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Archive for the ‘Publishers’ Category

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 6, 2024] “For John”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was Kim Fu.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.  And this one opens:

It’s December 6. Kim Fu, author of Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, is building up an impressive collection of landscapes.

This was a weird little story that I quite liked. (more…)

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SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 5, 2024] “My Smell Journal [orange peels, ink, coffee filters]”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was Katya Apekina.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.  And this one opens:

It’s December 5. Katya Apekina, author of Mother Doll, is picking up notes of damp potato chip.

I enjoyed the conceit of this story.  The narrator has found an old device that records smells (because smells trigger memories, etc). (more…)

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SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 4, 2024] “Vandring”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was J. Robert Lennon.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.  This one opens with:

It’s December 4. J. Robert Lennon, author of Hard Girls, does a series of wrist and arm stretches to prevent injury.

I have read some books by J. Robert Lennon and indeed, have some on my shelf that I intended to read but never got around to.

This story confused me right from the get go (I assume deliberately so). (more…)

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SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 3, 2024] “Eat, Pray, Click”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was Ed Park.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview. And this one opens:

It’s December 3. Ed Park, author of Same Bed Different Dreams, chooses his own adventure.

This is a very brief story set in ten brief sections.

In the first we learn that the Kindle has been hacked many times over.  Animated scorpions run amok across The CorrectionsThe Glass Castle turns Swedish in the middle of chapter three.  But his friend Rolph was the first to hack the system. (more…)

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SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 2, 2024] “The Hookup”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was Katherine Heiny.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.  And this one opens:

It’s December 2. Katherine Heiny, author of Games and Rituals, saves the good china for the CIA.

This story is about a Hungarian family living in the United States.  I have recently started working with a Hungarian woman, so this was a really fun story to read right now. (more…)

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SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 1, 2024] “In the Stacks”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was Robin Sloan.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.  Although today doesn’t have an interview just this blurb:

It’s December 1. To officially kick off the 2024 Short Story Advent Calendar, here’s a story about librarians, patrons, and one unusual musical instrument, from the author of Moonbound.

I didn’t realize that I knew Robin Sloan’s work, but I read Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore about ten years ago and loved it.  I’m going to have to put his other books on my list, especially Moonbound.

This short story was fantastic. (more…)

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SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 25, 2023] “So Much Heart”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Drew Buxton.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 25. To officially conclude the 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar, here is a story about family, friends, and mysterious suitcases stuffed full of cash.

This story features both Bigfoot and D.B. Cooper.

Set in Oregon, two young kids Collin and Shelley go into the woods with a film camera looking for Bigfoot. (more…)

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SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 24, 2023] “The Burglar’s Christmas”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Willa Cather.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 24. Willa Cather, author of O Pioneers! and My Antonia, died in 1947. “The Burglar’s Christmas” first appeared, under a pseudonym, in Home Monthly in 1896.

Yesterday was grifters, today it’s burglars. (more…)

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SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 23, 2023] “Holiday”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was David Ryan.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 23. David Ryan, author of Animals in Motion, would like to open a chequing account.

I happened to be listening to an audio book about a family of grifters–something that I feel like I don’t hear about all that often.  And yet here was a random short story in this collection that is also about a grifter.

Jeremy and Sophia are in bed together.  They have been a couple for a short time, and Sophia has just told him the Lost in the Bank story (her parents lost her in a bank).  Jeremy: Were they high?  Sophia: Probably. (more…)

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SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 22, 2023] “Boys”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my sixth time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

The 2023 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individual short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.  Now in its ninth year, the SSAC is back to once again bring readers a deluxe, peppermint-fresh collection of 25 short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

The author of this story was Anton Chekhov.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.

It’s December 22. Anton Chekhov, one of the greatest Russian writers of all time, died in 1904. His story “At Christmas Time” appeared in the 2016 Short Story Advent Calendar, among other places.

This story was translated by Constance Garnett (who died in 1946). (more…)

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