So We Can Glow

Just finished SO WE CAN GLOW and my heart is full and my skin is clear and my soul is light. You know that feeling you get when you finish a book and you know you found a new author to add to your favorites list and you immediately look to see what else she has written and how you can get your hands on it? Yep, that’s Leesa Cross-Smith. Her stories are beautiful drops of unexpected surprises. The women in them are richly developed, nuanced yet expansive, and you feel like you have met them as they jump off the page (even when they are only with you for a few pages total.) The stories in this collection are short (mostly flash fiction) but they are all memorable and heart-stopping. I gush, but this book deserves it. It’s for all the girls and women, this one. I can’t recommend it enough. If she made any one of these into a full novel, I would be ecstatic!

Whiskey & Ribbons and local Kentucky author Cross-Smith adds a second collection of short stories to her repertoire with So We Can Glow.

There are forty two short stories in her collection, and so many of them made me wish they would continue into their own novels. I would fall into each page, only to quickly resurface, take a breath, and then fall again. Cross-Smith's contemporary prose brings many social issues to life, placing the reader into the mind of the narrator for a brief period of time, but allowing them to feel and see though their eyes. Topics such as relationships, miscarriage, depression, race are told from a variety of women. 

Cross-Smith's format style also varies throughout, and while most follow the traditional prose style, there are a few stream of consciousness pieces that I didn't think I'd enjoy as much as I did. I LOVED her "Girlheart Cake with Glitter Frosting" piece, and was so inspired by it... what makes up my own girlheart? I'm not sure who inspired Cross-Smith for that one, but I honestly wished I could print it out and hang it in my house as wall art. 

It was hard to choose favorites in this collection though, and that's always a good sign to me. I highlighted so many phrases and quotes. Cross-Smith has such a lovely way with words, and easily stirred an emotional connection from me to her pages. After publication day, I'll come back to this review and share some of my favorite quotes, but take my word for it- there are many, and they are beautiful.

*This review will be posted on my blog on 3/5/2020 at www.thelexingtonbookie.com.*

Short stories aren't really my thing, but "So We Can Glow" is DEFINITELY my thing. Every woman will find something to connect to in at least several of these stories. It also has me yearning for summer!

I received a complimentary copy of SO WE CAN GLOW by Leesa Cross-Smith for an honest review. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing!

SO WE CAN GLOW is a book of short stories that I first heard about on the Reading Women Podcast’s most anticipated reads episode. I was in the process of looking for my next short story collection, so I immediately requested a copy from the publisher.

This is a collection of short stories, varying in length from a couple sentences to several pages, but all really take the “short” in short stories to heart. These are all stories which center on women, whether it be young girls to older women. They are going through various phases of life with complicated relationships from young crushes to good and bad marriages to divorce. The settings vary a lot too, from midwest to California, though all are primarily contemporary. The most unique settings, like a produce aisle or a stuck elevator, can lead to a great story!

I really loved this collection of stories. This was my first read of Leesa Cross-Smith’s writing and I am blown away by how much emotion and information she can convey even in the shortest of stories. Her descriptive language is wonderful as well! As I think is the case with any short story collection, some stories resonated with me more than others, but I really loved the entire collection!

While these are all stories that stand alone, there also are connections between several stories where familiar characters make another appearance. I loved this and it also says a lot about the strength of the writing that I remembered the characters from earlier stories so well even as I did spread out my reading of this one over the month as is my norm for story collections.

I definitely recommend this one to the short story fans fans! SO WE CAN GLOW is out on March 10, 2020!