Finished: Olive Kitteridge (Strout) Pulitzer Prize winning book compiled of several short stories about the people in a coastal community in Maine, with the main character, Olive Kitteridge, either the center of the story, or on the periphery of every one else's story. A retired school teacher, Olive taught most of the young adult people who now populate the town. Her husband, Henry, is a retired pharmacist, and their grown son, Christopher, has married and moved away. Olive doesn't understand, or take responsibility for the strained relationship  between mother and son. With an abrupt and stern nature, most people in the town tolerate Olive, but try to give her a wide berth. It took me a month to read this book because it wasn't one that compelled me to keep turning the pages. Just when I was getting to know the few people in a story, then another story would come along and I'd never read more about the people I'd just become interested in. I think this is why I've never been huge on short story compilations. The prose is lovely, and I could often identify with the emotions of Olive or other characters, but I'd rather read a single, fleshed out story from beginning to end. Still, each short story was a good lesson in human emotions, actions and consequences.