THIS is the book you need in your beach bag this summer! It's smart, fun, and shows people with all their beautiful faults. This is a book of short stories about people- it's about relationships, and life, and the glorious hot mess we find ourselves in. I loved every story in this book and I can't wait to meet the author in April! https://booksnooks.wordpress.com/2018/04/22/you-think-it-ill-say-it/

In this collection of ten short stories, Curtis Sittenfeld examines a variety of relationships. A thread of a sort of envy runs through most of them, whether a married woman envying the ease with which a high school tormenter has forgotten the pain she inflicted or a neglected housewife's recognition that a summer camp encounter has turned into a fraud.

My favorite story is "The World Has Many Butterflies," from which the collection's title comes. A man and woman, married to others, play a flirtatious game when they're at parties or their children's activities. For one of them, this interplay takes on a sexual undercurrent. Does the other person feel that way, though? Sittenfeld makes you wonder. She asks you whether the games we play are ever fair.

The only problem with these stories is that you wish some of them would continue, and a couple feel too similar to each other.The thing is, though, when each story is over, you find yourself wondering and questioning and thinking and, in some cases, wanting more.

One of my counselling lecturers said something that has stuck with me – “When someone is telling you a story, always listen for the rub.” I knew exactly what he meant. It’s the bit where things don’t quite add up, where someone suddenly reveals more than you expect or conversely, less than you expect. Or the bit where someone reveals a little guilt or anxiety or anger or shame. There’s always a giveaway – the story is told with a ‘but’ or an ‘although’ – however, you have to listen for it.

Curtis Sittenfeld’s You Think It, I’ll Say It, is a collection of short stories, each with their own rub. The stories are about ordinary relationships and situations – a woman runs into a high school frenemy; a volunteer at a women’s refuge takes a disliking to a new, overly enthusiastic colleague; a lonely college student is befriended by a charismatic classmate; a single mother tries to combine work and parenting.

Sittenfeld doesn’t throw her characters curveballs – she’s much too crafty for that. Instead, it’s the small, seemingly inconsequential details that provide the turning points and in each story she reveals the unease, disenchantment, regret and envy that plagues our modern, middle-class lives.

I had a strong instinctive sense that, among these poised, preppy, winsomely eating-disordered girls, I couldn’t compete for male attention.

Some will judge these stories as familiar, of the ‘first world problems’ variety, however, Sittenfeld’s insights into interior worlds give her characters depth, and the stories are believable, relevant and often witty.

In ‘The World Has Many Butterflies’, a discontented wife is engaged in a bitchy game by a male acquaintance. The game is called ‘you think it, I’ll say it’ and when the ending of this particular story is revealed, it gives the title of the book meaning, illustrating that our initial judgements of people are not always accurate.

Was it possible she had been bored for the entire time she and Keith had lived in Houston? For her entire adulthood? Because, alarmingly, I’ll Think It, You Say It left her as cheerful and energized as a Zumba class.

I won’t pick a favourite – there’s not a single weak link in this collection. It’s rare that I become engrossed in short stories but I couldn’t put You Think It, I’ll Say It down.

4.5/5 Impressive.

I received my copy of You Think It, I’ll Say It from the publisher, Random House, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Short stories are the perfect palate cleanser. Usually, with a book of short stories, I read a couple and then move on to my next novel. The ten short stories in Curtis Sittenfeld's new book wasn't one I was going to put down until I was finished, each one leaving me hungry for more. Each story and its characters are so well developed, I didn't want them to end. I was sad to see on story end, but was just as excited, however, to see what the next story would bring.

Sittenfeld writes real characters dealing with real-life issues. She doesn't hold back with details, even some that readers might find taboo like thoughts of adultery, jealousy, and masturbation. You Think It, I'll Say It is a perfect title for this collection. Each story contains the thoughts of characters that are never said out loud, giving the reader a privileged peek inside their minds. The main character in each one seems to be evaluating their lives based on a loss, a disappointment, a missed opportunity, a misperception, a grudge. All of these thoughts are in their own head and find themselves having to face their internal dialogue in these stories.

This is by far my favorite Sittenfeld book. If you enjoy short stories, as I do, these won't disappoint. And if you aren't a fan of the genre, I bet this book could change your mind.

This is a collection of short stories about relationships. They are all different types- romantic, friends, work friends and people whose paths cross. The relationship, no matter how long or short, are usually intense and arouse intense feelings.

They are well crafted and interesting. I am usually not a big short story fan but these are quite interesting and have a unique spin. They don't turn out the way I expected and that's a good thing. The author is talented and the book is wonderfully readable.

This is a great collection by a talented author. I highly recommend it. Thanks to Net Galley for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Ten short stories by the author of one of the Pride and Prejudice cash-ins. Despite the fact that I thought the Austen aspect of that novel a failure, I'd liked aspects of the author's writing.

Some of these short pieces showed that same interesting focus on perceptions of others, and how they alter, or how they are wrong. I really liked a couple of the stories, and others I forgot after a day or so, but my overall impression is that Sittenfeld is strongest as a novelist.

At least, many of these short stories read like novels smashed down into short form, heavy on the narrator summarizing complicated lives or situations in order to deliver the concluding scene/s. There was also a strong sense of northeast/New York City sensibility in spite of the settings being in various parts of the US.

At best, Sittenfeld demonstrated facility with free indirect discourse, and a great sense of the tension between dialogue and pacing, featuring a variety of characters mostly in their thirties and forties. I enjoyed the stories, though they were easy to put down, and I tended to reach for other things before picking them up again, but I don't think that's her fault so much as my needing to be in a certain mood for contemporary middle class relationship and identity slice-of-life.

I tried to connect with the stories in this collection but I couldn't get interested. I'm sure the book will be a success for millennial readers. I apologize and thank you for giving me the opportunity to read it.

This collection of short stories missed the mark for me. Most of the characters I felt I could not connect to.

I am always skeptical about short stories but this is one collection about which I can say, READ THIS! So good, so true. Not only did I laugh out loud but it all felt so real. Each story is pretty short and the entire collection is an easy read in an afternoon. But I am still thinking about these stories and I know I'll re-read this collection, often. Curtis Sittenfeld has this crazy talent and ability to express your inner most-cringeworthy thoughts and feelings in a way that feels like you wrote it yourself and it's nothing to be ashamed of. I love these stories.

You Think It, I'll Say It comes out next week on April 24, 2018, you can purchase HERE! Definitely give this is a try even if you don't love short stories!!

Their deliberately childless life, their cat, Converse (named not for the shoe but for the political scientist), their free-range beef and night sand weekends of reading and grading and high-quality television series—it was fine and a little horrible.

These stories of upper middle-class life in the Midwest are well-written and compelling. Unfortunately, stories of suburban couples, parents and women comparing themselves to other women hold no appeal for me.. I would recommend them for anyone interested in upper middle class life, Midwestern life, or middle-aged marriage. They're just not for me.

Witty and fun short stories by the always great Curtis Sittenfeld. I recommend this book for anyone wanting some escape fiction.

Curtis Sittenfeld is such an amazing, talented astute writer that I'm always interested in reading what she writes. Great story collection.

This short story collection features ten short stories from author Sittenfeld, featuring a cast of diverse, real characters. Told from a variety of point of views--a bored housewife, a wealthy bachelor, a new mom, and more--they offer pointed and humorous insight into current society.

I typically am not a huge fan of short stories because they don't give me enough information about the characters, and I'm a very character-driven person. But when I saw that Curtis Sittenfeld had a short story collection coming out, I knew I wouldn't be able to resist. She gets a lot of press for Prep, but I feel like American Wife and Eligible are both still so fully ingrained in my brain. I loved them both so much, and they are go-to recommendations when I get the standard, "oh you like to read, what should I read?" question.

But, I digress. Sittenfeld. Short stories. I shouldn't have been surprised, honestly, that her collection would be above the typical fare. I probably enjoyed this set of short stories more than any other I've read in ages. It's so well-written and engaging. As with Sittenfeld's other work, the stories are so wonderfully descriptive, so you can immediately picture the characters and their situations. I felt like I was quickly transported to the setting of each story as soon as it began.

The stories are similar but not repetitive, which was also refreshing, and seem to be real, instead of striving to reach some sort of literary bar that makes them tedious and therefore unreadable. They are about real, relatable characters struggling with misinformed impressions, lingering resentments, and different types of relationships. But - oh hooray - even better, the majority of the stories didn't leave me with that unfinished feeling. They are honestly fascinating, and I enjoyed how they all start (I enjoyed them all the way through too, of course, but it seemed like each had a bit of a common thread in its beginning). I could have read more about each story's characters, sure, but I didn't feel frustrated when they ended, which was so amazing and different for me.

I really liked each and every story. For instance, there's "Vox Clamantis in Deserto" which begins with a woman (girl?) who idolizes a fellow college student from afar in line at the post office. Two of the stories, "Plausible Deniability" and "The Prairie Wife," had actual twists and surprises, which was so much fun. And some of the longing that came across in these characters was very touching and heartfelt. I have a soft spot for slightly nerdy high school/college kids, even once they're all grown up, and for slightly fatigued moms, so these stories were my cup of tea.

Overall, this was a great set of short stories. They are filled with real people set in complicated yet enjoyable and interesting situations. They are easy-to-read and don't leave you wanting for more--except maybe more stories. This only cements my feeling that I'll continue to read (and adore) anything Ms. Sittenfeld writes.

"You Think It, I'll Say It" is a collection of ten short stories centered around one singular theme - snap judgments, and how those preconceived notions people hold may or may not always be accurate. These stories touch upon how these aforementioned judgments affect our lives in ways that tend to reveal themselves when we least expect it.

This book was my first introduction to Curtis Sittenfeld. Admittedly, I assumed that the author was a man, and while reading the collection, I was impressed with how well "he" was able to write from a female perspective. When I finished the book and read the "About the Author" section at the end, I was surprised to learn that Curtis Sittenfeld is indeed a woman. I also found it ironic as it caused me to examine the own snap judgment I made regarding the author.

My favorite stories in this collection are "The Prairie Wife" and "Plausible Deniability". I believe that in these two stories, Curtis' writing skills and her ability to shock the reader really shine. In these particular stories, once again, I was forced to examine the snap judgments I made regarding the characters in the book. I'm sure it was intentional on the part of the author, and I think it was absolutely brilliant. Other strong stories in the collection include "Off the Record", in which a journalist and mother of a newborn baby interviews a rising starlet whom she hasn't seen in 3 years, and "The World Has Many Butterflies", where a married woman plays a harmless game with a married man in her social circle and inadvertently falls for him, and from which the title of the book is derived.

There are a couple of stories that I didn't really care for, such as "Volunteers are Shining Stars" and "Vox Clamantis in Deserto", but they didn't take away from the collection as a whole. My main gripe with this book is that the characters tend to lack diversity - after awhile, the protagonists began to blend together. I came to expect that the story would be told from the perspective of a white, suburban, relatively well-off man or woman. This trend didn't necessarily take away from the impact of the stories, but perhaps the collection could have been stronger if there was a bit more variety in the narrators of each story.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. The stories were entertaining and a few of them really made me think. This collection will be published on 4/24/18 and I would recommend it to those looking to be challenged about their own snap judgments. As a result of reading this book, I feel compelled to check out other works released by Curtis Sittenfeld.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group! I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not normally a short story reader, but I enjoy Curtis Sittinfeld’s writing so decided to give this book a shot. Glad I did. Well-crafted characters, compelling interpersonal dynamics and an interesting mix of stories kept me reading for hours. I just wish she’d left out the political stuff as it may deter some of her reader base.

*will add to additional online venues upon publication.

What a great collection of short stories by the talented author Curtis Sittenfeld. As soon as I started reading the first story, I knew I was going to enjoy this book. Each story stands on its own, with interesting characters in ordinary circumstances. But taken as a whole, the collection of stories work so well together. There are themes running through each story, about how others see and how we see ourselves, about the lies we tell ourselves and each other, and our relationships and what makes us human.

I enjoyed all of the stories, but my favorites were "The World Has Many Butterflies", "The Prairie Wife", and "Volunteers are Shining Stars". These are the ones that really stuck with me and had me thinking long after I finished the book. Highly recommend this wonderful collection of stories.

With great insight into her characters, Curtis Sittlenfield has shown that she is a master of the short story. Thoughtful, and incisive these short stories will linger with the reader longer than it takes to read them!

I love short stories because if I’m
Not into one I can skip on to the next. There’s no need to do that with You Think It, I’ll Say It. Every single story was perfection! Most ended with me wanting more which is exactly how a short story should end. Loved!

Short story collections are often a mixed bag, with a few great pieces and others that seem to have been written solely to fill enough pages for a respectable book, but You Think It, I'll Say It is one of the few that I've read with consistently well-written stories. I found them even more interesting being set in the present day, with Donald Trump featured in two stories. Most of the stories, characters and their motivations felt quite true to life, with erroneous assumptions, differing interpretations, awkwardness, closed-off perspectives, misunderstandings, and the delusional truths we all tell ourselves.

I read Sittenfeld's Prep a decade ago, but all I remember is that I enjoyed it. You Think It, I'll Say It was so enjoyable and satisfying that I'm convinced that Prep deserves a re-read, along with the rest of her writing.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of this book.