Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire
This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
I liked this book even if it wasn't my favorite. I felt like I was reading this book forever. That has more to do with how I tend to read short story collections than the writing contained in these stories. A collection like this one that contains over 20 stories has a lot of natural stopping points and I do tend to stop after finishing a story. I do think that this was a great way to see how Seanan McGuire's versatility.
This collection had a little bit of everything. If you are looking for a mermaid story, you will find it. A story about a little girl and the world's last tuna? It is here. There is a haunted house story, a story set in Neverland and another in Oz. There is even a story about a war with toys and another about a very special dollmaker. The writing was as varied as the stories. There was a story that was writing as a series of tweets, another as a series of office memos, and another as a crowdfunding proposal.
As is the case with most short story collections, I found myself enjoying some stories a lot more than others. There were some stories that I didn't care for much at all, some I loved, some I thought were okay, and a few that just confused me. I am easily confused so that doesn't really mean much.
I would recommend this book. I think that this was an overall enjoyable collection with some pretty outstanding stories. I haven't read a lot of Seanan McGuire's work but I do plan to read more in the near future.
I received a digital review copy of this book from Subterranean Press via NetGalley.
Initial Thoughts
I finally finished this book. I feel like I have been reading it forever but I think that is due to the fact that I find short story collections really easy to set aside after finishing a story. This book has over 20 stories so that I a lot of putting the book down. I liked some of the stories a whole lot, some were okay, some I didn't care for, and some just confused me. Of course, I am easily confused so that may not mean anything. All in all, I am glad that I read this one.
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