READING ROUNDUP: April 2024

Here’s what I’ve been reading, listening to, and watching in April 2024!

BOOKS

I read 14 books in April: 7 in print, 3 in e-book format, and 4 in audio format. They were:

1.       Triad Blood (Triad #1) by ‘Nathan Burgoine (PRINT)

2.       The Brides of High Hill (Singing Hills Cycle #5) by Nghi Vo (E-BOOK)

3.       Macbeth (an undoing) by Zinnie Harris (PRINT) (also saw a live production)

4.       Triad Soul (Triad #2) by ‘Nathan Burgoine (PRINT)

5.       Becoming by Michelle Obama (AUDIOBOOK, Non-Fiction Challenge, 2024 TBR Challenge)

6.       Stories of a Lifetime by Dan Rather (AUDIOBOOK, Non-Fiction Challenge)

7.       Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes Book 1) by Travis Baldree (E-BOOK)

8.       The Champions Classic: The Complete Collection by Tony Isabella, Bill Mantlo, Don Heck, John Byrne and others. (PRINT, Graphic Novel Challenge)

9.       House of Slaughter Volume 3: The Butcher's Return by James Tynion IV, Tate Brombal, Werther Dell’Edera, Antonio Fuso and Miquel Muerto (PRINT, Graphic Novel Challenge)

10.   House of Slaughter Volume 4: Alabaster by James Tynion IV, Sam Johns, Werther Dell’Edera, Letizia Cadonici and Francesco Segala (PRINT, Graphic Novel Challenge)

11.   All The Names They Used for God: Stories by Anjali Sachdeva (AUDIOBOOK, short story challenge)

12.   Paradox Lost by Roberta Pescow (E-BOOK, short story challenge)

13.   Breaking Bold and Brave: A Fan's Journey Through One of Comics' Greatest Titles by Jim Beard (introduction by Paul Kupperberg) (PRINT, Non-Fiction Challenge)

14.   Harry Clarke by David Cale (AUDIOBOOK)

STORIES

Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “A Pedra” by Endria Isa Richardson, in Lightspeed Magazine #167, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Under a Star, Bright as Morning” by David Anaxagoras

3.       “Mother's Day, After Everything” by Susan Palwick

4.       “Limping Towards Sunrise” by Rich Larson

5.       “a testament to indirection, an enigma, the sun above” by Mitchell Shanklin

6.       “How To Know Your Father Is a God” by Modepeoluwa Shelle

7.       “Salemo” by David Marino

8.       “Travelers' Tales from the Ends of the World” by Vandana Singh

9.       “A Traveler's Guide to Fantastical Countries” by Seanan McGuire, on the Author’s Patreon

10.   “Vivisepulture” by James Bennett, from The Dark #107, edited by Sean Wallace

11.   “Water Like Broken Glass” by Carina Bissett

12.   “Imago” by Steve Rasnic Tem

13.   “Dead But Dreaming Still” by Michael Kelly

14.   “The Coffee of Torcat” by Devin Miller, from Beneath Ceaseless Skies #404 edited by Scott H. Andrews

15.   “The Lark Ascending” by Eleanna Castroianni, from Clarkesworld #211, edited by Neil Clarke

16.   “An Intergalactic Smuggler's Guide to Homecoming” by Tia Tashiro

17.   “Stitched to Skin Like Family Is” by Nghi Vo, from Uncanny Magazine #57, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas

18.   “The Best Ever Cosplay of Whistle and Midnight” by Annalee Newitz

19.   “Three” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, from Blood Sacraments: Gay Vampire Erotica, edited by Todd Gregory

20.   “Possession” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, from Erotica Exotica: Tales of Sex, Magic, and the Supernatural, edited by Richard LaBonté

21.   “Bound” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, from Not Just Another Pretty Face, edited by Louis Flint Ceci

22.   “The World by Night” by Anjali Sachdeva, from All the Names They Used for God

23.   “Glass-Lung” by Anjali Sachdeva

24.   “Logging Lake” by Anjali Sachdeva

25.   “Killer of Kings” by Anjali Sachdeva

26.   “All the Names They Used for God” by Anjali Sachdeva

27.   “Robert Greenman and the Mermaid” by Anjali Sachdeva

28.   “Anything You Might Want” by Anjali Sachdeva

29.   “Manus” by Anjali Sachdeva

30.   “Pleiades” by Anjali Sachdeva

31.   “A Life in the Service” by Roberta Pescow, from Paradox Lost

32.   “Bad Left Turns” by Roberta Pescow

33.   “A Monster's Tears” by Roberta Pescow

34.   “Be Right Back” by Roberta Pescow

35.   “A Presence Beyond the Shadows” by David Lee Summers, from Arithmophobia: An Anthology of Mathematical Horror, edited by Robert Lewis

36.   “The Artful Eagle” By Barbara Krasnoff, from Kaleidotrope Magazine, Spring 2024, edited by Fred Coppersmith

37.   “Where the Girls Who Were Eaten Alive Live” by R.K. Duncan

38.   “Pillow Fort” by Alexandra Munck

39.   “Harry Clarke” by David Cale, from Harry Clarke

40.   “Lillian” by David Cale

41.   “Necessary Evils” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, from Raising Hell: Demonic Gay Erotica, edited by Todd Gregory

42.   “Intercession” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, from Wings: Subsersive Gay Angel Erotica, edited by Todd Gregory

So that’s 42 short stories in April. More than “1 per day” for the first time this year, which puts me back on pace for the year! (April 30th was the 121st day of 2024.)

MOVIES

April was an improvement over March because I managed to watch four movies in April:

1.       Knock at the Cabin (2023)

2.       Gamera vs. Viras (1968)

3.       Just What the Doctor Ordered (2021)

4.       Doctor Who: The Movie (1996)

TELEVISION

·       Heartstopper Season 1, Episodes 1-8 (8 episodes)

·       Heartstopper Season 2, Episodes 1 – 8 (8 episodes)

That’s 16 episodes of television, again not the “1 per day” I was shooting for, and slightly worse than February’s total.

LIVE THEATER

It was another good month for live theater:

·       Macbeth (an undoing), Polonsky Shakespeare Center, Brooklyn, NYC

·       Water For Elephants, Imperial Theatre, NYC

Summary of Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 1 read; YTD: 2 of 14 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month:  42 read; YTD: 121 of 366 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 14 read; YTD: 41 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 3 read; YTD: 11 of 52 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 3 read; YTD: 7 of 12 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0 read/watched; YTD: 1 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 4 watched; YTD: 9 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 16 episodes watched; YTD: 79 of 366 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 2 shows attended; YTD: 6 of 12 attended.

Reading Round-Up: March 2024

Here’s what I’ve been reading, listening to, and watching in March 2024!

BOOKS

I read 8 books in March: 4 in print, 3 in e-book format, and 1 in audio format. They were:

1.       Something is Killing the Children Volume 7 by James Tynion IV, Werner Dell’Edera, Miguel Muerto and others. (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL CHALLENGE)

2.       Death Comes Too Late by Charles Ardai (E-BOOK, ARC) REVIEW LINK

3.       Crone Unleashed (Crone Wars #4) by Lydia M. Hawke (PRINT)

4.       Chita: A Memoir by Chita Rivera (AUDIO, NON-FICTION CHALLENGE)

5.       The Vineyard Remains by Addison McKnight (E-BOOK, ARC) REVIEW LINK

6.       A Voice Calling by Christopher Barzak (E-BOOK)

7.       Mammoths at the Gates (Singing Hills Cycle #4) by Nghi Vo (PRINT, REREAD) REVIEW LINK

8.       Seven Swords by Evan Daugherty, Frederico Dallochio, Riccardo Latina, Valentina Bianconi, and Dave Sharpe (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL CHALLENGE)

STORIES

Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “Let the Star Explode” by Shingai Njeri Kagunda, in Lightspeed Magazine #166, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “An Incomplete Body Has No Answers” by Angela Liu

3.       “The Three Thousand, Four Hundred Twenty-First Law of Robotics” by Adam-Troy Castro

4.       “Islands of Stability” by Marissa Lingen

5.       “Fragments of a Symbiotic Life” by Will McMahon

6.       “Kopki and the Fish” by Alex Levine

7.       “Only Some of True Love's Miracles” by P H Lee

8.       “Season of Weddings” by Sharang Biswas REVIEW LINK

9.       “The Home Front” by Charles Ardai, in Death Comes Too Late

10.   “Game Over” by Charles Ardai

11.   “The Day After Tomorrow” by Charles Ardai

12.   “The Case” by Charles Ardai

13.   “Goin' West” by Charles Ardai

14.   “The Shadow Line” by Charles Ardai

15.   “Nobody Wins” by Charles Ardai

16.   “Jonas and the Frail” by Charles Ardai

17.   “The Deadly Embrace” by Charles Ardai

18.   “Don't Be Cruel” by Charles Ardai

19.   “Mother of Pearl” by Charles Ardai

20.   “The Fall of Man” by Charles Ardai

21.   “Fathers and Sons” by Charles Ardai

22.   “Sleep! Sleep! Beauty Bright” by Charles Ardai

23.   “Masks” by Charles Ardai

24.   “My Husband's Wife” by Charles Ardai

25.   “Secret Service” by Charles Ardai

26.   “A Bar Called Charley's” by Charles Ardai

27.   “A Free Man” by Charles Ardai

28.   “The Investigation of Things” by Charles Ardai

29.   “Hello! Hello! Hello!” by Fiona Jones, in Clarkesworld #210, edited by Neil Clarke

30.   “Big Bad” by Chandler Baker, from Amazon’s Creature Feature collection

31.   “Best of Luck” by Jason Mott

32.   “The Pram” by Joe Hill

33.   “Ankle Snatcher” by Grady Hendrix

34.   “It Waits in the Woods” by Josh Malerman

So that’s 34 short stories in March. More than “1 per day” for the first time this year, which catches me up a little bit but still behind pace for the year so far. (March 31st was the 91st day of 2024.)

MOVIES

March was an improvement over February because I managed to watch one movie in March:

1.       Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967)

TELEVISION

·       Slow Horses Season 2, Episodes 2-6 (5 episodes) REVIEW LINK

·       Love, Death & Robots Season 2, Episodes 1 – 8 (8 episodes)

·       Love, Death & Robots Season 3, Episodes 1 – 9 (9 episodes)

·       Star Trek: Discovery Inside the Final Season (1 episode)

That’s 23 episodes of television, again not the “1 per day” I was shooting for, but slightly better than February’s total.

LIVE THEATER

It was a good month for live theater:

·       Drunk Shakespeare, Ruby Theater, NYC (for goddaughter’s 21st birthday) REVIEW LINK

·       Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age, Studio 54, NYC (cabaret-style show)

·       All The Devils Are Here, DR2 Theater, NYC (2nd time seeing Patrick Page’s 1-man show about Shakespeare’s villains) REVIEW LINK (from the first time I saw the show; 2nd time was as great)

Summary of Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 1 of 14 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month:  34 read; YTD: 79 of 366 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 8 read; YTD: 27 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 2 read; YTD: 8 of 52 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 1 read; YTD: 4 of 12 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0 read/watched; YTD: 1 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 1 watched; YTD: 5 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 23 episodes watched; YTD: 63 of 366 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 3 shows attended; YTD: 4 of 12 attended.

READING ROUND-UP: February 2024

Here’s what I read, listened to, and watched in February 2024!

BOOKS

I read 9 books in February: 5 in print, 2 in e-book format, and 2 in audio format. They were:

1.       Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learned by Alan Alda. (AUDIOBOOK, 2024 TBR CHALLENGE, NON-FICTION CHALLENGE)

2.       The History of Sketch Comedy: A Journey Through the Art and Craft of Humor by Keegan Michael Key and Elle Key (PRINT, NON-FICTION CHALLENGE)

3.       Aftermarket Afterlife (InCryptid #13) by Seanan McGuire (E-BOOK, ARC (publishes March 2024)) Read my review HERE

4.       Batman: Wayne Family Adventures #1 by CRC Payne, Starbite, Maria Li, Lan Ma and Suzie Blake. (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

5.       A Feast for Starving Stone (Chefs of the Five Gods #2) by Beth Cato. (PRINT)

6.       Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself by Alan Alda. (AUDIOBOOK, NON-FICTION CHALLENGE)

7.       Santa Claus and His Works by George P. Brewster and Thomas Nast (PRINT)

8.       New Super-Man Vol 1: Made in China by Gene Luen Yang, Victor Bognanovic, Richards Friends, David Sharpe and others. (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

9.       Korak at the Earth’s Core (Dead Moon Super-Arc #1) by Win Scott Eckert. (E-BOOK, ARC (publishes March 2024, PREORDER HERE) Read My Review HERE

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 366 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) this leap year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “Companion Animals in Maho Shojo Kira Kira Sunlight” by Stewart C. Baker, in Lightspeed Magazine #165, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Scarlett” by Everdeen Mason.

3.       “The Pearl Captain” by Christopher Rowe

4.       “But From Thine Eyes My Knowledge I Derive” by Phoebe Barton

5.       “A Sojourn in the Fifth City” by P H Lee

6.       “Further Examination and Capture of Candle Skulls Associated with the Baba Yaga” by Mari Ness

7.       “What Becomes of Curious Minds” by Wen-yi Lee

8.       “An Elegy for the Former Things” by KT Bryski

9.       “Not A Drop to Drink” by Seanan McGuire, on the Author’s Patreon

10.   “Valentine's Dave” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, Candy Hearts Charity Anthology, edited by Lee Blair

11.   “Bee My Valentine” by Beck Grey

12.   “Dreaming of you in Freefall” by Seanan McGuire, novella included with the novel Aftermarket Afterlife (InCryptid #13)

13.   “The Cut Cares Not for the Flesh” by George Sandison, from Nightmare Magazine #157, edited by Wendy N. Wagner

14.   “Dusk” by Angela Slatter, from The Dark #105, edited by Sean Wallace

15.   “The Interspatial Accessibility Compact's Guidelines for Cross-Cultural Engagement” by Dane Kuttler, from the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Winter 2024, edited by Sheree Renee Thomas

16.   “Off The Map” by Dane Kuttler, from the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jan-Feb 2023, edited by Sheree Renee Thomas (REREAD)

17.   “Dawn of the Deathslayer” by Christopher Paul Carey, novella included with the novel Korak at the Earth’s Core

18.   “The Fallen: A Tale of Pellucidar” by Mercedes Lackey, from the Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. website

19.   “Jason Gridley of Earth: Across the Moons of Mars” by Geary Gravel, novella included with the novel Red Axe of Pellucidar

So that’s 19 short stories in February. Far less than “1 per day” for the month, and way off pace for the year so far. (February 29th  was the 60th  day of 2024.)

MOVIES

I somehow managed to watch zero movies in February, thanks largely to work travel taking me to cities where I had friends to hang out with and to a bit of a head-cold. However, I did manage to watch some television:

TELEVISION

·       Doctor Who Season 4, Episode 7 (1 episode, REWATCH)

·       Love, Death & Robots Season 1, episodes 1 – 18 (18 episodes)

That’s 19 episodes of television, again not quite the “1 per day” I was shooting for.

LIVE THEATER

No live theater in February, either.

Summary of Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 1 read; YTD: 1 of 14 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month:  19 read; YTD: 45 of 366 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 9 read; YTD: 19 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 2 read; YTD: 6 of 52 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 3 read; YTD: 3 of 12 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0 read/watched; YTD: 1 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 0 watched; YTD: 4 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 19 episodes watched; YTD: 40 of 366 watched

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 0 show attended; YTD: 1 of 12 attended.

READING ROUND-UP: January 2024

The first monthly summary of what I’ve been reading, listening to, and watching in 2024!

BOOKS

I read 10 books in January: 5 in print, 5 in e-book format, and 0 in audio format. They were:

1.       What Moves the Dead (Sworn Sword #1) by T. Kingfisher. (E-BOOK)

2.       Phantom on the Scan by Cullen Bunn, Mark Torres, David Sharpe. (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

3.       What Feasts at Night (Sworn Sword #2) by T. Kingfisher (PRINT, ARC (publishes February 2024))

4.       Highlands Book One: The Portrait of Amelia by Philipe Aymond. (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

5.       Highlands Book Two: The Survivors of Blackwater by Philipe Aymond. (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

6.       We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker. (E-BOOK)

7.       Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. (E-BOOK)

8.       Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire. (AUDIOBOOK, REREAD)

9.       The Birds & Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier. (E-BOOK)

10.   Hellstrom: Evil Origins by Gary Freidrich, Herb Trimpe, Don Perlin, Bill Mantlo, and others (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 366 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) this leap year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “Five Views of the Planet Tartarus” by Rachael K. Jones, in Lightspeed Magazine #164, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Shadow Films” by Ben Peek.

3.       “Night Desk Duty at the Infinite Paradox Hotel” by Aimee Ogden

4.       “We Shall Not Be Bitter at the End of the World” by David Anaxagoras

5.       “A Saint Between the Teeth” by Sloane Leong

6.       “In the Tree's Hollow” by Lowry Poletti

7.       “Farewell to Faust” by Adam-Troy Castro

8.       “To Be a Happy Man” by Thomas Ha

9.       “The Silver Sea” by Seanan McGuire, on the Author’s Patreon

10.   “Ten Thousand Crawling Children” by R.A. Busby, Nightmare Magazine #136, edited by Wendy N. Wagner

11.   “The Forgetter” by Andrew Snover

12.   “The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier, from The Birds & Other Stories

13.   “Monte Verita” by Daphne du Maurier

14.   “The Apple Tree” by Daphne du Maurier

15.   “The Little Photographer” by Daphne du Maurier

16.   “Kiss Me Again, Stranger” by Daphne du Maurier

17.   “The Old Man” by Daphne du Maurier

18.   “The Carnival” by Richard Chizmar, stand-alone chapbook published by Cemetery Dance

19.   “End Game” by Martin Edwards, stand-alone chapbook published by The Mysterious Bookshop

20.   “Nothing of Value” by Aimee Ogden, from Clarkesworld #208, edited by Neil Clarke

21.   “Down the Waterfall” by Cecile Cristofari

22.   “Willow Wood” by Linda Neihoff, from Beneath Ceaseless Skies #398, edited by Scott H. Andrews

23.   “Home Bread” by R.E. Dukalsky

24.   “Miriam” by Truman Capote, Fantastic #2 (1952)

25.   “The Star Dummy” by Anthony Boucher

26.   “Most of ‘81” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, from the Author’s Website

So that’s 26 short stories in January. A bit less than “1 per day.” (January 31st was, of course, the 31st day of 2024.)

MOVIES

1.       Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), directed by James Gunn (STREAMING, Disney+)

2.       Gamera the Giant Monster (1965), directed by Noriaki Yuasa (DVD)

3.       The Birds (1963), directed by Alfred Hitchcock (DVD)

4.       Gamera vs. Barugon (1966), directed by Shigeo Tanaka and Noriaki Yuasa (DVD)

TELEVISION

·       Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 1, episodes 4 – 8 (5 episodes) (SEASON REVIEW HERE)

·       What If…? Season 2, episodes 2 – 9 (8 episodes)

·       Slow Horses Season 1, episodes 1 – 6 (6 episodes)

·       Slow Horses Season 2, episode 1 (1 episode)

·       A Hero’s Journey: The Making of Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1 episode)

That’s 21 episodes of television, again not quite the “1 per day” I was shooting for.

LIVE THEATER

1.       Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, NYC)

Summary of Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 0 of 14 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month:  26 read; YTD: 26 of 366 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 10 read; YTD: 10 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 4 read; YTD: 4 of 52 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 0 of 12 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 1  read/watched (“The Birds”); YTD: 1 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 4 watched; YTD: 4 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 21 episodes watched; YTD: 21 of 366 watched

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 1 show attended; YTD: 1 of 12 attended.

READING ROUND-UP: January 2022

The first monthly summary of what I’ve been reading and listening to in 2022!

BOOKS

I read 9 books in January: 4 in print, 5 in e-book format, and 0 in audio format. They were:

1.       The Autumnal by Daniel Kraus, Chris Sheehan, Jason Wordie, Jim Campbell. Trade paperback collecting an 8-issue comic series I missed in monthly format. Following the death of her estranged mother, Kat Somerville returns to her childhood home in Comfort Notch NH with her young daughter. She remembers being sent away, but not why. Kraus crafts an intriguing slow burn of a story, made all the moodier by Sheehan’s artwork and Wordie’s nuanced use of autumn colors. Excellent folk horror. (PRINT)

2.       Giving The Devil His Due edited by Rebecca Brewer. An anthology of genre stories in which abusers of women actually pay for their crimes, usually through some supernatural means. Authors include Linda D. Addison, Stephen Graham Jones, Nisi Shawl, Christina Henry, and more. (E-BOOK ARC)

3.       Servant Mage by Kate Elliott. Brilliant novella about a society in which mages are an oppressed class and the main character is conscripted into a rescue mission that puts her life and safety at risk. FULL REVIEW HERE. (E-BOOK ARC)

4.       Lightspeed Magazine #140 (January 2022 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams. The usual great mix of science fiction and fantasy short stories, author spotlights, and book reviews. Favorite stories this month included N.K. Jemisin’s “Give Me Cornbread or Give Me Death,” Aimee Ogden’s “Dissent: A Five Course Meal (With Suggested Pairings),” Leah Cypess’ “On the Ship,” and Vanessa Fogg’s “An Address to the Newest Disciples of the Lost Words.” (E-BOOK)

5.       Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda by Jim Zub, Lan Medina, Scot Eaton, Craig Yeung, Sean Parsons, Marcio Menyz, Federico Blee, Erick Arciniega, Joe Sabino, Jorge Molina, David Nakayama, Sara Brunstad, and Wil Moss. Collected issues 1-6 of the monthly comic run. A pair of characters I love (Ka-Zar! Gorilla-Man!) are shown on the cover and barely appear in the story within. On the other hand, Man-Wolf isn’t on the cover and plays a significant role in the first story. The stories were decent and did nice work with the characters that did appear. (PRINT)

6.       Spelunking Through Hell: A Visitor’s Guide to the Underworld (InCryptid #11) by Seanan McGuire. It’s time for the Price family matriarch, Alice Price-Healy, to take center stage and tell us what she’s been up to while her family save Cryptids and fights the Covenant. I really loved hearing Alice’s story in her own words and really getting a look into how trauma has shaped her. There’s lots of fight scenes and other dimensions to explore as well. FULL REVIEW HERE (E-BOOK ARC)

7.       Dark Breakers by C.S.E. Cooney. Cooney returns to the world of her novella Desdemona and the Deep to explore other aspects of the “thrice-wrapped worlds” of Athe (humans), the Valwode (Gentry/fae), and Bana the Bone Kingdom (goblinkind) through the eyes of a painter, a writer, a sculptor, and an investigative reporter. Such beautiful language. FULL REVIEW HERE (PRINT ARC)

8.       Death Follows by Cullen Bunn, A.C. Zamudio, Carolos Nicolas Zamudio, Simon Bisley. Collects an online comic originally published as “Remains.” Combines folk horror with body horror to tell the tale of two sisters on a farm and the new farmhand who has a deadly secret. Great pacing, perfect art for the story being told. Also includes the original short story by Bunn that the comic was based on. (PRINT)

9.       The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate. We all know I’m a major fan of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and will read just about anything connected to it. This novella was originally published in Mexico in Spanish, unavailable in English until this translation by David Bowles was published. It focuses on the Captain of the Varna, the ship that unknowingly brings Dracula to England. The Captain’s loneliness, his attraction to his crew, and his internal conflict over childhood sexual encounters are stunningly captured. (E-BOOK)

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 365 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) this year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “Dissent: A Five Course Meal (With Suggested Pairings)” by Aimee Ogden, from Lightspeed Magazine #140 (January 2022 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Up Falling” by Jendayi Brooks-Flemister

3.       “On the Ship” by Leah Cypess

4.       “Cale and Stardust Battle the Mud Goblins of Hudson Valley” by Lincoln Michel

5.       “In the Beginning of Me, I Was a Bird” by Maria Dong

6.       “In the Cold, Dark Sea” by Jenny Rae Rappaport

7.       “An Address to the Newest Disciples of the Lost Words” by Vanessa Fogg

8.       “Give Me Cornbread or Give Me Death” by N.K. Jemisin

9.       “The Mirror Test” by Moses Ose Utoni, from Fantasy Magazine #75 (January 2022), edited by Christie Yant and Arley Sorg

10.   “Markets: A Beginner's Guide” by Shalini Srinivasan

11.   “Pest Control” by Saswati Chatterjee

12.   “Free Coffin” by Corey Flintoff

13.    “Long Way from Home” by Seanan McGuire, on the author’s Patreon page.

14.   “The Moon Goddess's Granddaughter” by Lee Murray, from Giving the Devil His Due Special Edition, edited by Rebecca Brewer

15.   “The Kindly Sea” by Dana Cameron

16.   “Just Us League” by Angela Yuriko Smith

17.   “American Murder” by Peter Tieryas

18.   “As We Stand and Pray” by Jason Sanford

19.   “Finding Water to Catch Fire” by Linda D. Addison

20.   “Escape From Pleasant Point (An Evelyn Northe-Stewart Origin Story)” by Leanna Renee Hieber

21.   “Daughter of Echidna” by Nicholas Kaufman

22.   “The Devil's Pocket Change” by Hillary Monahan

23.   “The Tawny Bitch” by Nisi Shawl

24.   “Happy Birthday Baby” by Kelley Armstrong

25.   “Devil's Hollow” by Errick Nunnally

26.   “The Little Thing” by Christina Henry

27.   “A Better Way of Saying” by Sarah Pinsker, from Tor.com website, edited by Ellen Datlow

28.   “And Behold, It Was Very Good” by Scott Edelman, from Kaliedotrope Winter 2022 issue, edited by Fred Coppersmith

29.   “The Skin Inside” by Richard E. Gropp

30.   “Thermophile” by Jack Klausner, from The Dark #80, edited by Sean Wallace

31.   “Intrusions” by Margot McGovern

32.   “Funny Faces” by Seán Padraic Birne

33.   “The Lending Library of Final Lines” by Octavia Cade

34.   “The Breaker Queen” by C.S.E. Cooney, from Dark Breakers, edited by Mike Allen

35.   “The Two Paupers” by C.S.E. Cooney

36.   “Salissay's Laundries” by C.S.E. Cooney

37.   “Longergreen” by C.S.E. Cooney

38.   “Susurra to the Moon” by C.S.E. Cooney

39.   “And Sweep Up the Wood...” by Seanan McGuire, novella included in the paperback of her InCryptid novel Spelunking Through Hell

40.   “Remains” by Cullen Bunn, short story included at the back of the graphic novel Death Follows

So that’s 40 short stories in January. A bit more than “1 per day.” (January 31st was, of course, the 31st day of 2022.)

Summary of Reading Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 0 of 24 main titles read.

RoofbeamReader To Be Read Challenge: This month: 0 read. YTD: 0 of 12 main titles (0 of 2 alternates)

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month:  40 read; YTD: 40 of 365 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 3 read; YTD: 3 of 52 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 9 read; YTD: 9 of 125 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 0 of 24 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0; YTD: 0 read/watched.

Complete the Series Challenge: This month: 0 book read; YTD: 0 of 9 read.

                                                          Series fully completed: 0 of 3 planned

Monthly Special Challenge:  I haven’t set a specific “mini challenge” for January, other than to work on staying on track or getting ahead on the yearly challenges. I didn’t really get ahead but made partial progress on the graphic novel challenge while getting ahead on the 365 Short Stories and keeping pace on the Goodreads Challenges.

February is Black History Month and Women in Horror Month, so my challenge, as usual, is to read as many Black authors as I can and as many women horror writers as I can, and hopefully a few who overlap.

2022 Reading Challenges

I always set myself more than one reading challenge per year. Some carry over from year to year, and some are new. Some are broad and some are themed. And in many cases, books read will help me meet more than one challenge. Here’s this year’s list.

TO BE READ CHALLENGE

The idea (formulated by RoofBeamReader at his blog several years ago) is to pick 12 books (plus 2 alternates in case you find yourself unable to finish a couple of your main choices) that have sat unread on your bookshelf for a year or more. Books published in 2021 wouldn’t be eligible, nor would re-reads. This year, I’ve again decided to pick 24 books (12 fiction, 12 non-fiction) but no alternates. I did not do well on this challenge in 2021, but I’m getting back on the horse. I plan to come back to this post and add “date completed” for each book. Here are my lists for 2022 (not listed in intended reading order):

FICTION:

1.       The Mystery of the Sea by Bram Stoker

2.       The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R. A. Dick

3.       Dune by Frank Herbert

4.       Excalibur! by Gil Kane and John Jakes

5.       Lord Tyger by Philip Jose Farmer

6.       The Book of Lost Saints by Daniel Jose Older

7.       Slights by Kaaron Warren - Completed February 13, 2022

8.       Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

9.       The Red Lamp by Mary Roberts Reinhart

10.   Unexpected Stories by Octavia E. Butler - Completed February 20, 2022

11.   Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

12.   A Summer Beyond Your Reach by Xia Jia

NON-FICTION:

1.       Twilight at the World of Tomorrow by James Mauro

2.       Something in the Blood: The Untold Tale of Bram Stoker by David J. Skal

3.       Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxane Dunbar-Ortiz - Completed April 5, 2022

4.       The Celluloid Closet by Vito Russo

5.       The Tricky Part: One Boy’s Fall from Trespass into Grace by Martin Moran

6.       Comic Book Implosion: An Oral History of DC Comics Circa 1978 by Keith Dallas and John Wells

7.       Letters to the Pumpkin King by Seanan McGuire

8.       First Family by Joseph J. Ellis

9.       Classics on Infinite Earths by Julian Darius

10.   Hollow Earth by David Standish

11.   A Kind of Magic: Making the Original Highlander by Jonathan Melville

12.   Horror Fiction in the 20th Century: Exploring Literature’s Most Chilling Genre by Jess Nevins

(NOTE 1: Last year’s two alternates, Classics on Infinite Earths and Hollow Earth, are now in the main list.)

NOTE 2: For the first time in a few years, Adam Burgess is once again hosting the TBR Challenge on his website. Because of the way the rules for his TBR Challenge work, I’m going to make a separate post, and 14 of the above 24 books will officially be a part of his TBR Challenge as well as this larger one.

365 SHORT STORIES CHALLENGE

Every year, I challenge myself to read one short story per day. Some years I keep the pace pretty well, and some years I fall behind and then scramble to catch up (and some years, I catch up and fall behind again, and some years I blow past the goal handily). I used to post thoughts on each individual story over on my now-largely-defunct LiveJournal; this year I plan to review a story or two in-depth each Sunday and then do a monthly “round-up” of all stories read that month. I’m defining “short story” as anything from flash fiction to novella-length. If a novelette or novella is published as a stand-alone book (eBook or otherwise), that story will also count towards my annual Goodreads “Books Read Challenge.”

GOODREADS CHALLENGE

Goodreads allows members to set a challenge. In 2021, I set a goal of 125 books and read 140. For 2022, I’m setting the same goal of 125 to start with, and we’ll see what happens. Goodreads counts magazines as “books,” so I count them for this challenge as well if I read every page of the magazine. Of course, any book read for the TBR Challenge, or the other challenges mentioned in this post count towards this one.

GRAPHIC NOVEL CHALLENGE

I own far more graphic novels and trade paperback collections of classic comics than I’ve read. In 2017 I started trying to turn that around, and I’m again setting a goal in 2021 of reading one graphic novel per week, so 52 for the year, tracking them in the monthly Reading Round-Up Posts.

NON-FICTION CHALLENGE

As with graphic novels, I tend to get intrigued by and purchase far more non-fiction books than I actually end up reading. In an effort to clear some shelf-space, justify the money spent, and increase my knowledge a bit, I’m continuing the challenge I started last year, but tweaking it. I would like to read two (2) non-fiction books per month, or 24 for the year. Twelve (12) of those have been identified above in the To Be Read Challenge, and the rest will be newer books (either purchased in 2021 and so ineligible for the To Be Read Challenge, or newly acquired as the year goes on).

READ THE BOOK / WATCH THE MOVIE CHALLENGE

I have so many books in my collection that are the basis for classic (and sometimes not-so-classic) movies that I thought it would be fun to read some of them and then see how the movies compare. In 2021 I didn’t do so well on this challenge, but I’m game to try again, and of course track them in the monthly Reading Round-Up posts, under the Page-to-Screen feature title and tag. I’ve never set a numeric goal for this challenge, but let’s aim for 12 “Page-to-Screen” posts this year.

COMPLETE THE SERIES CHALLENGE

In previous years I’ve challenged myself to come “up to date” on series I’d started but fallen behind on. Last year, I challenged myself to also read one series that I own but have not read. Titles that I have read in each series are indicated with (read in [month]). Last year, I completed two out of the four series intended. This year, I’m just going to list the series I didn’t complete last year, and not add any new series to the challenge. I plan to come back to this post and add “date completed” for each book individually and for each series as a whole. If I complete any other series on my shelves, I’ll come back and add that series to this entry.

THE VELVETEEN SERIES by Seanan McGuire

1.       Velveteen Vs. The Junior Super-Patriots

2.       Velveteen Vs. The Multiverse

3.       Velveteen Vs. The Seasons

THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES by Jeff Guinn

1.       The Autobiography of Santa Claus

2.       How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas

3.       The Great Santa Search

THE SHADOWSHAPER TRILOGY by Daniel José Older

1.       Shadowshaper – read in 2015

2.       Shadowhouse Fall

3.       Shadowshaper Legacy

MONTHLY MINI-CHALLENGES

In 2019 for the first time, I set myself some monthly mini challenges based on various factors. I’m going to do it again in 2021, but list those challenges here as well:

January: No specific challenge

February: Authors from Africa or of African descent (for Black History Month)

March: Women Authors (for Women’s History Month)

April: Poetry (for National Poetry Month)

May:  Asian/Pacific Authors (for Asian Pacific / South Asian Heritage Month)

June: Queer Authors (for Pride Month)

July: No specific challenge (to catch up on challenges I’ve fallen behind on)

August: Classic and New Pulp Authors (because Pulpfest/Farmercon is held this month)

September: Hispanic authors (Hispanic Heritage Month)

October: Horror! Horror! Horror! (because Halloween, obviously)

November: Noir (because “Noirvember”)

December: Winter Holiday-related Fiction (Christmas, Hannukah, etc.)

2021 Reading Round-Up

I totally fell off of doing monthly “reading round-ups” detailing exactly what I read during the last quarter of 2021. I thought about catching up on those before posting the annual summary, but … life. Yeah.

So here’s part one of the annual summary, covering what I read/listened to in 2021. There will be two more annual summaries, one covering what I watched and the other what covering what writing/proofing/editing I did.

 Looking over this summary, it’s clear that I set myself too many reading challenges in 2021 and managed to not complete most of them. But I did complete some, and I did read A LOT even without meeting the challenges. It wasn’t a lack of reading time or motivation so much as a TOO MANY CHOICES. I could have read twice or three times as many books and still not put a real dent in my physical or virtual TBR piles. Overall, I’m going to count the year as a “win.”

Goodreads Challenge:

I challenged myself to read 125 books. I read 140 books from approximately 67 different publishers.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Fiction: 131 books

  • 2 anthologies

    • 1 horror

    • 1 mix of science fiction, fantasy, and horror

  • 8 single-author collections

    • 2 mix of science fiction, fantasy, and horror

    • 2 horror

    • 1 fantasy

    • 3 poetry

  • 24 graphic novels

    • 6 super-hero

    • 6 horror

    • 10 fantasy

    • 1 crime/mystery

    • 1 sport (mixed martial arts)

  • 12 magazines

    • 12 issues of Lightspeed Magazine

  • 36 novels

    • 3 crime/mystery

    • 4 horror

    • 12 fantasy

    • 8 science fiction

    • 7 romance

    • 2 pulp-adventure

  • 2 novelettes

    • 1 fantasy

    • 1 mystery

  • 44 novellas

    • 4 horror

    • 12 fantasy

    • 14 romance

    • 2 drama

    • 12 science fiction

  • 3 play scripts

    • 1 memoir (Year of Magical Thinking)

    • 1 drama (Amadeus)

    • 1 Shakespeare (Macbeth)

• Non-Fiction: 9 books

  • 1 TV/movie criticism

  • 1 movie-craft

  • 6 memoirs

  • 1 true crime

Other Book Stats:

# of Authors/Editors: approximately 117 (including graphic novel artists; I need to be better at listing all the creators of graphic novels somehow). The following breakdown is estimated because not every author shares their personal information online, and many people overlap categories, but roughly:

·              33 female creators

·              5 Trans/Non-Binary

·              30 LGBTQIA+

·              21 BIPOC

·              10 Asian

·              2 Latinx

Shortest Books Read: 54 pages (Dust to Dust by Jess Faraday; A Little Village Blend by ‘Nathan Burgoine)

Longest Book Read: 565 (Everything in All the Wrong Order by Chaz Brenchley) (The Sandman Act Two audiobook accounts for roughly 632 pages of graphic novel, so technically that’s longer)

Total # of pages read: 26,840

Average # of pages per book: 189

# of Rereads: 11 (including annual rereads of Roger Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October, ‘Nathan Burgoine’s Handmade Holidays and Faux Ho Ho, Ken Schole’s If Dragon’s Mass Eve Be Cold and Clear, and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol)

Monthly Breakdown:

·         January: 12

·         February: 12

·         March: 13

·         April: 9

·         May: 13

·         June: 8 (tied for fewest read in a month)

·         July: 12

·         August: 9

·         September: 8 (tied for fewest read in a month)

·         October: 14

·         November: 14

·         December: 16 (most read in a month)

Review-wise on Goodreads I gave 19 three-stars, 81 four-stars, and 40 five-star reviews.

Format Summary:

• 19 audiobooks

• 53 e-books

• 68 print

  • 19 hardcovers

  • 49 softcovers

366 Short Stories Challenge:

Each year, I challenge myself to read one short story per day. I read 362 stories in 2021, narrowly missing the goal.

Total # of pages read: approximately 5,711 pages of fiction

Average story length: 16.75 pages

Shortest story: 1 page long (“Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, “Wrath of a Queer God” by Anthony Moll)

Longest story (novella): 250 pages (“Halfway Through the Wood” by Seanan McGuire, on her Patreon).

The breakdown of where the stories appeared:

• 15 Magazines (197 stories)

  • Apex

  • Asimov’s

  • Bachelors

  • Fantasy

  • Fireside

  • Future

  • Kaleidotrope

  • Lightspeed

  • Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

  • Nightmare

  • The Dark

  • The Deadlands

  • The New Yorker

  • Tor.Com

  • Uncanny

• 5 Anthologies (56 stories)

  • Body Shocks

  • Clockwork, Curses, and Coal

  • Decision Points

  • Giving the Devil His Due

  • Glitter + Ashes

• 6 Single-Author Collections

  • Davi Rhii Omnibus by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

  • Everything In All the Wrong Order by Chaz Brenchley

  • How Long Til Black History Month by N.K. Jemisin

  • Nine Bar Blues by Sheree Renée Thomas

  • The Witch in the Almond Tree and Other Stories by C.S.E. Cooney

  • Underworld Dreams by Daniel Braum

• 3 published as “back-matter” in novels

  • Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire

  • The Wizard of Venus by Edgar Rice Burroughs

  • When Sorrows Come by Seanan McGuire

• 22 Stand-alone (self-pubbed or publisher-pubbed in print or e-format)

  • 12 Seanan McGuire (Patreon)

  • 1 Mysterious Bookstore (Printed pamphlet giveaways)

  • 8 ‘Nathan Burgoine (author website)

  • 1 Bram Stoker (e-pub of “To the Rescue”)

24 stories were re-reads (including a number of annual Christmas stories), the rest were “new to me” in 2021. I gave only 3 stories a 2-star rating. 150 got a 3-star rating, 162 got 4 stars, and 47 got 5 stars.

226 different authors wrote those 362 stories, under the auspices of more than 26 editors (estimated because I couldn’t always find “edited by” information for self-pubbed/website/chapbook stories). The following breakdown is estimated because not every author shares their personal information online, and some people overlap categories, but roughly:

·              129 female creators

·              4 Trans/Non-Binary

·              32 LGBTQIA+

·              33 BIPOC

·              10 Latinx

·              15 Asian

Monthly Breakdown:

·         January: 26

·         February: 53

·         March: 25

·         April: 39

·         May: 20

·         June: 13 (fewest read)

·         July: 24

·         August: 17

·         September: 23

·         October: 54 (most read)

·         November: 31

·         December: 37

Graphic Novel Challenge:

Because I own so many, I challenged myself to read one graphic novel per week. I didn’t make it, reading a total of only 24 from 10 different publishers:

·              DC Comics: 3

·              Marvel Comics: 4

·              BOOM!: 7

·              Aftershock: 3

·              Titan: 2

·              Image: 1

·              Source Point: 1

·              Northwest: 1

·              Turtleback: 1

·              Scholastic Books: 1

You can see in the “books” section above what the genre breakdown was among the graphic novels.

To Be Read Challenge: I challenged myself to read 12 fiction books and 12 non-fiction books that had been on my bookshelves for over a year (meaning nothing published in 2019) and assigned 2 alternate titles for each category. I didn’t do well with this challenge. The 9 titles I did read are identified in italics, with completion dates:

FICTION:

1.       The Mystery of the Sea by Bram Stoker

2.       How Long ‘til Black Future Month by NK Jemisin – Finished February 28, 2021

3.       The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R. A. Dick

4.       Dune by Frank Herbert

5.       Monstress Volume 1 by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda – Finished July 5, 2021

6.       Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller – finished June 20, 2021

7.       Excalibur! by Gil Kane and John Jakes

8.       Lord Tyger by Philip Jose Farmer

9.       The Book of Lost Saints by Daniel Jose Older

10.   Slights by Kaaron Warren

11.   Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini by Cynthia Von Buhler – Finished March 24, 2021

12.   The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum – finished December 30, 2021

Alternate #1: Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Alternate #2: The Red Lamp by Mary Roberts Reinhart

NON-FICTION:

1.       Poisoning for Profit: The Mafia and Toxic Waste in America by Alan A. Block and Frank R. Scarpitti – Finished January 31, 2021

2.       An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina – Finished February 17, 2021

3.       Twilight at the World of Tomorrow by James Mauro

4.       Faery Tale: One Woman’s Search for Enchantment in a Modern World by Signe Pike – Finished March 20, 2021.

5.       Something in the Blood: The Untold Tale of Bram Stoker by David J. Skal

6.       Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxane Dunbar-Ortiz

7.       The Celluloid Closet by Vito Russo

8.       The Tricky Part: One Boy’s Fall from Trespass into Grace by Martin Moran

9.       Comic Book Implosion: An Oral History of DC Comics Circa 1978 by Keith Dallas and John Wells

10.   Letters to the Pumpkin King by Seanan McGuire

11.   The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier – Finished February 27, 2021

12.   First Family by Joseph J. Ellis

Alternate #1: Classics on Infinite Earths by Julian Darius

Alternate #2: Hollow Earth by David Standish

Non-Fiction Challenge: I didn’t do well on this one, either. I challenged myself to read 24 non-fiction books in 2021, and I only read 9. (Not as good as 2020’s 11, better than 2019’s 4)

Read the Book, Watch the Movie Challenge: I didn’t set a numbered goal for this one in 2020, and looking back I don’t think I managed a single paired reading/watching.

Complete the Series Challenge: Challenged myself to complete reading 5 complete series, actually completed 2 series:

THE VELVETEEN SERIES by Seanan McGuire

1.       Velveteen Vs. The Junior Super-Patriots

2.       Velveteen Vs. The Multiverse

3.       Velveteen Vs. The Seasons

CARSON OF VENUS by Edgar Rice Burroughs

1.       Pirates of Venus – read in January 2020

2.       Lost on Venus – completed in August 2021

3.       Carson of Venus – completed in August 2021

4.       Escape on Venus – completed in August 2021

5.       The Wizard of Venus – completed in August 2021

THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES by Jeff Guinn

1.       The Autobiography of Santa Claus

2.       How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas

3.       The Great Santa Search

THE FRANKENSTEIN NOVELS by Frank Schildiner

1.       The Quest of Frankenstein – read in 2018

2.       The Triumph of Frankenstein – completed in July 2021

3.       The Spells of Frankenstein – completed in July 2021

THE SHADOWSHAPER TRILOGY by Daniel José Older

1.       Shadowshaper – read in 2015

2.       Shadowhouse Fall

3.       Shadowshaper Legacy

So there’s my year in reading! Next post will be my year in viewing (television, movies, and live events).

Reading Round-Up: June 2021

Not quite as belatedly, the monthly summary of what I read and listened to in June 2021!

BOOKS

I read 8 books in June: 3 in print, 5 in e-book format, and 0 in audio format. They were:

1.       Lightspeed Magazine #133 (June 2021 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams. The usual fine assortment of sf and fantasy short stories. This month’s favorites for me were Sam J. Miller’s “The Nation of the Sick,” Nalo Hopkinson’s “Inselberg,” Adam R. Shannon’s “When You Die on the Radio,” and Theodora Goss’s “How to Become a Witch Queen.”

2.       Lumberjanes Vol 18: Horticultural Horizons by Shannon Watters, Kat Leyh, Kanesha C. Bryant, Julia Madrigal, others. Collects issues 69-72 of the monthly comic run, in which the ‘Janes follow camp director Rosie into the woods and discover a creeping killer vine and Rosie’s former best friend Abigail. A really solid storyline this time out spotlights each of the ‘Janes and gives us more background/movement with Rosie and Abigail.

3.       All We Ever Wanted by Seth King. Near the end of his life, a grandfather writes down the story of his lost true love, another man. King charts their hidden love affair across the decades, starting with their first meeting in the 1950s. It’s full of love, but also heart-breaking and angering.

4.       The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag. A new original graphic novel from the creator of the “Witch Boy” series that I love so much. This one takes place on a coastal Island community and focuses on a teen girl who is hiding her sexuality until she can leave – but the selkie she meets might alter those plans. Heartfelt and lovely.

5.       May the Best Man Win by ZR Ellor. A transgender boy who is already class president and a head cheerleader decides to compete with his ex-boyfriend for the Homecoming King crown. Their battle threatens to hurt each other and people they love. I got so invested in this I was yelling at the characters for being so single-minded and selfish.

6.       Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller. In a post-climate change future, various denizens of the titular city find their lives intertwining when a mysterious woman on a mission comes to town. A great ensemble story with lots of characters to root for, and rich assholes to root against.

7.       A Writer Prepares by Lawrence Block. Block’s memoir of his early days working for a literary agency in New York, writing crime fiction and erotica for paperback publishers and paying his dues to build a career.

8.       Fair Youth by M. Dalto and Laynie Bynum. A modern-day, gender-flipped take on the oft-speculated relationship between Elizabethan playwrights William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, only here they’re budding scriptwriters in Hollywood.

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 365 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) this year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “The Nation of the Sick” by Sam J. Miller, from Lightspeed Magazine #133 (June 2021 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Different People” by Timothy Mudie

3.       “Inselberg” by Nalo Hopkinson

4.       “Do Nothing” by Indria Isa Richardson

5.       “A Tableau of Things That Are” by Adam-Troy Castro

6.       “Wolf Tones” by Sofia Samatar

7.       “When You Die on the Radio” by Adam R. Shannon

8.       “How to Become a Witch Queen” by Theodora Goss

9.       “Dos Coyotes” by Catherine J. Cole, from Fantasy Magazine #68 (June 2021), edited by Christie Yant and Arley Sorg

10.   “Your Ticket to Hell” by Rajan Khanna

11.   “The Port of Le Havre, Night Effect, 1873” by Christine Tyler

12.   “A Gift from the Queen of Fairie to the King of Hell” by Cara Masten DiGirolamo

13.    “To Build a Better” by Seanan McGuire, on the author’s Patreon page.

So that’s 13 short stories in June, possible the fewest I’ve ever read in a calendar month since I started tracking my short story reading. Fewer than “1 per day” and I’m behind again for the year. (June 30th was the 181st day of 2021.)

Summary of Reading Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 6 of 24 main titles read. (0 of 4 alternate titles read)

365 Short Stories Challenge: This month: 13 read; YTD: 176 of 365 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 2 read; YTD: 15 of 52 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 8 read; YTD: 67 of 125 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 1 read; YTD: 9 of 24 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0; YTD: 0 read/watched.

Complete the Series Challenge: This month: 0 book read; YTD: 0 of 14 read.

                                                          Series fully completed: 0 of 4 planned

Monthly Special Challenge:   June’s mini-challenge was to read some works by LGBTQIA+ authors for Pride Month. I did well, as the majority of the books read were by queer-identifying creators (apart from the Block memoir), and several of the short stories were as well.

I decided not to set a mini challenge for July and to use the month to catch up on some of the on-going challenges. We’ll see how that goes…

Reading Round-Up: May 2021

Once again belatedly, the monthly summary of what I read and listened to in May 2021!

BOOKS

I read 13 books in May: 8 in print, 3 in e-book format, and 2 in audio format. They were:

1.       Lightspeed Magazine #132 (May 2021 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams. The usual fine assortment of sf and fantasy short stories. This month’s favorites for me were Andrea Kriz’s “There Are No Hot Topics on Whukai,” Gene Doucette’s “Hypnopompic Circumstance,” Kristina Ten’s “Bones in It,” and Howard Andrew Jones’s “The Palace in the Moonlight.”

2.       Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard. A princess haunted by a fire that occurred when she was a political prisoner of another nation must navigate negotiations with the representatives of that same colonizing nation as an adult, complicated by the arrival of a new friend and an old lover.

3.       Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters by Aimee Ogden. Sci-fi “retelling” of The Little Mermaid, although that retelling is briefly in flashbacks and the story really focuses on the characters quite a few years later. FULL REVIEW HERE.

4.       Burning Roses by S.L. Huang. A novella about running from one’s past mistakes and the uses and misuses of personal power, featuring a version of Red Riding Hood and a version of Hou Yi who help each other deal with their slowly unveiled pasts.

5.       Adler, Volume 1 by Lavie Tidhar (writer), Paul McCaffrey (artist). Collection of the graphic novel series teaming up versions of fictional characters Irene Adler, Jane Eyre, Miss Havisham, orphan Annie, and others against Ayesha.

6.       Miles Morales: Spider-Man Volume 4: Ultimatum by Saladin Ahmed (writer), Cory Smith, Carmen Carnero, Javier Garrón, others. Collection of issues 16-21 of the monthly comics run.

7.       The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo. Vo’s reinvention of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, narrated by Jordan Baker, who here is a queer Asian adoptee in a world where magic actually works. FULL REVIEW HERE.

8.       Ms. Marvel by Saladin Ahmed Volume 3: Outlawed by Saladin Ahmed (writer), Minkyu Jung, others. Collection of issues 13-18 of the monthly comics run, in which Kamala and friends must avoid being caught by government agency CRADLE while acting as super-heroes without adult sponsors.

9.       Ghost-Spider Volume 2: Party People by Seanan McGuire (writer), Ig Guara (artist), others. Collecting issues 6-10 of the monthly comics run, during with Gwen navigates life on two different Earths and meets her Earth’s versions of Sue and Johnny Storm. Shame this run was cancelled so early.

10.   Shang-Chi by Gene Luen Yang Volume 1: Brothers & Sisters by Gene Luen Yang (writer), Dike Ruan, Philip Tan (artists). Collection of the monthly mini-series that introduced a new status quo for Shang-Chi in the comics, as he learns he has more biological half-siblings than he ever thought he could have. It’s not the Shang-Chi I grew up reading, but an interesting reinterpretation.

11.   The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I don’t remember reading this in either high school or college, but after reading Nghi Vo’s reinterpretation, I felt like I had to in order to understand her inspiration. It’s an interesting story as far as it goes, with some interesting turns of phrase.

12.   The Witch in the Almond Tree & Other Stories by C.S.E. Cooney. Three wonderful fantasy short stories featuring magic, romance, and a bit of erotica. I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author and loved every minute of it.

13.   Dodge & Twist: A Sequel to Oliver Twist by Tony Lee. I listened to the audio production, which was more of a radio play than a reading (and my understanding is that Lee wrote it specifically as such for Audible). It’s a fun tale of Oliver and Dodger running into each other in their early twenties and getting involved in a caper together. I’m not sure it’s quite the sequel “Dickens would have written,” as some of the press materials claimed, but it’s a fun and fast-paced tale nonetheless.

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 365 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) this year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “Hypnopompic Circumstance” by Gene Doucette, from Lightspeed Magazine #132 (May 2021 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Carnivores” by Rich Larson

3.       “There Are No Hot Topics on Whukai” by Andrea Kriz

4.       “Saudade” by Nelson Rolon

5.       “An Invitation to a Burning” by Kat Howard

6.       “Bones In It” by Kristina Ten

7.       “Dead Men in Central City” by Carrie Vaughn

8.       “The Palace in the Moonlight” by Howard Andrew Jones

9.       “Like Birdsong, The Memory of Your Touch” by Izzy Wasserstein, from Fantasy Magazine #67 (May 2021), edited by Christie Yant and Arley Sorg

10.   “The Sweetest Source” by J.L. Jones

11.   “Disenchantment” by P.H. Low

12.   “By Our Own Hands” by Anya Leigh Josephs

13.    “By Any Other” by Seanan McGuire, on the author’s Patreon page.

14.   “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, from The New Yorker (June 26, 1978)

15.   “Crooked House” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, from The Dark #72 (May 2021), edited by Sean Wallace

16.   “Of Claw and Bone” by Suzan Palumbo

17.   “Water Child” by Frances Ogamba

18.   “The Witch in the Almond Tree” by C.S.E. Cooney, from The Witch in the Almond Tree and Other Stories

19.   “Witch, Beast, Saint” by C.S.E. Cooney

20.   “Braiding the Ghosts” by C.S.E. Cooney

So that’s 20 short stories in May. Fewer than “1 per day” but I’m still slightly ahead for the year. (May 31st was the 151st day of 2021.)

Summary of Reading Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 6 of 24 main titles read. (0 of 4 alternate titles read)

365 Short Stories Challenge: This month: 20 read; YTD: 163 of 365 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 5 read; YTD: 13 of 52 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 13 read; YTD: 59 of 125 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 8 of 24 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0; YTD: 0 read/watched.

Complete the Series Challenge: This month: 0 book read; YTD: 0 of 14 read.

                                                          Series fully completed: 0 of 4 planned

Monthly Special Challenge:   May’s mini-challenge was to read some works by authors of Asian Pacific and/or South Asian descent, for Asian Pacific and South Asian Heritage Month. Didn’t do too badly on this one: three novels (de Bodard, Huang, Vo), one graphic novel (Shang-Chi by Yang, Ruan, Tan and co.).

June’s mini-challenge is, quite naturally, LGBTQIA+ authors and works, since June is Pride Month.

Reading Round-Up: March 2021

Much belatedly, the monthly summary of what I read and listened to in March 2021!

BOOKS

I read 13 books in February: 7 in print, 6 in e-book format, and 0 in audio format. They were:

1.       Lightspeed Magazine #120 (March 2021 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams. The usual fine assortment of sf and fantasy short stories. This month’s favorites for me were Claire Wrenwood’s “Homecoming,” Yoon Ha Lee’s “The Empty Gun,” Sarah Grey’s “Brightly, Undiminished,” and P H Lee’s “The Bear Prince.”

2.       Lumberjanes Vol. 17: Smitten in the Stars by Shannon Watters and Kat Leyh (writer), Kanesha C. Bryant (art), Maarta Laiho (colors), Aubrey Aiese (letters), Sophie Philips-Roberts (editor). This graphic novel collects issues #65-68 of the monthly Lumberjanes series. This time out, Camp Director Rosie and counselor Jen’s attempt to take the Lumberjanes on a night of stargazing is interrupted by the arrival of a goddess, a cat-napping, and the Roanoke and Zodiac cabins sneaking out to search for aliens. It’s another really fun installment, and I’m going to be sad when the series draws to its announced end in the near future.

3.       The Inconvenient God (The Polity Book 1) by Francesca Forrest. This novelette serves as the introduction to the world of The Polity, where the prevailing government is moving the populace from worship of individual gods to themed abstractions. Old, waning gods are “decommissioned,” that is, turned mortal, through the efforts of a specialized department. The novelette is narrated by Decommissioner Thirty-Seven, who has arrived on a college campus to decommission a local trickster god (and patron of lazy students) named Ohin. Things do not go smoothly and secrets about the university’s and Ohin’s histories are laid bare. I was totally sucked into this story. FULL REVIEW HERE.

4.       Lagoonfire (The Polity Book 2) by Francesca Forrest. Decommissioner Thirty-Seven’s adventures continue in this novella. The action starts with Thirty-Seven being sent to investigate the possibility that the first god she decommissioned, Laloran-morna, is involved in corporate sabotage. More of Thirty-Seven’s personal history is revealed in this story, as is more about the Polity itself. You can read Lagoonfire without having read The Inconvenient God, but reading the novelette first adds some depth to the novella. FULL REVIEW HERE.

5.       Village Fool (A Little Village novella) by ‘Nathan Burgoine. The latest holiday-themed gay romance novella from ‘Nathan Burgoine shifts the action from Christmas to April Fool’s Day and gives us the back-story to the relationship between IT worker Owen and physical therapist Toma, who had been mentioned briefly in previous Little Village novellas. Burgoine’s usual warmth, romance, and fine character work are all present (along with plenty of trademark geeky good-natured snark). It’s a sweet story I highly recommend. And one does not have to have read the previous novellas in order to read this one. FULL REVIEW HERE.

6.       The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna. Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in a world in which women are second-class citizens: adult women must wear masks in public and can only hold certain jobs. Social status is indicated by the expensiveness of the masks women wear. At sixteen, girls are put through a ceremonial bleeding: if their blood runs red, they enter society. If their blood runs gold, they are put under the death mandate. Deka loses all hope when her blood runs gold – but then she is conscripted into a special battle corps of Alaki – near-immortal warrior women whose blood runs gold – to protect the empire from invading deathshrieks. Forna’s world-building, from the socio-political aspects to the magic, is fantastic and Deka is an intriguing narrator. This is billed in various places online as “The Deathless, Book 1” so I’m assuming there’s more to come in this world and with these characters.

7.       A Voice in the Darkness: Memoir of a Rwandan Genocide Survivor by Jeanne Celestine Lakin. The third book I’ve read about the Rwandan Genocide Against the Tutsi, a horrific event I’m still trying to wrap my mind and heart around. The two books I read in February were memoirs by men who survived the genocide by taking refuge in the “Hotel Rwanda.” Lakin’s memoir is of survival on the streets and in the fields, narrowly evading death multiple times in the company of her 3-year-old twin sisters. Lakin talks about the fear, the abandonment by Hutu family members and former friends, and the physical and sexual abuse she experienced as a child survivor of only 11-years old. The difference in experience between the hotel survivors and those who had to fend for themselves, and between men and women, is stark. My next planned read about the subject is a memoir by the leader of UN forces in the Rwandan capital during the Genocide, Romeo Dallaire.

8.       Blind Tiger (The Pride, Book 1) by Jordan L. Hawk. A new series set in the same alternate history of Hawk’s Hexworld/Witch Police novels, but with the action set in Prohibition-era Chicago. Sam Cunningham flees small town life to live with his hexmaker cousin in the big city, but when that cousin is murdered Sam must team up with the operators of a local speakeasy (called The Pride because the owners are a family of familiars who shift to various Big Cat forms) to solve the mystery and stay alive. As is usual with the Hexworld novels, there’s an awkward meet-cute between the two lead characters, a romance, and some hot sex. FULL REVIEW HERE.

9.       Faery Tales: One Woman’s Search for Enchantment in a Modern World by Signe Pike. One of my non-fiction To Be Read Challenge titles for 2021. Pike recounts her search for faeries across North America and the United Kingdom and how it changed her view of herself and what she wanted to accomplish. Along the way she meets a variety of colorful local folks and learns about the ways people approach the possibility of the supernatural co-existing with us. An interesting, easy read.

10.   Biff! Bam! Eee-Yow! The Subterranean Blue Grotto Guide to Batman ’66 Season Two edited by Jim Beard. Another wonderful book of essays covering each episode of season two.

11.   Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini by Cynthia von Buhler. One of my fiction TO Be Read Challenge titles for 2021, this graphic novel collects von Buhler’s first mini-series for Titan Books’ Hard Case Crime imprint. Minky Woodcock is the daughter of a famous detective who will not train her to take over his agency, so while he’s away and her ne’er-do-well brother is absent, she takes on a case to prove herself. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle hires her to prove Harry Houdini is a fraud. Mixing real-life events and people with fictional characters, von Buhler proposes a “true” reason for Houdini’s unfortunately early death. It’s a compelling story with interesting characters, and the second mini-series, The Girl Who Electrocuted Tesla, is currently releasing in monthly comics form.

12.   First, Become Ashes by K.M. Szpara. Szpara’s second novel explores self-discovery after trauma and outgrowing abusive origins in the context of a multi-narrator road-trip story. Dealing as it does explicitly with physical and emotional abuse, rape, and consent violations, this will not be an easy read for many people. FULL REVIEW HERE.

13.   The Black Canary: Bird of Prey by Robert Kanigher and Gardner F. Fox (writers), Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson, Alex Toth (artists). This graphic novel collects a number of Black Canary’s seminal Golden Age and Silver Age solo stories from Flash Comics #86-88 and 90-104, Comics Cavalcade #25, DC Special #3, Adventure Comics #399 and 418-419, and The Brave and the Bold #61-62 (her team-ups with Starman). Black Canary is one of my favorite characters and revisiting her evolution from mysterious guest-star in Johnny Thunder’s feature to replacing him and gaining a supporting cast of her own to returning in the Silver Age with powers is always fun. The Golden Age episodes feature an awful lot of BC and her male companion (first JT, then detective Larry Lance) getting knocked unconscious, and the early Infantino art feels a bit rough in comparison to the Murphy Anderson and Alex Toth art of the later stories, but they’re all enjoyable.

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 365 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) this year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “Homecoming” by Claire Wrenwood, from Lightspeed Magazine #130 (March 2021 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Dispatches from the Cradle: The Hermit -- Forty-Eight Hours in the Sea of Massachusetts” by Ken Liu

3.       “And Now, A Preview of Coming Attractions” by Adam-Troy Castro

4.       “The Empty Gun” by Yoon Ha Lee

5.       “Olivia’s Table” by Alyssa Wong

6.       “The Bear Prince” by P H Lee

7.       “A Place for Hiding Precious Things” by Amber Sparks

8.       “Brightly, Undiminished” by Sarah Grey

9.       “The Code for Everything” by McKinley Valentine, from Fantasy Magazine #65 (March 2021), edited by Christie Yant and Arley Sorg

10.   “Man vs. Bomb” by M. Shaw

11.   “Close Enough to Divine” by Donyae Coles

12.   “Arenous” by Hal Y. Zhang

13.    “The Hand of the Forest” by Seanan McGuire, on the author’s Patreon page.

14.   “The Sin of America” by Catherynne M. Valente, from Uncanny Magazine #39 (March 2021), edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas

15.   “Colors of the Immortal Palette” by Caroline M. Yoachim

16.   “The Book of the Kraken” by Carrie Vaughn

17.   “It Accumulates” by Joanna Parypinski, from Nightmare Magazine #102 (March 2021), edited by Wendy N. Wagner

18.   “Forever is Composed of Nows” by Will Ludwigsen, from Bachelors #1, edited by Steve Berman

19.   “Babydog” by Ryan Vance

20.   “Whatever A Body is Not Obliged to Do” by L.A. Fields

21.   “Last Night at Manscape” by Nick Mamatas

22.   “Little Doors” by Claire Madrigano, from The Dark #70 (March 2021), edited by Sean Wallace

23.   “Immortelle” by Jelena Dunato

24.   “Las Girlfriends Guide to Subversive Eating” by Sabrina Vourvoulias, from Apex Magazine #122 (March 2021), edited by Jason Sizemore

25.   “A Future of Towers Made” by Beth Cato, from Clockwork, Curses, and Coal: Steampunk and Gaslamp Fairy Tales), edited by Rhonda Parrish

So that’s 25 short stories in March. Not quite “1 per day” but I’m still slightly ahead for the year. (March 31st was the 90th day of 2021.)

Summary of Reading Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 2 read; YTD: 6 of 24 main titles read. (0 of 4 alternate titles read)

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month:  53 read; YTD: 104 of 365 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 3 read; YTD: 8 of 52 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 13 read; YTD: 37 of 125 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 3 read; YTD: 7 of 24 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0; YTD: 0 read/watched.

Complete the Series Challenge: This month: 0 book read; YTD: 0 of 14 read.

                                                          Series fully completed: 0 of 4 planned

Monthly Special Challenge:   March was Women’s History Month, so my intent was to read as many female authors as possible. On the “short story” side of things, I did pretty well: 17 of the 25 stories read were by female-identifying authors. On the “books” side of things, comparatively, I did less well: if I include all the creators involved in Lumberjanes Vol 17, 9 of the books I read were written/created by female-identifying authors/artists.

April’s mini-challenge is poetry, as April is National Poetry Month. I am not a consistent reader of poetry, but in April I usually try to read at least a couple of poetry collections, so we’ll see how I do.