amysisson's Short Story Reading for 2019 Quarter 1

Happy New Year! Here's another attempt at reading at least one short story per day for the year. (I did manage this feat one year, but it's been a while.)

JANUARY 2019

1. (1 in January) - January 1, 2019 - "Cookies for Ghost" by Emily McCosh. Daily Science Fiction, January 1, 2019. Read 01-01-19. .
2. (2 in January) - January 2, 2019 - "My Lord's Man" by Margo Lanagan. Black Juice (collection), 2004. Read 01-02-19.
3. (3 in January) - January 3, 2019 - "First Class" by Barbara Krasnoff. Curious Fictions website, January 1, 2019. Read 01-04-19.
4. (4 in January) - January 4, 2019 - "In Which Liz Builds a Robot with Unexpected Results" by Grayson Bray Morris. Curious Fictions website, December 19, 2018. Read 01-04-19.
5. (5 in January) - January 5, 2019 - "For the Last Time, It’s Not a Ray Gun"by Anaea Lay. Diabolical Plots, December 17, 2018. Read 01-05-19.
6. (6 in January) - January 5, 2019 (2nd story) - "Midnight at the Fountains of Bellagio" by Caroline M. Yoachim. Daily Science Fiction, October 23, 2018. Read 01-05-19. .
7. (7 in January) - January 6, 2019 - "To Live Again" by Clint Lowe. Every Day Fiction, January 5, 2019. Read 01-06-19. .
8. (8 in January) - January 6, 2019 (2nd story) - "The Clean-Up Man" by Max Shephard. Trigger Warning, Issue 11. Read 01-06-19. .
9. (9 in January) - January 6, 2019 (3rd story) - "Fruité" by Ruth Nestvold. Daily Science Fiction, January 2, 2019. Read 01-06-19. .
10. (10 in January) - January 7, 2019 - "The Quantum Womb" by Rachel Rodman. Daily Science Fiction, January 3, 2019. Read 01-07-19. .
11. (11 in January) - January 7, 2019 (2nd story) - "Happy (Re)Birthday" by Michael Snyder. Every Day Fiction, January 1, 2019. Read 01-07-19. .
12. (12 in January) - January 8, 2019 - "The Human Spirit" by Tori Stubbs. Daily Science Fiction, January 8, 2019. Read 01-08-19. .
13. (13 in January) - January 8, 2019 (2nd story) - "The Envoy" by Al Onia. Curious Fictions website, January 7, 2019. Read 01-08-19.
14. (14 in January) - January 8, 2019 (3rd story) - "Cold Memories" by Laurence Raphael Brothers. Nature, January 2, 2019. Read 01-08-19.
15. (15 in January) - January 8, 2019 (4th story) - "Between Two Voices Talking" by Laurence Raphael Brothers . Nature, December 8, 2018. Read 01-08-19.
16. (16 in January) - January 9, 2019 - "A Line in the Sand" by Ruth Nestvold. Daily Science Fiction, January 9, 2019. Read 01-09-19.
17. (17 in January) - January 9, 2019 (2nd story) - "Complicity" by Claire Bourke. Every Day Fiction, January 9, 2019. Read 01-09-19.
18. (18 in January) - January 9, 2019 (3rd story) - "The Ghosts of Ganymede" by Derek Künsken. Clarkesworld, January 2019. Read 01-09-19.
19. (19 in January) - January 9, 2019 (4th story) - "Never Chose This Way" by Shira Lipkin. Curious Fictions website, January 7, 2019. Read 01-09-19.
20. (20 in January) - January 10, 2019 - "The Look in Her Eyes" by Kevlin Henney. Daily Science Fiction, January 10, 2019. Read 01-10-19.
21. (21 in January) - January 10, 2019 (2nd story) - "Irrefutable" by Rex Caleval. Every Day Fiction, January 10, 2019. Read 01-10-19.
22. (22 in January) - January 10, 2019 (3rd story) - "Tomorrow, the Sunset Will Be Blue" by Jeremy Szal. Nature, January 9, 2019. Read 01-10-19.
23. (23 in January) - January 10, 2019 (4th story) - "Alexander's Theory of Special Relativity" by Shane Halbach. Curious Fictions website, September 22, 2017. Read 01-10-19.
24. (24 in January) - January 11, 2019 - "The Garbage Flotilla in the Pacific Ocean Is Not Your Problem" by Isaac Pickle. Daily Science Fiction, January 11, 2019. Read 01-10-19.
25. (25 in January) - January 11, 2019 (2nd story) - "Adventures in Agoraphobia" by Deb Jannerson. Every Day Fiction, January 11, 2019. Read 01-11-19.
26. (26 in January) - January 12, 2019 - "Important Information from the City of Los Angeles" by Ted Hayden. Every Day Fiction, January 12, 2019. Read 01-12-19.
27. (27 in January) - January 12, 2019 (2nd story) - "Snow" by Geoffrey A. Landis. Impact Parameter and Other Quantum Realities (collection), 2001. Read 01-12-19.
28. (28 in January) - January 12, 2019 (3rd story) - "What We Really Do Here at NASA" by Geoffrey A. Landis. Impact Parameter and Other Quantum Realities (collection), 2001. Read 01-12-19.
29. (29 in January) - January 13, 2019 - "Outsider's Chance" by Geoffrey A. Landis. Impact Parameter and Other Quantum Realities (collection), 2001. Read 01-13-19.
30. (30 in January) - January 13, 2019 (2nd story) - "My Friend from Mobile" by Allison Tema Sloan. Every Day Fiction, January 13, 2019. Read 01-13-19.
31. (31 in January) - January 13, 2019 (3rd story) - "The True Story of Merganther's Run" by David D. Levine. End of an Aeon (anthology). 2011. Read 01-13-19.
32. (32 in January) - January 13, 2019 (4th story) - "The Last Jar of Mayo at the H&P" by Jeff Crook. End of an Aeon (anthology). 2011. Read 01-13-19.
33. (33 in January) - January 14, 2019 - "Eight Characters" by Anya Ow. Daily Science Fiction, January 14, 2019. Read 01-14-19.
34. (34 in January) - January 14, 2019 (2nd story) - "This is What I Know" by Haley Biermann. Every Day Fiction, January 14, 2019. Read 01-14-19.
35. (35 in January) - January 15, 2019 - "Letters from Goodyear" by Kat Otis. Daily Science Fiction, January 15, 2019. Read 01-15-19.
36. (36 in January) - January 15, 2019 (2nd story) - "Absolution" by Aaron Emmel. Every Day Fiction, January 15, 2019. Read 01-15-19.
37. (37 in January) - January 15, 2019 (3rd story) - "I Am Thinking of You in the Spaces Between" by Shira Lipkin. Curious Fictions website. Read 01-15-19.
38. (38 in January) - January 16, 2019 - "Diabolo Hawk and the Dragon" by Ruth Nestvold. Daily Science Fiction, January 16, 2019. Read 01-16-19.
39. (39 in January) - January 16, 2019 (2nd story) - "The Wait" by Lovelyn Bettison. Every Day Fiction, January 16, 2019. Read 01-16-19.
40. (40 in January) - January 16, 2019 (3rd story)- "Who Only Stand and Wait" by Jonathan L. Howard. Nature, January 16, 2019. Read 01-16-19.
41. (41 in January) - January 17, 2019 - "Leeching for Good" by Eric S. Fomley. Daily Science Fiction, January 17, 2019. Read 01-17-19.
42. (42 in January) - January 17, 2019 (2nd story) - "Man and Boy" by Joy Manné. Every Day Fiction, January 17, 2019. Read 01-17-19.
43. (43 in January) - January 17, 2019 (3rd story) - "The Eye Patch Protocol" by Vaughan Stanger. End of an Aeon (anthology). 2011. Read 01-17-19.
44. (44 in January) - January 18, 2019 - "The Familiar Monsters" by James Beamon. Daily Science Fiction, January 18, 2019. Read 01-18-19.
45. (45 in January) - January 19, 2019 - "Daughter Dance" by Chana Feinstein. Every Day Fiction, January 18, 2019. Read 01-19-19.
46. (46 in January) - January 19, 2019 (2nd story) - "Love Blood" by Traci Halesvass. Every Day Fiction, January 19, 2019. Read 01-19-19.
47. (47 in January) - January 19, 2019 (3rd story) - "Terra Forms" by Jennifer Campbell-Hicks and Justin Adams. Perihelion, April 2018. Read 01-19-19.
48. (48 in January) - January 19, 2019 (4th story) - "Bitter is the Sea, and Bright" by Michelle Muenzler. Daily Science Fiction, November 14, 2018. Read 01-19-19.
49. (49 in January) - January 20, 2019 - "Faux Vinyl" by Neal Reynolds. Every Day Fiction, January 20, 2019. Read 01-21-19.
50. (50 in January) - January 21, 2019 - "The Plan" by Mary Sophie Filicetti. Every Day Fiction, January 21, 2019. Read 01-21-19.
51. (51 in January) - January 22, 2019 - "Alien at Home" by Brooks C. Mendell. Daily Science Fiction, January 22, 2019. Read 01-22-19.
52. (52 in January) - January 22, 2019 (2nd story) - "Carnival Nine" by Caroline M. Yoachim. Beneath Ceaseless Skies, May 11, 2017. Read 01-22-19.
53. (53 in January) - January 22, 2019 (3rd story) - "Ballads in 3/4 Time" by Robert Charles Wilson. Northern Stars (anthology), 1994. Read 01-22-19.
54. (54 in January) - January 22, 2019 (4th story) - "Outport" by Garfield Reeves-Stevens. Northern Stars (anthology), 1994. Read 01-22-19.
55. (55 in January) - January 22, 2019 (5th story) - "The Reckoning of Gifts" by James Alan Gardner. Northern Stars (anthology), 1994. Read 01-22-19.
56. (56 in January) - January 23, 2019 - "Distant Signals" by Andrew Weiner. Northern Stars (anthology), 1994. Read 01-23-19.
57. (57 in January) - January 23, 2019 (2nd story) - "Swan Lake" by Ruth Nestvold. Daily Science Fiction, January 23, 2019. Read 01-23-19.
58. (58 in January) - January 23, 2019 (3rd story) - "A Small World" by Morris Alexander. Every Day Fiction, January 23, 2019. Read 01-23-19.
59. (59 in January) - January 23, 2019 (4th story) - "Concepts of Home" by Rosalie Kempthorne. Every Day Fiction, January 22, 2019. Read 01-23-19.
60. (60 in January) - January 24, 2019 - "A Magical Misfire" by Emily Dorffer. Daily Science Fiction, January 24, 2019. Read 01-24-19.
61. (61 in January) - January 24, 2019 (2nd story) - "VTE" by S.R. Algernon. Nature, January 23, 2019. Read 01-24-19.
62. (62 in January) - January 24, 2019 (3rd story) - "Mexico Bonito" by Robert Joe Stout. Every Day Fiction, January 24, 2019. Read 01-24-19.
63. (63 in January) - January 24, 2019 (4th story) - "9 Things the Mainstream Media Got Wrong About the Ansaj Incident" by Willem Myra. Diabolical Plots, February 2, 2018. Read 01-24-19.
64. (64 in January) - January 25, 2019 - "Master Zhao: The Tale of an Ordinary Time Traveler" by Zhang Ran; translated from the Chinese by Andy Dudak. Clarkesworld, December 2018. Read 01-25-19.
65. (65 in January) - January 25, 2019 (2nd story) - "Godfall" by Alexander Stanmyer. Daily Science Fiction, January 25, 2019. Read 01-25-19.
66. (66 in January) - January 25, 2019 (3rd story) - "The Day Our Ships Came In" by Ginger Weil. Daily Science Fiction, January 21, 2019. Read 01-25-19.
67. (67 in January) - January 26, 2019 - "Sleep Consultant" by Robin Sloan. Year of the Meteor, January 2019. Read 01-26-19.
68. (68 in January) - January 27, 2019 - "Acronyms" by Curtis J. Graham. Every Day Fiction, January 25, 2019. Read 01-27-19.
69. (69 in January) - January 27, 2019 (2nd story) - "Home By the Sea" by Élisabeth Vonarburg. Northern Stars (anthology), 1994. Read 01-27-19.
70. (70 in January) - January 28, 2019 - "The Spider's Garden" by Jamie Lackey. Daily Science Fiction, January 28, 2019. Read 01-28-19.
71. (71 in January) - January 28, 2019 (2nd story) - "Lizard Brain" by Brandon Arvesen. Every Day Fiction, January 26, 2019. Read 01-28-19.
72. (72 in January) - January 28, 2019 (3rd story) - "The Wishing Tree" by Lucy Stone. Every Day Fiction, January 27, 2019. Read 01-28-19.
73. (73 in January) - January 28, 2019 (4th story) - "Another Day at the Job" by Wayne Scheer. Every Day Fiction, January 27, 2019. Read 01-28-19.
74. (74 in January) - January 28, 2019 (5th story) - "Moonskin" by Melissa Mead. Daily Science Fiction, January 4, 2019. Read 01-28-19.
75. (75 in January) - January 28, 2019 (6th story) - "On Trial" by Rachelle Harp. Curious Fictions website, January 19, 2019. Read 01-28-19.
76. (76 in January) - January 29, 2019 - "World War 2.8.41 Release Notes" by Forrest Brazeal. Daily Science Fiction, January 7, 2019. Read 01-29-19.
77. (77 in January) - January 29, 2019 (2nd story) - "The Alien in 36B" by Jennifer Stephan Kapral. Daily Science Fiction, January 29, 2019. Read 01-29-19.
78. (78 in January) - January 29, 2019 (3rd story) - "Daddy Long-Legs" by Vina Nguyen. Every Day Fiction, January 29, 2019. Read 01-29-19.
79. (79 in January) - January 30, 2019. "Norita" by Ruth Nestvold. Daily Science Fiction, January 30, 2019. Read 01-30-19.
80. (80 in January) - January 30, 2019 (2nd story) - "Marie's Lovely Picture" by Robert Norton. Every Day Fiction, January 30, 2019. Read 01-30-19.
81. (81 in January) - January 30, 2019 (3rd story) - "When the Ice Goes Out" by Jessica Reisman. Curious Fictions website, September 20, 2018. Read 01-28-19.
82. (82 in January) - January 30, 2019 (4th story) - "Elementary School" by J.D. Trye. Nature, January 30, 2019. Read 01-30-19.
83. (83 in January) - January 31, 2019 - "A Gift for His Beloved, Post-Apocalypse" by Wendy Nikel. Grievous Angel, June 6, 2018. Read 01-31-19.
84. (84 in January) - January 31, 2019 (2nd story) - "Mommy vs the World" by Leanne A. Styles. Every Day Fiction, January 31, 2019. Read 01-31-19.
85. (85 in January) - January 31, 2019 (3rd story) - "A True Utopia" by Avery Barker. Daily Science Fiction, January 31, 2019. Read 01-29-19.



FEBRUARY 2019

86. (1 in February) - February 1, 2019 - "Counting Days" by Patricia Lundy. Daily Science Fiction, February 1, 2019. Read 02-01-19.
87. (2 in February) - February 2, 2019 - "The Goblin" by Christina Sng. Daily Science Fiction, February 4, 2019. Read 02-04-19.
88. (3 in February) - February 3, 2019 - "Yona's Android" by Michelle Denham. Daily Science Fiction, February 5, 2019. Read 02-05-19.
89. (4 in February) - February 4, 2019 - "Bleed" by Brenda Joyce Anderson. Daily Science Fiction, February 6, 2019. Read 02-06-19.
90. (5 in February) - February 5, 2019 - "Evening Star" By Paul Alex Gray. Curious Fictions website, January 19, 2019. Read 02-06-19.
91. (6 in February) - February 6, 2019 - "Wet" by John Wiswell. Curious Fictions website, February 6, 2019. Read 02-07-19.
92. (7 in February) - February 7, 2019 - "The Experiment" by Michael Adam Robson. Nature, February 6, 2019. Read 02-07-19.
93. (8 in February) - February 7, 2019 (2nd story) - "Painwise" by Robert Reed. Clarkesworld, February 2019. Read 02-07-19.
94. (9 in February) - February 7, 2019 (3rd story) - "Give the Family My Love" by A.T. Greenblatt. Clarkesworld, February 2019. Read 02-07-19.
95. (10 in February) - February 8, 2019 - "In September" by Aimee Ogden. Daily Science Fiction, February 8, 2019. Read 02-09-19.
96. (11 in February) - February 9, 2019 - "Local Senior Celebrates Milestone" by Matthew Claxton. Diabolical Plots, February 1, 2019. Read 02-09-19.
97. (12 in February) - February 10, 2019 - "Only in New York" by Libby Heily. Daily Science Fiction, February 7, 2019. Read 02-11-19.
98. (13 in February) - February 11, 2019 - "Convenience Store Woman" by Sayaka Murata. Grove Press, 2018 (English translation). Read 02-11-19.
99. (14 in February) - February 12, 2019 - "The Magician's Clown" by M.L. Kejera. Strange Horizons, February 4, 2019. Read 02-12-19.
100. (15 in February) - February 12, 2019 (2nd story) - "Cherubim" by Julia Heslin. Every Day Fiction, January 2, 2019. Read 02-12-19.
101. (16 in February) - February 13, 2019 - "Childhood of a Famous Military Leader" by Jay Gershwin. Every Day Fiction, January 3, 2019. Read 02-13-19.
102. (17 in February) - February 13, 2019 (2nd story) - "Ardent Clouds" by Lucy Sussex. The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy (anthology), 2008. Read 02-13-19.
103. (18 in February) - February 14, 2019 - "Universal Print" by Fonda Lee. Curious Fictions website, February 7, 2019 (reprint). Read 02-14-19.
104. (19 in February) - February 15, 2019 - "Sonny Liston Takes the Fall" by Elizabeth Bear. The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy (anthology), 2008. Read 02-15-19.
105. (20 in February) - February 16, 2019 - "Reach Out and Touch Someone" by Val Nolan. Nature, February 13, 2019. Read 02-17-19.
106. (21 in February) - February 17, 2019 - "Unraveling" by K.G. Anderson. Curious Fictions website, February 7, 2019 (reprint). Read 02-20-19.
107. (22 in February) - February 18, 2019 - "How Much is Too Much?" by Paavo Saari. Daily Science Fiction, February 11, 2019. Read 02-22-19.
108. (23 in February) - February 19, 2019 - "Lullaby" by Lynden Xu. Daily Science Fiction, February 22, 2019. Read 02-22-19.
109. (24 in February) - February 20, 2019 - "Gifts of Prometheus" by Alex Shvartsman. Nature, February 20, 2019. Read 02-22-19.
110. (25 in February) - February 21, 2019 - "Taste" by Roald Dahl, read by John Lithgow. Food Fictions (reprint), ________. Listened 02-24-19.
111. (26 in February) - February 22, 2019 - "The Tentacle and You" by John Wiswell. Nature, February 27, 2019. Read 02-28-19.
112. (27 in February) - February 23, 2019 - "The Debt" by Meg Elison. Curious Fictions website (reprint). Read 03-01-19.
113. (28 in February) - February 24, 2019 - "A La Carte" by Joy Kennedy-O'Neill. Daily Science Fiction, March 1, 2019. Read 03-02-19.
114. (29 in February) - February 25, 2019 - "3 Minutes" by Adam Walker. Daily Science Fiction, February 27, 2019. Read 03-06-19.
115. (30 in February) - February 26, 2019 - "The Entertainment" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-06-19.
116. (31 in February) - February 27, 2019 - "O Tempora! O Mores!" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-06-19.
117. (32 in February) - February 28, 2019 - "Incidental" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-06-19.



MARCH 2019

118. (1 in March) - March 1, 2019 - "The Girl Who Loved Shonen Knife" by Carrie Vaughn. Curious Fictions website, March 3, 2019 (reprint). Read 03-07-19.
119. (2 in March) - March 2, 2019 - "The Luggage in the Hall: An Un-moral Story" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-08-19.
120. (3 in March) - March 3, 2019 - "The Last Child" by L.R. Conti. Nature, March 6, 2019. Read 03-08-19.
121. (4 in March) - March 4, 2019 - "We Are Here to Be Held" by Eugenia Triantafyllou. Strange Horizons, January 14, 2019. Read 03-08-19.
122. (5 in March) - March 5, 2019 - "...And Never the Twain Shall Meet" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-09-19.
123. (6 in March) - March 6, 2019 - "Blairgowrie" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-10-19.
124. (7 in March) - March 7, 2019 - "The Crowd" by Ray Bradbury. Weird Tales, May 1943. Read 03-11-19.
125. (8 in March) - March 8, 2019 - "This is One Way Round" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-11-19.
126. (9 in March) - March 9, 2019 - "The Tortoise" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-11-19.
127. (10 in March) - March 10, 2019 - "Mom-Bot Isn't Happy" by Filip Wiltgren. Daily Science Fiction, March 12, 2019. Read 03-12-19.
128. (11 in March) - March 11, 2019 - "Reflex Action" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-13-19.
129. (12 in March) - March 12, 2019 - "Awesome Woman" by Oohagh McBride. Every Day Fiction, March 11, 2019. Read 03-13-19.
130. (13 in March) - March 13, 2019 - "Holiday Group" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-13-19.
131. (14 in March) - March 14, 2019 - "Ball Bag Stew" by Matthew Roy Davey. Every Day Fiction, March 4, 2013. Read 03-14-19.
132. (15 in March) - March 14, 2019 (2nd story) - "Happy Enough" by Alex Z. Salinas. Every Day Fiction, February 27, 2019. Read 03-14-19.
133. (16 in March) - March 15, 2019 - "The Waiting Lady" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-15-19.
134. (17 in March) - March 15, 2019 (2nd story) - "The Transfer" by Eloísa Pérez-Lozano. Every Day Fiction, February 26, 2019. Read 03-15-19.
135. (18 in March) - March 16, 2019 - "Please {Redacted} My Last E-mail" by Kurt Pankau. Nature, March 13, 2019. Read 03-16-19.
136. (19 in March) - March 17, 2019 - "Terminus" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-17-19.
137. (20 in March) - March 18, 2019 - "A Tale of the Times" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-18-19.
138. (21 in March) - March 18, 2019 (2nd story) - "Reparation" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-18-19.
138. (22 in March) - March 18, 2019 (3rd story) - "The Threshold of Eternity" by E.M. Delafield. The Entertainment and Other Stories, 1927. Read 03-18-19.
139. (23 in March) - March 19, 2019 - "Body Scanning" by Michelle Lindsey. Daily Science Fiction, March 21, 2019. Read 03-21-19.
140. (24 in March) - March 20, 2019 - "On the Shores of Ligeia" by Carolyn Ives Gilman. Lightspeed, March 2019. Read 03-22-19.
141. (25 in March) - March 21, 2019 - "A Picture is Worth" by Beth Cato. Nature, March 20, 2019. Read 03-22-19.
142. (26 in March) - March 22, 2019 - "Beyond a Crooked Door" by Stephen Meijerhof. Every Day Fiction, March 20, 2019. Read 03-24-19.
143. (27 in March) - March 23, 2019 - "Broken Yesterdays" by Tabbie May Louise Hunt. Daily Science Fiction, March 20, 2019. Read 03-24-19.
144. (28 in March) - March 24, 2019 - "The Story of a True Artist" by Dominica Phetteplace. Curious Fictions website, March 27, 2019. Read 03-28-19.
145. (29 in March) - March 25, 2019 - "Dear Mountain Room Parents" by Maria Semple. New Yorker, October 17, 2011. Read 04-10-19.
146. (30 in March) - March 26, 2019 - "Please Don’t Let Your Third Grader Dress Up as My Husband for Halloween" by David Guzman. The New Yorker, October 29, 2015. Read 04-10-19.
147. (31 in March) - March 27, 2019 - "Amped Life" by John Cooper Hamilton. Nature, April 3, 2019. Read 04-11-19.
148. (32 in March) - March 28, 2019 - "The Long Sonata of the Dead" by Andrew Taylor. _______________________. Read 04-__-19.
149. (33 in March) - March 29, 2019 - "The Posthumous Novel of Edward L. Heard" by Laura Blackwell. Curious Fictions website, April 8, 2019. Read 04-17-19.
150. (34 in March) - March 30, 2019 - "
151. (35 in March) - March 31, 2019 - "

cut and paste format:

Story #
Date Read:

Title:
Author:
Length:
Category:
Where Published:
When Published:
Original Publication (if applicable):
Rating:
Link (if applicable):

Story # 1
Date Read: January 1, 2019

Title: "Cookies for Ghost"
Author: Emily McCosh
Length: 929 words
Category: Fantasy - ghost story (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-01
Original Publication (if applicable):
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/parapsychology/emily-mccosh/cookies-for-...

This is a sweet story about a girl finding a way to deal with the hostile ghost in her family's attic.

Story # 2
Date Read: January 2, 2019

Title: "My Lord's Man"
Author: Margo Lanagan
Length: 3,499 words (est. based on page word count)
Category: Fantasy (short story)
Where Published: Black Juice (collection)
When Published: 2004
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

I didn't care for this story, in which a servant follows his lord to retrieve the lord's wife after her night of carousing in the forest. I'm not sure if there was actually any magic implied in this story, but it still had that fantasy feel to it.

Story # 3
Date Read: January 4, 2019

Title: "First Class"
Author: Barbara Krasnoff
Length: 6,276 words
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Curious Fictions (website)
When Published: 2019-01-01 (reprint)
Original Publication (if applicable): Escape Velocity #1, 2007
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://curiousfictions.com/stories/1359-barbara-krasnoff-first-class (may require free login after featured status expires)

I really liked the premise and the characterization in this story. In the future, an unmarried retiree named Naomi decides to use her life savings to take the best interplanetary tour she can afford, and ends up stranded on an alien planet, eventually encountering that planet's native lifeforms. I thought that Naomi's thought processes were realistically portrayed, and I was charmed by her encounters with the creatures.

Unfortunately, this story was full of typos -- not individual wrong or missing letters necessarily, but missing words, extra words ("was had been promoted"), and extra punctuation, such as periods after question marks. In one case, an entire sentence appears to have been incorrectly cut and pasted, such that it makes no sense grammatically or otherwise. I concede that these are things that can be fixed and that they have no real bearing on the quality of the story. However, I'm afraid the actual writing detracted from my enjoyment of this piece as well. Semi-colons were used excessively, sometimes correctly but more often incorrectly. Words were unnecessarily repeated within single paragraphs and sometimes within single sentences. Lastly, the ending of the story was a bit anti-climactic, and the situation leading to Naomi being stranded is barely mentioned, let alone explained.

I wavered between rating this at 2 or 2 1/2 stars, but in thinking about the aspects I liked, I bumped it to 2 1/2.

>5 amysisson: Original Publication (if applicable): Escape Velocity (year unknown)

2011 :) Too bad about the story :( And you may want to fix the stars - you have 2 1/2 in the comment and 2 up in the list

Good luck with the "read a story a day"! :)

>6 AnnieMod:

Thanks! Stars fixed....

Story # 4
Date Read: January 4, 2019

Title: "In Which Liz Builds a Robot with Unexpected Results"
Author: Grayson Bray Morris
Length: 1,105 words
Category: Science fiction - humorous (short story)
Where Published: Curious Fictions (website)
When Published: 2018-12-19 (reprint)
Original Publication (if applicable): Galaxy's Edge, September 2018
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://www.galaxysedge.com/magazines/issue-34-september-2018/in-which-liz-builds...

This is a mildly amusing story about a woman who vlogs about building a robot arm to clean and organize her house.

Story # 5
Date Read: January 5, 2019

Title: "For the Last Time, It’s Not a Ray Gun"
Author: Anaea Lay
Length: 2,865 words
Category: Science fiction - humorous (short story)
Where Published: Diabolical Plots
When Published: 2018-12-17
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://www.diabolicalplots.com/dp-fiction-46b-for-the-last-time-its-not-a-ray-gu...

This is a fun story in which a shy introvert is dating (or is he? he's not sure) an attractive aspiring mad scientist who has invented an unusual not-a-ray-gun.

Story # 6
Date Read: January 5, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Midnight at the Fountains of Bellagio"
Author: Caroline M. Yoachim
Length: 859 words
Category: Fantasy - urban (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2018-10-23
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/modern-fantasy/caroline-m-yoachim/midnig...

At the risk of sounding too effusive, I think Caroline M. Yoachim is perhaps the best current writer of flash fiction. She's able to find magic anywhere and put it into beautifully self-contained stories.

Story # 7
Date Read: January 6, 2019

Title: "To Live Again"
Author: Clint Lowe
Length: 850 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-05
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/to-live-again-by-clint-lowe/

This is a mainstream flash piece about a man feeling guilty about his wife when he meets another woman for a date. Nicely done.

Story # 8
Date Read: January 6, 2019 (second story)

Title: "The Clean-Up Man"
Author: Max Shephard
Length: 1,272 words
Category: Horror (short story)
Where Published: Trigger Warning
When Published: Issue 11 (undated)
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://www.triggerwarningshortfiction.com/the-clean-up-man/

This short horror piece didn't work for me at all. Apparently all pigeons (in the country? in the world?) drop dead at the same time, and a scary mystery man goes around cleaning them up and twisting off their heads for good measure. I didn't feel like this was a story so much as an idea for an eventual story.

Story # 9
Date Read: January 6, 2019 (third story)

Title: "Fruité"
Author: Ruth Nestvold
Length: 518 words
Category: Fantasy (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-02
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/tales-of-the-rose-knights/ruth-ne...

This is an allegorical fantasy piece just over 500 words; to me, it seemed to be commenting on Trump's culture of fear. I'm afraid it didn't work for me, but allegorical fantasy rarely does.

Story # 10
Date Read: January 7, 2019

Title: "The Quantum Womb"
Author: Rachel Rodman
Length: 186 words
Category: Science Fiction (microfiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-03
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/science-fiction/rachel-rodman/th...

This is more a vignette than a story, essentially about how every unborn baby is potential (expressed in terms of quantum uncertainty).

Story # 11
Date Read: January 7, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Happy (Re)Birthday"
Author: Michael Snyder
Length: 996 words
Category: Fantasy (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-01
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/happy-rebirthday-by-michael-snyder/

A man has chest pain and wakes up to talk to a guy named Pete in a strange cubicle farm. I appreciated that this was going for quirkiness, but it didn't work for me. (Sorry if it seems I'm staying that a lot with these stories, but these things are so subjective!)

Lest it appear that I'm only going to be reading/reviewing flash fiction, that's not the case, but it occurred to me that since I'm right at the beginning of the year, I can probably manage to read every story published by both Daily Science Fiction and Every Day Fiction, plus a lot of longer stories, because the flash stuff takes no time at all. (In fact, it takes longer for me to document it than to read it sometimes.)

Right now I'm catching up to make sure I don't miss any of the DSF and EDF stories, so it seems like a bunch at once. When I'm caught up, I'll try to read each on a daily basis and add longer stories into the mix as often as I can.

Edited to add: I might as well add the weekly Nature "Futures" story to the list.

Story # 12
Date Read: January 8, 2019

Title: "The Human Spirit"
Author: Tori Stubbs
Length: 775 words
Category: Science Fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-08
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/robots-and-computers/tori-stubbs...

I'm afraid I didn't find the premise here to be fresh, and the execution seemed a little stilted to me. This is about robots studying human subjects, after humans have mostly wiped themselves out.

Story # 13
Date Read: January 8, 2019 (second story)

Title: "The Envoy"
Author: Al Onia
Length: 2,711 words
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Curious Fictions (website)
When Published: 2019-01-07 (reprint)
Original Publication (if applicable): Warrior Wisewoman 3 (anthology), 2013
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://curiousfictions.com/stories/1393-al-onia-the-envoy (may require free login)

This was an interesting story about a woman acting, at great risk to herself, as a mediator between two warring alien species. I enjoyed the setting, the writing, and the description of the avian alien in particular. However, I felt that one of potentially most interesting aspects of the story was glossed over quickly: the "mind-meld" between the species. Also, I didn't understand why Earthcorp would try to stop the negotiation.

Story # 14
Date Read: January 8, 2019 (third story)

Title: "Cold Memories"
Author: Laurence Raphael Brothers
Length: 1,004 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Nature
When Published: 2019-01-02
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07850-8

In this story, a third-generation resident of a Neptune trojan asteroid finds the body of a first-generation Earther, and looks over the photos and videos that partially comprise the man's life.

I enjoyed reading this, even though it didn't knock my socks off.

Story # 15
Date Read: January 8, 2019 (fourth story)

Title: "Between Two Voices Talking"
Author: Laurence Raphael Brothers
Length: 912 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Nature
When Published: 2018-12-08
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.nature.com/articles/540308a

This is a first contact story. I liked it, but was tripped up by the inaccurate details about the two-person mission to meet the alien.

Story # 16
Date Read: January 9, 2019

Title: "A Line in the Sand"
Author: Ruth Nestvold
Length: 964 words
Category: Fantasy (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-09
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/tales-of-the-rose-knights/ruth-ne...

This author's prose is always smooth and lovely, but it's hard for me to view this as a story. I came away knowing nothing about what happened or why, where the characters came from, or where they were going. The magazine's permalink to the story seems to indicate that this is part of a larger series of flash stories. In fact, I just peeked at the URL for the story I read by this author only three days ago, and it too has "tales of the rose knights" in the URL. But I wouldn't have otherwise known that these are linked in any way, even if only thematically.

Story # 17
Date Read: January 9, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Complicity"
Author: Claire Bourke
Length: 953 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-09
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/complicity-by-claire-bourke/

This was a nicely written piece about, well, complicity. I won't say what about, because it's such a short story that I wouldn't be leaving anything for another reader to discover if I described it in more detail. In any case, I thought the author did a nice job with a thought-provoking topic.

Story # 18
Date Read: January 9, 2019 (third story)

Title: "The Ghosts of Ganymede"
Author: Derek Künsken
Length: 7,842 words
Category: Science fiction (novelette)
Where Published: Clarkesworld
When Published: 2019-01
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kunsken_01_19/

For me, this story started out strong. Refugees from a limited (well, not to them) nuclear war between Ethiopia and Eritrea have traveled to Jupiter's moon Ganymede, because they've been genetically engineered to survive radiation so are valuable as potential helium-3 miners. They encounter something unexpected, however, which requires the two refugee groups to put aside their differences.

Unfortunately, the story lost me about 1/2 to 2/3 through, because it became pretty theoretical, plus there's one passage where I'm pretty sure two characters are carrying on completely separate conversations with themselves as opposed to speaking to each other (as they appear to be doing on the surface). It was confusing, and I kept re-reading to make sure I understood correctly. There was also a bit of speechiness (probably not a word, but I'm going with it). Overall, a nice hard SF concept that I liked more than not.

Story # 19
Date Read: January 9, 2019 (fourth story)

Title: "Never Chose This Way"
Author: Shira Lipkin
Length: 1,550 words
Category: Literary (short story)
Where Published: Curious Fictions website
When Published: 2019-01-09
Original Publication (if applicable): Apex, July 7, 2015
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.apex-magazine.com/never-chose-this-way/

This may be one of those stories that you have to be in the right mood to appreciate. If that's the case, I was in the right mood. This is told from the POV of a young person who has been in and out of psych wards and institutions, due to depression and suicide attempts that are at least in part related to gender identity issues. These are subjects dear to my heart.

Story # 20
Date Read: January 10, 2019

Title: "The Look in Her Eyes"
Author: Kevlin Henney
Length: 398 words
Category: Fantasy - humor (short story)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-10-10
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/magic-realism/kevlin-henney/the-l...

This funny little piece, about the hazards of dating, made me smile with some clever double meanings. I also like the sort of wry, accepting tone.

Story # 21
Date Read: January 10, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Irrefutable"
Author: Rex Caleval
Length: 995 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-10
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/irrefutable-by-rex-caleval/

There's nothing earth-shattering in this story about ubiquitous surveillance, but it's nicely done for what it is.

Story # 22
Date Read: January 10, 2019 (third story)

Title: "Tomorrow, the Sunset Will Be Blue"
Author: Jeremy Szal
Length: 992 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Nature
When Published: 2019-01-09
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07871-3

This is a nicely written piece of flash about grieving on an alien planet. It was good, but I'm not overly drawn to stories about people who break rules or conventions to keep around a meager substitute for a loved one who's died. It's a common theme in science fiction; in fact, I just watched an episode of the show Black Mirror about this very thing.

Story # 23
Date Read: January 10, 2019 (fourth story)

Title: "Alexander's Theory of Special Relativity"
Author: Shane Halbach
Length: 2,211 words
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Analog
When Published: 2017-03
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://curiousfictions.com/stories/145-shane-halbach-alexander-s-theory-of-spec... (may require free login)

I've said it before: I'm a sucker for time travel stories. I liked the way this one was constructed, but one of the main character's decisions at the end came too abruptly and didn't entirely make sense to me. Also, even though I'm accustomed to overlooking certain logical issues when it comes to time travel stories, it occurred to me after finishing it that the way they went about the initial experiment didn't make sense to me, i.e. I don't think he would have sent the woman that he loved and was dating even a minute into the future with untested technology, and I don't think she would have agreed to it.

Story # 24
Date Read: January 11, 2019

Title: "The Garbage Flotilla in the Pacific Ocean Is Not Your Problem"
Author: Isaac Pickle
Length: 1,116 words
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-11
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/future-societies/isaac-pickle/th...

This short story about extreme measures to deal with overpopulation and famine starts well, but it gets a little muddled with an abrupt POV shift that seems included just for exposition, and the title is misleading, because the garbage flotilla is mentioned only briefly and is not really what the story is about.

Story # 25
Date Read: January 11, 2019

Title: "Adventures in Agoraphobia"
Author: Deb Jannerson
Length: 987 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-11
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/adventures-in-agoraphobia-by-deb-jannerson/

I thought this was a powerful look at agoraphobia and PTSD, but I had trouble deciding whether the setting was truly futuristic, or if that was just the way the POV character viewed her surroundings. I think the former, but I'm not 100% sure, and this didn't seem like one of those cases where the ambiguity was deliberate.

Story # 26
Date Read: January 12, 2019

Title: "Important Information from the City of Los Angeles"
Author: Ted Hayden
Length: 718 words
Category: Science fiction - humor (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-12
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/important-information-from-the-city-of-los-angeles-b...

This is a higher score than I'd expect to give a borrowed form satiric story about city government incompetence, but it was well done and a lot of fun. It's sort of an American take on Douglas Adams, without being too derivative.

Story # 27
Date Read: January 12, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Snow"
Author: Geoffrey A. Landis
Length: 1,534 words
Category: Mainstream (short story)
Where Published: Impact Parameter and Other Quantum Realities (collection)
When Published: 2001
Original Publication (if applicable): Starlight 2 (anthology), 1998
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

A homeless schizophrenic woman with a baby must sell herself on the street to get enough money for a hotel room for one night. The main purpose is to keep the baby from freezing, but we also learn that her real refuge lies in the fact that now she has a few warm hours to escape into and write about her "other world," which turns out not to be fantasy but the real of math (or physics, I'm not sure which).

This is an odd story, but the more I think about it, the more I like it, even though I question whether a homeless woman can just drum up an instant customer every time she needs money immediately.

Story # 29
Date Read: January 12, 2019 (third story)

Title: "What We Really Do Here at NASA"
Author: Geoffrey A. Landis
Length: 1,151 (estimated based on page/word count)
Category: Science fiction - humor (short story)
Where Published: Impact Parameter and Other Quantum Realities
When Published: 2001
Original Publication (if applicable): Science Fiction Age, July 1994
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

This is a humorous short story just slightly longer than flash length, that satirizes several of the conspiracy theories surrounding NASA. I thought it was fairly amusing.

Story # 29
Date Read: January 13, 2019

Title: "Outsider's Chance"
Author: Geoffrey A. Landis
Length: 4,794 words (estimated based on page/word count)
Category: Science fiction - hard (short story)
Where Published: Impact Parameter and Other Quantum Realities
When Published: 2001
Original Publication (if applicable): Analog, December 1998
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

This is the kind of hard SF I generally expect from Landis. I liked this one. A lone cargo pilot hauling oxygen through the solar system is accosted by pirates, whose plight he understands all too well.

Story # 30
Date Read: January 13, 2019 (second story)

Title: "My Friend from Mobile"
Author: Allison Tema Sloan
Length: 993 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-13
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/my-friend-from-mobile-by-allison-tema-sloan/

This story meanders a little, but I still found its portrayal of depression and desperation to be effective. A woman reflects about re-connecting with an old college boyfriend.

Story # 31
Date Read: January 13, 2019 (third story)

Title: "The True Story of Merganther's Run"
Author: David D. Levine
Length: 8,020 words
Category: Science fiction (novelette)
Where Published: End of an Aeon (anthology)
When Published: 2011
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.baen.com/Chapters/9781618249012/9781618249012___3.htm

********* FILL IN *************

Story # 32
Date Read: January 13, 2019 (fourth story)

Title: "The Last Jar of Mayo at the H&P"
Author: Jeff Crook
Length: 3,007 words (estimated based on known word counts/page of other stories in this anthology)
Category: Horror (short story)
Where Published: End of an Aeon (anthology)
When Published: 2011
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

To be fair, I don't care for horror much. But even if I did, I don't think I would have found this too original. Creepy, yes, but because the narrator is a creepy stalker, not because the story is actually creepy. Then, just when you think he's a "normal" stalker (!), he turns out to be a Cthulu stalker, tentacles and all. I'm afraid I didn't see the point, and I also was not impressed with the vulgar way the narrator described his target.

Story # 33
Date Read: January 14, 2019

Title: "Eight Characters"
Author: Anya Ow
Length: 644 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-14
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/religious/anya-ow/eight-characters

I didn't particularly enjoy this story. At first, I didn't know if the countdown was minutes or seconds (it's seconds). Then I was confused by the last two paragraphs. Then I figured that out, but I don't know if there's any significance to the last timestamp. Also, it would have been interesting to know how much they were accelerating or delaying the birth from what would have been the natural timing. I think the story would be more interesting if we knew whether the family was taking this belief to the point of endangering the baby.

Story # 34
Date Read: January 14, 2019 (second story)

Title: "This is What I Know"
Author: Haley Biermann
Length: 796 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-14
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/this-is-what-i-know-by-haley-biermann/

I found this to be a charming little story about an upcoming blind date. I'm not sure the first few paragraphs about TV were absolutely necessary; what I really like were the following paragraphs with variations on the blind date's name. To me, it seemed like the POV character had a fun and vivid imagination. Plus the story also goes to show that we can be surprised even when we think we know what to expect.

Story # 35
Date Read: January 15, 2019

Title: "Letters from Goodyear"
Author: Kat Otis
Length: 965 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-15
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/time-travel/kat-otis/letters-fro...

This story started out strong, and as mentioned many times, I'm a sucker for time travel. (That's behind the spoiler tag because it's not obvious at first that that is what the story is about.) But for me, the story flounders partway through. When the mother wants the narrator to be "an anchor," it's not clear to me if she wants the daughter to travel in time with her. I assume so, but still don't know what the hoped-for result would be -- the daughter goes forward and the mother now stays behind? Also, the number of "days left" that are written in each birthday card are not clear to me. How does the mother know exactly what each window will be?

I enjoyed reading the author notes on this one.

Story # 36
Date Read: January 15, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Absolution"
Author: Aaron Emmel
Length: 1,000 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-15
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/absolution-by-aaron-emmel/

This flash story is about the guilt a man carries for causing a nuclear holocaust in Los Angeles and presumably elsewhere, as the means for stopping a new plague. I found this to be a little run of the mill, and it was very convenient that this man was alone in a bunker, when I would think lots of other people would have been involved in carrying out the attacks as well.

Story # 37
Date Read: January 15, 2019 (third story)

Title: "I Am Thinking of You in the Spaces Between"
Author: Shira Lipkin
Length: 1,802 words
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Curious Fictions website
When Published: 2019-01-09
Original Publication (if applicable): Apex, October 4, 2011
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.apex-magazine.com/i-am-thinking-of-you-in-the-spaces-between/

In this story, the narrator is a "Walker," or a person who can navigate between realities due to a botched "Between Gate" transport (think hyperspace). The narrator, who I don't think is specified as male or female, is talking to the love of his/her life, whom he/she encounters in each reality. While I like this idea (in fact, I've written a story quite reminiscent of it in the emotional sense), I found the details confusing. I think that the first paragraph is written by the love interest, not the Walker. But I had to work too hard to figure that out, and there are still elements of the larger narrative that I found a little fuzzy. The murkiness unfortunately interfered with my emotional enjoyment of the story.

Story # 38
Date Read: January 16, 2019

Title: "Diabolo Hawk and the Dragon"
Author: Ruth Nestvold
Length: 1,275 words
Category: Fantasy (short story)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-16
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/tales-of-the-rose-knights/ruth-ne...

Another short piece in the "Tales of the Rose Knights" series of stories, created by this author along with the late Jay Lake.

Story # 39
Date Read: January 16, 2019 (second story)

Title: "The Wait"
Author: Lovelyn Bettison
Length: 638 words
Category: Fantasy (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-16
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/the-wait-by-lovelyn-bettison/

A little girl tries to enter somewhere without her mother and is told she has to wait. It doesn't come as a surprise to find she's dead and waiting to enter Heaven. I can't quite a Heaven that won't let children in by themselves. That's not a loving God, that's for sure.

Story # 40
Date Read: January 16, 2019 (third story)

Title: "Who Only Stand and Wait"
Author: Jonathan L. Howard
Length: 952 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Nature
When Published: 2019-01-16
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00131-y

This is about a robot / android / AI of some kind that has been neglected by its owner. I felt this was a little ... messy, somehow? As though the author wanted to write it in a way that would feel "alien" to a human mind. It didn't work for me, I'm afraid.

Story # 41
Date Read: January 17, 2019

Title: "Leeching for Good"
Author: Eric S. Fomley
Length: 207 words
Category: Science fiction (microfiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-17
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/aliens/eric-s-fomley/leeching-fo...

At this length, it's not that big a deal that the story is pure exposition, but I didn't find it compelling. I'm also not sure whether using "leech" in the title and "leach" in the story is deliberate or a typo. From a list of "commonly confused words," I saw that:

The verb leach means to empty, drain, or remove. The noun leech refers to a bloodsucking worm or to a person who preys on or clings to another. As a verb, leech means to bleed with leeches or to act as a parasite. (https://www.thoughtco.com/leach-and-leech-1689431)

But I think either word works in this context, so that doesn't give me a definitive answer.

Story # 42
Date Read: January 17, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Man and Boy"
Author: Joy Manné
Length: 672 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-17
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/man-and-boy-by-joy-manne/

In this story, a young man named Ian is put through an initiation ritual to get into a gang that protects its own. I'm afraid this didn't work for me for a number of reasons. First, the setting is unclear. This feels like a jungle or forest setting, something primitive at any rate, but then there's mention of someone going off to Philadelphia. Two, there seem to be lapses in logic. Ian knows if he fails to keep up, the pack will turn on him, as they did with someone named Peter, which Ian knows because "he'd been part of it." But if he was part of initiating someone else and then killing him, wouldn't he be in the gang already? So why is he going through this initiation now? Three, there are awkward POV changes, so the reader has to work to keep the story straight. Four, to me the language seems self-conscious rather than natural -- the reader can see the author's efforts to go for effect.

Story # 43
Date Read: January 17, 2019 (third story)

Title: "The Eye Patch Protocol"
Author: Vaughan Stanger
Length: 1,823 words (estimated based on known word counts/page of other stories in this anthology)
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: End of an Aeon (anthology)
When Published: 2011
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

In this story, British bomber pilots go drop a nuclear bomb on Russia to retaliate for the attack against their own country, then go back and find a few survivors, but there is little hope.

I struggled with this story. First, since the story doesn't explain the eye patch protocol, I had to look it up. (It's obvious in retrospect, but the way it's handled in the story makes it a little confusing.) Then, when the pilots go to land at Boscombe Down, they get close just as another nuclear bomb goes off. The airport buildings are destroyed but the runway is still intact and they can land. I would think there would be debris on it at the least. Then one of the pilots goes to look for survivors and finds two now-blind children and brings them back to the plane. And then the story ends with a line from a poem about how "One friendly bomb would do." I think the idea is that the commander wanted the survivors (even though he had no idea how many there would be) back at the plane so that the enemy would come bomb them directly and put them out of their misery. But I'm really not sure.

Story # 44
Date Read: January 18, 2019

Title: "The Familiar Monsters"
Author: James Beamon
Length: 992 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-18
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/virtual-reality/james-beamon/the...

This is highly subjective, but for me this story added up to more than the sum of its parts. It's about a video-gamer who prefers his old clunky favorite over the shiny new toys. I'm not entirely sure why I liked it so much. I'm not a gamer, so that's certainly not the reason!

Story # 45
Date Read: January 19, 2019

Title: "Daughter Dance"
Author: Chana Feinstein
Length: 904 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-18
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable):

A daughter visits her elderly mother, who is suffering from dementia. I thought there were some nice details here. However, there's a line right at the beginning where the dialog doesn't ring true for me:

“They’re stealing my things, you know. Their faces are soft and smug. And they steal my things,” the old woman said. She rocked, remembering the nurses’ cool, rough hands.

I have trouble imagining anyone , let alone an elderly woman suffering from dementia, saying that someone's face is "soft and smug." Soft? In expression or to the touch?

Also, the POV changes are small but seem a little awkward to me.

Story # 46
Date Read: January 19, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Love Blood"
Author: Traci Halesvass
Length: 573 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-19
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/love-blood-by-traci-halesvass/

This is from the POV of a woman who punches through a window when the guy she's dating dumps her. She's comforted by how he helps her get through the necessary medical care, but doesn't understand why this hasn't changed his mind about their relationship.

Story # 47
Date Read: January 19, 2019 (third story)

Title: "Terra Forms"
Author: Jennifer Campbell-Hicks and Justin Adams
Length: 5,230 words
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Perihelion
When Published: 2018-04
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://www.perihelionsf.com/1801/Fiction_4.shtml

Now this is what I'm talking about! Hard SF with emotion, neat technologies worked out, themes of terraforming and colonization.... I thought this was outstanding. At first I wasn't sure about the unfixable damage that would not allow Driggs' memory to be restored more permanently, but the more than I thought about it, the better I liked that the story added that element. Otherwise, it would have been an awfully tidy, "happy" ending. This introduces some future conflict, that yet may be solved if the viewpoint character is resourceful enough, or can get help from the other robots when the colonists arrive.

Story # 48
Date Read: January 19, 2019 (fourth story)

Title: "Bitter is the Sea, and Bright"
Author: Michelle Muenzler
Length: 957 words
Category: Horror (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2018-11-14
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/magic-realism/michelle-muenzler/b...

This is a gorgeous short horror piece about sea creatures who demand a high price from the villagers who live along their shores.

Story # 49
Date Read: January 21, 2019

Title: "Faux Vinyl"
Author: Neal Reynolds
Length: 976 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-20
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/faux-vinyl-by-neal-reynolds/

A nerd goes through a very complicated hoax to convince a bully/sexual harasser to leave a popular girl alone, and it turns out that she masterminded the whole thing in her own defense. I had two big problems with this: first, since the bully had already beaten up her boyfriend, how is it that she doesn't just file a complaint against him? Even schoolyard violence can be prosecuted now, and sexual harassment certainly can. Second, the whole scheme is very convoluted, and doesn't constitute the proof that the bully says he wants.

Story # 50
Date Read: January 21, 2019

Title: "The Plan"
Author: Mary Sophie Filicetti
Length: 981 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-21
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/the-plan-by-mary-sophie-filicetti/

A woman has to use a little trickery to get her husband to have a vasectomy. I thought this fell kind of flat, I'm afraid.

Story # 51
Date Read: January 22, 2019

Title: "Alien at Home"
Author: Brooks C. Mendell
Length: 363 words
Category: Genre unclear (microfiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-22
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/humor/brooks-c-mendell/alien-at-h...

It's not at all clear to me whether this is simply a "teenagers are so incomprehensible they're alien" mainstream story, or if there's a genre element, as evidenced by the son walking a cockroach on a leash and then stomping on it. Hence the lack of identifiable genre and the low rating. Also, regardless of which interpretation is correct, the wife saying "F**k you, Charlie" to her husband makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Story # 52
Date Read: January 22, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Carnival Nine"
Author: Caroline M. Yoachim
Length: 7,222 words
Category: Science fiction / fantasy - steampunk (short story)
Where Published: Beneath Ceaseless Skies
When Published: 2017-05-11
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/carnival-nine/

I would definitely consider this steampunk-ish, but I feel it's more fantasy than science fiction, hence the wishy-washy genre classification. In this story, a mechanical girl named Zee knows she's lucky that she gets more wind-up turns than most of the people she knows, but has to grow up before she understands there's value in using many of them for others as well as for herself. The story doesn't have a tidy "answer" or moral, such as "it's always noble and enlightening to put others before yourself." Which I think is a good thing. As is always the case with this author's work, the world was well-thought-out and lovely in many ways. This story was a finalist for both the Hugo and the Nebula awards.

Story # 53
Date Read: January 22, 2019 (third story)

Title: "Ballads in 3/4 Time"
Author: Robert Charles Wilson
Length: 4,772 (estimated based on word page count)
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Northern Stars (anthology)
When Published: 1994
Original Publication (if applicable): 1987
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

Two sex-toy androids, or sexbots, plot against their abusive owner/pimp, but are hampered by their programming. I thought the nuances of the personas the androids must adopt were interesting, but didn't find the overall treatment of the subject remarkable. I think at the end the implication is that the female android essentially loses the male's interest as he falls in love with her android friend instead, but I'm not 100% sure.

Story # 54
Date Read: January 22, 2019 (fourth story)

Title: "Outport"
Author: Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Length: 4,442 (estimated based on word page count)
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Northern Stars (anthology)
When Published: 1994
Original Publication (if applicable): 1992
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

I was intrigued by this post-environmental disaster world, in which a small boat crew takes a group of supercilious adventurers out into the icy wild, ostensibly to see if there are any survivor children that need saving, but actually to hunt the survivor adults and potentially steal children. However, for me the story didn't live up to its potential -- it wasn't as deep or as detailed as I would have liked.

Story # 55
Date Read: January 22, 2019 (fifth story)

Title: "The Reckoning of Gifts"
Author: James Alan Gardner
Length: 8,142 words (estimated based on word page count)
Category: Fantasy (novelette)
Where Published: Northern Stars (anthology)
When Published: 1994
Original Publication (if applicable): 1993
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

A high priest thinks about his own "demons" and desires on the eve of the Reckoning of Gifts, when the church is supposed to pick the best offering but instead usually accepts a bribe. This is not badly written by any means, but I didn't find it compelling.

Story # 56
Date Read: January 23, 2019

Title: "Distant Signals"
Author: Andrew Weiner
Length: 5,922 words (estimated based on word page count)
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Northern Stars (anthology)
When Published: 1994
Original Publication (if applicable): 1983
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

A mysterious stranger arrives in Hollywood, moving heaven and Earth (no pun intended) to bring about a concluding season to an old, cheesy, but prematurely cancelled television Western show.

Story # 57
Date Read: January 23, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Swan Lake"
Author: Ruth Nestvold
Length: 698 words
Category: Fantasy (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-23
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/tales-of-the-rose-knights/ruth-ne...

Another short piece in the "Tales of the Rose Knights" series of flash stories.

Story # 58
Date Read: January 23, 2019 (third story)

Title: "A Small World"
Author: Morris Alexander
Length: 954 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-23
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/a-small-world-by-morris-alexander/

I'm afraid I didn't understand this story at all. I have a feeling I'm supposed to understand some historical details, but I don't.

Story # 59
Date Read: January 23, 2019 (fourth story)

Title: "Concepts of Home"
Author: Rosalie Kempthorne
Length: 491 words
Category: Mainstream (microfiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-23
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/concepts-of-home-by-rosalie-kempthorne/

I quite liked this piece of microfiction (which I define as anything under 500 words). It ran the risk of trying a little too hard to be literary, if that makes sense, but it worked for me, and I was touched by it. It's about a man, the three houses he builds over the course of his lifetime, and the relationships they signify.

Story # 60
Date Read: January 24, 2019

Title: "A Magical Misfire"
Author: Emily Dorffer
Length: 439 words
Category: Fantasy (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-24
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/magic-and-wizardry/emily-dorffer/a-magic...

To me, this was too reminiscent of Harry Potter fanfic, down to the point of having a transfiguration teacher. It's going for humor, and is mildly amusing, but wasn't original enough for my taste.

Story # 61
Date Read: January 24, 2019 (second story)

Title: "VTE"
Author: S.R. Algernon
Length: 943 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Nature
When Published: 2019-01-23
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00196-9

This story is about quantum uncertainties and observations. It was decent but didn't strike me as something I hadn't seen before.

Story # 62
Date Read: January 24, 2019 (third story)

Title: "Mexico Bonito"
Author: Robert Joe Stout
Length: 731 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-24
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/mexico-bonito-by-robert-joe-stout/

Five women dig up a corpse in the Mexican desert, presumably so they can see to it that the soul doesn't languish forgotten. They each seem to have their own missing family member as well, so they may be looking for their loved ones' bodies.

I feel a little bad giving this such a low rating, but the story had an overabundance of adjectives, lots of awkward phrasing, and a missing word. Also, the story itself didn't work for me, in part because I didn't feel like the corpse would be going on to a better fate by being picked up by the police or taken directly to the morgue. Even the title doesn't fit the story. It's probably meant to be ironic, but it doesn't work for me in that context.

Story # 63
Date Read: January 24, 2019 (4th story)

Title: "9 Things the Mainstream Media Got Wrong About the Ansaj Incident"
Author: Willem Myra
Length: 847 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Diabolical Plots
When Published: 2018-02-02
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://www.diabolicalplots.com/dp-fiction-36a-9-things-the-mainstream-media-got-...

This is nicely done for what it is: a "list format story," with a title reminiscent of clickbait headlines, about a YouTube prank involving aliens that has gone wrong. I can't say this excited me, though, because I've seen the "don't watch this terrible thing on social media / OMG everyone is watching so I will too!" idea in the movie Untraceable and in an episode of Black Mirror. That's not to say it can't be done again from a different angle such as this, but for me the format wasn't enough to overcome my lack of interest in the plot.

Story # 64
Date Read: January 25, 2019

Title: "Master Zhao: The Tale of an Ordinary Time Traveler"
Author: Zhang Ran
Translator: Andy Dudak
Original language: Chinese
Length: 12,971 words
Category: Science fiction (novelette)
Where Published: Clarkesworld
When Published: 2018-12 (English version)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/zhang_12_18/

In this novelette translated from the Chinese, a young man living listlessly is befriended by an older restaurant delivery man who apparently has the power of foresight. One day, the two men drink together and the strange tale is shared.

As I've said many times before, I'm a sucker for time travel stories ... but this one didn't work for me. I actually found it overlong and a bit tedious due to all of the theorizing, and while I appreciate that the man's wife's terminal illness would make her cranky, I didn't like the depiction of how she would berate him for his lack of money when she was more ill, and praise him when she was feeling better. Ultimately, the story just didn't engage me.

Story # 65
Date Read: January 25, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Godfall"
Author: Alexander Stanmyer
Length: 1,055 words
Category: SF and/or Fantasy (short story)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-25
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/sf-fantasy/alexander-stanmyer/god...

I liked this story much more on my second reading of it (possibly because I was less tired and was reading more carefully). At any rate, a human-sent probe to a nebula reveals that all of humanity's known gods, and then some, appear to be floating dead there in space.

The story isn't perfect; for instance, they wouldn't wait until this critically important mission to try sending humans through subspace for the first time, because then they risk losing their hand-picked crew instead of more expendable test subjects. But I really quite liked it.

Story # 66
Date Read: January 25, 2019 (third story)

Title: "The Day Our Ships Came In"
Author: Ginger Weil
Length: 819 words
Category: Fantasy (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-21
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/slipstream/ginger-weil/the-day-ou...

In this story, a small-town young woman watches her best friend fly away in a mysterious "ship that came in" specifically for that friend, but doesn't have the courage to leave town in her own "ship." In some ways, I felt that this was meant to be profound, but to me it came across as fanciful in a sort of cloying way (although I'm not sure if that makes sense to anyone but me).

Story # 67
Date Read: January 26, 2019

Title: "Sleep Consultant"
Author: Robin Sloan
Length: 2,979 words (calculated based on line count)
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Year of the Meteor
When Published: 2019-01
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link: N/A

Robin Sloan, author of Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore, has started a little project called "Year of the Meteor." It's a newsletter/imprint that each month will publish one story in an ephemeral, pamphlet-like format, and mail it to those who have ordered it for the cost of the 89 cent postage. He tried this once before, published a story titled "The Unbeatable Deck of Ronan Shin" by Kiyash Monsef, but found the logistics to be cumbersome, so here he's trying a new way of doing it.

This particular story, by Sloan himself, didn't work for me as a story, mainly because I didn't understand what the main character was really doing and why the resulting information would be valuable. But his prose is generally a pleasure to read, which is why I gave it the "average" 2.5 star rating.

The only way to get these stories is to subscribe to Sloan's newsletter; you then get notice of each new story and can order it for the afore-mentioned 89 cents. With the "Ronan Shin" story, Sloan made it avaliable online in a printable format, but it seems to be gone now, and there's no mention of doing that with the current story, which is too bad.

Story # 68
Date Read: January 27, 2019

Title: "Acronyms "
Author: Curtis J. Graham
Length: 989 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-25
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/acronyms-by-curtis-j-graham/

In this story, a veteran with PTSD bowls on a team with eleven other disabled vets. He suffers from anxiety and hopes to make a more personal connection with one of his teammates.

This story did a good job of portraying what anxiety and panic attacks can be like, but I wasn't able to feel certain I understood the main character's thoughts and motivations. He clearly disdains the doctors, the diagnoses, and the medicines he's prescribed but doesn't take. Hmm, maybe I understood his thoughts better than I realized, but this was still a little too literary-nebulous for my taste.

Story # 69
Date Read: January 27, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Home By the Sea"
Author: Élisabeth Vonarburg
Length: 6,253 words (estimated based on word page count)
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Northern Stars (anthology)
When Published: 1994
Original Publication (if applicable): 1985
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

A woman who works as a "recuperator" is engulfed by memories, emotions, and doubts as she goes to visit her mother, at whom she's been angry ever since finding out that her mother artificially created her. This takes place in some kind of post-environmental world, and a recuperator is someone who goes into dangerous zones to bring back samples of plants, animals, and beings like herself.

This had the potential to be pretty amazing, but I felt it held back too much information and therefore wasn't terribly accessible to the reader. I would have rated it lower, but I found the ending moving in spite of myself.

Story # 70
Date Read: January 28, 2019

Title: "The Spider's Garden"
Author: Jamie Lackey
Length: 735 words
Category: Fantasy (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-28
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/magic-realism/jamie-lackey/the-sp...

A spider lures creatures to her garden, not to kill them but to surround herself with them. I liked the language and the atmosphere of this one.

Story # 71
Date Read: January 28, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Lizard Brain "
Author: Brandon Arvesen
Length: 844 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-26
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/lizard-brain-by-brandon-arvesen/

I found this story compelling to a degree, but it's seriously hampered by a lack of clarity in the timeline, and, if I stop to think about it, the logistics of doing what the narrator supposedly did. At any rate, without spoilers, this piece is about a man who has trouble controlling the violent impulses fed to him by the lizard part of his brain.

Story # 72
Date Read: January 28, 2019 (third story)

Title: "The Wishing Tree"
Author: Lucy Stone
Length: 956 words
Category: Literary (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-27
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/the-wishing-tree-by-lucy-stone/

I thought about labeling this as "fantasy" instead of "literary," but went with the latter because there's no actual evidence of magic in the story. A schoolgirl, whose mother apparently poisoned her father and is believed to be a witch, reflects on the school's custom of hanging ribbons on a tree to make wishes. This story has a nice, dark tone and a vivid voice.

Story # 73
Date Read: January 28, 2019 (fourth story)

Title: "Another Day at the Job"
Author: Wayne Scheer
Length: 984 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-28
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/another-day-at-the-job-by-wayne-scheer/

I found this story delightful, mainly due to the narrator's voice. It was sarcastic humor, but not mean-spirited. I suspect some readers may be offended by the portrayal of the lesbian characters, however. Aside from the voice, I thought the end was charming, and I did not see it coming.

Story # 74
Date Read: January 28, 2019 (fifth story)

Title: "Moonskin"
Author: Melissa Mead
Length: 1,489 words
Category: Fantasy (short story)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-04
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/Monsters/melissa-mead/moonskin

A wereskunk and weretiger worry when their son doesn't show signs of assuming his moon-phase animal form, and becomes harrassed for being a "skinless null." I thought this was quite effective; the only thing I wondered about was why the Wardens summoned the father instead of the son.

Story # 75
Date Read: January 28, 2019 (sixth story)

Title: "On Trial"
Author: Rachelle Harp
Length: 989 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Curious Fictions (website)
When Published: 2019-01-19 (reprint)
Original Publication (if applicable): Havok, April 2014
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://curiousfictions.com/authors/300 (author's Curious Fictions page)

In this piece, a young woman is on trial for murder, only it hasn't happened yet. The judge and jury draw their conclusions on what she is going to do based on her social media / online presence. Unfortunately, I didn't find this original, since it's similar to the movie Minority Report. I also had a problem with the fact that her defense lawyer didn't do or say anything, except make one objection that clearly would be overruled based on the law.

I also found the writing a little rough. There was a tendency to over rely on sentence fragments, such as:

A police officer took her place on the stand, a tarnished badge on her uniform. Scuff marks on her shoes. A mile-wide frown across her face.

This would be OK once in a while, but the same structure is used in several of the story's paragraphs. There are also some over-the-hop phrasing choices:

As if he could read her mind, Kane looked at Malorie. A loose smirk unraveled across his face.

Kane strutted past the defense table, lips curled in a tiger's grin.

Story # 76
Date Read: January 29, 2019

Title: "World War 2.8.41 Release Notes"
Author: Forrest Brazeal
Length: 572 words
Category: Science fiction - satire (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-07
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/future-societies/forrest-brazeal...

This is a list format story that's basically a satire on the commercialization of war. It works well for what it is.

Story # 77
Date Read: January 29, 2019 (second story)

Title: "The Alien in 36B"
Author: Jennifer Stephan Kapral
Length: 699 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-29
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/aliens/jennifer-stephan-kapral/t...

Not much happens in this flash piece written from an alien point of view, but I think it's very well written, and I felt satisfied by its ability to stand on its own.

Story # 78
Date Read: January 28, 2019 (third story)

Title: "Daddy Long-Legs"
Author: Vina Nguyen
Length: 978 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-29
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/daddy-long-legs-by-vina-nguyen/

This story didn't work for me. I didn't find the voice authentic, and I didn't believe the husband would back down that easily just because she grabbed the phone. He likely could have knocked it out of her hand before she could dial more than one or two numbers.

"Marie's Lovely Picture" by Robert Norton.

Story # 79
Date Read: January 30, 2019

Title: "Norita"
Author: Ruth Nestvold
Length: 1,099 words
Category: Fantasy (short story)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-30
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/tales-of-the-rose-knights/ruth-ne...

Another short piece in the "Tales of the Rose Knights" series of flash stories, although this one technically comes in at short story length. As with the rest of the stories, it's difficult to understand what is really going on in the story, and the problem was exacerbated with the logistics/physical layout of the multiple spiral staircases. However, I've rated this one a little higher than some of the others because there's some gorgeous language in it.

Story # 80
Date Read: January 30, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Marie's Lovely Picture"
Author: Robert Norton
Length: 967 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-30
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/maries-lovely-picture-by-robert-norton/

A widowed father presses his 7-year-old daughter to decide what she wants to be when she grows up. I enjoyed their conversation very much, mainly her side of it, but the story ended too abruptly for my taste. Also, because of my own biased interests, I couldn't help wondering if the whole point of the story was the line that said "What’s the point of going all the way to space if you just turn around and come back?"

---

Story # 81
Date Read: January 30, 2019 (third story)

Title: "When the Ice Goes Out"
Author: Jessica Reisman
Length: 3,319 words
Category: Horror (short story)
Where Published: Curious Fictions (website)
When Published: 2018-09-20 (reprint)
Original Publication (if applicable): Otherworldly Maine (anthology), 2008
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://curiousfictions.com/stories/945-jessica-reisman-when-the-ice-goes-out (may require free login)

In this story, Isobel visits her sister, who lives in some form in the lake where she drowned. Isobel accepts the trinkets that Rosetta brings her from the bottom of the lake, and saves them for Rosetta in a coffee can, but Rosetta wants and needs something more.

I loved the writing, and I was engrossed by the idea of Rosetta collecting things, but the ending was a tiny bit too abrupt for me, and I don't understand how the "mechanics" of the spirit's existence work. I think Rosetta requires live "gifts," i.e. new people to drown, particularly men, but is she causing all of them to drown? And when Isobel tells her "no," does she mean that Rosetta can't have Jay (a grad student in whom Isobel is becoming interested), or that Rosetta can't have Isobel? Still, this story has a lovely and haunting atmosphere to it.

Story # 82
Date Read: January 30, 2019 (fourth story)

Title: "Elementary School"
Author: J.D. Trye
Length: 910 words
Category: Science fiction - humor (flash fiction)
Where Published: Nature
When Published: 2019-01-30
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00291-x

This is intended as a humorous list of not-yet-discovered elements in the periodic table. It didn't work for me, and I hate to say it, but I kind of had to force myself to continue to the end, as short as it was.

Story # 83
Date Read: January 31, 2019

Title: "A Gift for His Beloved, Post-Apocalypse"
Author: Wendy Nikel
Length: 269 words
Category: Science fiction (microfiction)
Where Published: Grievous Angel
When Published: 2018-06-06
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.urbanfantasist.com/scifi-poetry-and-flash-fiction/new-fiction-birthd...

This is a nice little bit of microfiction, in which a man looks for appropriate gifts for his wife after an unnamed apocalypse. I enjoyed the story a lot, but find it unfortunate that the magazine made a little graphic mentioning birthday gifts, when these are anniversary gifts (based on the paper, cotton, leather progression).

Story # 84
Date Read: January 31, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Mommy vs the World"
Author: Leanne A. Styles
Length: 996 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-31
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/mommy-vs-the-world-by-leanne-a-styles/

This flash piece is told from a little boy's POV. His mother apparently steals parts of superhero costumes from a neighbor, so that she and her son can don them to fight when the aliens currently invading Earth get to their neighborhood. I couldn't tell whether she was just trying to find a way to help her son be brave, if she was crazy, or if humans really had reason to believe that the costumes will actually help them in fighting the aliens. I think it's door number 3, because at one point the little boy says:

“Bobby says the space men won’t answer our army because they’re preparing for battle, and that they’re dropping the boxes from their ships to ‘make the fight fairer’, because otherwise it wouldn’t be ‘good sport’. Is he right?”

That's an interesting concept is that's the intent of the story, but I don't think the story fulfills any potential it had there, partly because the child's voice doesn't entirely work. The boy also expresses that he's experiencing some physical sensations for which I'm not able to determine the meaning. I also didn't find the ending particularly interesting or satisfying.

Story # 85
Date Read: January 31, 2019 (third story)

Title: "A True Utopia"
Author: Avery Barker
Length: 285 words
Category: Science fiction (microfiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-31
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/future-societies/avery-barker/a-...

Wow. I'm struggling to find a way to be honest about this story without being nasty. This is very amateurish, with clumsy word repetition, and an unoriginal premise that is the kind of thing earnest high schoolers come up with(*) before they realize that other people have already addressed the topic in far more sophisticated ways. Even the author's bio is badly written.

Just wow.

(* I wrote something similar in high school, and at the time I thought I was being extremely clever and original.)

Story # 86
Date Read: February 1, 2019

Title: "Counting Days"
Author: Patricia Lundy
Length: 989 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-02-01
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/magic-realism/patricia-lundy/count...

"Counting Days" is a short but effective story about self-harm, with a science fictional element to it. It could have worked just as well without that element, but I liked it this way. I've come to know a lot of people who are afflicted with self-harm tendencies or compulsions, and that made the story even more meaningful to me.

Story # 87
Date Read: February 4, 2019

Title: "The Goblin"
Author: Christina Sng
Length: 678 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-02-04
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/aliens/christina-sng/the-goblin

Unfortunately, this story about divers encountering an alien lifeform didn't work for me at all. The diving element didn't seem realistic and the dialog felt stilted. More importantly, in the end I wasn't sure if this was Earth or not. I think it's an alien planet, but if it is, the way that bit is introduced is extremely awkward.

Story # 88
Date Read: February 5, 2019

Title: "Yona's Android"
Author: Michelle Denham
Length: 805 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-02-05
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/sf-fantasy/michelle-denham/yonas-...

In this piece, an android named Ha-Yoon asks questions about dragons in the way a small child would. The story reads very quickly, as it's mostly dialogue, and I enjoyed it, but I wanted a little something more. I think that Yona downloaded her own consciousness into the android, and we're supposed to get that by the fact that Ha-Yoon has many of her mannerisms, and the fact that Yona had said she just wanted to be a consciousness. But it's not clear why Yona-in-an-android would behave as though it's starting over in terms of child development. Still, a nice piece.

Story # 89
Date Read: February 6, 2019

Title: "Bleed"
Author: Brenda Joyce Anderson
Length: 451 words
Category: Science fiction (microfiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-02-06
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/aliens/brenda-joyce-anderson/ble...

This story is told from the POV of an alien whose blood is a color never before seen by humans. The premise may be a bit contrived, but I found it effective.

Story # 90
Date Read: February 6, 2019

Title: "Evening Star"
Author: Paul Alex Gray
Length: 540 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Curious Fictions website
When Published: 2019-01-18
Original Publication (if applicable): Lost Balloon, July 5, 2017.
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://lost-balloon.com/2017/07/05/evening-star-by-paul-alex-gray/

Two holdouts discuss the virtual reality environment for which humans are leaving everyday life in droves. I'm not sure exactly why, but I didn't find this satisfying. Maybe because there was no mention of what would power the VR once active humans dip below a critical level.

Story # 91
Date Read: February 7, 2019

Title: "Wet"
Author: Wiswell, John
Length: 2,146 words
Category: Fantasy - urban (short story)
Where Published: Curious Fictions website
When Published: 2019-02-06
Original Publication (if applicable): Urban Fantasy Magazine, 2014
Rating:
Link (if applicable): (audio version on Podcastle) http://podcastle.org/2015/10/20/podcastle-386-flash-fiction-extravaganza-ghostly...

The author says this is about "the unlikely friendship between a confused ghost and an immortal." Unfortunately, I found the story itself to be confusing, as there were several pop culture (I think) references that I didn't get, and I was unclear what it was the immortal generally spent its time doing, such as on the set of a snuff film -- was it helping release the ghosts of the victims? but how did that result in getting actors in to therapy?. For me, there were also too many details that just felt arbitrary. Still, an interesting concept.

Story # 92
Date Read: February 7, 2019

Title: "The Experiment"
Author: Michael Adam Robson
Length: 961 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Nature
When Published: 2019-02-06
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00449-7

A man tries to escape the room where he's forced by uprising robots to tend tanks growing human-machine hybrids. This is well-written, but for some reason it didn't engage me emotionally.

Story # 93
Date Read: February 7, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Painwise"
Author: Robert Reed
Length: 6,779 words
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Clarkesworld
When Published: 2019-02
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/reed_02_19/

A man's wife is afflicted by a new epidemic that afflicts people with pain that is both acute and chronic. It takes a tremendous toll on his marriage, and he's not the only one -- there are even support groups for spouses of the afflicted.

For me, this was a little rambling and definitely longer than it needed to be. I also don't really understand the man's actions at the end of the story -- that is, I don't understand his motivation.

Story # 94
Date Read: February 7, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Give the Family My Love"
Author: A.T. Greenblatt
Length: 5,349 words
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Clarkesworld
When Published: 2019-02
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/greenblatt_02_19/

A woman who has traveled across the galaxy to access an alien library writes letters to her brother back on Earth.

I was interested in the library, of course, but the story left me a little unsatisfied. I didn't understand her brother's opposition to her mission, nor why having an abortion in her past had anything to do with her decision to go on this potentially Earth-saving mission. I also thought it was a bit much that she counted the days, hours, and minutes from her abortion to the time her brother called 18 days later to let her know his wife had lost a baby. This may just be me, but it felt like these elements were consciously added to try to give the story emotional weight.

Story # 95
Date Read: February 9, 2019

Title: "In September"
Author: Aimee Ogden
Length: 1,312 words
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-02-08
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/magic-realism/aimee-ogden/in-sept...

A woman misses her husband, who it turns out is living in an eternal September while she continues to live through the normal calendar. As the story starts, it's August, and she will soon see him again. This was interesting, but it would have meant more to me if I knew whether the choice was irreversible, and why she chose the month of May in particular.

Story # 96
Date Read: February 9, 2019

Title: "Local Senior Celebrates Milestone"
Author: Matthew Claxton
Length: 2,013 words
Category: Science fiction - (short story)
Where Published: Diabolical Plots
When Published: 2019-02-01
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://www.diabolicalplots.com/dp-fiction-48a-local-senior-celebrates-milestone-...

A woman is interviewed on her 110th birthday, and asked about her early memories. They turn out to be quite ... unusual. This was well-constructed; the interview questions and answers alternate with the woman's actual memories. I felt like this was a clever story, but I wanted more emotional connection to it.

Story # 97
Date Read: February 11, 2019

Title: "Only in New York"
Author: Libby Heily
Length: 438 words
Category: Science fiction - humor (short story)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-02-07
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/science-fiction/libby-heily/only...

This is a micro-story about a woman whose boyfriend disappears when the public transportation wormhole he's in likely collapsed.

Story # 98
Date Read: February 11, 2019

Title: Convenience Store Woman
Author: Sayaka Murata
Translator:
Length: 33,660 words (estimated based on word page count)
Category: Literary (novella) (translated from Japanese to English)
Where Published: Grove Press, 2018 (English translation published as standalone title)
When Published: 2018
Original Publication (if applicable): Originally published in Japanese as Konbini ningen, by Bungeishunju Ltd., 2016
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

(This is published as a standalone title and is labeled as "a novel," but based on word count I consider it a novella.)

Story # 99
Date Read: February 12, 2019

Title: "The Magician's Clown"
Author: M.L. Kejera
Length: 3,100 words
Category: Fantasy (short story)
Where Published: Strange Horizons
When Published: 2019-02-04
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/the-magicians-clown/

In this story, a town must sometimes make a sacrifice to end brutally cold winters and get the spring to return. The ritual involves a magician, a clown, and children's laughter, which unfortunately is about all I understood in this story. At times I couldn't tell which character was talking, without stopping and trying to untangle it, and I'm still not clear on whether the normal sacrifice is that the one child loses his or her laughter forever, or if that was an anomaly in the case of the woman who comes to challenge the clown ... although I have no idea of the point of that. I'm afraid I found this frustrating to read.

Story # 100
Date Read: February 12, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Cherubim"
Author: Julia Heslin
Length: 990 words
Category: Fantasy (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-02
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/cherubim-by-julia-heslin/

This story stands out for its language, which I imagine some might find too flowery. It would have been so for me if it hadn't gone anywhere, but I liked the way it developed.

Story # 101
Date Read: February 13, 2019

Title: "Childhood of a Famous Military Leader"
Author: Jay Gershwin
Length: 688 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-01-03
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/childhood-of-a-famous-military-leader-by-jay-gershwi...

This time travel story didn't work for me, in part because it managed to contradict itself plot-wise even though it's so short. Near the end of the story, the narrator intends to prove his friend's story of time travel is "bullshit," but at the beginning of the story he had already decided to believe his friend due to the successful prediction of a bridge collapse and the number of people it killed.

Story # 102
Date Read: February 13, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Ardent Clouds"
Author: Lucy Sussex
Length: 8,041 words
Category: indeterminate (novelette)
Where Published: The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy (anthology)
When Published: 2008
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

This novelette is about a videographer/filmmaker who lives for the thrill of filming dangerous volcanic eruptions. It wasn't terrible, but it didn't grab me. I felt that it missed some potential by not elaborating on her boss's ability to predict eruptions down to the minute; it's implied that some kind of occult ability may be present, but nothing else is said about it.

Story # 103
Date Read: February 15, 2019

Title: "Universal Print"
Author: Fonda Lee
Length: 3,467 words
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Curious Fictions (website)
When Published: 2019-02-07 (reprint)
Original Publication (if applicable): Crossed Genres, February 2015
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://crossedgenres.com/magazine/026-universal-print/

This is a non-memorable but entertaining story about two "UPDS" deliverymen who try to make a little extra on the side with some small-time smuggling. It doesn't go so well.

Story # 104
Date Read: February 15, 2019

Title: "Sonny Liston Takes the Fall"
Author: Elizabeth Bear
Length: 3,740 (estimated based on page/word count)
Category: indeterminate (short story)
Where Published: The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy (anthology)
When Published: 2008
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

The One-Eyed Jack, the self-described "guardian and warden of Sin City," narrates his (presumably) conversations with Sonny Liston, whom he needs to take another fall, letting Muhammad Ali not just win, but live to inspire African Americans. At least, that's my take on this story. I would have enjoyed it more if it that were more clear, and also if it were shorter. There was so many short sections to this story that felt redundant, and felt like they were there to support clever opening and ending lines.

Story # 105
Date Read: February 17, 2019

Title: "Reach Out and Touch Someone"
Author: Val Nolan
Length: 864 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Nature
When Published: 2019-02-13
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00524-z

OK, I would be hard-pressed to define what I mean by this, but when I read this story, the phrase "think piece" came into my mind. I think (no pun intended) that this is more of a think piece than a story. Yet I liked it, much more than I expected to. I felt like it could have done with about 100 words less, because there was a point when it got bogged down a little, but still. Nicely done.

Story # 106
Date Read: February 20, 2019

Title: "Unraveling"
Author: K.G. Anderson
Length: 2,841 words
Category: Fantasy (short story)
Where Published: Curious Fictions (website)
When Published: 2019-02-07 (reprint)
Original Publication (if applicable): Triangulation: Beneath the Surface (anthology), 2016
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://curiousfictions.com/stories/1565-k-g-anderson-unraveling (may require free login)

A woman, distressed by her broken relationship with her runaway teen daughter, goes to visit two elderly aunts and learns that she has inherited an ability from them that she's not sure she wants.

I liked the two aunts, but I found the ending a little abrupt and unsatisfying.

Story # 107
Date Read: February 22, 2019

Title: "How Much is Too Much?"
Author: Paavo Saari
Length: 510 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-02-11
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/future-societies/paavo-saari/how...

The main character of this story suffers from news and media oversaturation. Unfortunately, I didn't find this compelling. The story is all tell, no show. It also suffers from a little clunkiness, and I didn't find the premise overly original.

Story # 108
Date Read: February 22, 2019

Title: "Lullaby"
Author: Lynden Xu
Length: 1,191 words
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-02-22
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/fairy-tales/lynden-xu/lullaby_scifi

A homeless deaf boy and a sick rich girl become unlikely friends in a (possibly) dystopian world.

There were aspects to this that I liked, but the language seemed unnatural and awkward in a few places.

Story # 109
Date Read: February 22, 2019

Title: "Gifts of Prometheus"
Author: Alex Shvartsman
Length: 929 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Nature
When Published: 2019-02-20
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00618-8

A human who has crashed landed on an alien planet shares technology with the dominant native species in an effort to stay alive, but comes to regret his actions.

This didn't quite work for me. The aliens' rate of progression was too fast for me to believe, but more importantly, I was bothered that there was no mention of societal or cultural change to go along with the technological change. I don't think rapid advances in technology can happen in a vacuum.

Story # 110
Date Read: February 24, 2019

Title: "Taste"
Author: Roald Dahl
Narrator: John Lithgow
Length: approx. 4,416 words (estimated based on word/page count)
Audio length __:__
Category: Literary
Where Published: Food Fictions
When Published: _______
Original Publication (if applicable): Ladies Home Journal, 1945
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

This is a funny piece about a battle of wills between two men over whether one of them can identify by taste and smell an obscure claret. John Lithgow's reading was very enjoyable. From the audience's laughter at certain points, I suspect he was doing a fair bit of facial comedy as well. I would have rated this higher except I found the ending a little bit anti-climactic.

Story # 111
Date Read: February 28, 2019

Title: "The Tentacle and You"
Author: John Wiswell
Length: 893 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Nature
When Published: 2019-02-27
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00684-y

A handy guide meant to help humans who have just obtained a new tentacle adjust over the first several days.

This was quite well done, but humorous list stories have become a bit of a hard sell for me.

Story # 112
Date Read: March 1, 2019

Title: "The Debt"
Author: Meg Elison
Length: 2,599 words
Category: Fantasy (short story)
Where Published: Curious Fictions (website)
When Published: 2019-02-27 (reprint)
Original Publication (if applicable): The London Reader, Spring 2018
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.curiousfictions.com/stories/1673-meg-elison-the-debt (may require free login)

A woman rescues a kitten that survives a drive under the hood of the car. Once grown, the cat uses magic to make the teenage son's cancer go away. I didn't care for this. The story changes halfway through from the woman's POV to the cat's, and the teenagers felt cliched and awkwardly portrayed to me. I was also put off by the cat having to endure sex with a male cat in order to do the magic, and licking the male cat's balls afterwards for whatever reason. The cats' personalities and stilted dialog also didn't ring true for me, such as when the male cat reminds the female that the sex will not result in "sweet, sharp kittens." Huh?

Story # 113
Date Read: March 2, 2019

Title: "A La Carte"
Author: Joy Kennedy-O'Neill
Length: 1,133 words
Category: Science fiction - satire (short story)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-03-01
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/future-societies/joy-kennedy-o-ne...

A woman meets up with her ex-husband and his girlfriend, both of whom opt-out of taxes and are therefore precluded from using certain services.

This was well-written but didn't quite grab me.

Story # 114
Date Read: March 6, 2019

Title: "3 Minutes"
Author: Adam Walker
Length: 332 words words
Category: Science fiction (microfiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-02-27
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/science-fiction/adam-walker/3-mi...

An app that can predict the future accurately for up to three minutes becomes a thing. This writing for this microfiction wasw quite awkward in places. It also made simplistic, sweeping statements, which is somewhat understandable in microfiction, but not when they don't make sense. For example, it says: After a while, most people got bored and just set the alert to warn them if danger loomed on the 3 minute horizon. Accidents became a thing of the past.

Well, no. Not all accidents can be prevented just because there are three minutes of warning.

And that statement might contradict the story's ending ... unless whatever's about to happen is the result of a deliberate decision on the part of one or more people. Although this possible contradiction is less important to me than the "accidents became a thing of the past" statement itself.

Funny how I can write this many words on a short of so few words, but sometimes find little to say about much longer stories!

Story # 115
Date Read: March 6, 2019

Title: "The Entertainment"
Author: E.M. Delafield.
Length: 3,019 words (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: British period fiction (short story)
Where Published: The Entertainment and Other Stories (collection)
When Published: 1927 (collection date)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

This is the first and title story of Delafield's 1927 collection. I'm calling these "period fiction" because I think they were representing the very recent past when written. (If someone has another suggestion for what to call this, please tell me!)

Two young and inexperienced women have a meal at a fancy restaurant with two businessmen who all but ignore them, having apparently brought them along as eye candy more than anything else.

I don't mind that in many of Delafield's stories, not a lot happens. I wish, though, that a little more happened here, if only mentally (on the characters' parts). But the descriptions of the clothing and mannerisms is exquisite.

Story # 116
Date Read: March 6, 2019

Title: "O Tempora! O Mores"
Author: E.M. Delafield.
Length: 6,363 words (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: British period fiction (short story)
Where Published: The Entertainment and Other Stories (collection)
When Published: 1927 (collection date)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

Amabel Forrester, the youngest of eleven siblings at a British country estate in the 1890s, falls in love with a farmer's son, throwing the family into turmoil and risking a major scandal.

This is very similar in plot, at least at the beginning of the story, to Delafield's novel Thank Heaven Fasting, which is one of my all-time favorite books. The novel is set in London instead of the country, but the lasting effects of a romantic "adventure" on a young woman's marriage prospects is very similar. Oh, and in the novel Monica is an only child rather than one of eleven!

BTW, Google Translate tells me that the Latin title means "What times! Oh!" Definitely appropriate to the story.

Story # 117
Date Read: March 6, 2019

Title: "Incidental"
Author: E.M. Delafield.
Length: 4,279 words (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: British period fiction (short story)
Where Published: The Entertainment and Other Stories (collection)
When Published: 1927 (collection date)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

A woman who rents rooms to tourists at a summer resort has a battle of wills with her otherwise exemplary tenants when they want to dry some laundry in front of the fire in the kitchen.

Sounds pretty silly when you put it that way, doesn't it?! I was a little unsatisfied with this, not because it was such a minor thing upon which to base a story -- EMD's works are character-driven and the characters were well drawn here -- but that there really isn't any resolution.

Story # 118
Date Read: March 7, 2019

Title: "The Girl Who Loved Shonen Knife"
Author: Carrie Vaughn
Length: 5,272 words
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Curious Fictions (website)
When Published: 2019-03-03 (reprint)
Original Publication (if applicable): Hanzoi Japan (anthology), 2015
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://curiousfictions.com/stories/1727-carrie-vaughn-the-girl-who-loved-shonen... (may require free login after featured status expires)

Although one or more mysterious hackers have deleted all bank accounts and cut off a city's water supply, a high school student who plays in a cover band is only concerned with the upcoming audition to play at the school dance.

I love a lot of this author's writing, but this one didn't work for me. I didn't mind that it was silly, because it was intended to be. But I was confused because sometimes it seemed the upheaval was limited to this city, and other times it seemed as if it was across the entire U.S. Also, although the narrator mentions that the lack of water means no more showers, nothing is said about going to the bathroom. Nitpicking further, I also didn't believe that a high school girl could get her hands on a generator just to power her band. Again, I know this is meant to be silly, but there are runs on generators for hurricanes and tropical storms. A city-wide or country-wide disaster would cause a much bigger run.

That being said, I enjoyed the narrator's voice.

Story # 119
Date Read: March 7, 2019

Title: "The Luggage in the Hall: An Un-moral Story"
Author: E.M. Delafield.
Length: 5,329 words (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: British period fiction (short story)
Where Published: The Entertainment and Other Stories (collection)
When Published: 1927 (collection date)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

A man considers succumbing to everyone's advice that it's time to marry (remember, this is period fiction, not contemporary), when he visits friends he's not seen in five years and is horrified by their lives -- even though they are completely happy.

Story # 120
Date Read: March 8, 2019

Title: "The Last Child"
Author: L.R. Conti
Length: 852 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Nature
When Published: 2019-03-06
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00749-y

An elderly woman leaves a letter for her son, who is an android she and her late husband adopted years before to provide them eldercare. I liked this; I thought it was an interesting concept, especially when the woman described how the son cared for her late husband when he was dying.

Story # 121
Date Read: March 8, 2019

Title: "We Are Here to Be Held"
Author: Eugenia Triantafyllou
Length: 2,129 words
Category: Fantasy (short story)
Where Published: Strange Horizons
When Published: 2019-01-14
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/we-are-here-to-be-held/

I think this story is turning the idea of a mother who consumes her daughter's identity with protectiveness into a literal process. I certainly found it interesting, but also a little heavy. I was confused because the main character tells her mother she will never swallow her own daughter whole. And seemingly she doesn't. But then the character's mother comes to see her, looks at her, and concludes "So you did it after all," and the main character agrees that she did to "it." But until then it was implied that she let her daughter go, and that she was now alone in her apartment. I thought she would not feel alone if she had her daughter back inside her.

So did she or didn't she? I'm assuming not, but I wish it hadn't gotten muddied up there at the end.

I also could have done without the second person POV.

****

INSERT #122 HERE

Story # 123
Date Read: March 10, 2019

Title: "Blairgowrie"
Author: E.M. Delafield
Length: 6,738 words ( (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: British period fiction (short story)
Where Published: The Entertainment and Other Stories (collection)
When Published: 1927 (collection date)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

After showering her new stepchildren with gifts and clothes, a wealthy, fashionable woman is perplexed as to why they don't worship her immediately.

Story # 124
Date Read: March 11, 2019

Title: "The Crowd"
Author: Ray Bradbury
Length: 2,247 words (estimated based on word/column count)
Category: Horror - literary
Where Published: Weird Tales (collection)
When Published: 1943-05
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://archive.org/details/Weird_Tales_v36n11_1943-05/page/n87

A man notices a sinister trend: the same onlookers keep appearing at traffic accidents only seconds after they happen.

I was surprised at some of the clunky word choices in this story, and didn't think it was terribly well written.

Story # 125
Date Read: March 11, 2019

Title: "This is One Way Round"
Author: E.M. Delafield
Length: 4,069 words (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: British period fiction (short story)
Where Published: The Entertainment and Other Stories (collection)
When Published: 1927 (collection date)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

A female bookworm a long time before it was socially acceptable, Lois has a chance encounter with a young man at a tea room during her lunch break, and it turns into a book-fueled romance.

Although this story had the ending I wanted, i.e. the main characters end up together, it's so uncharacteristic of Delafield that the story almost felt "wrong" to me. Maybe I would have preferred them to overcome some obstacle first.

Story # 126
Date Read: March 12, 2019

Title: "The Tortoise"
Author: E.M. Delafield
Length: 3,413 words (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: British period fiction (short story)
Where Published: The Entertainment and Other Stories (collection)
When Published: 1927 (collection date)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

A boy named Paul is beside himself with excitement about his family's upcoming seaside holiday, but disappointed that his father cannot immediately accompany them. Yet he notices without noticing that when his father is absent, everybody is more relaxed and happier. I thought this was a good example of a story written from a child's point of view, in that it conveys to the reader what's actually going on without the child realizing it. I guess young children make a good unreliable narrator!

I also adored the amount of detail regarding all the little things Paul loves about Croyde Bay, where they go on their annual holidays. I especially liked the food descriptions!

"Reflex Action" by E.M. Delafield

Story # 127
Date Read: March 12, 2019

Title: "Mom-Bot Isn't Happy"
Author: Filip Wiltgren
Length: 731 words words
Category: Science fiction (flash)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-03-12
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/robots-and-computers/filip-wiltg...

By coincidence, this story is also written from a child's POV (and hence a new tag in my catalog is born!). A boy is worried that his parents will kill (by recyling, I think) the robot companion that takes care of him and his brother. Unfortunately, I found this a little confusing. There's a paragraph in which he states "I have killed Mom-Bot", followed by another section in which he's back to trying to save it. And at the end of the story he says that Mom-bot isn't sent to recycling.

Upon second thought, I think that little interlude paragraph is meant to be a dream. I would have liked to have known that upfront.

Story # 128
Date Read: March 12, 2019

Title: "Reflex Action"
Author: E.M. Delafield
Length: 6,891 words (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: British period fiction (short story)
Where Published: The Entertainment and Other Stories (collection)
When Published: 1927 (collection date)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

A lady's maid goes with her employer to a British country house party, which will give the maid the opportunity to see her sweetheart.

To me, this had a distinct Gosford Park vibe to it (without the mystery part, though). I thought the characters were nicely drawn, as usual for this author. The ending may be a little too pat, but I liked it.

Story # 129
Date Read: March 13, 2019

Title: "Awesome Woman"
Author: Oonagh McBride
Length: 987 words
Category: Fantasy (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-03-11
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/awesome-woman-by-oonagh-mcbride/

A man with unclear motives (at first) plots to steal his superhero sister's pocket watch. This was fine for what it is, but I found it just the tiniest bit unpolished.

Story # 130
Date Read: March 12, 2019

Title: "Holiday Group"
Author: E.M. Delafield
Length: 5,644 words (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: British period fiction (short story)
Where Published: The Entertainment and Other Stories (collection)
When Published: 1927 (collection date)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

A reverend takes his wife and children on holiday to a British seaside town, not realizing that caring for three small children in a boarding house for two weeks is not exactly restful for his wife.

Here's what I love about Delafield's writing in this piece: Julia, the wife, is dimly aware of how exhausted she is, but she's also dimly grateful to her husband for his thoughtfulness. It never truly occurs to her that his supposed generous gesture is actually quite thoughtless, yet the reader is perfectly aware of what's going on. I wouldn't call her an unreliable narrator, but rather one limited only to the occasional flash of accurate perception.

Story # 131
Date Read: March 14, 2019

Title: "Ball Bag Stew"
Author: Matthew Roy Davey
Length: 998 words
Category: SF - satire (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-03-04
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/ball-bag-stew-by-matthew-roy-davey/

Aliens contact Earth, but relations are strained when it turns out the person who bought the rights to name that star/solar system was doing so for his buddy's stag party.

Some of this was a little clever, but the joke kind of fell flat for me, and there were way too many semi-colons for my taste.

Besides, if the U.S. can use eminent domain to take people's land, surely the U.N. can use something similar to take over naming rights to a system where intelligent and technologically advanced aliens live.

Story # 132
Date Read: March 14, 2019

Title: "Happy Enough"
Author: Alex Z. Salinas
Length: 996 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-02-27
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/happy-enough-by-alex-z-salinas/

A young, uneducated Walmart worker considers going to school to improve his future job prospects. I thought the voice in this piece seemed very authentic. It felt like being inside his head a bit.

Story # 133
Date Read: March 12, 2019

Title: "The Waiting Lady"
Author: E.M. Delafield
Length: 4,397 words (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: British period fiction (short story)
Where Published: The Entertainment and Other Stories (collection)
When Published: 1927 (collection date)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

Unusually for Delafield, this story is told in first person POV. A woman relates her observations of another woman over the years when the latter is said to be pining for her fiance who is in prison. It has to do with love, loyalty, and possibly self-deception.

Story # 134
Date Read: March 15, 2019

Title: "The Transfer"
Author: Eloísa Pérez-Lozano
Length: 996 words
Category: SF (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-02-26
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/the-transfer-by-eloisa-perez-lozano/

This flash piece is told from the POV of a guinea pig into which a boy transfers his negative emotions. It was interesting and exhibited genuine emotion, but I did have a little bit of trouble accepting such a complex mental life in a guinea pig. (And I'm an animal lover, so that doesn't come of any dislike of creatures.)

Story # 135
Date Read: March 16, 2019

Title: "Please {Redacted} My Last E-mail"
Author: Kurt Pankau
Length: 941 words
Category: Science fiction - humor (flash fiction)
Where Published: Nature
When Published: 2019-03-13
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00797-4

This e-epistolary story reminded me a little too much of Jonathan Coulton's song "Chiron Beta Prime". Which I put behind this spoiler tag because that will give it away to anyone who knows the song.

Story # 136
Date Read: March 17, 2019

Title: "Terminus"
Author: E.M. Delafield
Length: 3,544 words (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: British period fiction (short story)
Where Published: The Entertainment and Other Stories (collection)
When Published: 1927 (collection date)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

In this story, a young woman who is about to be separated from her beau realizes she's likely made a fatal error.

I didn't care for this one. I felt like it was telegraphed the entire way through.

Story # 137
Date Read: March 18, 2019

Title: "A Tale of the Times"
Author: E.M. Delafield
Length: 5,841 words (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: British period fiction (short story)
Where Published: The Entertainment and Other Stories (collection)
When Published: 1927 (collection date)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

A prim woman who runs an employment agency, matching maids and other domestic help with jobs working for the upper (and middle-upper) classes, bemoans the loss of clear rules between employer and servant.

This is classic Delafield.

Story # 138
Date Read: March 18, 2019 (second story)

Title: "Reparation"
Author: E.M. Delafield
Length: 5,316 words (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: British period fiction (short story)
Where Published: The Entertainment and Other Stories (collection)
When Published: 1927 (collection date)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

A young woman gets carried away while gossiping with the tenants in her boarding house, then is consumed with guilt that she has slandered a former maid, which could cause real damage to the girl's reputation.

Story # 139
Date Read: March 18, 2019 (third story)

Title: "The Threshold of Eternity"
Author: E.M. Delafield
Length: 3,675 words (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: British period fiction (short story)
Where Published: The Entertainment and Other Stories (collection)
When Published: 1927 (collection date)
Original Publication (if applicable): unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): N/A

I quite disliked this one. A professor tells a long-winded anecdote about two people's confessions on the day they're convinced is Judgment Day.

Story # 140
Date Read: March 20, 2019

Title: "The Assembly"
Author: Shawn Van Horn
Length: 980 words
Category: Mainstream (flash fiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-03-18
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/the-assembly-by-shawn-van-horn/

A boy is embarrassed when he realizes he's the only one who invited his mother to a school assembly. And guess which assembly it turns out to be?

Story # 141
Date Read: March 21, 2019

Title: "Body Scanning"
Author: Michelle Lindsey
Length: 353 words
Category: Science fiction (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-03-21
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/biotech/michelle-lindsey/body-sc...

A doctor (or parent) tries to ease the fears of a sick child whose mind he/she has to enter in order to correctly diagnose him.

Interesting in a way, but I didn't find it memorable.

Story # 142
Date Read: March 22, 2019

Title: "On the Shores of Ligeia"
Author: Carolyn Ives Gilman
Length: 7,220 words
Category: Science fiction (short story)
Where Published: Lightspeed
When Published: 2019-03
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/on-the-shores-of-ligeia/

I was all in at the beginning of this story, which is about a sophisticated ESA robot-probe on Titan. But there were two lucky coincidences that bothered me a lot, particularly the second one. First, it's very convenient that the main character's boss broke her leg on the very day of the long-awaited event, such that the MC has to step into the VR suit at the last minute. Things go badly, and he is blamed even though he's not controlling the robot which is on an 80-minute time delay due to the distances. Granted, he wrote the program to make the robot "just curious enough," and supposedly the robot is too curious and that's why it gets into a jam, but I still couldn't see his colleagues just blaming him like that. But the worst part was that the problem is solved by some Chinese drones on Titan that got there ahead of this mission, and the MC's own stepdaughter just happens to be one of the schoolchildren whose class won a lottery to virtually ride along on the drones. That bit of convenience is way too outlandish for me to overlook.

Story # 143
Date Read: March 22, 2019

Title: "A Picture is Worth"
Author: Beth Cato
Length: 889 words
Category: Science fiction - satire (flash fiction)
Where Published: Nature
When Published: 2019-03-20
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00884-6

A Martian reflects on why its kind has decided to set Earth back hundreds or thousands of years.

Story # 144
Date Read: March 24, 2019

Title: "Beyond a Crooked Door"
Author: Stephen Meijerhof
Length: 499 words
Category: Literary (microfiction)
Where Published: Every Day Fiction
When Published: 2019-03-20
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://everydayfiction.com/beyond-a-crooked-door-by-stephan-meijerhof/

A man muses about the old house he and his wife have purchased, and finds it represents their failing relationship.

Story # 145
Date Read: March 20, 2019

Title: "Broken Yesterdays"
Author: Tabbie May Louise Hunt
Length: 830 words words
Category: Fantasy (flash fiction)
Where Published: Daily Science Fiction
When Published: 2019-03-20
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable):

This story might be too heavy-handed in its metaphor for a lot of readers, but it spoke to me because I've spent the last few years learning to process emotional pain and bad memories.

placeholder Marionette's Daughter

Story # 147
Date Read: March 28, 2019

Title: "The Story of a True Artist"
Author: Dominica Phetteplace
Length: 4,125 words
Category: Literary - satire (short story)
Where Published: Curious Fictions (website)
When Published: 2019-03-28 (reprint)
Original Publication (if applicable): Zyzzyva, 2015
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://curiousfictions.com/stories/1873-dominica-phetteplace-the-story-of-a-tru... (may require login)

I'm sure there are a fair few stories floating around out there about social media, 15-minute fame, and so on. But this story describes and mocks it brilliantly. Definitely recommended.

It's April 3rd, and I only just finished my blog post about my February reading! Oh well....

Work has gone crazy (we lost 2 of our 6 research librarians in my medical library within the last month), and my 2nd job has gone crazy (editing grad student internship reports -- it's that time of year when they have to turn 'em in to graduate), so blog posting has taken a back seat for a bit. I'm still mostly keeping up with the short story reading, though, and I'm determined I will catch up soon.

In the meantime, February reading blog post: http://amysreviews.blogspot.com/2019/04/short-fiction-read-in-february-2019.html

Story # 148
Date Read: April 10, 2019

Title: "Dear Mountain Room Parents"
Author: Maria Semple
Length: 916 words
Category: Mainstream - satire (flash fiction)
Where Published: New Yorker
When Published: 2011-10-17
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/10/24/dear-mountain-room-parents

This is a cute piece in which an educator doesn't realize the can of worms she's opening when she decides to have the students celebrate the Day of the Dead.

Story # 148
Date Read: April 10, 2019

Title: "Please Don’t Let Your Third Grader Dress Up as My Husband for Halloween"
Author: David Guzman
Length: 551 words
Category: Mainstream - humor (flash fiction)
Where Published: New Yorker
When Published: 2015-10-29
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/please-dont-let-your-third-grader-d...

Another Halloween humor flash fiction piece from The New Yorker. The title is self-explanatory. It didn't do a whole lot for me, but it wasn't badly written.

Story # 143
Date Read: March 22, 2019

Title: "Amped Life"
Author: John Cooper Hamilton
Length: 936 words
Category: Science fiction - hard (flash fiction)
Where Published: Nature
When Published: 2019-04-03
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:
Link (if applicable): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01042-8

As astronaut resents that NASA uses drugs to keep its orbiting astronauts working as tirelessly and efficiently as possible.

The idea is interesting -- if I am understanding correct, the astronauts develop split personalities -- but I didn't think the story was executed as cleanly as it could have been.

Story # 144
Date Read: April 14, 2019

Title: "The Long Sonata of the Dead"
Author: Andrew Taylor
Length: ______ words (estimated based on word/page count)
Category: Mystery (____________)
Where Published: ______________
When Published: ___________________
Original Publication (if applicable): N/A
Rating:

A scholar's professional and personal jealousy is reawakened when he spots his former friend and rival at a private library in London.

Actually, technically this might not be a mystery, but it was published as a standalone chapbook in Otto Penzler's series of commissioned "bibliomysteries."

Story # 145
Date Read: April 17, 2019

Title: "The Posthumous Novel of Edward L. Heard"
Author: Laura Blackwell
Length: 2,201 words
Category: Fantasy - contemporary (short story)
Where Published: Curious Fictions website
When Published: 2019-04-08
Original Publication (if applicable): Triptych Tales, year unknown
Rating:
Link (if applicable): http://triptychtales.net/posthumous_novel.html

A woman makes a deal with a broker to bring back a "shade" of her favorite author, so that he can finish the last book in his series.

There's nothing wrong with the story per se, but for my taste it felt a little too much like wish-fulfillment/fan service. I think that's just a personal reaction, though.