This rating is not a reflection of the book or its quality. Rather the low rating indicated this title was removed from my personal TBR list in anticipation of other titles. I do think it is important to note that other novels took precedent over this one and as a result I will not be reading.

As a huge Maggie Shipstead fan, and with her latest novel THE GREAT CIRCLE topping my list of favorites in 2021, I was thrilled to receive this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

YOU HAVE A FRIEND IN 10A is a collection of memorable, compelling short stories. These ten stories span various topics and settings, covering love and friendship and grief. While I prefer Shipstead’s novels to these stories, I still enjoyed the collection from start to finish. I would highly recommend this collection to Shipstead fans or short story fans.

Wow. This was my first Maggie Shipstead book and I definitely need to read one of her novels. I love short stories and Shipstead’s were no exception. In any collection, there are always some that I love more than others, and that is certainly true here. The collection starts off incredibly strong with The Cowboy Tango. With such a diverse collection, covering different areas of the globe and featuring characters of various genders, ages, and situations, the common thread of these stories is Shipstead’s writing, which is beautifully introspective. The characters are complex, imperfect, and therefore feel very real. I am excited to read her novels - particularly Great Circle, which I’ve heard fantastic things about - where she gets more page space to develop these characters.

Like most short story collections, this one is up and down: Some excellent offerings, some stuff that probably should have been left out.

I still think Astonish Me is Maggie Shipstead’s best work, though there are a few standout stories here.

Best of the lot: La Moretta

Great Reads: Acknowledgments, Souterrain, You Have A Friend in 10A, Backcountry

Skip: Angel Lust, Lambs

TW for a fair amount of needless animal violence and allusions to child sexual assault, all of which took away from my enjoyment of about a third of the stories included.

Other stories, like La Moretta and Souterrain were immersive and captivating and beautifully showcase Shipstead’s lovely writing and thoughtful sense of plot.

A collection of thought provoking short stories, with a wide range of characters. Well written and compulsively readable.
Many thanks to Knopf Doubleday and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Writing was so strong and the stories are dynamic. I think this will work well for people who enjoy short stories.

This is a really good short story collection. Some of the stories are super cute, and others I struggled to find engagement. However, keep in mind that short stories are not usually my forte - character development and feeling a connection is the most important thing to me in reading fiction. It is really difficult to do that with short stories.

This book is certainly worth a read- especially if you enjoy short stories.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and to #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

One of the short stories in this book takes places in an MFA program where a famous author offers the wisdom that it is imperative that the writer assume the reader is smart in a good story. This is so true of all of the short stories in the book - Maggie Shipstead absolutely writes to an intelligent reader. For me, sometimes, this was overly the case and the story lost me - my interest, my understanding, my wanting to keep reading. I also loved the first story “The Cowboy Tango” best. I also wish there had been some overlap with characters, plot connections, etc.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. The book release date is May 17, 2022.

I haven't read Great Circle yet, despite all the press around it. So when I requested an ARC of this short story collection I had no idea what to expect. I absolutely loved it. I tend to love short stories anyways- I think there's something so satisfying about the in-and-out-fast style where the author can't waste time and has to get every idea in one clear and quick picture. Shipstead is a superlative author who can paint entire murals with her spare and evocative prose. I think the first story The Cowboy Tangle was my favorite- every single word is poised on the precipice of telling everything and nothing. But the macabre turn-for-the-dark story La Moretta I'm still thinking about days later. I started this with a story a day and ended up reading the second half in a few hours, unable to pace myself. If that's not a five star read, I don't know what is.

After enjoying the chunky novel, Great Circle, I was looking forward to the bite-sized stories within You Have a Friend in 10A. Like any short story collection, I gravitated to some more than others, but I thought this was a well-written, engaging compilation. Each story felt very distinct, and I was impressed how complex each character felt despite being divulged in short, 15-minute bursts. The settings and plot were also established right away, so it was easy to sink into the meat of each chapter.

One of my favorite stories, "Acknowledgements", focused on a bitter male writer that reminisced over the woman who inspired his first novel. I couldn't help but find his boastful tone amusing, including his horrified confessions of "retweeting compliments" about his book. "The Cowboy Tango" was another of my favorites, even though the story itself was pretty simple - a love triangle played out at a dude ranch. However, it was done well and it was hard not to feel like I was working alongside a pack of horses too.

Books of short stories are the greatest palate cleansers, and they often pull me out of a slump when I'm not in the mood to commit to anything longer. This is definitely a book to look out for if you find yourself in a similar boat or just want to enjoy some great writing.

Fell short of expectations🙄
2.5-3🌟 stars
This collection of short stories written by Maggie Shipstead over a number of years was a miss for me. A good number of the stories turned me off (Acknowledgments, and You Have a Friend in 10A), just lost my interest quickly (La Moretta, Lambs) or did not seem to have a point (Angel Lust). Two of the stories were better: a concise, simply-told one about a sad love triangle on a ranch, and Souterrain, told in layers connecting a blind Frenchman and his housekeeper to intertwined tragic stories past and present.

Yes, this is a varied collection but, for me, the variety did not really help. My overall impression was of stories that rambled and took too long to set the scene, never really got to the point or just stopped rather than achieving what I would call a conclusion. Not what I expected from the author of Great Circle.

Thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

3.5 stars

You Have a Friend in 10A is a collection of ten short stories that range from a hookup in the Olympic village to a survivor story on a Pacific atoll. All of these stories are incredibly well written and evocative, providing commentary on life, death, grief, and love. I would say the one commonality that perseveres across almost all of the stories is the unlikeable male characters. Seriously, almost all of them are awful and gross. I enjoyed most of these stories, and some of them just weren't for me, which is honestly what you should expect with a collection of short stories. My favorite was probably the story that lends the collection its title, You Have a Friend in 10A, the story of a starlet who joins and leaves a religious cult, with a close second being La Moretta, a husband and wife on a honeymoon that goes sour.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was provided a free advance copy of this book by @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
This is a compilation of short stories, so it is hard to rate as a whole. And as is often the case with any work of literature (no matter the length) people can have differing opinions on it. So as I was reading I would pause after each story and give it a rating. My overall rating of 3 stars is an average of those ratings. My favorites were Souterrain (4 stars), La Moretta (5 stars, and I definitely have so many questions about this!), and In The Olympic Village (4 stars)! Most of the stories were interesting and kept my attention and only two received less than three stars. I did appreciate how different each of the stories were across different genres, settings, narration style. If you're a fan of short stories I would recommend this compilation!
It is set to be published next Tuesday, 17 May, so add it to your TBR and check it out then!
#YouHaveAFriendIn10A #NetGalley

This is a series of short, fun stories. From a love-triangle, to a ski slope, these are fun stories that will leaving you wanting more.

Maggie Shipstead’s collection of short stories written over the last ten years deal with love, death, family and relationships. Despite the stories being short, we get to know the characters well. Each with their own flaws, none of them are perfect, some of them not very likeable but all interesting. The settings for the stories are as diverse as the charcters. My favourite features a love triangle on a horse ranch and other settings range from two athletes hooking up at the Olympics, a doomed honeymoon ending in tragedy and a washed up actress on a plane trying to refine herself. I enjoyed them all and found they made an interesting contrast to Great Circle where the author had over 600 pages to fully develop her main character.

Special thanks to Know Doubleday Publishing and Net galley for the ARC of this book.

I read some of Maggie Shipsteads The Great Circle and loved her writing so much I was horrified when the e-library snapped it away before I could finish.

So yes, I was excited for short stories, because the woman does write beautifully. And I love short stories! In here there were ten and while I did not LOVE them, I liked a bit more than half. She touches on love, desperation, death and relationships especially. I want to give it 3.5 stars because my expectations were high so i'll round it up to a 4 for diversity and beautiful writing in some.

Reviewing a collection is a difficult task as the subject matter is so diverse. Maggie has always been a wordsmith, and her expertise is on display again as her characters come to life on each page.

I am a fan Maggie Shipstead's work but this collection of short stories left me with mixed fillings- a couple of the stories were fantastic but most of them just didn't do it for me.

Special thank you to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital ARC of You Have a Friend in 10A.

I love Maggie Shipstead's writing so had to read this one and was elated to be approved to read this new series of short stories. This collection of 10 short stories written over the last 10 years is incredibly thought provoking and engaging - touching on love, family, relationships and death. The characters are well developed even though the stories are short - they come with their own set of flaws and triumphs while leaving perfection in the wind. The characters are interesting and likable. I enjoyed reading a story a day while also reading some other books as well! Another triumph for Maggie

Shipstead's Great Circle was one of my most favourite books of 2021, so when I was offered the opportunity to read the ARC for her new book I was excited! However, after the masterpiece that is Great Circle, I was underwhelmed and quite disappointed by You Have A Friend in 10A.

This could be due to it being a collection of stories, which is always either hit or miss depending on the author/s and content. Although I enjoyed a few of them, particularly the first story about the headstrong cowgirl, some of the others weren't compelling enough for me to read beyond a few pages.

Shipstead obviously has talent, but maybe short stories is not her forte.

Thank you to the publicity manager who emailed me personally with the opportunity! I didn't enjoy this one as much as Great Circle but I look forward to reading more of Shipstead's work in the future.