Rating: 
Summary: This is the real deal, folks
Review: Kelly Link is a marvel. I can't remember the last time I was so excited about a new writer, and these wonderful stories about travel, feet and footwear, and the intricacies of relationship are some of the finest pieces of short fiction of the last decade. 'The Specialist's Hat,' 'Travels with the Snow Queen,' and the indescribable 'The Girl Detective' combine horror and humor with fragments of mythology and popular culture, all shot through with a deceptively simple and utterly engaging narrative voice. These stories are unquestionably fantasies, but Link is one of those rare writers who understand fantasy's potential to give shape to such basic human realities as longing, isolation, and the need for love. Some of these pieces are experimental in form and content, but even these stories reveal a directness and emotional honesty that is all too rare, not only in genre fiction, but also in the increasingly mannered and self-referential fictions of postmodernism. They are also endearingly odd. These stories concern a woman who only seduces cellists, a farmer with a collection of artificial noses, and tap-dancing bank robbers. Strangeness is simply a pervasive feature of the landscape, a reminder that the peculiar is an inescapable fact of daily life. These are, quite simply, some of the best short stories that it has ever been my pleasure to read. Buy this book. Buy two, and give the other to someone you really like. Trust me on this one: you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Dreamy and smart and beautiful...
Review: Kelly Link makes everything magical. Her words have lived inside my head since the day I opened this book. I don't care if you're a half-dead tweaker or a Head of State in a facist regime or a normal person who's just looking for something that'll make a plane ride less cramped and smelly...this is your book. It's for you. Waiting right here. The stories are spectacular in their breadth and their whimsy and their wonder. And then you can come back and re-read them, and they've changed a little, because you've changed a little...and the reading process becomes so pleasant and sublime that the other books on your shelves are going to get jealous.
Rating:
Summary: Very much like no one but herself
Review: Kelly Link writes sort of like Neil Gaiman and sort of like Karen Joy Fowler and very much like no one but herself. The stories are spooky and sad and strange and funny and fine, and the book itself is gorgeously produced. My favorites are probably "The Specialist's Hat", "The Girl Detective", and "Flying Lessons": love and joy and going down into the Underworld, up into the shadows, out into Faerie, in search of the lost. But there isn't a bad story in the lot; the worst I can say about any of them is that the early "Water Off a Black Dog's Back" doesn't quite achieve either the tenderness or the chill it needs to work, and falls flat. (I'm rather sorry I read this when it came out, in retrospect, because it put me off trying the rest of her stories for a while.) But the rest of them are indescribably strange and incredibly good. Several of the stories are available online. Check 'em out.
Rating:
Summary: Five stars is too few
Review: Sean Stewart said Kelly Link is the future of fantasy fiction. She writes quirky literate stories that leave you amazed and wanting more. Five stars is too few for this collection. I would easily give it six or seven, or even eleven on a ten-star scale.
Rating:
Summary: what can I say
Review: There's no point in me trying to decribe these bizzar and beautiful stories. I'll just say that this collection should be read by all those who love things strange. Small Beer is my new favorite press, more please!!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This book has stayed with me. I am now convinced that this is one of the best fiction debuts of the past five years. Buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Collection.
Review: This is the best short story collection to be published in years.... Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link is that rare book that is perfect and sad and happy and crazy and real and funny and serious and everything you would hope a book of short stories. All are perfect. The Girl Detective is better than you think it is ( and you think it's great), while stories like The Specialist's Hat become part of your psyche. Kelly Link is one to watch, one to read, and one to pass on to friends you want to keep forever.
Rating:
Summary: Fairy Tales...sort of.
Review: Though I typically struggle with short story collections (Adam Haslett's "You Are Not A Stranger Here" excluded), this grouping is a phenomenal and delightfully surprising read. The stories in Kelly Link's collection really touch on the elements of human life (more specifically--human suffering) and a quirky twist is added to each to take the ideas to a new level. While the ideas are a tad extreme/odd (i.e. man has voluntary amputation to identify with the idea of loss) there is nothing here that should scare off more mainstream readers. Fans of Jonathan Lethem will like this collection. Most notable stories include: Louise's Ghost,Most of My Friends are Two-Thirds Water, and Water Off a Black Dog's Back. Keep an eye on this author for a full length novel. Should Link be able to expand her story-telling to novels, you'll be looking at some seriously popular books. Grab Stanger Things Happen. Definitely worth the cover price.
Rating: 
Summary: Strange in a very good way
Review: Threads of humor and self-awareness run through these clever tales. I'm not usually a fan of horror fiction but I found these stories engaging and challenging. There are echoes of fable and myth throughout. The Specialist's Hat is atmospheric and spooky. Flying Lessons and Travels with the Snow Queen are clever and have a sweetness that offsets their darkness. Louise's Ghost skillfully carries off the difficult feat of having two distinct characters named Louise. The final story, The Girl Detective, is a smoky blend of several of these attributes and I can relate to her appreciation for the genre. As with any collection, I liked some stories more than others but overall it was a very enjoyable read.
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