Everyone needs a distraction and sometimes television is just a little bit too real. A good book is an immersion into another world. It’s an escape from reality and a distraction and exercise for your mind urging you to imagine characters pieced together from the author’s clues. So this month we’re recommending a great book – in fact it’s a collection of short stories that allows you to dip in and out.  Helen Garner’s Stories: The Collected Short Fiction is an extraordinary collection and here’s why.

Short stories are a great way to delve into the intensity of a moment. They are by definition, brief which gives an intimate snapshot of people’s lives. It’s like being with a friend who is telling you an enthralling story about people you don’t know. It’s not quite gossip but you can certainly recognise truths about yourself and others and you won’t want to put it down.

Helen Garner is an extraordinary writer. And if you haven’t read any of her writing then this is a great way in. She writes across many genres and is difficult to categorise: from reporting on crime stories, screenwriting, novels and of course short stories. Her writing is stark, to the point and thought-provoking it’s a great escape. Reading Helen’s work is often described as reading a wonderful postcard. It’s a chance to dip into another world and be the ‘fly on the wall’ as the action takes place around you.

You will lose yourself in these stories and perhaps even discover something about yourself, others or the human condition. This collection is available in local libraries and if you haven’t been to your local library in a while this is a good excuse. Happy reading!