Friday Night Highlights: Practical Reasons to Read Anthologies

Posted December 17, 2021 by Richetta in Currently Reading, Friday Night Highlights, Thoughts & Ideas / 0 Comments

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I’ve only recently become a fan of anthologies again. I hit upon several good ones during a library search and have several more on my TBR lineup that I’m excited to dig into.

A Few Practical Reasons to Try Anthologies

What I have found is that anthologies are a great candidate for you to try out audiobooks with. The stories or essays are short, so it is (hopefully) less likely that you will get distracted while listening.
You can start and stop as needed.
Great option during the holiday season!
For people who get interrupted often during their reading, it’s easier to pick up where you left off without worrying you missed a key plot detail.
If you are in a reading slump, an anthology will introduce you to new authors you might want to check out more.

An Anthology on Immigration and Finding Home

I’m currently reading Come On In: 15 Stories About Immigration and Finding Home edited by Adi Alsaid. So far I have gone between laughing and being at the edge of my seat. The stories have themes of family, home and immigration. I love the different perspectives that inform the stories! Even with the stories being told from many different people the common themes tie them together and give you an easy flow throughout the book. IN English class, we talk about one reason that students need to read is to build their empathy for others. This anthology does that by far and educates you about so many different cultures and customs in the process.

Poe Retellings That Will Get You In Spooky, Creepy Mood

I’m a few stories into His Hideous Heart: 13 of Edgar Allan Poe’s Most Unsettling Tales Reimagined edited by Dahlia Adler. My fave so far has been Tiffany D. Jackson’s story, “It’s Carnival!”. This woman had me crack-a-lacking up! “Scrap, slap, brick, pat.” Although I’m not sure I was supposed too. The only thing is this anthology reminded me how deprived Poe really was and gee whiz I don’t know if I want to really read retellings of all of his stories. But that is a personal preference. The story retellings so far are good. There is a lot of diverse representation from different communities. I’m in the middle of a serial killer one and that is super creepy. What’s cool about this anthology is that all of the original stories are printed in the back of the book for reference.