Scattered Showers by Rainbow Rowell

Scattered Showers (2022) is a collection of nine short stories by Rainbow Rowell. Several of the stories feature characters from the author’s other works.

Here are brief summaries of each of the short stories:

“Midnights” - This story spans the course of several New Year's Eves from 2011 to 2014. As the years pass, Mags and Noel's friendship develops into something more.

“Kindred Spirits” - Elena camps out to see Star Wars: Episode VII and bonds with Troy and Gabe in the line. At first, she doesn’t understand why Gabe is not talking to her at all. The title made me think of Anne of Green Gables.

“Winter Songs for Summer” - Summer grieves her break-up by lying on her dorm room floor and crying while listening to “Silent All These Years” by Tori Amos. Benji, the guy who lives immediately below Summer, helps Summer move on by giving her mix CDs and expanding her outlook. As a Tori Amos fan, I identified with this story.

“The Snow Ball” - Libby hangs out with Owen as he prepares to attend the high school Snow Ball. She's resentful that her best friend isn't spending the evening with her watching movies.

“If the Fates Allow” - Reagan (from the novel Fangirl) and her grandfather spend Christmas together in 2020 during the Covid pandemic. Both are cautious and decide to spend the holiday together and apart from the rest of their family. Reagan connects with her Grandfather’s neighbor Mason over Jell-O salad and their shared caution over covid. This was a nice story that captured the time period really well.

“The Prince and the Troll” - A man from the road brings Starbucks to a muddy troll under the bridge.

“Mixed Messages” - This story revisits Jennifer and Beth years after the novel Attachments took place. I was glad they were still close friends.

“Snow for Christmas” - Simon spends Christmas with Baz's family. I haven't read the Simon Snow trilogy yet, so i wasn't familiar with these characters.

“In Waiting” - An author's characters live in limbo before she writes them into a story. I thought this was a fascinating premise for a story.

The volume was a fun read and good mix of romantic stories that gave me a taste for Rowell’s other works.

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