I am new to Katherine Heiny, but I won’t be for long! I thoroughly enjoyed this short story collection. All of these stories about contemporary life are so relatable and real. The stories bring about a lot of emotion and dry humor. And they are all the perfect length, long enough to get to know the characters but not too long. I can’t even pick a favorite or even a least favorite because I really liked each of them.

Chicken-Flavored and Lemon-Scented: These DMV employees came alive, and I chuckled at how they determined who would get each tester.

Damascus: Mia realizes that her son Gordey might be doing drugs, but she ends up doing drugs with someone who she never thought she would.

Twist and Shout: oh, elder care, all the elder care frustrations here with how her Republican father watches Fox News and swallowed his hearing aid.

Turn Back, Turn Back: Woman learns her wannabe actor husband might not be telling her the truth.

Game and Rituals: Young woman makes a game out of everything she does in her life.

CobRa: Wife goes all Marie Kondo but finds it might not be as life-changing as she thinks it will be.

561: Second wife helps the first wife move. She realizes they have been through a lot together. (If you force me, I think this one was my favorite.)

Pandemic Behavior: She’s locked down with her alcoholic roommate and Zooms with her neurologist. (If you force me, I think this one was my least favorite - too soon, too soon.)

Bridesmaid, Revisited: Funny and sad story as a woman wears a bridesmaid dress to work and recounts the “friendship” and wedding itself.

King Midas: Oscar is seeing the elusive Tessa.

Sky Bar: Fawn’s flight is delayed in her hometown, and she reflects on her short marriage as a teenager.

Thank you to NetGalley for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am not usually a reader of short stories, but I absolutely loved this collection. It was so bright, heartfelt, and page-turning! I think this would be great for a wide variety of readers. The characters are amazingly fleshed out for such a short piece of writing. I felt like I knew these people I was reading about. It was so good.

These stories are utter perfection. There’s humor, there’s interpersonal relationship building, it’s everything I want in bite sized stories that leave me feeling refreshed. I will definitely be ordering her entire backlist after this because she is a phenomenal author!

This collection of short stories examines everyday relationships of friends and families. The characters of each are drawn extremely well by the author. This collection was funny, sad, and entertaining but I’m not sure any one of them stood out as particularly memorable. Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

So, I think this author can write. I REALLY like her writing style. However, I'm not really a fan of short stories and these are why. I wanted more from each story. I liked all the stories a lot--but right when it got into the "good part", the stories would end. I wanted to read more from each story. That being said, if that doesn't bother you when reading short stories, you might like this book. The characters are fun and quirky, and I did like the slices of life each story gives us. I am excited to pick up this author's other books--full length stories.

Thanks to #NetGalley and publishers for an #ARC of #GamesAndRituals.
This book is comprised of short stories, and each short story is enough to be a full story on its own. Sometimes, the downside to short stories is the incomplete feeling. However, I did not get that from this book, which was a nice change.
Unfortunately, I did not find myself rushing to read this book, trying to sneak an extra 5 minutes to get another couple of pages in. It was a lovely book to read, just not a book I NEEDED to read.

Games and Rituals is a short story collection by Katherine Heiny. Standard Deviation was one of my favorite books I read last year and I had high hopes for this one. To me the collection was a bit uneven, with a few stand outs and the rest a bit forgettable. 561 and Turn Back, Turn Back were excellent and I wished I could have continued to read about those characters. I also enjoyed Chicken-Flavored and Lemon-Scented. She has a real knack for understanding human behavior and the nuances of relationships. Unfortunately I feel like her humor that I so appreciated in Standard Deviation was missing in this collection. While she seems to have an intimate knowledge of the workings of white middle/upper middle class, I would have liked a little more diversity. Overall I thought it was fine, but was disappointed it did not leave a larger impression. 4 stars, rounded up from 3.5. Thank you to Net Galley and Knopf for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

The good news is that this short story collection is pretty readable and breezy if you need something quick to distract you, and Katherine Heiny has some pretty astute observations about human behavior in contemporary America (within a specific demographic at least). The downside is that the need to be funny, of the moment, and a bit quirky often makes these observations feel somehow mundane.

This is yet again another incredible short story compilation that I highly recommend.

Each story is about s those dysfunctional aspects in each relationship that either break us or make us stronger. With almost poetic prose, each story floats along slowly, allowing the reader to grab it before it escapes our grasp at the perfect moment, leaving us satisfied yet wanting more.

Overall an enjoyable and thought-provoking read on life in general and what goes on in our heads when our relationships seem a bit questionable.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Heiny does it again with Games and Rituals, her newest collection of eleven short stories. Each story profiles a unique universe of quirky characters - all deeply flawed yet all of whom I found myself rooting for in the end. Heiny's ability to write with humor yet heartbreaking candor is unparalleled. Games and Rituals highlights what it truly means to be human, including the everyday joy, losses, hope, and heartbreak that lead us to new beginnings.

Another smash hit from Katherine Heiny. I'd actually already read 561 already, which may have sated me had I known that whilst waiting so patiently for this collection to come out. Generally, I'm not the world's hugest fan of short stories, but Heiny raises the bar with these. My issue was that I'd become so invested in the characters of a previous story that I'd fail to connect with the ones in the next. For some reason, possibly excellent writing, thoughtful characterisation, propelled plot action, this didn't happen with this collection. I bade farewell to the previous lot and welcomed the next ones in.
The first story (Chicken Flavoured and Lemon Scented) is about 4 driving instructors and was just so absorbing. Damascus was truly funny as was the story about the old dude who accidentally swallowed his hearing aid thinking it was a cashew nut. Turn Back Turn Back was truly a work of art and I keep thinking about it, with the little girls having their story read to them "She should listen to that bird, he's told her twice now." to the sleuthing of the mom.
I only liked the pandemic details in "pandemic behaviour". In the other stories, it dated and aged the stories terribly. And yet the other stories were still fantastic.

Games and Rituals by Katherine Heiny is a collection of stories I absolutely loved reading, one at a time, as I ran my kids around to their activities. They were the perfect length to occupy me as I waited outside their schools, gym, and hockey rink. The author is an incredible observer of the quirkiness inherent in everyday life, and the perfect narrator to then package and present it to in fictionalized form. Each story was an absolute gem!

I LOVED Katherine Heiny's Standard Deviation and Early Morning Riser and for that reason I clicked 'read now' despite not reading short stories. These were great, for short stories, she really got into the heads of her characters, however, I felt unsatisfied because I wanted more.
So to summarise, if you like short stories you will probably love this, if you don't this won't change your mind, sorry.

If you are a white woman aged 17-45 who feels like domestic life with a man is prison, this is the book for you. This book makes me want to never want to get married or even trust a man.

Chicken-Flavored and Lemon-Scented
Never before had I considered the sexual and power dynamics of the DMV. There was a one-off line about girls who look like they could be bribed into giving their driving test examiner a blowjob, and that seemed out-of-place and jarred me in a bad way. Is a cryptogram a crossword puzzle or is it something different?
3 stars

Damascus
This story repeats how unbelievably great the son is! And I certainly didn’t believe it. This mom just felt really pathetic to me—outside of one-sided relationships with her son, mom, and ex-husband, she seems to have nothing going on. There was a joke about the mom being 100% sure her mom made an afghan (and then it wasn’t), which limits how smart I found the main character in terms of how 100% was used. There was another line in the afghan blanket part of if afghan blankets were toilet paper in 2020, they would have been rich? I don’t think that was relatable or correct or endearing. I liked the overall sentiment of the story but I was kept from buying in entirely.
2.5 stars

Twist & Shout
I liked the opening, I liked the close, and I think this will sit familiar with a lot of white women in terms of familial frustration and reckoning.
4 stars

Turn Back, Turn Back
I liked this story and found it to be realistic but think I’m missing some connection. I felt for the main character though. Intuition girlll
3.25 stars

Games and Rituals
I was going to accuse the cover of being too similar to Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan, but it makes a little more sense now. This one hurted! Should I act up to my man?
3.25 stars

CobRa
I quite liked this one. Let it be known that she strays from the KonMari method almost immediately when she starts decluttering possessions that aren’t hers—but this is made known really well by the author and the true intent of CobRa is clear. I think having this story be from the male perspective adds a lot while still keeping to theme. As a KonMari fanatic I relate to all here—and timely as Marie Kondo herself is giving up tidying to focus on her family.
4.5 stars

561
Girl a dirty carrot??? We are not the same. Jokes aside, I don’t think this was a helpful depiction of suicide and hesitate to believe that a 24/7 line shuts down one hour a night when the two employees sleep at the same time.
1.75 stars

Pandemic Behavior
I groaned when I got into this one like ugh, here’s the COVID story. I liked it though. I like Esther’s dialogue. I thought it ended a little abruptly.
3.75 stars

Bridesmaid, Revisited
Aneurysm is spelled incorrectly.
There’s a weird metaphor about an erection that I don’t think lands right.
The entire plot line with the best friend adds nothing to me.
Actual review of the story: This chick needs to touch some grass!
2.25 stars

King Midas
I truly felt nothing as a result of this. I didn’t find a single character endearing. Men will do anything but go to therapy.
2.5 stars

Sky Bar
Bestie the wigwam??? This girl cannot make a good choice to save her life. I understand the emotional stunting is the point but this was just sad.
2.25 stars

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for allowing me to read an early copy of this story collection. I enjoyed the stories, especially the slyly funny one about a woman whose father eats his $4000 hearing aid thinking it's a cashew when he isn't even supposed to be eating cashews due to high blood pressure. And the story of the man whose wife is using the KonMari method and he is afraid she will throw him away. These stories are intelligent and show a nuanced humanity.

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. A huge range of characters some I really empathised with and found quite funny.
Loved the writing style and will definitely be looking for more from this author!

I am not a big fan of short stories, but I really enjoyed them in Games and Rituals. Katherine did an amazing job with all 11 of the stories. The characters all had their flaws and it really captures what it's like being human. These stories show different parts of life through marriage, being parents, getting older, and life during the COVID pandemic. I feel that short stories are often forgettable, but I do not think that's the case with this. I enjoyed this book a lot. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I was fortunate to receive an advance of this collection of short stories, and really enjoyed it! Katherine Heiny writes wonderfully flawed and quirky characters with an assortment of angst: in "Damascus" the mother who worries her teenage son has found drugs finds herself in a compromising position with mother/son roles reversed; the wife reading the bedtime story to her two young daughters in "Turn Back, Turn Back" who discovers out of the mouths of babes a Starbucks babycinno receipt and her struggling actor husband's affair; in "561" (my favorite), karma comes full circle as Charlie/561 finds herself helping move her husband's ex-wife out of the family home and out of each other's lives forever. These stories flowed and soared and I didn't want them to end.

Unique collection of short stories. Each of these stories truly evoked their own universe and characters, while reading I didn’t experience them running together, or any feeling out of place or unnecessary.

I am not a huge fan of short story collections personally, I find them harder to retain and refer back to, because of the amount of separate stories in one book, but this one was enjoyable for me, and I would recommend to someone who enjoys short stories.

Thank you to NetGalley for gifting me an E-Arc in return for a review!

I am so happy to have read an early copy of Games and Rituals by Katherine Heiny. I loved Early Morning Riser and really enjoy reading short stories, so I had high hopes for this collection. I was not disappointed! I think I enjoyed reading every single story, which must be some kind of new record for me - that never happens. I particularly enjoyed the first story (Chicken Flavored and Lemon Scented) about a woman whose job is to test new drivers for their licenses (yikes!) as well as the story titled 561, which is both humourous and heartbreaking - something I've found Heiny executes so well. All of her characters are so real - they all have flaws (many have LOTS of flaws - ha!), but all are sympathetic or relatable in some way. And her side characters are just a delight, which was something I really enjoyed about Early Morning Riser. I can't wait for others to pick this up and will be recommending it to all my short-story-loving friends.