Ox Tales

Oxfam have recently launched a series of four little books of short stories by well known authors. Earth, Air, Fire and Water are the themes for each book and the books are called Ox Tales. They are about 200 pages each and contain stories by some of the best known names in fiction today. I've read the first volume - Earth - and found it well worth reading. If I was still travelling to and from work by bus they would be ideal books for the journey.

Earth contains stories from Rose Tremain, Ian Rankin, Kate Atkinson and Nicholas Shakespeare, amongst others and a poem by Vikram Seth. All the stories are of a high standard and I found the book useful as an introduction to authors I hadn't read before such as Jonathan Coe and Marina Lewycka. I can see I shall have a list of new authors to try when I've finished all four volumes.

If you like short stories - try these - you won't be disappointed