I'm sure Alice Munro is wonderful, but personally I am rarely drawn to her. Although I liked the stories I read in this collection, once I started picking up other things, I found that I would rather read almost anything else than finish these stories. That is not necessarily a bad thing. The stories are good but they are not "fun." I don't read for fun, though, so this wasn't a deciding factor for me. I am not sure why I wasn't more compelled to finish.

The stories I read were

"Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage"
"Floating Bridge"
"Family Furnishings"
"Comfort"

"Family Furnishings" was my favorite because it was about complicated -- and sometimes petty -- family issues. Its characters were unique, and their attitudes toward one another were interesting. A young girl wants to distance herself from her family, her aunt (or cousin? or father's cousin? it's hard for me to remember) has somewhat of a relationship with the young girl, but doesn't really like her. It's a complex identity story that is very nuanced.

"Floating Bridge" was an interesting story of stasis, movement, and desire. The end was nice.

"Comfort" I actually don't know if I finished. It's about a woman and her dead husband.

"Hateship, Loveship..." I enjoyed, but I must admit that I enjoyed the Kristin Wiig adaptation better. There is a large gap in the short story, and the movie fills it in. I find the "how" that is left out of the story much more interesting than the "why?" of the set-up and the conclusion.

Perhaps in a few years I'll revisit Munro again. But I recently visited Canada and I didn't read any of her stories there, so it may be a while.