Growing Things and Other Stories Paul Tremblay

Growing Things and Other Stories is by far my favorite this year.

Poignant, entertaining, engaging, scary and at times sarcastically funny.

What I found most fascinating about Growing Things and Other Stories is the opportunity of delving into the authors personal thought processes. The "Notes" at the end of the short stories provides unique details on each short story and how they relate to his other books. The author gives valuable information about how he writes, and obtains ideas for his stories.

The story that intrigued me the most was "Something About Birds." All of the stories had something about them I thoroughly enjoyed. Each one demonstrated the authors unique creative diverse writing style. He writes with the perfect amount of ambiguity, pulling me into the story with questions, wanting to know more. So, "Something About Birds" shook me to the core, because I'm one of those people that get freaked out by birds, and two the story was so uniquely mind blowing. I don't want to give too much detail because this book is a must read, and own especially for any wannabe writer.

There is a little something for everyone in this novel. Each story is unique and spans a history with the author that started with his writing career. The short story "Notes For "The barn In The Wild" is utterly intriguing taking the perspective from me (the reader) finding the authors personal journal. "Can I be frank with you, Ms./Mr. Finders Keepers? If this notebook is lost, it means I'm lost. I am not overstating this. Please save me." Oh my, I laughed so hard during this story. Beautifully creative. The story "A Haunted House Is A Wheel Upon Which Some Are Broken" takes the reader into finding the answers followed by different page numbers, pulled into multiple circular scenarios. I had so much fun reading that short story.

Just like how you meet a person, feeling it was fated in some supernatural way, I felt this book was fated for me. I won Growing Things and Other Stories from the Goodreads giveaway section, this is my honest review.

Thank you Goodreads, HarperCollins books, and Paul Tremblay for this most joyful opportunity of reading Growing Things And Other Stories. I look forward to reading additional books by Mr. Tremblay along with, hopefully soon "The Thirteenth Temple."