Delicate Edible Birds (2009)

Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff

The title story in Delicate Edible Birds boasts all the intrigue and tenderness of Lauren Groff's hit debut novel, The Monsters of Templeton, as it follows a promiscuous WWII-era reporter captured by a Nazi sympathizer. Unfortunately, not every story delivers. All but three read like stiff 40-page biographies (see: "Majorette," an uninspiring story about an underestimated pretty girl). Then again, it's easy to
 forgive Groff, thanks to her ability to describe nearly anything with elegance. Take this line from her best-friend-from-hell story ''Blythe'': ''I felt resentful at the scent wafting from her, cigarette smoke and perfume like some overblown peony about to shiver apart.'' And we've got the chills too. B