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Book Review: You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld

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Publish Date: April 24, 2018 by Random House
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble
Category: Short Stories, Fiction, Contemporary

You know when you are talking to yourself in your head and no one else is listening but you keep talking anyway? Well, that is the vibe I got when I read most of these short stories and I loved it!

I normally don’t gravitate towards short stories, but something about the cover made me look into this book. After I read the first two chapters I knew I liked them, but since it wasn’t an ongoing story I felt something was holding me back. But, as I started whipping through each story within 20 – 40 minutes, I realized I craved the next. I kept asking: where is author, Curtis Sittenfeld, going to go to next?

To me, the overall theme was that each character was in their own head. They were concerned with what they thought outside perceptions would expect (or sometimes outcomes they were hoping for) that they completely misread situations. Some would come to realize that, some would not. Includes adult content; portrays the complexity of relationships such as marriage and friendship, and social issues such as gender and class.

The writing was authentic and relatable. Although the stories were short they packed the necessary punch to keep you engaged. After I finished each story I would think of each character “where are they now?” The cool thing about this book is that I can create the answer to that question in my own head; since aren’t we all in our own heads…see what I did there?! Is it still funny if I must point it out? Don’t answer that.

This is the first Curtis Sittenfeld book I have read and certainly not the last.

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If you have also read You Think It, I’ll Say It, or another book of short stories you adored, let us know!

I received an arc of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.


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19 thoughts on “Book Review: You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld”

  1. Glad you enjoyed it! I always find short stories to be a unique reading experience, and more effort than normal reading because you have to relearn characters so often. But at the same time, being able to get a full story in 20-40 minutes is nice. I liked her writing in Eligible…maybe I’ll check these out. Thanks for the review!

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    • Me too, these were quite sharp so I enjoyed them. The only other short stories book I read was Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout, but in that one the characters somewhat intersect or at least know of each other. I am a novel person myself.

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  13. Great review, I don’t read short stories because I always want more from the short stories so I stay clear far away from them, but I will say I am really intrigued and curious about this book after reading your review. Who knows I might check it out one day and see if I like it or not, thank you so much for sharing your awesome post and for putting this book on my radar.

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