These four books by Sally Cronin are rich gems of poetry and short stories. She lives in Ireland so her settings, word choices, and phrases are especially pleasant for this Midwesterner. Sally also offers podcasts of mesmerizing readings of her own works.

Life’s Rich Tapestry: Woven in words

Life’s Rich Tapestry is a collection of verse, microfiction and short stories that explore many aspects of our human nature and the wonders of the natural world. Reflections on our earliest beginnings and what is yet to come, with characters as diverse as a French speaking elephant and a cyborg warrior.

Finding the right number of syllables for a Haiku, Tanka, Etheree or Cinquain focuses the mind; as does 99 word microfiction, bringing a different level of intensity to storytelling. You will find stories about the past, the present and the future told in 17 syllables to 2,000 words, all celebrating life.

This book is also recognition of the value to a writer, of being part of a generous and inspiring blogging community, where writing challenges encourage us to explore new styles and genres.

My thoughts: What a satisfying assemblage of verses, flash fiction, and short stories. I especially enjoyed 99 Words in a Flash, the stories about dogs, about cats, the details in the Speculative Fiction on Great Aunt Georgina. The Duchess photo and verse at the end are priceless. A delightful interlude.

Life is Like a Bowl of Cherries: Sometimes Bitter, Sometimes Sweet

Life is Like a Bowl of Cherries: Sometimes Bitter, Sometimes Sweet is a collection of short stories with scattered poetry, reflecting the complexities of life, love and loss.

The stories in the collection dip into the lives of men and women who are faced with an ‘event’ that is challenging and in some cases life changing.

My thoughts: “Complexities of life, love and loss” underlie this charming collection of short stories with “a sprinkling of poetry.” From living with technology to pets, from decisions about how to spend earnings or winnings, adventures with pets, to one about a wife beater, these stories of challenges and consequences are very satisfying.

Life is Like a Mosaic: Random Fragments in harmony

In this collection, images and syllabic poetry are brought together to tell a story based on the author’s perspective. The poetry explores our human experiences such as love, happiness, hope, aging, friendship, new beginnings, dreams and loss. Life is Like a Mosaic

My thoughts: Delightful poems responding to photographs. Using the syllabic form of poetry, the meter of each short poem is by syllable rather than stresses. Favorites are the poignant “Our Legacy” and the two delightful ones on sunflowers. At the end are longer poems in Slices of Life, which include charming childhood memories.

Variety is the Spice of Life: A blend of poetry and prose

Variety is the Spice of Life is a collection of poetry and short stories about relationships with others, including pets and animals inhabiting the world around us. The connection with others brings love and friendship, excitement and sometimes surprises, danger, mystery and sometimes the unexpected.

My thoughts: The poems, including ones about nature, are delightful. In the US, starlings are considered pests, but Sally’s poems about the glossy birds and their dance of murmuration are winsome. The short stories are especially compelling, including one about the outbreak of WWII. An admirable variety of originality.

The Author

Sally Cronin is the author of sixteen books including her memoir Size Matters: Especially when you weigh 330lb first published in 2001. This has been followed by another fifteen books both fiction and non-fiction including multi-genre collections of short stories and poetry.

As an author she understands how important it is to have support in marketing books and offers a number of FREE promotional opportunities on her blog and across her social media. The Smorgasbord Bookshelf

Sally has been so generous to share others’ books and blogposts through her own. She’s recently featured Leora’s Early Years: Guthrie County Roots as well as my blog post, “Christmas 1943.”

Her podcast shares book reviews, poetry and short stories Sally Cronin Soundcloud

After leading a nomadic existence exploring the world, she now lives with her husband on the coast of Southern Ireland enjoying the seasonal fluctuations in the temperature of the rain.

Please check out Sally’s Amazon Author Page.