What it is:

Girl Trouble is Jones’ first book, a collection of short stories set in her native western Kentucky. The stories tend to be longish (some might be full-fledged novellas), and they explore the dark side of love and sex and death. My favorite story from the collection, “Life Expectancy,” came out in the 2007 edition of New Stories from the South, and is about a high school girls’ basketball coach having an affair with one of his players. It’s intense.

Why it’s interesting:

I’ve written a review for the spring issue of Third Coast, so I don’t want to repeat myself here. I will say that I’ve been waiting for this collection since I first read “Life Expectancy” two years ago, and the collection delivers on the promise of that great story. Do check it out.

Further Reading:

Jim Tomlinson’s Nothing Like an Ocean is another great book of stories released this year from a Kentucky writer. Bobbie Ann Mason’s Shiloh is the classic story collection from Jones’ region.