Cannonball Read 13

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Peaces by Helen Oyeyemi

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Mysterious and melancholy adventure awaits! Otto and Xavier, legally paired but not traditionally wed, receive a lavish not-honeymoon gift from a fabulously wealthy aunt: a trip on a strange and fabulous train. They don’t know where they are going, why they have been invited, or who is truly pulling the strings behind this event. They don’t know if the reclusive woman who lives full-time on the train (what a dream!) held up a sign that said “HELP” or “HELLO”, and they don’t know if they […]

A Peculiar Collection of Stories Both Surreal and Distinctly Human

What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi

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It’s been a minute since I’ve read a collection of short stories (or really, short stories in general), so I figured it might be worth a little revisit with Oyeyemi’s collection in What is Not Yours is Not Yours. Once again, I find my personal experience with short stories to be a bit of a mixed bag, not to mention how with any collection put together there are going to be those that are favored and those that are not. For the most part, these […]

‘Geoffrey’s mum told us “If you take a hen’s egg from under her and she just looks at you and doesn’t do anything, put that egg back.” Peace and quiet is a sign that something’s wrong. Peace and quiet is like a broken response, a sign of people in pieces.’

The Opposite House by Helen Oyeyemi

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Helen Oyeyemi is a story teller. Her work is steeped in religion, folklore, and mythology. Her characters breathe prayer and power. She will grab your attention quick, and send your spiraling through your own identity. Her stories whip in and out of the fantastic; one moment a character is studying for an exam, and the next they are overcome by the power of an ancient healer. She is one of my favorite authors. She’s absolute magic. I picked up What is Not Yours is Not Yours when […]

Dark and quirky fairytales

What is not yours is not yours by Helen Oyeyemi

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Helen Oyeyemi’s short story collection creates an interlocking and fantastical world that is hard to look away from.  The characters live in slightly different realities, but cross over into each other’s worlds- a side character in one story becomes the main character in their own story next.  Thematically, the stories are connected by imagery of locks and keys which felt fresh- what is behind that door? Who are you keeping out? What are you keeping in? Her imagined worlds are also wildly creative- a hidden […]

Sugar, Spice, and Things that go Bump in the Night

Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi

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Helen Oyeyemi is an expert in pulling back the cobwebs from the old trunk in the attic, shaking out the goods within, and daring you to take a good strong look. She weaves familiar fairly tales with Yoruba folktales, inter-generational family strife, and good old fashioned 21st century anxiety. In her most recent novel, Gingerbread, she leaves spicy breadcrumbs of Hansel and Gretel, the Gingerbread Man, and many other traditional tales. I was also strongly reminded of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Orsinian Tales. Oyeyemi’s characters present […]



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