The Books of Kelly Link

I heard about Kelly Link from Bryan Lee O'Malley. He mentioned on his blog (radiomaru.com) that he was reading her book "Magic For Beginners":



He seemed to like it, so I checked it out... and fell in love. Link writes some of the oddest, most intriguing short stories I've ever read.

Here are two more of her books that I've read:



I think she has more, but that's all I've been able to find (at the Indianapolis Public Library).

I recommend them to anyone who likes strangeness. I love strangeness, so, there you go.

The thing I like the most about her stories is how they feel like dreams. They are full of dream logic. Stuff that only makes sense if you don't think about it. Stuff that would not work in real reality is common-place.

The thing I like the least about her stories is that many of them feel like the first chapter of a much longer story. I would love to read the full book, but this is all there is (for now). Sometimes her stories don't really have a "the end" feeling at the end. They just end.

Link writes about lots of interesting things; ghosts, zombies, magic, monsters, wizards, death, fairies, and sex, lots of sex. But not romantic, pornographic, or pleasant sex, it's more anatomy textbook sex. Lots of descriptive, scientific words. Sex stated matter-of-factually. Odd.

If you like odd, short stories, you might love the Books of Kelly Link.