Audely Bensen Writes

This year I've been thinking a lot about trying to read books by authors I admire. I also wanted to read more short stories. When I saw that Julia Armfield had a literary-speculative short story collection, and it was available by audiobook through my library's collection, I knew I had to listen. I listened to Salt Slow while sitting on the cold floor hemming curtains over two long weekends.  Listening to short stories by audiobook was a little more challenging than I anticipated. Unless I was really paying attention to the chapter change-overs, I missed where one story ended and the next began. In more than one case I had to rewind the first five minutes to start over.  Other than the logistical challenge, I loved this book. The stories were about womanhood, mothering, existing in our bodies, and the labor we do to make others comfortable. The stories made me think and stuck in my head after the book was done, to the point that I wanted to tell people about pieces of them....

I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately, and by reading slump I mean I'm reading 6 books at once because nothing can keep my attention, and enjoying none of them. Thornhedge got me out of the rut. I checked this book out since I've been listening to a lot of the Ditchdiggers podcast lately, and I figured it was time to put my library check-outs where my mouth is (as a self-professed T. Kingfisher fan). This book was nothing short of fun. It was an excellent reminder that you can write what you like! Whatever you like, you can put that in a book. If you like frogs and fairytales and realistic worlds that comment on how people treat each other, then do it!  At the time that I picked this book up, I needed that reminder.