bookshelves of doom

Free short stories...

...from Andrew Smith, Kimberly Pauley, and Catherine Ryan Hyde.

Who Done It?: An Anthology -- edited by Jon Scieszka

Have you ever seen the original Ocean's Eleven? The one from 1960, I mean, with Sammy Davis, Jr. and Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra? You'd think, what with it being a Rat Pack movie, and with that cool cast and cool premise and all that good stuff, that it would be a FABULOUSLY ENTERTAINING movie.

Well, it isn't. I suspect that the guys had a great time MAKING the movie, but WATCHING it is another story. It's one of the rare cases in which the remake is a huge improvement on the original.

Anyway, my experience in reading Who Done It? was kind of like my experience with Ocean's Eleven: I appreciated the idea of the project more than the actual result. Who Done It? is a compilation of pieces by, like, 3/4a of the Who's-Who of the kidlit and YA world, edited by Jon Scieszka, and benefiting 826NYC. Which SOUNDS awesome: great people writing, awesome guy editing, super-deserving beneficiary.

But, like Ocean's Eleven, I suspect that reading the finished product might be more fun for the parties involved in Who Done It?'s creation than it is for the general reading public. The basic premise—a much-despised editor is murdered at a party and all of the authors in attendance have to provide their alibis—sounds fun, but for the most part, the contributions read like A) jokes that the majority of the book's readership aren't likely to be in on (lots of them are about the publishing industry, and some are in-jokes between authors), or B) in a few cases, just plain phoned in.

That isn't to say that there aren't some gems—I especially liked the pieces by Mac Barnett, Gayle Forman, Adam Gidwitz, Adele Griffin & Lisa Brown, Lev Grossman, David Levithan, Sarah Mlynowski & Courtney Sheinmel, Lauren Myracle, Joy Preble, Margo Rabb, Jennifer E. Smith, and Adrienne Maria Vrettos—but as there are 70ish pieces, that's a lot to wade through for a few pages of fun.

Anyway, like I said, the proceeds go to a great cause. So I feel like kind of a jerk for not being more excited about the book. But... eh.

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Book source: ILLed through my library.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz wins yet another award!

This time, though, it's not for Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe:

The directors of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation announced Tuesday that author Benjamin Alire Saenz will receive $15,000 for "Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club." ''Everything Begins" was published by Cincos Puntos Press, based in El Paso, Texas, where some of Saenz's stories take place.

Want to collaborate with Neil Gaiman?

Here you go.

(It's a project though Blackberry, so really, it's an ad campaign. But it's a really inventive, creative ad campaign, so I felt that I should pass the link along to you.)

There's a short story by Carrie Jones...

...up at Hunger Mountain.

And when it comes to Maine winters, she knows of what she speaks.

Merry Christmas!

Here's some Die Hard fanfic:

Part One: Fly Hard.

Part Two: Why Guard?

Part Three: Die Hired.

"The Frog King, or Iron Heinrich" from Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Translation, by Philip Pullman

From Philip Pullman's Introduction:

The fairy tale is in a perpetual state of becoming and alteration. To keep to one version or one translation alone is to put a robin redbreast in a cage. If you, the reader, want to tell any of the tales in this book, I hope you will feel free to be no more faithful than you want to be. You are at perfect liberty to invent other details than the ones I've passed on, or invented, here. If fact, you're not only at liberty to do so: you have a positive duty to make the story your own. A fairy tale is not a text.

First off, the introduction? Made me want to read not only every single version of the Grimm stories, but every single version of the the Arabian Nights, and folklore from all kinds of different traditions (like Russian and Japanese and Italian). To hit up Greek and Roman and Norse and Hindu and Islamic mythology, to re-read the Andersen stories and Uncle Remus and Aesop, and I dunno, TO READ EVERYTHING.

So, I know that Philip Pullman was all about how fairy tales aren't about the psychology of the characters and whatnot in the introduction, but CAN I JUST SAY THAT I HAVE ALWAYS HATED THE PRINCESS IN THE FROG PRINCE/KING? She is the worst. "Oh, yes, little frog, just do me this favor and I swear I'll be so nice to you! OH, WAIT. I'M A LYING LIAR D-BAG."

Anyway. She's awful. And I don't know why the Frog King would want to marry her after she was such a jerk. But, you know: no psychology. So, moving on.

Faithful Heinrich! He was the king's servant who was so devastated about the whole frog thing that he went to the blacksmith and had three iron bands put around his heart to keep it from bursting from the grief. And then, when they were reunited, they burst because "...iron is stronger than grief. But love is stronger than iron..." Cue the awwwws.

Anyway, I don't know why Faithful Heinrich is so often excised from the story, because he's clearly the best part of it.

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Book source: Review copy from the publisher.

Use of Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" challenged in Colorado middle school.

From Blogging Censorship:

For the handful of you who did not read this story in middle school, “The Most Dangerous Game” is a 1924 story that satirizes the big game safari hunting of the 1920s and is often used to teach a number of literary devices.

In a local news report, the parent was quoted as saying the story made her son “uncomfortable to read it and to think about killing someone else”.

As Blogging Censorship points out, that's kind of the point of the story.

The full text of the story is available online at eServer.

Diverse Energies, edited by Tobias S. Buckell & Joe Monti Index

This is an index of my posts about Diverse Energies.

I'll add the links as soon as they go live.

"The Last Day" by Ellen Oh

"Freshee's Frogurt" by Daniel H. Wilson

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Book source: Review copy from the publisher.

"Freshee's Frogurt" -- Daniel H. Wilson from Diverse Energies, edited by Tobias S. Buckell & Joe Monti

From Tobias Buckell's Preface:

I write adventures about the future and of future worlds, and they're populated by a diverse set of characters. Why? It's the future face of the world. It's us. All of us. And we all deserve to be seen in the future, having adventures, setting foot on those strange new worlds.

"Freshee's Frogurt" is an interview in which a young man named Jeff Thompson is questioned by Lonnie Wayne Blanton of the Oklahoma police force about the robot attack he'd just barely managed to survive.

I loved this story LIKE WHOA. It was fast-paced and funny, with some seriously wonderful descriptions of some seriously horrific violence: for instance, the bit about Felipe's teeth "pop[ping] out of his mouth like fucking popcorn" made me both cringe and feel appreciative of the imagery. Even just typing it out there made me squick all over again, even as I was thinking about how great it was.

Felipe, by the way, is described as the spitting image of Danny Trejo, which made him (obviously) that much more badass.

Anyway.

After reading it, I flipped to the back to read Daniel H. Wilson's bio, because A) his name sounded familiar and B) I was suddenly determined to read EVERYTHING HE'S EVER WRITTEN. And I hit the jackpot! Not only is he the author of the Alex Award-winning Robopocalyse, but "Freshee's Frogurt" is an excerpt from it! So I'll totally be reading that ASAP. It's always so satisfying to find an author that you click with so quickly. Woo!

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Book source: Review copy from the publisher.

"Stray Magic" -- Diana Peterfreundfrom Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron, edited by Jonathan Strahan

From Jonathan Strahan's Introduction:

Lovers of witches know, though, that Elphaba, as the Wicked Witch of the West was named by Gregory Maguire in his novel Wicked, is not the only option. Whether it be Hayao Miyazaki and Eiko Kadano's delightful Kiki or the studious but bungling Mildred Hubble, the industrious Hermione Granger or Diana Wynne Jones's rather wicked Gwendolyn Chant, the happily suburban Samantha from Bewitched or the darkly evil Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, a witch could be anyone.

The animal shelter that Malou works at is a no-kill shelter, but that doesn't necessarily make it any easier on an animal lover: there are plenty of animals who spend years there, constantly getting passed over for the younger, cuter, glossier-coated models. Her friend Jeremy, works at the county shelter—where animals are put down after a mere three days of residency—so he routes animals over to her whenever she's got room, especially the ones he thinks will need a few extra days to be adopted.

So, when he calls her to tell her that he's sending over an absolutely beautiful golden retriever, she's not surprised... until the dog arrives. Because this supposedly adorable dog is... not. Instead, she's "bedraggled, patchy-coated, [and] pathetic". Or, well, she looks like that most of the time... there are moments when she looks just as gorgeous as Jeremy claimed over the phone.

It doesn't take long for Malou to figure out that this dog isn't like any other dog she's met before. 

In addition to the bizarre shifts in her appearance, she talks. No one but Malou seems to hear her, but talk she does. Turns out, she's looking for her master: and if she can't find him in three days, she'll die.

As you'd expect from something by Diana Peterfreund, "Stray Magic" is smart and funny: 

Would you believe I'm thirty?
I press the mute button on my phone and look down at Goneril. "Really? That you're two hundred and ten in dog years—that's the part you think it's hard for me to believe?"
Good point. 

...while still bringing the emotional goods. (And yes, I got more-than-a-little choked up a few times.)

Most importantly (in my mind), Goneril isn't super anthropomorphized: rather than sounding like a person in a dog suit, she sounds like a dog. She has the personality of a dog, and says things I could imagine a dog saying. 

Great start to the anthology! Looking forward to the next story, which is by Frances Hardinge. Oooooo.

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Book source: Review copy from the publisher.

"The Last Day" -- Ellen Ohfrom Diverse Energies, edited by Tobias S. Buckell & Joe Monti

From Tobias Buckell's Preface:

I write adventures about the future and of future worlds, and they're populated by a diverse set of characters. Why? It's the future face of the world. It's us. All of us. And we all deserve to be seen in the future, having adventures, setting foot on those strange new worlds.

As much as I totally support the sentiment in that passage—as well as the idea behind Tu Books, which is to bring more diversity to speculative fiction—I found it pretty jarring to move from such an inspirational introduction to "The Last Day", which was brutally, devastatingly dark. And is set in a world that, honestly, I can't imagine anyone wanting to see themselves in.

It's set in war-torn Japan, either in a post-apocalyptic future or in an alternate version of the past. (Unless I missed an indicator somewhere—I rather hope not, though, as I liked the idea that it could have been set in either time frame.) After decades of fighting, there are only two governments left on Earth: the President of the West and the Emperor of the East. Children are being drafted into the Emperor's Army at younger and younger ages, the civilian populace is starving, and there are rumors of entire city populations just... disappearing.

On the fateful day—note the title!—that the story takes place, twelve-year-old Kenji goes out scavenging for food with his friend Akira... and it isn't long before they both know that their lives will never be the same again.

Good stuff. Dark, but good. It reminded me of the Hunger Games trilogy, not in plot or style or tone, but because it espouses the idea that no one really wins in war. Or, more specifically in this case, that "War was only good for governments and always bad for people". In addition to the up-in-the-air nature of the era, there are also hints about a possible paranormal ability, though that, too, is debatable.

While it totally works as a stand-alone story, there are so many unanswered questions by the end—the main one being, "OMG, WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT?—that I wondered if "The Last Day" was originally a prologue to another story, or some sort of writing exercise to create a backstory for one of the characters. (<--Not saying which one, as that would very definitely affect your reading experience.)

Looking forward to more from the author—she's new to me—and this collection!

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Book source: Review copy from the publisher.

Currently free for the Kindle: Wodehouse parody.

As I'm never one to turn down anything Wodehouse—and that goes triple for anything FREE and Wodehouse—so I just 'bought' the hell out of Whimsy & Soda.

Full disclosure: Do you have to bother with full disclosure when recommending free stuff? I dunno. Anyway, I used to work with the author's wife. And I interact with said author on the FB on a pretty regular basis, though we've never met in person.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark audiobooks up at YouTube.

I can't imagine that this is particularly legal, but all three of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark audiobooks are currently streaming on YouTube:

 

Listen to the other two here.

"What’s the best antidote for fame? The loving contempt of your friends and family."

Oh, Sherman Alexie. Never change.