Three Girls, Nine Stories.

after my post about finally reading The Catcher in the Rye, Jo over at Thank U and Good Nite (one of my girl crushes) decided to do the same. I think we both agreed on how we felt about it, and after a suggestion from my girl Claire, we decided to read J.D. Salinger's Nine Stories together. Courtney over at kitten roar picked up a copy and a spontaneous book club was formed.

it may sound weird (though i think it magical), but every time i pulled out my dog eared copy in el paso-- i couldn't help but think of Jo in L.A. or Courtney in Chicago doing the same thing.

where to start, to put into words a collection of stories that left a pit in my stomach after each one ended because each one was an experience. Characters became real people who's loneliness, growing pains, and heart-ache become your own.

It would be difficult to review the entire compilation that i thought i would share my thoughts on the short story that touched me most. As you read Nine Stories, you'll start to recognize themes that weave through the core of each story. My favorite of these is love, which should be no surprise that For Esmé – with Love and Squalor stayed with me long after i closed the book.

"Isn't it a pity that we didn't meet under less extenuating circumstances?" I said it was, I said it certainly was. (page 103)

Borrowed here, i couldn't have summarized it better than this: "he writes not of love at first sight, but of human connection, posting two lonely souls who, during the course of a few brief minutes in an English tearoom on a rainy Saturday afternoon, share a moment that neither will forget." 

It's not romantic love but you feel that chemistry as if you were the girl wearing white socks exchanging addresses. Human connection gives us hope. Reminds us that it's all worth it even when we feel broken.

 The Catcher in the Rye did not make me want to run out and grab another work of Salinger's immediately like Nine Stories did (i already have Franny and Zooey on my bedside table). I am so glad Claire suggested it, and that i had the pleasure to read it with Jo & Courtney.

If you've read it, which one was your favorite? {this one was a close second}

*read Jo's  thoughts // Courtney's thoughts


P.S. and now i absolutely need this ode to JD Salinger tote from i miss you already: