It Was Nice Meeting You: Top Ten New-To-Me Authors of 2012

This is a great question from The Broke and The Bookish.  I think it not only allows us to share authors who perhaps need more exposure, but it is combined with the end-of-year theme.  December often seems to be a time of reflection.  So let me share with you my new-to-me authors of 2012, in no particular order:

1. Susan Tsui (Identities)

2. Kevin David Anderson & Sam Stall (Night of the Living Trekkies)

3. Caitlin Moran (How To Be A Woman)

4. Max Brooks (World War Z)

5. Katherine Mansfield (The Garden Party and Other Stories)

6. Derek Hayes (The Maladjusted)

7. Richard Ford (Canada)

8. Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments series)

9. Veronica Roth (Divergent series)

10. Rayne Hall (Scylla and the Pepper Pirates)

I read quite a few new authors this year.  I didn’t even realize.  I thought I’d have a difficult time getting to ten, but I actually had to remove a few people.  I read some great new authors this year.  How about you?

*Clicking on the author name will take you to their website.  Clicking on the book title will take you to my post.

The Maladjusted

The first thing that caught my eye about Derek Hayes' short story collection, The Maladjusted, was the cover.  If I had seen this in a bookstore, I definitely would have picked it off the shelf/display and given it a look.  I didn’t see in the bookstore, however.  The Maladjusted was kindly sent to me by the author for an honest review.  Even after the craziness with my last short fiction collection, I still wrote a bit about each of the stories.  It was a good collection and the stories definitely had me thinking.

Feel for America

A great opening story.  For an in depth review, please see my post for Short Story Monday.

The Maladjusted

The Maladjusted is a great, interesting story.  The unnamed narrator is engaging and makes you think, not just about him, but how people react to him.

That's Very Observant Of You

Melanie is potentially crazy.  I wasn't sure how I should feel for her.  I wasn’t sure what was real and what was in her head.  It was a good, mental, story.

In The Low Post

I didn't really like the story.  I found James, the main character unsympathetic and self-indulgent.  I was waiting for the story to get to the point and I guess it made one about being nice to others or something, but by the end of the story, I didn't care and was already looking to the next one.  I almost didn't bother writing anything about it.

A Good Decision

What if the one who got away wasn't really?  What of you saw them forty years later and realized that you were the one who got away. But it didn't matter to your life, because you are happy and you had/have a great life?  This was a great story.

Green Jerseys

A good story, but one that left me angry by the end.  I don't know if anyone was making good decisions.

Maybe You Should Get Back Here

Max is depressing and confused and self-conscious.  I couldn't like him.  He was driving me crazy.  He was another character stuck in the past.  Is this a theme for Hayes?

A Tank of Gas

I liked this story better than the last.  I really enjoyed the character growth.  It is about teachers in a foreign land again.  This has to be something that Hayes once did.

The Runner

This one connected with me more than some of the others.  It probably has to do with main character's issue with his girlfriend,

A Wonderful Holiday

At first seems like it might be an annoying story about a self-centered man, but by the end, it was really nice.

Tom and Wilkie

This was a depressing story.  It was as well written as all the others, it just left me with a need to read something else, so I didn’t dwell on the negative emotions.  Also, the story kind of disparaged Toronto.  Was that on purpose?

The Revisionist

I felt a disconnect with this story.  I kind of hated the main character. How many stories leaving you feeling sorry for the bully?


Shallowness

Jean is so mean!  She really hasn't adjusted to having a pretty, fun, young co-worker.  Samantha's one line of dialogue shows she is intelligent.  Jean seems to only like people who are like her.  This is another protagonist that I didn't like.  In the end, I wanted to give Samantha a hug.

Inertia

Finally a main character who goes through some kind of change for the better.  Thank goodness for Joseph.

My Horoscope

Does Hayes actually believe in horoscopes?

This story took me back to my university days.  Stewart's personality is a bit high school-ish, but since they are first-year students, that isn't surprising.  Stewart and his roommate, Cam, are having trouble adjusting to university life.  It's an interesting glimpse at that period.

The Lover

The main character is creepy and weird.  It was another story where I didn't like the main character.  However, I found the overall story really interesting and engaging.  I really wanted to see how he and the patients we going to end up.

In Conclusion.....

The Maladjusted was a well-written, engaging short story collection.  Being a teacher is a theme throughout many of the stories.  We also see foreigners in strange lands.  I guess there has to be some kind of adjustment to be made if the characters are going to have the opportunity to be “maladjusted”.

The collection starts off strong.  Each story makes you want to read the next.  I just wish the collection ended on a less creepy note.  With Inertia, maybe?  I don't need happily-ever-after, I just need to shut a book and not be thinking of weirdos.  Overall, if you're a fan of short stories and good writing, Derek Hayes' collection is worth picking up.

Feel For America, by Derek Hayes

Feel For America is the first story in Derek Hayes' collection, The Maladjusted, which I received for review.  Conveniently, Feel For America is available to read on his website.  So I though it would be a good story for this week's Short Story Monday.

I'm not sure what I thought of the story.  It was well written, easy to read with good/interesting character development.  The narrator, John is one of three ex-patriots teaching at an English school in Taiwan.  John is from Toronto, his a-hole roommate and "Academic Director", Adam, is from England and new arrival Samuel is from America.  Mr. Hou, the school's owner, likes John and equates him and Samuel.  He doesn't like the teachers he gets from England.

The story is about the three men and how they react to and interact with each other.  Adam sets out to have conflict.  John is a bit of a pushover and strives to be a peacekeeper.  He also really likes his job.  Samuel is full of ideas as to what this experience is supposed to be like.  I just wanted to yell at him when he was speaking gibberish to that poor man on the street.  There were better ways to deal with it.  I don't know if overseas is where these men belong.  Of course the collection is called, The Maladjusted, so we will just have to see if strange people in strange situations is a theme.

Adam asks Samuel for a Feel For America.  What we end up with is a drunken football player, essentially.  More than that, he's a man who is far from home and I think he misses it.  Feel For America is a good story and I hope the rest of the collection is as interesting.


Short Story Monday is hosted by John Mutford at The Book Mine Set.