Book #9 is Open Secrets by Alice Munro

This collection actually has some unifying elements to it, mainly in that the stories all revolve around the town of Carstairs and (more loosely), the Doud family and their piano factory. And as with most Alice Munro stories, the narrators are women.

Some of these stories seem more... sprawling than is usual for Munro, especially The Albanian Virgin, an odd tale of Charlotte (or Lottar) who is captured by Albanians during a trip. She tells the tale as an eccentric, older woman, so we're not entirely sure how reliable the narrator is.

I also particularly like the Jack Randa Hotel, which has Gail, who's been jilted by her significant other for a younger woman, follows him to Australia. Her stalking of course rather blows up in her face, but at the same time, she gets a modicum of revenge.

Vandals is a typical Munro work, in that it starts off just fine and then takes a completely unexpected turn to a rather dark place and leaves you feeling rather uncomfortable.

But that uncomfortable feeling is why I like to read Munro, he stories might be short, but they are never, ever simplistic and they rarely sit easily with you after you've read them.