What do you think?
Rate this book
The Five-Second Rule: 20 short stories to pick up
These twenty short stories were written from 2006 to 2013 by Thomas Leverett, who spent years teaching ESL, thus learning to scorn flourish and pretension in writing. His stories are bold and memorable.
90 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 14, 2015
2 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 15, 2021
This book is a collection of short stories written between 2006-2013. They're crisp, quick to read, and give us an insight into their protagonists who are all on the brink of change. A woman who moves to a new state and takes up a new job; a man who learns to value his wife and marriage more than Second Life, a virtual simulation; and a son who regrets pointing out minor flaws in their ancestral property to his mother. Each story is filled with insightful characters and conflicting situations.
Although the style of writing is narration-heavy, this book makes for a good read if you're looking for something light-hearted and quick.
Although the style of writing is narration-heavy, this book makes for a good read if you're looking for something light-hearted and quick.
May 14, 2021
More excellent short stories from Thomas Leverett, episodes of everyday life for ordinary people all over the USA cut through with extraordinary happenings.
All life is here; Child poverty, lost children and child killing; whirlwind romance and fast escape, marital strife and divorce papers; credit-card fraud and tollbooth coin fraud, computer violence and real-life violence, cops and robbers; fantasy world, the real world, human impact on the natural world, waste water and wasting water; asylum-seekers and migrants, uprooted people and offset houses, public arguments that should be private, family feuds, Stonewall Jackson and the Civil War; New York versus Virginia, the homeless in the big city, steak dinners and waitresses in diners; juggling phones and love triangles, Corvettes and Harleys, coal-mining, tornadoes, a cruel God or no God? Subway buskers, campfire stories, railroad stories, stories within stories.
So many stories. The world within the pages. Read them.
All life is here; Child poverty, lost children and child killing; whirlwind romance and fast escape, marital strife and divorce papers; credit-card fraud and tollbooth coin fraud, computer violence and real-life violence, cops and robbers; fantasy world, the real world, human impact on the natural world, waste water and wasting water; asylum-seekers and migrants, uprooted people and offset houses, public arguments that should be private, family feuds, Stonewall Jackson and the Civil War; New York versus Virginia, the homeless in the big city, steak dinners and waitresses in diners; juggling phones and love triangles, Corvettes and Harleys, coal-mining, tornadoes, a cruel God or no God? Subway buskers, campfire stories, railroad stories, stories within stories.
So many stories. The world within the pages. Read them.
September 23, 2021
Extroadinary tales of ordinary people
All the stories in this wonderful book are but a few pages in length and it's amazing how real the characters and their lives unfold while reading them. There isn't really a common theme connecting the stories other than they all are about everyday people and the lives they are living. You get a feeling the author sees magic in the common person that is far too often not appreciated. This is the 3rd book I've read by this author and I've loved them all and look forward to the next one. If you love short stories about Americana I highly recommend.
All the stories in this wonderful book are but a few pages in length and it's amazing how real the characters and their lives unfold while reading them. There isn't really a common theme connecting the stories other than they all are about everyday people and the lives they are living. You get a feeling the author sees magic in the common person that is far too often not appreciated. This is the 3rd book I've read by this author and I've loved them all and look forward to the next one. If you love short stories about Americana I highly recommend.
November 24, 2022
Brilliant.
This may be one of the most authentic and easily absorbed collection of short stories I’ve ever read.
By the time I’d finished the first vignette I felt comfortable and relaxed with both pacing and prose. Leverett will not use two words when one will do, and that brevity carries a surprising amount of weight with every tale.
By the time I had finished his second short story I had to pause to absorb the jarringly potent emotions I felt rising from my chest. In only a few pages I was feeling so much.
Don’t miss out on experiencing this collection from a true career-forged master of their trade.
This may be one of the most authentic and easily absorbed collection of short stories I’ve ever read.
By the time I’d finished the first vignette I felt comfortable and relaxed with both pacing and prose. Leverett will not use two words when one will do, and that brevity carries a surprising amount of weight with every tale.
By the time I had finished his second short story I had to pause to absorb the jarringly potent emotions I felt rising from my chest. In only a few pages I was feeling so much.
Don’t miss out on experiencing this collection from a true career-forged master of their trade.
March 7, 2023
The author once more has supplied the reader with a wonderful collection of short stories. Almost every story in its own way presents an opportunity for reflection and deeper thought. Many will be surprised that so much can be drawn out of such a small book of short stories.
Thomas has the ability to see things in everyday life that most just observe without any further thought. There is no common or central theme as each story stands on its own merits. I found myself to be in agreement with the thought portrayed in almost every story.
If you want a good short read and you want to ponder this book will fit the bill. Then you can move on to many of the author's other fine books.
Thomas has the ability to see things in everyday life that most just observe without any further thought. There is no common or central theme as each story stands on its own merits. I found myself to be in agreement with the thought portrayed in almost every story.
If you want a good short read and you want to ponder this book will fit the bill. Then you can move on to many of the author's other fine books.
June 3, 2022
Another great bunch of shorts.
There was me believing the five second rule was a local, British thing, but it turns out it is a US thing also and is the title of the first short story.
If you like short stories, non themed and each one different, then this is a book for you. Read it straight, or dip in periodically whenever you want a short read.
Not the first book of short stories that I've enjoyed by this author, and it won't be the last.
There was me believing the five second rule was a local, British thing, but it turns out it is a US thing also and is the title of the first short story.
If you like short stories, non themed and each one different, then this is a book for you. Read it straight, or dip in periodically whenever you want a short read.
Not the first book of short stories that I've enjoyed by this author, and it won't be the last.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews