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Reviewed by Barbara Oliverio for Readers' Favorite
If brevity is the soul of flash fiction, then well-executed brevity makes for exemplary flash fiction. A Year of Shorts: Flash Fiction, a collection curated by Barbara Venkataraman, is an example of such execution. This compilation is grouped by themes corresponding to the seasons of the year and each neatly sticks to its theme. In addition, a reader does not need to read the book chronologically but can choose whichever theme best suits their mood at the time, or even cherry-pick stories throughout. Each of the stories is true to the flash fiction form, packing in an introduction, action, climax, and conclusion as efficiently, if not more so, than some compositions of much greater length.
I enjoyed the variety in A Year of Shorts: Flash Fiction. For example, I found myself chuckling in one tale at the interactions among iconic holiday contemporaries, and at other times feeling a bit more reflective as when reading the touching conclusion of a simple observation of ocean waves. Barbara Venkataraman not only has written a good portion of the stories but is also proven to be a first-rate editor of the entire book and is adept at coordinating the themes. She has a keen eye for a good story as she has shown in the many books that she has written and brings that talent in recognizing a good story written by others. This book is an ideal companion for someone who has only a few moments at a time for reading yet wants those moments to be gratifying when they do.
