Lloyd Jones: "My First Colouring Book"

Lloyd Jones, author of Mr Cassini and Mr Vogel, has released his first collection of short stories.

Before I say any more, I have to confess that this is my new favorite book of short stories, and I've read a LOT. I think of books sometimes like food and classify them according to their literary flavor and mental or spiritual nutritional value. Until now, the collected works of HH Munro were my favorite short stories, and it's a very close call, but I'd have to say that while Saki must be marginally more delicious, Lloyd Jones has both rich flavor and greater nutrition, with the occasional dollop of castor oil, because it's good for us.

The title of the book is fantastic itself, it says that there are small things inside of bright colours to be discovered and appreciated and it doesn't lie, that is what's inside. Each story has the name of a color, and one absence of color. There are many stories here in first person narrative, hard to pull off successfully and annoying to read when the author didn't pull it off, but all of these are all right, all seamless and not annoying. The stories in this collection address the small truths of any human life and bigger sorrows that we might prefer to look at from a distance.

"Brown" is beautiful, subtle, soft and perfectly paced, it proceeds to the unexpected but seamlessly fitting end. "Wine" is so incredibly powerful and profound that the reader may have to stop reading for a couple of days and chew it and try to digest it, likewise "Post Office Red," but for completely different reasons. This is an incredible collection of well-crafted stories that are a joy to read, not a bad moment's reading in it.

My First Colouring Book is Lloyd Jones' third book and is published by Seren Books, Bridgend, Wales, http://www.seren-books.com