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Maggie and Jason's grandfather Gee, a famous photographer passes away. He leaves them each a legacy, a box of sea shells for Maggie and an envelope of signed photos of famous sports stars for Jason. The box and the photos lead Jason and Maggie on adventures and to grow into their own. They also lead to learning more about Gee.

Each of the chapters in this book is written by a different author. At first I was frustrated with it. The jump to the story in the second chapter threw me off, I couldn't figure out where it was going (I think that some of the chapters should have been ordered a little bit differently, it would have made it a little bit smoother). And an age inconsistency between the first and third chapter really annoyed me.

However, all of the stories, inconsistencies and all are beautiful pieces. Each author uses their own style to evoke beauty and emotion. There are stories about when and where the pictures were taken, how the shells were collected and the box made; in addition to stories following Maggie and Jason into adult hood and old age.

Overall I really enjoyed the book but I think that it takes a little while to get into because of all the different styles of writing and the jumpiness felt in the first few stories.

Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan

I really really wanted to like these short stories but I just couldn't get into it. I love Margo Lanagan's writing, I think it's absolutely beautiful, and the language in these stories is absolutely gorgeous. One of my favorite things about Margo Lanagan's writing has always been her ability to really set a mood in a story, and these stories evoke many different moods from the down right disturbing to a sense of satisfaction. Unfortunately all of the stories felt unfinished to me. Each tale felt like an excerpt from a larger tale that I (mostly) wanted to hear the rest of. This left me feeling frustrated and unsatisfied as a reader.

I read an arc that I got from work and at the end of the arc there was a two page note from the author dealing with where the inspiration for each story. I hope that made it into the final copy because I thought that was really interesting. The stories I liked the best were Baby Jane; A Feather in the Breast of God; Under Hell, Over Heaven; Forever Upward, and Daughter of the Clay. Unfortunately, these all left me feeling the most frustrated as well. It just felt like I was missing out on getting to know characters, endings and even beginnings.

Laini Taylor's Lips Touch: Three Times

This is a book of three short stories that each include at least one important kiss. While the stories are definitely lovely and well written the real treasure in this book is the illustrations. Before each story is a series of illustrations which serve as almost a prologue to the story. Each series of illustrations tells it's own story that is further explained in the writing that follows it. The illustrations are all in shades of gray and pink and they are breathtaking. The people in the illustrations are just incredibly expressive.

The stories are beautiful and heartbreaking in their own right as well. Each tale revolves around a mortal girl's experiences with love and the pain it brings, and all of the tales involve paranormal creatures, however they are each very different. In Goblin Fruit Kizzy risks everything for love and the feeling of being wanted. The women in Spicy Little Curses Such as these go to Hell and back to keep their loves. Hatchling, the longest tale features both new, young love and a love almost older then time. This is definitely well worth reading, even if you aren't a fantasy reader.