Book Reviews and More: One Day At A Time And Other Stories

Sunday, 12 December 2021

One Day At A Time And Other Stories - A.K. Frailey

One Day At A Time and Other Stories

A.K. Frailey
A. K. Frailey Books
ISBN 9798494792242

ASIN B09J9TZHNP

I have read several books from the pen of A.K. Frailey, in fact this is the seventh volume from her pen that I have read. And it is the third collection of stories I have read the other two being It Might Have Been: And Other Stories and Encounter Science Fiction Short Stories and Novella, and all three are excellent read. This was one of three new offerings from Frailey that I picked up on the same day, the others being My Road Goes Ever On: A Timeless Journey, and a stand-alone short story For Me? which also appears in this collection. But back to this volume. The description of the collection is:

“A collection of contemporary short stories involving families, friends, and distant relations. It is the hazards of daily life that test the soul. Nobility, bravery, decency, kindness, and mercy are the shafts of light that pierce the darkness of the human experience. No one gets by without trial and tribulation, though few may notice the inner drama taking place all around. Keep your eyes open and your heart aware—you might just recognize a familiar friend.”

And after the introduction the stories in this book are:

One Day at a Time

Let Yourself Go

Welfare and Well Being

They Had Their Chance

I’m Making Mine

We Get Along

He’d Be There, Waiting

For That, I was Glad

Library

Life’s Storms

Don’t Get Blown Away

Those Pesky Black Holes

Between Worlds

Richly Blessed

Together Again

New Generation

For Me?

Come Out of the Cold

The Me I Want to Be

Ever My Intention

You Know It’s Real

Mostly I Live Life

Between the Raindrops

Hope for the Human Race

With or Without the Pits

The Wheel or the Ball

Funny How Life Goes

Rest Awhile

I Don’t Have to See Christmas

It Takes Time

You Decide

We’re Not Neanderthals

The Delete Button

You Never Know

You Have No Idea

Why Wait for Tomorrow?

No Reasonable Cause

To Be Content

Your Prayer

And to Think

That’s How It Goes

Normally when a new collection from Frailey is available I devour it, and often go back and read it at a slower pace. When this one came out, I already had some books on the go, but kept circling back to this book and read a few stories a day, sometimes reading a story at a time different times during the day. And read it over 2 weeks. Normally I cannot put her books down but I wanted to really appreciate each story. There were a few I had encountered previously.

I must state this is a wonderful collection. Many of the stories are very moving. Some are humorous. And they are all well written. The stories are set in the real world, they could be about you, or me, or people we know. They could be about family both near and far. Much like Madeleine L’Engle’s Austin family books. But a few remind me of the works of Adrian Plass or Fred Secombe in their sense of humor or way of looking at life.

All Frailey’s works I have read to date have been excellent. I love her collections of stories. They can be returned to again and again. Can be read from front to back, randomly pick a story, or maybe even from back to front, reading the last story and working your way to the first. But no matter how you read these stories I am certain you will be entertained, blessed and maybe even challenged. So, in that vein I challenge you to pick this up and give it a read.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2021 Catholic Reading Plan!

Books by A.K. Frailey:

The Adventures of Tally Ho

It Might Have Been: And Other Stories

Encounter Science Fiction Short Stories and Novella

One Day At A Time And Other Stories

Homestead

For Me?

…

Old Earth Series:

OldEarth ARAM Encounter

OldEarth Ishtar Encounter