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.)
short stories
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.
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!
Stories and Poems I liked in February and March
Things have been various hues of tough lately for everyone. I turned to writing and reading, so here are some short stories and poems I enjoyed these past two months, that I hope, if you go ahead and read them, you’ll enjoy too.
This time, besides the links to the pieces, I’ll add a couple of lines for each short story and also, since I have synesthesia, I’ll mention the colors in which I see each story in.
So, there you go!
Stories and Poems I liked in January
Last year, reading ended up being quite the struggle. I found it very difficult to keep my concentration when reading long or short form, and I hunted my interest in the stories I read with a harpoon.
So, this year, in an effort to bring my mojo back and keep myself accountable for reading more on the front of short fiction and poetry, I’m going to make one post per month of my favorite reads. While I didn’t read as many short stories as I had planned, I’m quite satisfied with the progress I made. Without further ado, here is a small list of the short stories and the poems that I liked during January.
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Stories:
“Green Tunnels” by Taimur Ahmad, in Fireside Fiction
“The Dead, In their Uncontrollable Power” by Karen Osborne, in Uncanny
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Poems:
“recursion” by M. Darush Whem, in Liminality
“Mojo Lost” by Allyson Shaw, in Liminality
“You and Your Tulpa” by Jen Julian, in Liminality
“For Mrs. Q” by C.S.E. Cooney. in Fireside
“The city that changed hands” by Maya Chhabra, in Strange Horizons