Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

As I've mentioned before for Interpreter of Maladies, I LOVE Jhumpa Lahiri and her way of crafting what is usually the monotony of life in a way that's not boring.  She writes of moments where you cringe, laugh, feel heartbroken, and can completely relate to it all because she has this magical ability to find the right words to perfectly describe the small nuances in strained familial relationships, culture shock, love, envy, and ambition.  As the title suggests, this is a collection of short stories tied by the motif of unfamiliarity: the unfamiliarity of a new country, newly defined relationship, new season of life, and new situations to cope with... with most of these tales dealing with some form of personal tragedy.  One thing to note, though, is that compared to Interpreter of Maladies, her set of characters aren't as diverse in this book.  Most of these families are immigrants who live a life a privilege, whose kids go to nice east coast or ivy league schools and have to deal with their own first-world problems.  Despite the somewhat cliched universe she's created for this collection, Lahiri is still a pro at reeling your heart in and stomping on it with four sentences to go once you become invested into her characters - that's the beauty and wretchedness of her short stories.