not gonna lie, i saw amy bloom's name and asked to read this one because i remember marina and jenny talking about her on the l word. not joking.

i'm not sure if this short story collection was what i expected or not. originally pubbed in the 90's, it has that nostalgic, summer-sticky feeling invoked by old stephen king books. does that make sense? i really appreciated that aspect of the writing - it was truly transportive.

like most short story collections there was some good, some bad, some bizarre (looking at you, story where our main character had sex with her stepson after her husband dies, though her stepson was still calling her 'mom'). i suspect that other reviews will say that the crowning glory was the first in the collection, 'love is not a pie'. a woman attends her mother's funeral, thinks back to being young and realizing her mom loved multiple men freely and as such calls off her own wedding to a man that she suspected wouldn't fight for her.

there was a lot of stories about marriage, infidelity, maternity, and youth, but all felt like they shared a common thread of grief which is probably what made this collection feel like a life we've all already lived, despite not necessarily relating to the specific subjects. a great little collection and i suspect my experience with bloom's longer fiction will be even better for me.

Come to Me by Amy Bloom
A Story Collection originally published 1993
Audiobook narrated by the author, published in 2025 by Speigel & Grau by Spotify Audiobooks

I wanted to listen to this audiobook because I knew Amy Bloom can write stories.
I previously read her memoir "In Love," published in 2022, which is a heartbreaking story of loss.
Listening to this story collections, I felt that maybe she has always had a sense of loss and sadness, and still being able to put her pen to the paper and yearn her stories. In this collection, there are many heartbreaks, from different times and situations, which made me think about people living their daily lives despite it all and make me want to hug them all. I like her precise use of words. These are short stories you want to slow down and savor each word placements. Heartbreaks are timeless, and these stories felt contemporary today.

I am happy that these stories are now available on an audiobook which makes it more accessible to wider audience.
I typically like a book read by the author - however, this wasn't the case here unfortunately. Ms. Bloom has a mature, calm voice which sounded flat to me, especially when the narrator of the story is a younger child. I felt it was bit of stretch. For this audiobook, I would have loved to have read by a professional narrator.

Overall I thought the book was well written and I would read her future books.

An advanced copy of this audiobook was provided courtesy of NetGalley and Speigel & Grau by Spotify Audiobooks for review purposes. My opinion stated herein is my own.

Amy Bloom always pulls at your heart strings. Come to Me: Stories shares tales of marriages, friendships, affairs, obstacles, and of loving. Her insight into human perspectives was incredible as an audiobook.

Thanks netgalley for the audio ARC, I loved it.

I have loved this author's other book so I decided to listen to this one as well. Read by the author, this is a collection of adult short stories with some connected and others not. From adultery, friendship, and the inner workings of relationships, this book has it all. The author spins these stories in such a way that you need to read the next one. You can tell the author's background as the psychiatry of people is a ribbon running through the stories. Such a good book to read. Thank you #NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Thanks to #netgalley and Speigel & Grau by Spotify Audiobooks for the advance loan of #ComeToMe by the amazing Amy Bloom (narrated by the author). It was such a joy to listen to Amy narrate these (mostly) connected stories because, as their creator, nobody knows them better. These are FIVE STAR stories despite their unsettling natures, collectively, but she illuminates human behavior (the good, the bad, the ugly, and the predatory) like a pro.

This is the first time these stories have been available as an audiobook (read by the AUTHOR no less!!) and if you enjoy this author or an incredibly well-written narrative, it's a MUST listen to.

I'll be recommending this to many of my friends as well. Available on 4/8/2025.

Come to Me
By: Amy Bloom

This author's writing style is great, she is truly talented! This book wasn't for me, I didn't realize it was a compilation of essays, which is not what I enjoy reading. There were also some themes in the book that I am somewhat uncomfortable with. That was on me for not paying better attention when looking for books. However, I believe reader who do enjoy nonfiction and/or essays would enjoy this! I plan to look for other books by this author in different genres.

DNF at 30%

Short story collections are so hard to rate — there are always stories I love and stories I very much do not love — so it all boils down to the ratio. I really enjoyed the first story, did not enjoy the second, and the third was what made me shut this off for good.

I do think fans of Bloom’s work will enjoy hearing her narrate this collection which was originally published in the 90s.

As a student. read aloud days of short stories from the likes of Poe and O'Henry were always my favorite day. As an adult, the short story fell to the wayside and I do not know why. I thoroughly enjoyed Come To Me by Amy Bloom which feature a variety of short stories, all with the same uncomfortable truths about relationships. Point of personal privilege - as an older reader who has noticed the waning of an attention span, Bloom reminds me that if the box isn't fitting anymore, make a bigger box. I'm going to go find a ton more short story options because I could hold onto the plot. In and out without getting married to the narrative - perfect for me at this stage. Which makes me smile, because it was perfect at the beginning of my reading life too.

Thank you NetGalley for the Audio ARC

🎧 Audiobook Review🎧

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I haven’t listened to or read a book by Amy Bloom and I will listen or read more after this one. She does the narration of the book as well. As far as the audio aspect goes of this book I enjoyed it. It flowers nicely and Amy did a good job

The plot was good. It’s just not my normal genre but it wasn’t bad. Wasn’t my favorite. I would still listen or add more by her.