2019's Short Story Collection and Anthology GroupRead

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2019's Short Story Collection and Anthology GroupRead

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1whitewavedarling
Bewerkt: jan 6, 2019, 3:14 pm



Last year, as a group, we read 89 short story collections and anthologies… so I guess the question is obvious, since there was a resounding vote to continue into 2019…

Can we make it to a hundred in 2019?

If you’re looking for somewhere to start, there’s a list below that brings together only the 4*, 4.5*, and 5* reads from last year. The number in parentheses represents the number of the post re. the collection/anthology in the original group thread from last year, which you can find here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/279797 (Look to the top of this thread if you want to see 2018’s full list without reading through the whole message thread.)

Like last year, I’ll compile a list of the year’s reads at the top of the thread—in Message 2 this year—and bold all of the 4*, 4.5*, and 5* read, so make sure to tell us your rating when you drop by the thread to let us know what you read, and what you thought!

Favorites from 2018:

Tell Tale: Stories by Jeffrey Archer - MarthaJeanne (21) - general fiction - 4 stars
A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor - RidgewayGirl (45) - souther lit - 5 stars
Very Good, Jeeves! - Leslie.98 (55) - general fiction - 4 stars
The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne Du Maurier - rabbitprincess (65) - dark general fiction - 4.5 stars
Marcovaldo by Italo Calvino - LittleTaiko (68) - literary fiction - 4 stars
To Cut a Long Story Short by Jeffrey Archer - MarthaJeanne (71) - mystery/thriller - 4 stars
The Ivory and the Horn by Charles de Lint - mathgirl40 (72) - fantasy - 4.5 stars
The Breaking Point by Daphne du Maurier - rabbitprincess (106) - 'Very good as always' - 4*
Von Selbstmördern, Engeln und anderen armen Teufeln (About Suicides, Angels and other Poor Devils) - MarthaJeanne (107) - general fiction - 4.5 stars, with lower score for one long story in the collection
Complete Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton - rabbitprincess (128) - 4*
Bird in the House by Margaret Laurence - mathgirl40 (135) - general fiction - 4.5*
The Dark and Other Love Stories by Deborah Willis - mathgirl40 (135) - general fiction - 4.5*
The Best of Connie Willis by Connie Willis - MarthaJeanne (131, 136) – 5*
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado - sturlington (140) - literary/feminist fiction - 5*
Greener Pastures by Michael Wehunt - sturlington (144) - weird fiction - 4*
Menschen im Krieg by Andreas Latzko - MissWatson (154) - WWI beyond the Western front - 4.5*
In Sunlight or in Shadow ed. by Lawrence Block - staci426 (160) - inspired by paintings - 4*
A Quiver Full of Arrows by Jeffrey Archer - MarthaJeanne (161) - 4.5*
Alte Geschichten : Erzählungen - MarthaJeanne (171) - more character portraits than stories - 4*
Bibliomysteries - anthology - LittleTaiko (172) - mysteries - 'would definitely recommend'
Designs on Life by Elizabeth Ferrars - rabbitprincess (185) - mystery - 'a new vintage mystery author to search for!'
Folktales from India - MarthaJeanne (199) - folktales - 4.5*
Stories from Other Places by Nicholas Shakespeare - MarthaJeanne (205) - general fiction - 4*
Wastelands 2: More Stories of the Apocalypse edited by John Joseph Adams - staci426 - apocalyptic stories - 4*

2whitewavedarling
Bewerkt: jul 22, 2019, 12:18 pm

The complete listing of our 2019 short story collection/anthology reads!

1. Three Early Stories by J.D. Salinger - JayneCM (5) - general/literary fiction - 'okay, but not too fussed on them'
2. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway - Sallylou61 (6) - general/literary fiction
3. Wrote For Luck by DJ Tayler - Helenliz (9) - general/literary fiction - 'enjoyable, in a very restrained kind of way'
4. After the Quake by Haruki Murakami - Kristelh (10) - general/literary--themed around time, set in Feb. 95 between Kobe earthquake and Tokyo gas attacks
5. Honeymoon in Hell by Fredric Brown - NinieB (11) - vintage sci-fi - 4*
6. The Long List Anthology: More Stories from the Hugo Awards Nomination List - pammab (12) - sci-fi/fantasy - 'some definite gems... especially toward end'
7. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien - Kac522 (13) - literary/Vietnam-themed connected collection - 5*
8. The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - JayneCM (14) - literary/mainstream - 'really enjoyed them'
9. Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural; The Monkey's Paw, The Great God Pan - Kristelh (15) - ghost stories/the supernatural - 'highly recommend this collection'
10. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson - whitewavedarling (16) - horror stories - 5*
11. Civil to Strangers and Other Writings by Barbara Pym - LittleTaiko (17) - 'delightful' - 4*

12. Distant Voices by Barbara Erskine - Helenliz (18) - general lit. - 1* - 'utterly depressing' (from review: 'don't bother')
13. Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado - Staci426 (22) - horror/fantasy/magical realism - 3.75* caveat for audiobook readers: not a great separation between stories on the audio!
14. The Quintessence of Ellery Queen by Anthony Boucher, ed. (1962) - okeres (24) - 2.5* - 'some good stories included'
15. The Amsterdam Cops by Janwillem van der Wetering - okeres (24) - 3* - 'some good stories included'
15. The Lock and Key Library: North Europe: Russian, Swedish, Danish, Hungarian - NinieB (27) - 'interesting' in the plot-heavy sense; hit and miss
16. Five Old Friends, and A Young Prince by Anne Thackeray - NinieB (28) - fairy-tale reworkings to fit Victorian England - recommended for fairy-tale lovers!
17. The Lemon Table by Julian Barnes - Helenliz (30) - literary/mainstream - "flashes of humor amidst the pathos" "enjoyed it very much"
18. Flatlander by Larry Niven - okers (31) - SFFF
19. A Lucky Man by Jamel Brinkley - RidgewayGirl (32) - literary/mainstream - shortlisted for National Book Award for good reason
20. For Your Eyes Only and Other Stories - Helenliz (33) - "vividly descriptive... enjoyed this"
21. Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard - NinieB (34) - Sword and sorcery SFF - 'pleasantly surprised'
22. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman - luvamystery65 (35) - SFFF - 'some gems, but mostly an uneven collection'
23. Nothing Like a Dame by Eddie Shapiro - LittleTaiko (39) - interviews w/ Broadway stars - 3 stars, 'a fun collection'
24. Shallow, Selfish, and Self-Absorbed by Meghan Daum - LittleTaiko (39) - essays from writers on their decisions not to have children - 4 stars 'thought provoking, eye opening'
25. A Good Hanging and Other Stories by Ian Rankin - Helenliz (41)
26. The Nonexistent Knight and Cloven Viscount by Italo Calvino - LittleTaiko (42) - weird literary - 4 stars, could go to 5
27. The Darkness of Wallis Simpson and Other Stories by Rose Tremain - Helenliz (43) - each story features loss or disappointment; don't suggest reading them all in quick succession
28. Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut - LittleTaiko (44) - literary/mainstream - 5 stars
29. Flashing Swords! #5: Demons and Daggers edited by Lin Carter - LisaMorr (45) - fantasy anthology - 4 stars (individual stories rated in post)
30. The Mournful Demeanour of Lieutenant Boruvka - NinieB (46) - 12 linked detective stories - 4 stars

31. Why Don't You Stop Talking by Jackie Kay - Helenliz (47) - 'writes the small details of life and love really beautifully'
32. The Serial Garden: the complete Armitage family stories by Joan Aiken - amaranthe (48) - linked collection; family/children w/ supernatural/fantasy elements - 5 stars
33. Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger: New and Selected Stories by Lee Smith - sallylou (49) - mainstream fiction; marriage themed - 4.5 stars
34. The Inhuman Condition by Clive Barker - whitewavedarling (50) - horror stories and novellas - 4 stars

35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.

...

3RidgewayGirl
jan 6, 2019, 4:32 pm

Thanks for setting this up again! I've set aside, but not abandoned, the complete stories of TC Boyle and will set out with a different book of short stories soon.

4whitewavedarling
jan 6, 2019, 4:33 pm

>3 RidgewayGirl:, No problem :) I'll be curious what you think of that collection, too. I wasn't sure what to think of the novel I read by Boyle, and was thinking of giving his short stories a try because of it.

5JayneCM
jan 6, 2019, 5:44 pm

I read Three Early Stories by J.D Salinger for the short stories BINGO. OK, but not too fussed on them.

6sallylou61
jan 6, 2019, 6:14 pm

I've read In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway for a short story seminar we are having at the retirement community in which I live.

3.5 stars

7dudes22
jan 6, 2019, 6:50 pm

I never got to the ones I was planning to read last year, so I'm hoping I'll do better this year, Actually, my first one The Gardener's Bed-Book will take me all year as here is an essay for each day and another at the end of the month.

8whitewavedarling
jan 6, 2019, 8:09 pm

>7 dudes22:, Me neither lol. If all goes as planned, I'll be reading From a Buick 8 and Lagos Noir both in the very near future!

9Helenliz
jan 17, 2019, 12:23 pm

I finished Wrote for Luck by DJ Taylor, narrated by Andrew Wincott
This is a series of short stories, written over about 20 years. I enjoyed the stories, which are somewhat understated with a subtle air of approaching melancholy, yet not completely depressing. A sense of an ending, I suppose. Enjoyable, in a very restrained kind of way.

10Kristelh
Bewerkt: jan 18, 2019, 6:25 pm

I finished after the quake a set of interconnected short stories by Haruki Murakami. Stories are set in February 1995 between the Kobe earthquake and the Tokyo gas attacks.

11NinieB
Bewerkt: dec 8, 2019, 8:34 am

I read Honeymoon in Hell, a very enjoyable collection of vintage sci-fi by Fredric Brown. 4*.

12pammab
jan 19, 2019, 7:35 pm

I read The Long List Anthology: More Stories from the Hugo Awards Nomination List, a collection of 21 stories that made the Hugo SFF award long list in 2014 -- some definite gems in there, especially toward the end, for my taste.

13kac522
Bewerkt: jan 31, 2019, 1:32 am

Just finished The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. These are connected stories about serving in VietNam. They are about the ambiguity of war and the ambiguity of story-telling, and especially the truth of, and truth in, stories about war. A five-star read for me.

14JayneCM
feb 1, 2019, 3:05 am

Just finished The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories. Really enjoyed them.

15Kristelh
Bewerkt: feb 1, 2019, 7:08 am

I read several from Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural; The Monkey's Paw, The Great God Pan. I highly recommend this collection of short stories and novellas. Great authors.

16whitewavedarling
feb 3, 2019, 3:03 pm

Sorry I've been so absent, everyone--I'm updating the list now :) And, I finished my first collection of the year also, which I didn't even realize was a collection upon starting it! -- I am Legend by Richard Matheson. I absolutely loved it--some of the shortest stories here are the creepiest, too... A 5* read for me.

17LittleTaiko
feb 6, 2019, 4:53 pm

Finally managed to read something for this category! I read and loved Civil to Strangers and Other Writings by Barbara Pym which is a collection of a couple of novellas and some short stories. It's Pym so it's delightful! 4 stars

18Helenliz
feb 16, 2019, 12:38 pm

I finally gave up on my latest short story collection, before I lost the will to live. Distant Voices had some interesting stories, but the cumulative effect was utterly depressing. I can't recommend it.

19whitewavedarling
feb 16, 2019, 1:38 pm

>18 Helenliz: :( Ugh. Your review made me smile, though. That marshmallow analogy is perfect. That's the problem with single-author collections--sometimes they hit the same note and themes over and over and over again, so that what might have been really enjoyable stories end up just feeling repetitive, at best. It's actually one of the reasons I'm glad we're doing this group again, and did it last year--ferreting out the bad apples and pointing out the good collections among them!

20RidgewayGirl
feb 16, 2019, 2:20 pm

I'm reading Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin. The stories are all unsettling in different ways and are all fairly short, but there's great variety here and I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

21whitewavedarling
Bewerkt: feb 16, 2019, 2:35 pm

>20 RidgewayGirl:, That's good to hear--I keep seeing that pop up on Goodreads as something my friends are marking 'Want to Read, so maybe I should also! I'd been wondering about it, but had only seen those want-to-read marks rather than hearing from anyone I trust who's actually reading it!

22staci426
feb 19, 2019, 1:49 pm

I finished my first short story collection for the year, Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado, 3.75*. This was an interesting collection of stories in the horror/fantasy/magical realism areas. One issue with the audio version though was that the reader didn't really give a good delineation between the stories. Sometimes I didn't realize that the story had ended and a new one started.

23whitewavedarling
feb 24, 2019, 12:51 pm

>22 staci426:, Oh, that would drive me nuts! A good warning to include for audio-book fans :(

24okeres
feb 26, 2019, 3:19 am

I've read two books of short stories so far this year. Both were January AlphaKIT reads and neither are favorites, but both included a few good stories.

The Quintessence of Ellery Queen - Anthony Boucher, ed. (1962) 2.5*

The Amsterdam Cops - Janwillem van der Wetering - 3*

25luvamystery65
feb 26, 2019, 7:21 pm

I'm listening to The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, narrated by Stephen Fry. I'm enjoying this collection!

26Helenliz
feb 27, 2019, 8:12 am

>25 luvamystery65: so am I! I have it in the car, so it'll take me a while to get through them. I've read the stories before, this is my first time listeneing to them.

27NinieB
mrt 15, 2019, 8:18 pm

I finally finished The Lock and Key Library: North Europe: Russian, Swedish, Danish, Hungarian. This series has the subtitle "the Most Interesting Stories of all nations" and they are "interesting" in the plot-heavy sense. I did not read the abridgement of Crime and Punishment since at some point I'd like to read the full novel. I think my favorite story was Steen Blicher's The Rector of Veilbye, a Danish story, sort of a precursor to the detective story. Apparently Scandinavians have always written great crime fiction. My least favorite was the Mór Jókai story, "Thirteen at Dinner"--a disappointment since he was THE big Hungarian author in English translation of the nineteenth century.

28NinieB
mrt 19, 2019, 10:42 pm

Another book of stories: Five Old Friends, and A Young Prince (1868) by Anne Thackeray, fairy tales reworked to the 1860s in Victorian England. Recommended for fairy tale lovers!

29LittleTaiko
mrt 25, 2019, 3:30 pm

What are the thoughts about including non-fiction essays? I just finished reading a collection of interviews and am also reading a collection of personal essays. Wasn't sure whether to list them here or not.

30Helenliz
mrt 28, 2019, 3:48 pm

I've finished The Lemon Table by Julian Barnes. It's a collection largely of melancholy and reminiscence. It had flashes of humour amidst the pathos. This is the second of his collections of short stories I've read, and I've enjoyed both.

31okeres
apr 4, 2019, 8:29 am

Read Flatlander by Larry Niven (collected stories of Gil "The Arm" Hamilton)

32RidgewayGirl
apr 4, 2019, 8:42 am

I just finished A Lucky Man by Jamel Brinkley. It's been shortlisted for the National Book Award and I can see why. Most of the stories in this collection were beautifully crafted, especially those that focused on children.

33Helenliz
apr 7, 2019, 12:52 pm

I finished For Your eyes Only and other stories. The written stories are quite different from the films, they're much more subtle and vivdly descriptive. I enjoyed this.

34NinieB
apr 8, 2019, 7:42 am

I read my SFF-Kit challenge yesterday--it's Sword and Sorcery month.. My library has Conan the Barbarian {Gnome 1954} by Robert E. Howard. It contains 5 of the original stories written by Howard. Overall I was pleasantly surprised.

35luvamystery65
apr 14, 2019, 9:56 am

I'm making my way through The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. I listened to Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman. There are some gems in here but it was mostly an uneven collection.

36whitewavedarling
apr 20, 2019, 3:40 pm

I'm SLOWLY catching up and getting back to LT, playing catch-up on recording lol. I think everything's up to date now?

Meanwhile...

>27 NinieB:, Were a lot of the 'stories' excerpts? I tend to avoid anthologies with a lot of those since I'd rather aim to read full novels than pieces of them. I ADORE Crime and Punishment, so your comment there kind of scares me, even aside from the plot-heaviness!

>29 LittleTaiko:, Why not?

Anybody else want to chime in on including collections of interviews/essays?

37NinieB
Bewerkt: apr 20, 2019, 5:38 pm

>36 whitewavedarling: Other than Crime and Punishment, the stories seemed to be complete. Some were novella-length, some true short stories. This book was a public domain free ebook from Amazon, and it didn't actually say that C&P was an abridgment; it just seemed too short to be complete.

38whitewavedarling
apr 20, 2019, 5:56 pm

>37 NinieB:, Got it. If it seemed too short, I bet it was. That's a long book!

39LittleTaiko
apr 22, 2019, 5:42 pm

>36 whitewavedarling: In case we are okay with including interviews/essays then I do have these two books to add to the list.

Nothing Like a Dame by Eddie Shapiro (3 stars) - a fun collection of interviews with some Broadway stars. My favorite interviews were with Angela Lansbury and Bebe Neuwirth.

Shallow, Selfish, and Self-Absorbed by Meghan Daum (4 stars) - this collection of essays by writers regarding their decision to not have children was thought-provoking, eye-opening, and rarely boring.

40whitewavedarling
apr 23, 2019, 10:59 am

>40 whitewavedarling:, I haven't heard any protests, so I say we go ahead and include them, and just mark them as such! I'm glad you mentioned Shallow, Selfish, and Self-Absorbed, too--I'd been thinking about looking into that one, and I think I'll make sure to do so now.

41Helenliz
apr 25, 2019, 3:16 pm

I finished A Good Hanging and Other Stories by Ian Rankin and read by a suitably scottish accent. I've not read any of Rankin's Rebus books before, but I can see the attraction.

42LittleTaiko
mei 6, 2019, 4:46 pm

I read and adored The Nonexistent Knight and Cloven Viscount by Italo Calvino, two novellas that are werid, wacky, and incredibly creative. I have it four stars thought am thinking that it could go to five if I think about it long enough.

43Helenliz
mei 7, 2019, 11:02 am

I finished The Darkness of Wallis Simpson and Other Stories by Rose Tremain. I don't suggest reading this collection in quick sucession. Each story features some loss or disappointment so that, as a collection, they are not very uplifting.

44LittleTaiko
mei 17, 2019, 5:00 pm

Absolutely loved Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut - definitely 5 stars from me. The stories were quite creative and at turns humorous, bittersweet, or thought provoking.

45LisaMorr
mei 23, 2019, 5:15 pm

I am meaning to read a few short story collections this year, and finished one this month, Flashing Swords! #5: Demons and Daggers edited by Lin Carter.

Tower of Ice by Roger Zelazny
A Thief in Korianth by C. J. Cherryh
Parting Gifts by Diane Duane
A Dealing with Demons by Craig Shaw Gardner
The Dry Season by Tanith Lee

Five short stories that fit in the 'swords and sorcery' sub-genre. Two excellent, two good and one OK. My favorites were Parting Gifts, a story about a Rodmistress (a type of witch) called by the Goddess to fight once last fight against the Shadow, and The Dry Season, about the occupation of a town, and a new commander arrives just five days before a sacrifice will be made.

I gave it 4 stars overall.

46NinieB
mei 28, 2019, 10:10 pm

I finished The Mournful Demeanour of Lieutenant Boruvka this evening. It contains 12 linked short stories starring the lieutenant, a Prague detective. Four stars and recommended to classic mystery lovers.

47Helenliz
mei 29, 2019, 3:35 am

Finished Why Don't you Stop talking by Jackie Kay. She writes the small details of life and love really beautifully.

48amaranthe
Bewerkt: jul 2, 2019, 2:22 am

Read The Serial Garden: the complete Armitage family stories by Joan Aiken. The stories are about the Armitages, particularly the children, Mark and Harriet; they live in a small English village with a significant population of "old fairy ladies" (witches), ghosts, an extended family of very small people, etc., and magical things often happen to them--generally on Mondays--so they are all pretty well used to it. I read most of these over and over when I was a kid, but there are a few here that I had not read, because they weren't published in books back then, at least not in the United States. Most of them hold up very well for me, and I enjoyed the book a lot. The anthology is arranged in publishing order, and the stories were published over the course of basically Aiken's whole career, so there is a noticeable improvement in the stories when read straight through, but all of them are unusual and interesting. 5*.

49sallylou61
Bewerkt: jul 8, 2019, 12:07 am

I've read Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger: New and Selected Stories by Lee Smith. These 14 stories mostly involved marriage in some way; however, they were all very different in plot, and no character appeared in more than one of the stories. They ranged in length from 11 to 50 pages. I particularly enjoyed the shorter ones.

4.5 stars

50whitewavedarling
jul 22, 2019, 12:20 pm

>48 amaranthe:, That sounds really enjoyable--I'm going to have to look those up!

>49 sallylou61:, I read some Lee Smith stories ages ago, and kind of meant to try some more. I may look these up and start with the shorter ones!

Meanwhile, I finished another, as well!

I read Clive Barker's Inhuman Condition while on vacation. If you like horror stories, these are really good, though I don't think they lived up to his longer works. Funny enough, the novellas in the collection were actually weaker than the shorter stories (though even two of the shorter stories were relatively long for short stories). Anyhow, full review written if anyone is interested!

51Kristelh
sep 3, 2019, 8:59 am

I just purchased A Sound of Thunder and Other Stores by Ray Bradbury. This was originally published as The Golden Apples of the Sun. LT does not have a touchstone for the new title. I am going to start reading these but probably not get them all read.

52Kristelh
sep 10, 2019, 2:29 pm

I listened to the audible original The Conception of Terror Tales inspired by M. R. James. Wasn't a fan and wished I could have just listened to the original stories without the dramatization and adaptations. The stories were Casting the Runes, Lost Hearts, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas, and A View from a Hill. Earlier this year I read, Oh Whistle And I'll Come To You My Lad by the same author.

53kac522
okt 10, 2019, 1:17 am

Just finished Good Evening, Mrs. Craven: the Wartime Stories of Mollie Panter-Downes.

These 21 stories first appeared in the New Yorker between 1939 and 1944, and were written by Londoner Mollie Panter-Downes, most famous for her "Letter from London" series that spanned nearly half a century. These stories are crisp, clear, witty and insightful portrayals of English home-life during the war. Each story is a gem.

54sallylou61
Bewerkt: okt 15, 2019, 1:08 pm

I’ve read Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat, a collection of her stories either set in Haiti or with Haitian characters who immigrated to the United States. A few of the characters from early stories reappear briefly in later ones. I purchased this collection after reading her “A Wall of Fire Rising” for our retirement community’s short story seminar several months ago.

4 stars

55chlorine
Bewerkt: nov 1, 2019, 2:20 am

I can't believe I found this thread only recently! I never used te read short stories but a few years ago I discovered I enjoy them if I do not try to read a whole collection at once.

Since the beginning of the year I've finished two collections, and should finish two or three by the end of the year.

The Weird: A compendium of strange and dark stories, edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer, was rather a disappointment. I really enjoyed last year their collection The time traveller's almanac but this one was less interesting to me. I could feel the academic interest, as the editors really tried to provide a history of the genre, but to me that was in detriment of the quality. Still many stories were good. 3*.

L'annulaire (the ring finger) is a collection by Japanese author Yôko Ogawa which has been translated to French but not English apparently. I quite enjoyed the atmosphere. 4*

56chlorine
Bewerkt: nov 14, 2019, 2:58 pm

I finished Exhalation by Ted Chiang. These are very well thought science fiction stories, broaching various themes. I particularly loved the ones that study how society would be impacted by some new technology.
It's hard for me to decide whether I liked this collection as much as his previous one, Stories of your life and others, because I had already read beforehand some of those I liked the most, because they were available online. Anyway the collection is really outstanding and Chiang is one of my favorite authors. I'll be waiting anxiously for him to write more.

57chlorine
dec 7, 2019, 10:38 am

I read The Hugo winners (1963-1967), a collection of the short fiction pieces which received the Huog award, edited by Isaac Asimov.
I was quite disappointed by this collection.
Below are my comments copy-pasted from the SFFKit November thread:

The man in the high castle by Philip K. Dick is a uchronia in which the axis has won WWII and the US are divided into a Japanese part in the west and a German part in the East. The man in the high castle of the title is a writer who wrote a very popular book in which the axis lost the war.
The story is done by following a few characters in a stream of consciousness that is quite interesting. However, the characters talk (or think) in a weird way, withoug making complete sentences, which I found jarring. I also found the story quite weak, with one of the main characters, Juliana, acting in a very weird way that does not make her believable as a character.

I'm also reading The Hugo winners edited by Isaac Asimov. I'm not finished but I read the following stories:
- The Dragon masters by Jack Vance. Meh. This is the kind of story IMO which gave science-fiction a bad rep, it's not well written, I didn't find the story interesting, and the author kept trying to show us that we were reading about people from another planet by insisting on their clothing. Plus it was long for short fiction, and it was a bit of a chore to finish it.
- No truce with Kings by Poul Anderson. More interesting, with a story alternating between two characters, and a rather interesting story.
- Soldier, ask not by Gordon R. Dickson. I found it rather interesting but the ending left me really cold.
- Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman by Harlan Ellison This one aims to be a societal reflection about our relationship with time, and I found some parts well written, but overall it didn't work for me.
- The last castle by Jack Vance is more interesting that his first novella in the collection, The Dragon masters, with a more interesting plot, but remains IMO poorly written and the characters were not believable to me
- Neutron Star by Larry Niven was maybe the most interesting one, with a main character I could relate to, an interesting develpment and a satisfying ending.

I was quite surprised that two of these stories feature a science that makes it possible to predict world events, similar to the the psychohistory of Asimov's Foundation.

Isaac Asimov wrote an intro for each story, speaking about the author and not the work. These intro were written in a humorous way, depicting Asimov as a selfish person, thinking highly of himself, jealous of all these authors who received Hugo Awards,
Though they were witty they did not quite work for me. It did not help that I read the Intro he wrote for Anne McCaffrey in the next book of the series, that I have yet to read. He manages to mention her breasts and their size three times in hardly more than a page. :/

58Kristelh
dec 8, 2019, 6:15 am

>57 chlorine: wow, that is very disappointing info about Isaac Asimov.

59NinieB
dec 8, 2019, 8:41 am

Catching up on my short story reading:

Guilty, or Not Guilty is a late 19th century collection of a novelette (the title story) and four short stories. A big disappointment, lots of sentimentality and weepy women. 2*

The Golden Apples of the Sun by Ray Bradbury. Some of the stories are fantasy, some horror, some straight fiction, some in fact sci-fi. 4*

The Appleby File is a collection of detective stories about Michael Innes' series character Sir John Appleby. Good fun with a British accent. 4*

Call Mr. Fortune , another collection of detective stories, this one from 1920. The main character, Reggie Fortune, grew on me. 3*

60chlorine
dec 8, 2019, 3:52 pm

>59 NinieB: I'm not that much into mysteries but I'm quite intrigued by the concept of a mystery short story. I will have to try and read some.

61LittleTaiko
dec 9, 2019, 12:14 pm

Read The Labours of Hercules by Agatha Christie which is a collection of Hercule Poirot stories though they are all centered around one theme.

62kac522
dec 9, 2019, 7:23 pm

Forgot to post that I read The Tuesday Club Murders by Agatha Christie, which is a collections of 13 short stories featuring Miss Marple and several other characters who occasionally meet to share mysterious stories. I thought Christie handled the short story format really well.

63pammab
dec 10, 2019, 11:35 pm

I started The Paper Menagerie because I was blown away by a Ken Liu story I read in another collection. Unfortunately I put it down when I hit a set of stories that were too magical realism and depressing for me, but I have an intention to pick it up again.

64chlorine
dec 11, 2019, 11:12 am

>63 pammab: Sorry The paper Menagerie does not make it for you! Which story was it that blew you away? I'm waiting anxiously for his now collection that will go out in February.

65pammab
dec 11, 2019, 4:05 pm

>64 chlorine: I really really liked Ken Liu's "The Regular", which was in a collection of Hugo nominees that I read, and I also was impressed with his translation of The Three Body Problem. And that plus the first half dozen-ish stories in the Paper Menagerie are all that I've read so far. What I might need to do is read a couple pages and skip the stories that don't do it for me -- I hadn't realized he writes all over the SFF spectrum.

66chlorine
dec 13, 2019, 11:16 am

The Regular was in the Paper Menagerie and I really enjoyed it! I also liked the one with more magical realism but I agree that you should skip the stories who don't appeal to you!

67amaranthe
dec 17, 2019, 1:15 am

I have read The Nine Lands by Marie Brennan for Early Reviewers. It has just seven stories, set in the same fantasy world but not otherwise connected. Most of the protagonists are women and some of the cultures and practices in the Nine Lands are inspired by real-world non-European cultures.

"Calling Into Silence" - Coming-of-age story about a shaman. Based on West African spirit possession practices.
"Kingspeaker" - About a woman whose job is to speak for the king because his voice is too dangerous for most people to hear.
"Sing for Me" - Rather unpleasant story involving a nobleman trying to exploit a young prophet.
"Execution Morning" - Accurate title. From the point of view of the person in charge of the executions.
"The Legend of Anahata" - Author's notes said this one was written on or about Hallowe'en, it is creepy and violent.
"Lost Soul" - A nice story about musicians without any violence.
"White Shadow" - Another coming-of-age story, this one about a shapeshifter.

My favorites were "Kingspeaker" and "The Legend of Anahata." I didn't like "Sing for Me." I did like "Lost Soul" because I nearly always like stories about musicians. The rest are pretty good too, not major award winner quality but entertaining ("Calling into Silence" won a minor award). I wrote a review. 4*

68dudes22
dec 17, 2019, 6:28 am

>60 chlorine: - There are a couple/few books that have mystery short stories. I read Matchup which is one of the books put out by the International Thrill Writers. LT says it's the 6th in the series.

69dudes22
dec 17, 2019, 6:30 am

I failed miserably this year in reading short stories - where did the year go? But I'm hoping to do better next year and am adding the ones I didn't get to to next year's potential reading.

70chlorine
dec 18, 2019, 12:04 pm

>68 dudes22: Thanks for the recommandation! Matchup seems quite interesting!

71kac522
Bewerkt: dec 18, 2019, 11:36 pm

I read some selections from The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries, ed. by Otto Penzler. This 600+ page anthology contains about 60 mystery stories related to Christmas. Authors include O. Henry, Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, Ellis Peters, Agatha Christie, and many more. As with any large collection, there's a range of quality, but generally something for every one. I particularly enjoyed Peter Todd's "Herlock Sholmes' Christmas Case", a very funny parody.

72chlorine
dec 30, 2019, 7:29 am

I read the French science-fiction collection Au bal des actifs: demain le travail from the La volte editions. The title loosely translates as: The workers' ball: work tomorrow.
The common theme is about what the work conditions and organisations will be like in the future.

I found the theme very interesting (though not very uplifting) but was a bit disappointed by the stories. They were uneven and there was only one that stood out for me, which I found very good, by author Karim Berrouka. I will try to read some of his other works.