Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Compelling, written in the first person and so very personal, with a real change in tone in the last chapter. The characters are fully drawn, completely real and rounded. The story is a dramatic one but is told stoically and without drama or fuss, it feels quiet, like the narrator and asks questions.

Three Men in a Boat and Three Men on the Bummel, Jerome K Jerome

I thoroughly enjoyed both these stories. Jerome is very funny and has a really easy writing style. The first story follows Jerome and his two friends; Harris and George as they row up the Thames, camping out along the way. It's not so much about the journey as about observations on friendship, camping, travelling, packing, locks etc etc. It is the human experience laid out in an easy, funny way. Three Men on the Bummel is even less about the journey / bummel, and is more linked stories and observations.

Jerome is very loveable, sarcastic and plays dumb. He's an unreliable narrator but what is really going on is always quite clear, he seems not to take the job seriously and chats as if he is writing to a close friend. It's easy to see why Three Men in a Boat is as famous, referenced and well-regarded as it is.

Selected Short Stories, Guy de Maupassant

Maupassant's short stories are very vivid, they were written in the 19th Century and apparently were too risqué for the British at that time. I can see why that would have been, Idyll is still uncomfortable reading (though why is hard to answer) and Boule de Suif has lost none of it's moral arguments; the same distasteful, hypocritical honourability and respectability still pervades. Some of Maupassant's stories are beautifully drawn, the events happen off-screen and we see, not even the aftermath, but relatively small human decisions. All have a moral question or a heartbreaking observation.

For all the worth-while questioning in some of the stories there are some in which the role of men vs. women is problematic - with unflattering stereotypes of both male and female roles. There are probably fewer stories like this though and more which are beautiful and unabashed looks at the way people think, act and justify themselves. Many of the stories are just as relatable now as they were when they were written.