Short Stories I enjoyed in February and March

Hello! Summer is here!

I read 33 stories during these two months, so I thought I’d make a post about them together. So many stories, so little time.

As always, here we go in no particular order:

For sale: One Unicorn Saddle, Mostly Disenchanted by Aimee Picchi in Translunar Travelers Lounge: A short, fun and cute story over the sadness and disappointment for your run-away unicorn and how internet strangers can help you realize what really happened. ?

Gennesaret by Phoenix Alexander in Beneath Ceaseless Skies: What is escaping from what you know when you know nothing else? And who will pay the price? A short and sad story about taking the dangerous leap towards change and going in blind.

Metal like blood in the Black by T. Kingfisher in Uncanny: A unique story about two machines, their relationship with their father and how they managed to survive on their own against a villainous figure. I really enjoyed this one.

An Incomplete Account of the Case of the Bird-talker in Yaros by Eleanna Castroianni in Fireside: From 1967-1974, during the years of the Greek Junta, the island of Yaros in the Aegean was used as a prison for the political prisoners. This is a gentle story in the form of short interviews from the prisoners about the living conditions in prison as well as their personal experiences with the regime.

 

Poetry:

A Jar of Condensed Milk by Gretchen Tesshmer in Strange Horizons

The Prophet, to His Angel by Bogi Takàcs in Fantasy Magazine

Return to the Cities by Marie Vibbert in The Future Fire

Eosphosphorus by Avra Margariti in Eye to the Telescope

A Message From Her Feline Self, Unborn, to Her Cousin, Whose Ancestors Were Once Wolves by Jessica Cho in Fireside 

Shreds and Tatters by Jennifer Crow in Kaleidotrope

Short stories I enjoyed in January

A very late post considering, but my notes are frowning at me and I have to oblige. January was a great month reading wise and I read a lot and very good short stories. As always, here you’ll find both old and new pieces in no particular order. Just the way I put them down on my notes. (You can also see that when I like a magazine or an author I kind of … don’t let go.)

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Favourite books of 2021

In 2021 I had to relearn how to enjoy reading. I went months without picking up a book, or starting books and putting them back down. I missed reading, I missed the joy that came from immersing myself in a fictional world and I missed the easiness of being able to follow a story. In the end, I decided to do it the hard way: force my way through. Luck was with me. The couple of books that I forced my way through were entertaining and fun. Which, of course, was an additional push out of my reading slump. Also, smaller books helped with feeling the satisfaction of finishing a book, giving me enough momentum to move and read forward.

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Short Stories I enjoyed in December

On one hand, in December I only read 12 short stories but, on the other, I discovered Diabolical Plots and Nature Futures, and I had a blast reading stories from them. ^^

Practice on a Pulsefish by Steven Berger in Nature Futures: A flash that deals with the consequences of ignoring the natural environment in order to make some easy money. I’m always in for some petty revenge.

A Guide to Snack Foods After The Apocalypse by Rachel K. Jones in Diabolical Plots: Two kids trying to survive the apocalypse on their own. This story was weird and cute and weird!

The Art And Mystery of Thea Wells  by Alexandra Seidel in Diabolical Plots: I loved the descriptions of the paintings in this story. They felt like art pieces that existed and the feeling they evoked unsettled and intrigued me.

Audio Recording left by the CEO of the Ranvannian Colony to her daughter on the survival imperative of maximizing profits by Cassandra Khaw and Matt Dovey in Diabolical Plots: Ohhhh I loved this one. Unique descriptions of alien food, taste and ways to cook or serve it while at the same time describing the horror of making choices in the altar of profit. Also, mind the content notes on this one.

Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Short stories and poems I liked in April

I managed to read 31 stories in April! One day, I will start following magazines in a more organized manner, but this is not the day. For some reason, I like reading randomly, either from people that tweet their favorite stories, or someone promoting their own work, or even going in a magazine and just choose what to read based on the title (and the length. Never forget the length).

There aren’t many poems this month, because I didn’t read any. I’ll fix this as I go.

So, here are eight favourites of mine from this past month.

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Stories and Poems I liked in March

In March, I finally managed to go back to reading short stories, which has helped change my mood to the better. I didn’t have a plan in the way I chose what I read. In the following list there older stories and newer stories, same venues and same authors. Most of them are flash stories, because it was easier for me to focus for a shorter amount of time. But they are all unique and interesting.

So, there you go!

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