but then a word or a scenario makes the story feel near-futuristic. This is especially true with Escape from Spiderhead, which involves a scientific experiment involving prisoners. Some of the stories have dark undertones about kidnapping, slavery, war, suicide, rape, and murder.  I suspect those undertones are responsible for the strong feelings that I experienced.

I don't want to give too much away with the stories and their plots, however I think if you approach the stories with an open mind and allow them to sink in, you will enjoy them.