These were so good--uncanny short stories, mostly set in the Southwest, about the dangers stalking women and girls. My favorite was You Can Never Be Too Sure, about an urban legend at a college that morphs into a terrifying encounter. Other standouts:

• Dogs, about a woman hitching a ride with a stranger
• Bright Lights, Big Deal, a coming-of-age story set in Brooklyn
• The Reclamation, about a retreat led by a self-help guru
• Reaper Ranch, about a woman sent to an independent living facility after her husband dies (with lines from Valencia's grandmother's actual diary!)
• Mystery Lights and Vermilion, two mother-daughter stories

This was PHENOMENAL. I want to press this on everyone I see. Oliver died tragically in 1966 at the age of 22, and this posthumous collection includes her stories of Black life at the time, creating what Tayari Jones in her introduction calls a time capsule effect. Sometimes story collections start to have a sameness, but these all had a unique, memorable voice. Some highlights: the ending of Key to the City, the linked stories Health Service and Traffic Jam, the complex family dynamics in The Visitor and Spiders Cry Without Tears. Our Trip to the Nature Museum may have been my favorite. 

I think Jill McCorkle is the best writer of Southern short stories out there (2nd place: George Singleton). My favorites were Low Tones, A Simple Question, Baby in the Pan, and Sparrow.  McCorkle will be at this year's Southern Festival of Books October 26-27, so mark your calendar!