Thank you NetGalley for sharing this book with me in exchange for an honest review. I chose this book because of its unique concept-short stories told by a variety of authors in the perspectives of a variety of objects. I don’t typically read short stories, so I had a hard time getting into the book. However, I enjoyed the different stories and some of them were about such mundane and typical objects but told with such creativity that I found myself enjoying the book as a whole. There are some mature stories, so I would recommend to adults who are looking for something different and creative.

Sometimes I think of what a random object would think our say, so when I saw this book I was immediately intrigued. Not every story was great our interesting to me, but most of them were.

“No matter what their differences were, in shape, size, or how they came to be in this place, everyone felt rather certain that their futures would be interwinded somehow.”

overall
~ As Told by things is a compilation of short stories from different authors, but still revolving around the same theme: the fact that each story is told from the perspective of an inanimate object.

I found this to be really intriguing once I actually started reading it. But as usual, the problem I always encounter with books like these is that there are always those stories that you LOVE but then there are those stories that are just meh.

And I would always need to put these things into consideration when rating and reviewing the books.

some of the stories were just uninteresting for me, but others had emotion packed in every page. There were stories that just got me thinking of how they can be related to how people feel if they were in the place of those objects. It made me really consider the objects as people while I was reading the story and it really made me so much more aware of the people around me.

Sometimes the people we don’t notice that much are the ones who notice the most

writing style
~ most of the writing were descriptive enough

Even though there were some stories that were not my favorite, they still kept me reading to find out what was the object for that story. It also helped that most of the stories were actually pretty unique and were written creatively for me.

They were diverse in a way that the stories were meant to be humorous with some philosophical ideas here and there.

I also find it to be pretty cool to have some insight to what everyday things could be thinking about. They were interesting topic. This is also a topic that my dad and I talk about, which made it that more intriguing.

There were objects that never came to my mind but it was just as fascinating to read.

I was expecting a lot from this book based on the premise of "things" telling themselves their stories to other "things." Boring, boring, boring. Where was the whimsy one would expect with this idea? Maybe I was expecting too much, or something completely different.

Thank you for the ARC!

I was very intrigued by the concept of this book. As someone who enjoys finding books that aren't covering topics that are completely played out (books with "Girl" in the title anyone?), I was very excited to dive into this collection of short stories. Each is told from the perspective of an inanimate object. While I did enjoy the anticipation of figuring out what the object in each story was, I found was that there were more stories that didn't land, than ones that did. I truly enjoyed some of them though which is why I gave the book 3 stars. I thought the opening story called "Elevated" told by "starter dough" was very interesting! My favorite of the bunch was the sexy, very short story "The Lady at the Bar", It is narrated by a shot glass of unnamed booze being savored by a beautiful woman. I would be very curious as to which stories were enjoyed by who, and why they liked them. This book is very interesting in that regard. While I found the story "Flowers by the Pond" beautiful, did someone else find it boring? I found the story, (if you'd even call it that) "The Malkin andThel Tarot Catalog" to be unreadable, but maybe I missed something? This book was cute, and fun to read in anticipation of the next story. I really enjoyed that each author had a short bio at the end of their entry. It added a cool introspective into their writing. Also, cute cover!

My review will be published Thursday 7/19 at www.BookItForward.blog

As Told by Things is a collection of short stories by different authors told from the viewpoint of inanimate objects.

I liked this book exactly as much as I thought I would! I only ended up not enjoying and skipping two or three of them, and the rest I found completely charming and heart warming. This is a quick read and great if you need something to read before bed, or in between some heavier reading. I'm so glad this book exists!

As Told by Things is another galley I was behind on, and it was a quick, easy read to catch up on. It’s a short story collection from a small press and each story is told from the point of view of an object. I requested it because I found the premise intriguing, and it was really interesting to see what objects authors chose to write stories about.

The collection was really varied and just a delight to read. There were stories from the points of view of a starter to make bread, a mirror, a twenty-sided die, and many other objects. The stories told were mostly happy, with some sad interludes entertwined, but all were entertaining and a delight to read. Just as there are a diverse array of stories, I also enjoyed the diverse array of authors, many of whom I now want to read more from. I felt like all of the stories were very creative and a lot of them also incorporated social issues and diversity in surprising ways.

I had different emotions while reading this book as well. Some of the stories made me chuckle, some made me a little teary-eyed, and all of them awed me with the interesting things the authors did. It was just a really fun & enjoyable reading experience. I feel like if I say too much more, I’ll start spoiling the experience, but if you like interesting, diverse, & multi-genre short stories, I really think you’ll enjoy this collection a lot. I, for one, will also be checking out more of what this press has to offer and what the authors in the collection likewise have to offer.

Note: I received this book from Netgalley & the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Charming collection of short stories

I enjoyed this book. It's an anthology of 25 very short stories told from the unique perspective of inanimate objects. In many of the stories, the author does not immediately reveal the nature of the inanimate object and it is a lot of fun trying to figure it out. Most of the stories are of a lighter nature but a couple were serious. There really isn’t science fiction/fantasy in these books, other than inanimate objects telling stories but as a big fan of the genre, this didn’t bother me at all.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.

A grouping of short stories that are told by objects. While some of the stories were interesting, the writing did not keep me interested. I do like the "what has this object seen" idea.

While every story won't be for every reader, I enjoyed the majority of short stories in "As Told by Things". I also appreciated that stories weren't dragged on and on simply for word count purposes. I appreciated the stories where I had to try to guess what the object was before it was fully revealed. It made it more fun for me as a reader.

If I had to pick just two favorites other than E.D.E. Bell's two short stories (which were so different, yet so well done!), it would be "Anything Nice" by Steve Carr and "The Pea and the Princess" by Stephanie Vance. I liked the perspectives and tones of those objects, and one being a common fairytale item was just too cool.

This is a unique idea for an anthology - not at all what I'm used to. It stretched me as a reader.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.

This book is an ambitious anthology of short stories by various authors that are written from the perspective of a variety of inanimate objects. Some stories are odd, some stories were surprisingly sexual, and some stories were subtly heartwarming. It can sometimes be a scavenger hunt to figure out what the inanimate object of the story is, which worked well for most of the stories, but others not so much.. After a couple reads, I still could not figure out what the object in the first story was supposed to be.

These short stories are written by different authors, so the writing style varies from story to story and each story is relatively short and light, so there is no need to read multiple stories in one sitting. Not to be crude, but this is a good bathroom read - it's noncommittal and is easy to pick up where you left off. Honestly, it's probably best read this way.

I really enjoyed this book a bunch. it was kinda freaky to think about the idea of different things having thoughts like the ones in the story. Some of the stories were definitely a lot better than others, specifically the one about the pen and love letters was incredible and my favorite, but when taking into account the good and the bad, this collection fell in the middle of the pack with an average of about 3 stars for me.

As Told by Things is an anthology of short stories, each told from the perspective of an inanimate object. As with any collection, especially those comprising offerings from multiple authors, some of the stories were more miss than hit. I think, though, that each reader would likely come away with different impressions of which stories were the hits ;-)

Before starting the book, I had the impression that the stories would be of the sort that slowly reveal which object is telling the tale. That was not always the case, and I would have preferred the collection if there had been more of the cheeky playfulness on display in E.D.E. Bell's Tragedia. I did find others I enjoyed (or at least appreciated), though -- some managed to pack quite a bit of emotion into very short pieces.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with a free electronic ARC of this book.

This is a book full of everyday items that see the beauty of the world they're in and mostly want one thing: to be useful, and occasionally to be loved for it. There are perspectives that can help us grow as people and see the best in each other, to appreciate the good in everyday objects. I'm glad that I've read this book.

I really loved the concept. Some of the stories were a little flat but most were pretty compelling. I have several new authors to look up!

A quirky and whimsical collection of short stories.
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AS TOLD BY THINGS is a collection of flash fiction and short stories told from the perspective of every day things. As with any collection, there will be some standouts. Growing as You’re Walking Past is a great piece on growing up and one’s relationship with their body image. This story really sounded like it was told from the object’s perspective and was thought provoking as a mother. Elevated is another strong piece of social commentary from the perspective of an elevator. It made me laugh and read like a solid short story. Anything Nice made me think of the house in my neighborhood growing up with all the trinkets. It made me think of friendships and rivalries. The stories that weren’t as successful seemed like they were forcing the object’s perspective or seemed so serious in a collection that was much more lighthearted. I didn’t have any problem with the writing in these stories, they just read drier than the others. This is my first collection of flash fiction and I think fans of the genre will enjoy a majority of this collection.

I received an Advance Review Copy of this book through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

As a kid, I read a story, “Autobiography of a Coin” – where the coin spoke about its worthless situation in pocket of a wealthy person, how it escaped, and then through its adventure found its way to hands of a poor kid who gave it proper respect. I still remember it.

So, when I came across this book, “As Told by Things” on Netgalley, it had instant attention. And I was not disappointed. This anthology had many pluses running for it – it is loaded with creativity and imagination; and compared to other anthologies, this has some excellent writing, and memorable stories.

Full review is on my website: https://indiapoint.net/2018/05/26/book-review-as-told-by-things/

OMG! So good! Where to begin...? Another great book of short stories told from the unique perspective of object, things. I loved Start Again by Alanna McFall; POV is from starter, as in starter for sour dough bread! Ladt At the Bar by B.C. Kalis was a hoot! I didn;t suspect the "Thing" until the end and it gave me a good laugh! Elevated by Tom Jolly, The Pea and the Princess by Jasre' Ellis, Peter and the Paper Clip.... all great tales! And all the other couple dozen stories in all, are wonderful reads. So many talented writers with such fabulous imaginations. You can't go wrong with this book, it's perfect to read if time is short.

A collection of short stories, especially one by multiple authors, is something I often approach with a hint of trepidation, it is exceedingly rare to find one where I like all the stories, but conversely there is often one or two that really stand out. As Told By Things caught my eye because of the premise of the stories, each is written from the perspective of an inanimate object. Ranging in size from a paperclip to a car, authors have crafted stories around a diverse variety of objects, some more successfully than others. Particular highlights for me were The Playful Protector by Jasre' Ellis, Ruby by Terry Sanville and Twenty Sides to Every Tale by Laura Johnson, with a special shout out to Robert Dawson, whose contribution The Malking and Thel Tarot Catalogue had me laughing with each new entry.
A variety of writing styles and the interesting uniqueness of the ideas mean that most readers should find something to tickle their fancy in this diverse collection.