Cover Image: The Era of Lanterns and Bells

The Era of Lanterns and Bells

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Member Reviews

Sometimes we do judge a book by its cover and it turns out to be a magical and unexpected journey between 2 covers (or swipes on a kindle :) This book is so captivating and beautifully written that I wanted to keep carrying it with me. It manages without being chaotic to fit a ton of content and emotion into a short amount of pages. It is an absolute must read!

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A quirky, interesting collection of short stories. Recommended. Loved the story of the woman who believes she is a whale. Very original.

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The Era of Lanterns and Bells
by Ann Tinkham

The extraordinary creativity of author, Ms. Ann Tinkham, has for sharing her stories; are a delight to read. Stories that explore the exceptional yet distinctive ways that people find; meaning in life and victories over the ridiculous. With a surprising point of view, that is convincing and ultimately moving; there is something about these characters' personalities, that cause a grin of recognition on the readers face.

Ann Tinkham knows how to whirl a story and has an eye for seeing the gaps in our everyday world and this is where she has built this collection of her short stories around with original characters that the reader can get a feel for and an understanding of. Rarely have I found a writer; who can write a story and make the reader feel as if they are standing there experiencing everything, just in the way that it is written. I was attracted to this by the title, of this collection of short stories and have enjoyed reading the book.

I would recommend this book to all readers; looking for something beautiful and unexpected. I could not put the book down until I was done with it; worth multiple reads (as I have done), catching somethings that were missed. Thank you, Ms. Ann for sharing your writing skill and taking us on such wonderful journeys of this amazing variety of stories. I look forward to more of your work, I received a free copy of this book and therefore I am giving a review of my own thought of her work and a 4-star rating.

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Never judge this book by it's cover. This is a collection of short stories that are wonderfully written and it will leave you wanting more stories. I can't wait to read more from this author. I will gladly buy this book and give it to my friend's.

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This book is nothing like the title suggests. It's a collection of short stories that are both odd and inspiring. I enjoyed them even though I'm not a fan of short story collections. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

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3.5 stars

Contrary to what the title suggests, this is not a book about the era of lanterns and bells. This is a collection of extremely contemporary and very quirky stories that make you smile and sometimes scratch your head at the author's wonderful thought process.

I enjoyed all the stories in this collection, especially the one from which the book takes its title. All the stories are quick reads and just when you think that the author has turned a random everyday meeting or observation into an admittedly fine story, she throws in a bit of magic and ghosts to liven things up. As someone who does not live by the sea, it is hard for me to imagine that someone would encounter a ghostly lighthouse and then tell its story from the perspective of the lighthouse itself.

More than once the words quirky and eccentric popped into my mind as I moved through the tales that Tinkham has woven for us. Even the titles for all her stories have that characteristic dash - seemingly self explanatory but with such a take on the story that the title seems to be completely misleading in its simplicity.

'A heart never broken' may be a story that has been told many times before but it was still told in a way that made it unique to this author. 'Cookies of Fortune' was a bit too symbolic in its approach to the point that the author was trying to make and could do with a rewrite but the idea behind it was certainly solid. 'Hole in the wall' is another idea that has been seen many times on television and sitcoms but it just turns that image around as you are taken inside the room looking out instead of looking in from the 'hole in the wall'.

All eight stories are completely different from each other and it is difficult to categorize this collection as specifically one type. It is a fast and fun read for certain and I liked more than half of the stories which makes this collection a hit with me.

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If you are looking for some inspirational stories of a different kind, then this is a book you need to check out. Terrible things happen everywhere, but these cute little stories can restore just a little faith in humanity, as well as give you a smile or two!

Loved this book, and I look forward to more works from this author!

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Sometimes we do judge a book by its cover and it turns out to be a magical and unexpected journey between 2 covers (or swipes on a kindle :) This book is so captivating and beautifully written that I wanted to keep carrying it with me. It manages without being chaotic to fit a ton of content and emotion into a short amount of pages. It is an absolute must read!

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I hate it when I have read a book I neither liked sufficiently to rant and rave in pleasure nor disliked passionately to slate and shout.
Yet in originality and concept each story is a potential masterpiece. That they fail to deliver or resonate in a secondary manner is what is so disappointing and leaves me verging on descriptive words like nice and average.
I perhaps expected too much from the blurb and wonderful title but that is a reflection of the project. Great ideas, interesting characters but not compelling nor convincing stories. I think where promise or expectation is not delivered it can deepen the disappointment.

Maybe, Ann Tinkham excels more in a longer format but this collection has not drawn me further into her work.
I can only be honest.
I cannot recommend this book; neither though could I urge you to avoid it and save your mind and money. No one story stands out as anything other than okay; none are terrible. With short story writers I am looking for two basic reactions, two things to hit home to me at the end of the account.

Firstly, wow, brilliantly brought together, a clever story.

Secondly, bother that's the end, I get it, but I could spend time in this world for much longer and I want to learn more about these characters.

Both elements were missing here so not deserving of more than 2.5 stars.

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A short story about a sentient haunted lighthouse - I did not know I needed that, but apparently I do. I would have never expected that, but it was very atmospheric and well-written. That was just the one that stood out in its weirdness, but really all the stories in this collection have something elusive and vague to them, like the meaning is just beyond reach yet unobtainable. However, they are also very human and uplifting, if at times rather dark and serious. The combined message seems to be: be your best quirky self, and expect the unexpected at every corner and just below the surface of what you experience.

~ I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all opinions expressed above are my own.

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I did what I tell my patrons not to do - I judged a book by its cover - It intrigued me with the lighthouse on the cover. Ordinarily I wouldn't have picked up this book - I'm not a fan of short stories. But while I didn't get what I thought I would get I got so much more Each story stands alone and is quite thought provoking, Truthfully there was more "content" in these short stories than some of the full-length novels that are being published. a train operator life is hanged when someone jump in front of his train, the journalist who helps a homeless man, and the aerialist who leaves the circus will be forever etched in my mind., An excellent offering.

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Ann Tinkham’s The Era of Lanterns and Bells is a vivid short story collection that is as captivating and calming as an ocean wave. This reviewer was especially entranced by the title story where a lighthouse narrates the lives of the people that look after her. This story was a unique point of view that I look forward to using in my secondary English classroom. I also found the stories about the colorful pools, fortune cookies and the Golden Gate Bridge and the arborist’s love letters to be entrancing. Great short stories to use in the classroom!

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I am never at a loss to review a good book. Or a bad one. Not a loss of words, because words are my job.

But once in a while, I come across a rare treasure, and I find it very difficult to describe a rare treasure. My words fail me.

As they have in this case.

The best I can come up with does not do justice in the least to Ms Tinkham's collection of essays. But I do know a Stradivarius when I see one. So I'll say this:


You. Have. To. Read. This. Book. I don't care if you beg or borrow it, put it on a wish list, click on want to read, do anything, just get the book.

Ann Tinkham is a word poet, a word tinkerer, a wordsmith. No, she is a word warrior.

I hate being right and when it comes to books I'm right 99% of the time. If I bin it and tell you I've binned it, even though there are hymns being written about a book I've binned, you can go look in a year, 5 years, 10 years down the line. The book cannot be found in print or electronically and the author is now teaching English in the Philippines. Or driving a crane.

So here's my stack, I'm all in. Barring an untimely death falling down a mountain or out of a Douglas fir, this author will write again. Within 20 years (and I'm being exceedingly generous with the time span here) Tinkham will write a full length novel and not only will publishers fall over themselves to get at it. Readers will nominate it. She will get a reader's choice award, she will be on the New York Times bestseller list, and she will be nominated for a Pullizer .


Like I said - I hate being right, so check back in 20 years.


I found myself thinking about Truman Capote and Norman Mailer when I read this book.


The best authors take a story and without being too fancy or prosaic, turn it into a human interest fireside-tale that resonates with every single human being. Everyone.

The very best authors inspire us to change our world by pointing out the problems and the beauties in it that make us want to stand for something or against something. They inspire us to take action to destroy or preserve. And she has done exactly that.


Ms Tinkham showed me worlds I have never seen. The worlds within the world we live in. We have all caught a train, given money to the homeless, but we have done so from our world, not theirs.

Nothing interests us as much as other humans, for their victories are our own, their struggles ours too. I'll never look at a lighthouse in the same way again or a captive whale.

A beautifully crafted set of essays that have you feeling as if you've been invited to a twelve course dinner where each course was lovingly prepared just for you.

And you can tell, she took her time with each one. There's nothing rushed about any essay, it's been mulled over and shaped to produce an absolute wonder to read.

I am delighted to rate this book 5 stars. I'd give it ten if I could. I'm definitely getting a hard copy (bugger the tree huggers) and it's going to form part of my personal collection.

Side note: "Now and again thousands of memories
converge, harmonize,
arrange themselves around a central idea
in a coherent form,
and I write a story."

Katherine Anne Porter

I think that's whappened here...

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A collection of short, lovely stories. While a different “voice” in each tale, the writing is consistently exceptional. Sad, magical, and beautiful.

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This is a beautiful treasure trove of short stories. I love these kinds of tales where a skillful author takes something mundane and through a great imagination and the power and magic of words weaves it into something quite extraordinary. Each story is exciting, original, and charming. I loved reading this little book. My thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Every so often (even despite personal reservations) you take a chance on an unknown author and it turns out to be pure magic. Like this. What a lovely collection of short stories. And magic isn’t even that far off as descriptions go, because most of the veer into the magical realism territory. The lighthouse on the cover (haunted in its own way)…it hates the sea, because the sea has made ghosts out of the men who took care of it. See, I love these kinds of stories. Something ordinary made extraordinary through the power of words and imagination. Every one of these is an original and exciting tale of creatures bipedal, quadrupedal and aquatic that not only subvert expectations, but also leave the reader with something akin to, dare I say it, optimism or at the very least quiet awe. This collection has that feeling of looking down at the puddles and finding the reflections of the stars. And charm. It might be the most charming and lovey book I’ve read recently. Beyond mere enjoyment, safe to say I loved this book. It’s brief, maybe 160 minutes for 196 pages, one evening very well spent. For fans of whimsical delights and flights of fancy. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

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