A fun sweet read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my ARC.

It is amazing just how much emotion can be packed in six little words. In Six Word Stories, Doug Weller finds way to bring the reader to laughter, to tears, and to self examination. This is a powerful way to tell very simple stories. I look forward to what comes next from Mr. Weller.

Six Word Stories by Doug Weller was an entertaining, fast read of short stories created by just six words. I was a bit tired after reading a few in a row and started spacing out. There didn't seem to be a reasoning behind the way the stories were organized and it was too many in one section that made this a bit overwhelming.

** spoiler alert ** This book is a quick funny read, but there are no themes connecting the stories. They could have been divided into sections like comedy/ tragedy/ horror/ memoir, etc. even at just 6 words long, but they seemed to be sorted randomly and that makes the whole project feel disjointed and disconnected.
A lot of the chosen stories read as just a series of words or even a Facebook status update or a Tweet. Some of them are surprising or funny; very well written. But most of the stories were about what you’d expect. This is cute little coffee-table book, but I’d expect to find it in my doctor’s waiting room or something.

The Six Word Stories that can be found in this collection are creative and transportive. Like any good six word story, so much more depth can be imagined beyond the words on the page. Some entries were serious while others were more lighthearted. My only wish was that these were grouped accordingly in the book so that the reader could expect such a shift in tone. Overall, this concept gives me a great idea for lessons in the future.

""Scream!" I ordered. The stars obeyed."

Most people will know the famous six word story by Ernest Hemingway ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn."), which is the basis for this series. That story works, because it is filled with pathos, and sparks the reader's imagination.

"Laughing women peeled off their skin."

The six word stories in this book fall in several categories, but most prominently the ones that are basically a little joke or witticism, which is my least favourite kind - to me, short jokes aren't stories, they don't really speak to the reader's imagination.

"Nobody knew where the oceans went."

Thankfully, there are other kinds, those that work more like an idea, an idea that makes you think, that makes you wonder what happened before and after. As with any collection of short stories, some will work better than others - for me the jokes got in the way too much.

"A horse in the hallway waiting."

Some of the stories are written by the editor, Doug Weller, most are sent in as part of a competition. This means that you'll get the six word story, followed by the name of the author and their nationality. That sort of messes up the flow of reading - personally, I'd rather have a chronological list of the authors at the end of the chapter.

"Lights on please," the monster begged."

There's a guide in the back of the book on how to write your own six word stories, and it is, surprisingly, quite thorough, and it should really help any six word authors to get started.

Always overjoyed with "Stories" by Weller.

My little six-word story says it all. I was thrilled when I saw Doug Weller had published another book of six-word stories. Weller has done it again with a collection that will make you think twice, or perhaps laugh out loud. He's very clever indeed! This book is perfect because you can read as much or little as you want for a time. Perfect bedtime reading for busy adults.

Lots of thanks to NetGalley, Doug Weller and the publisher for a free e-book of Six Word Stories. Mr. Weller, I hope you are working on another edition!

**I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

'Six Word Stories' is a brilliant collection of, you guessed it, stories told in six words. What this book does so well is highlight just how much is possible with very limited word counts. The contributors are able to flex their writing skills to create a story with so much implied meaning that it really does prove the old maxim "less is more".

This book was a quick read, and a lot of fun. I liked the variety. The work book was interesting. Creating 6 word stories would be a good icebreaker at a writing class. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

Doug Weller has provided a fun collection of stories - each six words long. The first half of the book contains 200 (?) stories consisting of six words each. Some are funny, some are serious, some are thoughtful, all are current - with one exception. The oldest story included in this collection comes from William Shakespeare, “To be, or not to be.”

The book is divided into three main sections:
The first section is a collection of stories written by and submitted to the author.
The second section is a tutorial on writing six word stories - included are more examples of this new art form.
The final section is an invitation and instructions for entering a contest with prizes (including publication) for submitting original six word stories.

I enjoyed reading the many stories included in the first section - coming from around the world, they represent many of the details of life - from childhood to death. Several picked up the very modern theme of the COVID-19 virus. Each was a complete thought (though not always a sentence) that further inspired this reader's imagination. Section two serves as a set of instructions on writing six word stories. It could more easily have been offered as a web page or site, rather than occupying one-half of the book’s pages. It would seem that its purpose was more motivation, rather than instruction. The third section was an invitation for readers to submit their own stories for inclusion in a future volume of this series of books. The current book is the third in the series.

Many of the stories could stand alone, others served as open doors to the reader’s imagination. The result is a five-star book that I enjoyed sharing with my wife and son.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

I love these books!! So easy to pick up when you have a spare moment with no strings attached! Literal six word stories, poems, jokes, etc. Some are happy, some are sad, some are meant to make you think, and even some that might make you angry. I love to have these on my phone when I have only a short amount of time such as a waiting room or on hold for a phone call. Also, super easy to read at night before bed to wind down.

My Thoughts:

This is a handy mentor text to get student 6-12 to write their own six word stories. The paring down is really the higher level of thinking, writing, and editing. It is also a nice bridge from short story prose and poetry. Most valuable, though, is that this book by Doug Weller has a wonderful writing workshop guide to help students write their own six word stories.

Some of my favorite stories
Heart attack confirmed he has one. - Rohih Bandaratilaka, Sri Lanka
The herbalist lives on borrowed thyme. - Annmarie Ragukonis, United States

In youth, we briefly live forever. - Donald Ranard, United States

Looking at this, I guess I like the interesting surprise that is created by a play of words. They are small emotional punchlines.

From the Publisher:
Six Word Stories is the latest collection of stories told in only six words. Following on the success of Six Word Wonder and Six Word Stories, hundreds of new stories, poems, memoirs, and jokes are shared here for your amusement.

The collection brings together the best micro fiction from all over the world.

The book also contains a condensed version of the Six Word Wonder Workbook - offering fun, practical steps to writing your own six word wonders.

Six Word Stories is a sparkling collection of stories, jokes, memoirs, and poems, all written in only six words. Find horror, romance, thriller, hilarity, and tragedy all bundled up in a few tiny words.This collection of micro-fiction gives readers a chance to get an instant dose of story. Six Word Stories by Doug Weller includes the winner of the Six Word Wonder Contest, with over 3000 stories were entered. As well as publication, the winner receives a $100 prize as the Six Word Wonder 2020.This is the follow-up books Six Word Wonder and Six Word Story by Doug Weller. Hundreds of six word stories to surprise, entertain, and amuse.

I love these six-word stories!! Who knew you could convey so much in so few words? The book is very well organized and full of great stories and helpful information on writing six-word stories. Best I can say is -

Fun book
Easy read
Five stars

Great book and very informative. The second half of the book when it is just a breakdown and tutorial of how to write a six worded story was entertaining and helpful to read. Would read another ten of these books

Six word stories are new to me. I've only ever seen 100 word stories but knew I would enjoy the severe limitation of six! What fun!

I found some of the entries very interesting, some intriguing, some humorous and some thought provoking. And frankly, some I did not understand. But I think all could be prompts for much, much longer stories.

I hope to see more!

This book is so clever! The creativity of submissions is very inspiring, so funny and poignant for this word lover. The extensive tutorial/workbook at the end is wonderful and thought provoking. Highly recommended!

Six-Word Stories is my first of Doug Weller's books, and I am pleasantly surprised! The premise of SIX WORD stories intrigued me, but I certainly wasn't prepared to be so moved by some of them.

It seriously amazes me that someone can incite such imagination with only a short sentence, as some of the six-sentence stories force the reader to imagine an entire tale.

It's a super quick read -even if you take your time with it like I did- and is written exceptionally well. I highly recommend (and now I want a daily calendar of the book's contents). I plan to check out Weller's other stories, especially since they are available on KU!

Note: Thank you to Netgalley & publishers for allowing me access to this arc in exchange for an honest review! Please note that all opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I really enjoyed this book. I received a copy from netgalley for honest review.... so here it is. I haven't read this author before but let me tell you i got to read this quickly while on my lunch breaks at work. A lot of these 6 words meant a lot to me. Some had me laughing out loud in the middle of my break room. I highly recommend if you like short and to.the point

It looks like Doug Weller hit upon the Six Word Story collection concept a couple years ago, and is not letting go. This installation seems to be made up of contest submissions, some of them quite good; and it's interesting getting perspective from different countries (Anguilla, Australia, Bosnia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Lesotho, Malta, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, Romania, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, UK, US, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe). There is a section at the end that gives instruction on how to write your own six word stories, which doesn't really strike me as necessary after all, it's just writing a story using six words. Separating them all into sections seems difficult, due to overlap.

A relatively quick read full of even quicker reads, if not some of the quickest that I’ve ever encountered. But an absolute blast all the way through. I had so much fun seeing how with a little bit of creativity, a six-word limit can end up expressing a lot more than some short stories that I’ve encountered, (not to mention a few very underperforming novels here and there in my reading history).