Review: Winning Chance

Who out there enjoys short stories? I don't read nearly enough of them and I'm not entirely sure why. Last fall I read Katherine Koller's collection Winning Chance and I enjoyed the various journeys I got to go on and characters I got to meet.

Here's the collection's description:

In the stories in Winning Chance, Katherine Koller explores second chances, how we find them, and how we find the courage to take them. Whether they are contractors running into an ex while on the job, a busy mother pursuing community theatre, or a family building an illegal ice rink after an environmental collapse, Katherine Koller has created empathetic portraits of characters searching to connect.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect with Koller's stories. Would they fall into the super literary Can Lit type category where nothing makes sense and everyone has a terrible life? (If you know me, you know I'm a big fan of the Happily Ever After in whatever I'm reading.) Honestly, I don't know how to categorize Koller's stories. What I do know is every single one of them made me think and I enjoyed the hell out of that.

The fifteen stories in the collection are varied but they all feature characters who are dealing with Something (purposefully capitalized) at that moment. The stories are like little snapshots into the lives of everyday people which was really nice to read.

That said, they're nice to read even though most of the stories showcase lives that are far from perfect. There are miscarriages, deaths, car accidents, and strict laws in a post-apocalyptic world that keep people from building hockey rinks. There is heartbreak and sadness but there's also hope and, yes, second chances.

I also liked that a few of the characters popped up in a couple of different stories. It made the connection between the stories stronger. Even when there wasn't an overlap of characters you could feel that most of the stories were taking place in the same universe and time which added a consistency, I guess you could call it, to the stories which I appreciated.

Winning Chance will give you an insight into many lives. Katherine Koller's short story collection may leave you hurting for some of the characters but appreciative of the hope so many more of them are able to find in their circumstances.

*A copy of this book was provided by the publisher, Great Plains Publication, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*