Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite

Souls Over The Hill by York Van Nixon III is a collection of short stories that all lean into slices of life that, while technically a blip in the span of an entire lifetime, still have a significant impact. Miz Sadie’s Boyz follows Sadie Johnson as she tends her Washington home, shelters an injured man, learns his legal name in a detective note, and measures this fact against the memory of her son during the weather. Finger Pangs follows Susie Rhee as a mistaken delivery drives rapid eating and harsh self-correction that ends with a printed line found during a purge. Nature Calls follows Harold as a night noise brings intruders who strike him, and his awareness drifts after a plea for relief. No Mourning After Pill follows Norma McCorvey as a procedure day prompts talks with her aunt and later a letter to her mother before her return flight.

Souls Over The Hill by York Van Nixon III is a fantastic anthology and a wonderful look at the ways people are carried forward by experience and shifting purpose. Van Nixon is brilliant at harnessing each scene as it's shaped by decisions that set a course through the changing days. While almost impossible to pick a favorite, I love the story For Peace Sake, where Mr. Roamknee is disrupted by a caller pushing for partisan change, prompting pointed questions, wry remarks about memory, age, and public life, with a hilarious finale tied to his Cadillac. Dante’s Infomercial is another, where Daniel picks up a hitchhiker with whom he converses, with the person departing after a cryptic warning. Technology at Daniel's work takes a turn, and another driver seems on the path of a similar experience. Overall, this is among the most creative, thoughtful collections I've read this year.