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whatbluereads's review
3.0
Interesting read.
I didn't quite connect to each of the stories shared by the various authors, however, I think each unique perspective of loneliness was so fascinating to read. This collection shows us that no matter who you are, race, religious beliefs, or even sexual orientation, at some point in your life you will feel lonely, but the most important part is, how you overcome that feeling of loneliness and enjoy your time alone with yourself.
I didn't quite connect to each of the stories shared by the various authors, however, I think each unique perspective of loneliness was so fascinating to read. This collection shows us that no matter who you are, race, religious beliefs, or even sexual orientation, at some point in your life you will feel lonely, but the most important part is, how you overcome that feeling of loneliness and enjoy your time alone with yourself.
bookishlychar's review
3.0
The Lonely Stories is a series of essays about the joys and struggles of being alone. There are 22 stories in this collection, some heart breaking, some lovely. These stories made me think and some hit close to home. As with any anthology or collection, some of the stories were not ones I enjoyed, but others I absolutely loved.
My favourites in this collections were: "Javelinas" by Claire Dederer, "At the Horizon" by Maggie Shipstead, "Exodus 2020" by Emily Raboteau and "On Witness and Respair" by Jesmyn Ward.
This collection is a diverse look at loneliness in many facets, including on writers move toward sobriety, living with chronic illness, being an immigrant and not understanding language, the loss of a loved one and the beginning of Covid in 2020. These stories don't only focus on the sadness and despair that often comes with loneliness, but it also focusses on the solitude and insight you can gain.
It was wonderful to read this variety of stories and I appreciated the various takes on loneliness. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review. All opinions are 100% mine.
My favourites in this collections were: "Javelinas" by Claire Dederer, "At the Horizon" by Maggie Shipstead, "Exodus 2020" by Emily Raboteau and "On Witness and Respair" by Jesmyn Ward.
This collection is a diverse look at loneliness in many facets, including on writers move toward sobriety, living with chronic illness, being an immigrant and not understanding language, the loss of a loved one and the beginning of Covid in 2020. These stories don't only focus on the sadness and despair that often comes with loneliness, but it also focusses on the solitude and insight you can gain.
It was wonderful to read this variety of stories and I appreciated the various takes on loneliness. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review. All opinions are 100% mine.
tammys_take's review
4.0
A collection of short stories about loneliness, I liked how each one illustrated a moment in each author’s life that portrayed loneliness in different ways: language differences, addiction, death, grief, divorce, self, coming of age. Beautiful collection of stories.
nuhafariha's review
5.0
Thank you to Catapult, Counterpoint, Softskull and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!
Available April 19th.
Isolation is a term most of us are very familiar with these days. We are told to isolate from our jobs, our elderly, our children, our vulnerable, our schools and institutions. We are told to go into lockdown and quarentines. Yet what do these words really mean?
The Lonely Stories captures the quintessential emotion of our current era, the longing ache, the ugliness, and, in some cases, the relief. Through short stories by masterful Storytellers, the collection shows us that maybe there is beauty and art in being alone, just as there is beauty in finding a community of loners. I throughly enjoyed reading this collection and will remember the stories for a while.
Available April 19th.
Isolation is a term most of us are very familiar with these days. We are told to isolate from our jobs, our elderly, our children, our vulnerable, our schools and institutions. We are told to go into lockdown and quarentines. Yet what do these words really mean?
The Lonely Stories captures the quintessential emotion of our current era, the longing ache, the ugliness, and, in some cases, the relief. Through short stories by masterful Storytellers, the collection shows us that maybe there is beauty and art in being alone, just as there is beauty in finding a community of loners. I throughly enjoyed reading this collection and will remember the stories for a while.
ficklefever's review
2.0
oop someone in catapult marketing forgot to add this to goodreads so... i just did lmao
picked up this ARC bc i of course immediately fell in love with the premise -- i am if anything a bitch who loves to analyze loneliness -- and while some stories definitely charmed me, i was left feeling like a lot of these were written pre-collection and then pigeonholed into the murky definition of loneliness so they could be reprinted here. (and then i got to the acknowledgements at the end and a lot of them were previously published elsewhere! my spidey sense was right!)
picked up this ARC bc i of course immediately fell in love with the premise -- i am if anything a bitch who loves to analyze loneliness -- and while some stories definitely charmed me, i was left feeling like a lot of these were written pre-collection and then pigeonholed into the murky definition of loneliness so they could be reprinted here. (and then i got to the acknowledgements at the end and a lot of them were previously published elsewhere! my spidey sense was right!)
namakurhea's review
3.5
What a book! In this collection of essays, many writers shared their experience of being alone/loneliness. Some of them are done by choice; like a move, or residency in a fellowship. Some happened out of tragedy; a sudden death, a grieving process, a break up. The essays that resonate to me the most are especially those about forging one’s own path and not giving a care about other’s interpretation of it. It takes guts to do that, and this is what I try to emulate in my own life. I suppose I was looking for validation; a tip of the hat from the women and men who are also walking this path of aloneness. And I, without a shadow of a doubt, found that validation in these essays. 💪🏼
walkintime's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
"I know now that when we let go, we do not lose — for in the act of letting go, we find ourselves, and this reunion is joyous, exceeding what we once dared imagine"
Being alone and feeling lonely are things I've struggled a lot all my life, and I still do. It's something that often comes up on my therapy sessions and goes through my mind during random times of the day. Reading this book made me realize that there are more people who feel different types of loneliness as I do and it was comforting to read about it. I loved being able to read about each of the writer's experience. I'm just giving it 3.5 stars because sometimes the way the chapters were followed ended up being a bit repetitive, I think some more unique and different experiences could be included. Also, there were some I wished to read more of.