Vampires in the Lemon Grove: Stories

First off, let me just say that my local librarian nailed it in suggesting this book for me. I worry that she may know me a little too well at this point.

Anyway, I was completely engaged throughout every one of these stories. They're funny, mysterious, sometimes moving, often unsettling, and always well-written. Sometimes they're too mysterious and vague, to the point where I really just want some answers. The worst offenders, at least for me, were the seagull story and the scarecrow story. (I'm sorry, I don't know the names and I'm far too lazy to look.) The rest were appropriately odd, and raised more questions than they answered, but in a way that didn't feel frustrating.

I'm beginning to love short stories, and these were right up my alley. Give this book a shot. I haven't stopped thinking about it.

I enjoyed this thought-provoking collection of short stories a lot. By Karen Russell, the author of Swamplandia, the stories contain absurd and often funny fantasy elements – vampires sinking their fangs into lemons, girls turning into silk worms, former presidents reincarnated as horses, seagulls stealing items from the future, and more. Yet those serve only as starting points for tales that are grounded in vividly portrayed characters and settings. The eight stories, while independent, share thematic connections, exploring ideas of identity, memory, transformation, death, redemption.