some recent (short story) reading
I like reading short stories before bed because I’m more likely to close the cover when the story is finished and go to sleep. I have a terrible habit of staying up well past my bedtime with a flashlight to continue reading a story. The three volumes included below are all short story collections I’ve finished recently. All were interesting and some stories caught my attention and interest more than others.
Changelings & Other Stories
by Leah Cypess
ebook currently free via Amazon and BN.com
This collection of stories delighted me. I am not sure which story I enjoyed the most, I think Darri’s tale has stayed with me the longest.
Changing Planes
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Several years ago while my husband experienced a frustrating flight for a business trip, I acquired travel reading at a local bookstore. The stories in this collection are all different yet tied together through travel, uncovering history and custom, and commentary. Each story is self-contained enough in that the book can be set aside for years when other covers distract the reader. A few stories required a little more thought to follow than I could handle at bedtime (when I tend to read short stories), but I do not begrudge them. Le Guin has built planes I long to visit.
Year’s Best SF 13 (2007)
edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
I enjoyed Kage Baker’s “Plotters and Shooters”, James Van Pelt’s “How Music Begins”, and the translated tale by Johanna Sinisalo, “Baby Doll” which really made me stop, think, and cringe.
In other news, Craftlit has almost completed Dracula and it is so near to the end that I can now count it in league with a short story because if I choose to read ahead and try to finish the entire novel before bed one of these nights, I won’t spend hours up reading. Now if I spend hours up for reasons related to finishing the book, that will be its own can of worms. We’re going to read Gulliver’s Travels next, another book that has been on the list of books I feel I should have read but haven’t yet. I look forward to it! If you want to enjoy Heather‘s amazing guidance through these classic texts and don’t have time or interest to listen to the craft bits, she now offers Just the Books that includes just the literary bits you need and is catching up on the existing back catalog but is otherwise in parallel with Craftlit.