Kitty’s Greatest Hits (2011) Carrie Vaughn Il Est Ne – Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (2008) A Princess of Spain – The Secret History of Vampires (2007) Conquistador de la Noche – Subterranean Online (2009) The Book of Daniel – Talebones #39 (2009) The Temptation of Robin Green – The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance (2009) Looking […]
My Planet: Finding Humor in the Oddest Places (2013) Mary Roach (T)he complete collection of her “My Planet” articles published in Reader’s Digest. She was a hit columnist in the magazine, and this book features the articles she wrote in that time. I adore Mary Roach’s writing. She makes me laugh, but also writes about […]
Street Magicks (2016) edited by Paula Guran I believe it took me less than a year to finish this anthology. Hopefully this is a new trend for me. “Freewheeling” by Charles de Lint “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane” by Scott Lynch “Caligo Lane” by Ellen Klages “Socks” by Delia Sherman “Painted Birds […]
Beyond the Pale: A Fantasy Anthology (2014) edited by Henry Herz I probably started reading this right after it came out, and got hung up on a single story. Two years later I decided to skip through the stories that didn’t interest me and finish the anthology. “Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela” by […]
A Fantastic Holiday Season: The Gift of Stories (2014) edited by Kevin J. Anderson & Kieth J. Olexa I picked this collection up solely for the Patricia Briggs story, but once I saw some of the other authors, read through the stories that interested me (but skipped the ones that didn’t grab me after a […]
Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson (2016) Patricia Briggs I really do like this short story collection. Pleasingly, Patricia Briggs is good with short stories, which makes this collection all the more enjoyable. Silver Fairy Gifts (previously published in Naked City) Gray (previously published in Home Improvement: Undead Edition) Seeing Eye (previously […]
The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories (2015) Ian Rankin ‘Dead and Buried’ (2013) ‘Playback,’ ‘The Dean Curse,’ ‘Being Frank,’ ‘Concrete Evidence,’ ‘Seeing Things,’ ‘A Good Hanging,’ ‘Tit for Tat,’ ‘Not Provan,’ ‘Sunday,’ ‘Auld Lang Syne,’ ‘The Gentleman’s Club,’ ‘Monstrous Trumpet’ from A Good Hanging (And Other Short Stories, Featuring Inspector Rebus) (2002) ‘My […]
Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy (2013) Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells by Delia Sherman The Fairy Enterprise by Jeffrey Ford From the Catalogue of the Pavilion of the Uncanny and Marvellous, Scheduled for Premiere at the Great Exhibition (Before the Fire) by Genevieve Valentine The […]
Hellboy in Mexico (2016) Mike Mignola, Richard Corben, Mick Mahon, Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba I generally like the Hellboy books that are collections of short stories, but for some reason I had a hard time getting into this collection. It had lots of the things I generally like about Hellboy (like getting into (and losing) […]
Salsa Nocturna: Stories (2012) Daniel José Older This is a collection of stories set in the same world as the Bone Street Rumba series, and although some of the stories were about Carlos, there are other stories as well. “Tenderfoot” “Salsa Nocturna” “Skin Like Porcelain Death” “The Collector” “Graveyard Waltz” “Protected Entity” “Magdalena” “Red Feather […]
Newford Stories: Crow Girls (2015) Charles de Lint Ah, the Crow Girls. Crow Girls Twa Corbies The Buffalo Man A Crow Girls’ Christmas Make a Joyful Noise “Crow Girls” first appeared as a limited edition chapbook (1995). This is the introduction to the Crow Girls, who are some of my favorite characters. But it’s not […]
Moonlight & Vines (1999) Charles de Lint “Sweetgrass & City Streets” “Saskia” “In This Soul of a Woman” “The Big Sky” “Birds” “Passing” “Held Safe by Moonlight and Vines” “In the Pines” “Shining Nowhere but in the Dark” “If I Close My Eyes Forever” “Heartfires” “The Invisibles” “Seven for a Secret” “Crow Girls” “Wild Horses” […]
Tapping the Dream Tree (2002) Charles de Lint I’ve been somewhat depressed recently, and since I got an Amazon book credit, I realized I could get some of my Charles de Lint books as eBooks. WIN. Ten for the Devil Wingless Angels The Words That Remain Many Worlds Are Born Tonight The Buffalo Man Second […]
Muse and Reverie (2009) Charles de Lint I love Charles de Lint’s writing. Adore it. He writes of the magic that is hidden just beyond the perception of most of us, and of the power to heal, and he writes some of the strongest female characters of almost any author I know. But don’t make […]
Montalbano’s First Case and Other Stories (2008 (except where noted) / 2016) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Montalbano’s First Case Fifty Pairs of Hobnailed Boots Neck and Neck Fellow Traveler Dress Rehearsal Amore The Artist’s Touch (1998) Montalbano’s Rice Fritters As Alice Did The Pact Mortally Wounded Catarella Solves a Case (1999) Being Here […]
Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson (2014) Patricia Briggs Interspersed with the novels, I read the short stories in Shifting Shadows. Patricia Briggs is quite good at writing short stories, which is why re-reading is such a pleasure. Silver Fairy Gifts (previously published in Naked City) Gray (previously published in Home Improvement: […]
Blood in Her Veins (2016) Faith Hunter Wesa and the Lumber King The Early Years Snafu Cat Tats Kits Haint(s) Signatures of the Dead First Sight Blood, Fangs, and Going Furry Dance Master Golden Delicious Cajun with Fangs The Devil’s Left Boot Beneath a Bloody Moon Black Water Off the Grid Not All Is as […]
Pyramid: And Four Other Kurt Wallander Mysteries (1999) Henning Mankell translated by Ebba Segerberg and Laurie Thompson These are four Wallander stories: Wallander’s First Case, The Man with the Mask, The Man on the Beach, The Death of the Photographer. Wallander’s First Case, set in June 1969 finds Wallander just starting out as a police […]
The Very Best of Charles de Lint (2010) Charles de Lint In Which We Meet Jilly Coppercorn Coyote Stories Laughter in the Leaves The Badger in the Bag And the Rafters Were Ringing Merlin Dreams in the Mondream Wood The Stone Drum Timeskip Freewheeling A Wish Named Arnold Into the Green The Graceless Child Winter […]
Fiction River: Hex in the City (2013) edited by Kerrie L. Hughes “King of the Kingless” by Jay Lake “Speechless in Seattle” by Lisa Sliverthorne “Thy Neighbor” by Nancy Holder “Somebody Else’s Problem” by Annie Bellet “A Thing Immortal as Itself” by Lee Allred “Geriatric Magic” by Stephanie Writt “Red as Snow” by Seanan McGuire […]
Vampires: The Recent Undead (2011) edited by Paula Guran “The Coldest Girl in Coldtown” by Holly Black “This Is Now” by Michael Marshall Smith “Sisters” by Charles de Lint “The Screaming” by J.A. Konrath “Zen and the Art of Vampirism” by Kelley Armstrong “La Vampiresse” by Tanith Lee “Dead Man Stalking” by Rachel Caine “The […]
Salsa Nocturna (2012) Daniel José Older This is a collection of intertwined short stories. It doesn’t seem quite so at the beginning, but they are are all more than just set in the same world. The characters are ghosts and ghost hunters and those who can see the dead, and with each story you learn […]
Tales from the Nightside (2015) Simon R. Green The Nightside. “Where all your dreams can come true, especially the really bad ones. This is a collection of Nightside stories, many of which I have read before, and a previously unpublished novella. If you’re a Nightside fan, then you’ll want this. If you’re not sure if […]
Night Shift (2014) Nalini Singh; Ilona Andrews; Lisa Shearin; Milla Vane Let me be clear from the start: I read only two of these stories. In fact, I was going to read only one story, Ilona Andrews’ story “Magic Steals” until I realized the next story was a Lisa Shearin SPI files story. I very […]
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (2013) Agatha Christie From The Thirteen Problems (1953) The Tuesday Night Club The Idol House of Astarte Ingots of Gold The Bloodstained Pavement Motive v. Opportunity The Thumbmark of St. Peter The Blue Geranium The Companion The Four Suspects A Christmas Tragedy The Herb of Death The Affair at […]
Black Water (2014) Faith Hunter This is a collection of three Jane Yellowrock short stories / novellas: Black Water, Snafu, and Off the Grid. Black Water is set after Blood Trade and before Black Arts, as Jane returns to Chauvin after receiving a text from Rick’s family that someone with a gun was looking for […]
Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson (2014) Patricia Briggs As I’ve mentioned previously (and repeatedly) I love short stories. They’re a hard thing to love sometimes, because there are so many poorly written ones out there. Luckily for me, Patricia Briggs tends to do them well, so I didn’t hesitate to pick […]
Kitty’s Greatest Hits (2011) Carrie Vaughn Il Est Ne (Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (2008)) A Princess of Spain (The Secret History of Vampires (2007)) Conquistador de la Noche (Subterranean Online (2009)) The Book of Daniel (Talebones #39 (2009)) The Temptation of Robin Green (The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance (2009)) Looking After Family (Realms of Fantasy […]
Jane Yellowrock World Companion (2013) Faith Hunter I have conflicted feelings about this. The co-author put a lot of work into the time-line and weapons list and such. And it’s a great reference if you’re not familiar with Jane’s world. But it’s not something to sit down and read. There are three stories: two short […]
Cat Tales: Four Stories from the World of Jane Yellowrock (2011) Faith Hunter These are four Jane stories, two from Jane’s point-of-view and two from Rick’s point-of-view. The Early Years Cat Tats Kits Blood, Fangs, and Going Furry “The Early Years” is set right after Jane ages out of the children’s home. We get a […]
Have Stakes Will Travel: Stories From the World of Jane Yellowrock (2012) Faith Hunter This is a collection of Jane Yellowrock short stories, some of which were published elsewhere, but I love short story collections, so I sprung for this, and two other collections. The stories are: WeSa and the Lumber King Haints Signatures of […]
Magic City: Recent Spells (2014) Paula Guran Table of Contents “Street Wizard” by Simon R. Green “Paranormal Romance” by Christopher Barzak “Grand Central Park” by Delia Sherman “Spellcaster 2.0” by Jonathan Maberry “Wallamelon” by Nisi Shawl “-30-” by Caitlín R. Kiernan “Seeing Eye” by Patricia Briggs “Stone Man” by Nancy Kress “In the Stacks” by […]
Strange Brew (2009) edited by P.N. Elrod This is a re-read, and as such, I skipped the stories I didn’t like or wasn’t in the mood for. Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs Last Call by Jim Butcher Death Warmed Over by Rachel Caine Vegas Odds by Karen Chance Hecate’s Golden Eye by P.N. Elrod Bacon […]
Dangerous Women (2013) edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois “Some Desperado” (Red Country story) by Joe Abercrombie “My Heart is Either Broken” by Megan Abbott “Nora’s Song” by Cecelia Holland “The Hands That Are Not There” by Melinda Snodgrass “Bombshells” (Harry Dresden story) by Jim Butcher “Raisa Stepanova” by Carrie Vaughn “Wrestling Jesus” […]
Tales of the Otherworld (2010) Kelley Armstrong Not knowing what I was in the mood to read, an anthology seemed just the thing. These are stories from Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld series–stories that fill in the cracks between her novels–most of which I have not read. (I believe I have read Bitten, and that’s it.) There […]
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2012 (2012) Edited by Dan Ariely and Tim Folger I’ve mentioned before that I read non-fiction before bed. I like it, it’s interesting, but it doesn’t keep me awake, wanting to know what happens next. I’m especially fond of science writing, because I like science. So the Best […]
Kicking It (2013) edited by Faith Hunter and Kalayna Price “Forked Tongues” by Rachel Caine “Stolen Goods” by Shannon K. Butcher “The Girl with No Name” by Chris Marie Green “The Devil’s Left Boot” by Faith Hunter “High Stakes” by Chloe Neill “The Parlor” by Lucienne Diver “Red Really Isn’t My Color” by Christina Henry […]
Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives (2011) edited by Justin Gustainis As the title says, this is a collection of supernatural mysteries. “Little Better than a Beast: A Marla Mason Story” by T. A. Pratt “Dusted: A Cosa Nostradamus Story” by Laura Anne Gilman “The Demon You Know… A Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom Story” […]
The Collected Short Stories (2013) Dana Stabenow I first came across Dana Stabenow as the editor of an anthology of fantastical mysteries. From there, I picked up her Kate Shugak mysteries, although I fully admit I have only read the books that come AFTER The Incident. I’ve actually read most of the Kate Shugak short […]
Engraved on the Eye (2012) Saladin Ahmed I actually follow on Twitter (@saladinahmed) and when I saw he had a collection of short stories available, snapped it up, because I love short stories. These stories are set in the East, which, I fully admit took a bit for me to get used to–I’ve not yet […]
Weird Detectives: Recent Investigations (2013) edited by Paula Guran This is a collection of short stories previously published elsewhere, so I’d already read several of these stories. But there were several I had not, and several of the ones I’d read before were well worth reading again. This book has been sitting around for awhile, […]
The Mammoth Book of Historical Crime Fiction (2011) edited by Mike Ashley Introduction: Return to the Crime Scene by Mike Ashley Archimedes and the Scientific Method by Tom Holt Something to do with Diana by Steven Saylor Eyes of the Icon by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer Night of the Snow Wolf by Peter Tremayne […]
Thieves’ World Book 12, Stealers’ Sky (1989) edited by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey Alas, the end of the series. Introduction by Robert Lynn Asprin Night Work by Andrew Offutt The Incompetent Audience by John DeCles Our Vintage Years by Duane McGowen Quicksilver Dreams by Diana L. Paxson Winds of Fortune by C.J. Cherryh The […]
Thieves’ World, Book 11: Uneasy Alliances (1988) edited by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey One more book and things are starting to wind up. Dramatis Personae by Lynn Abbey Introduction by Lynn Abbey Slave Trade by Robert Lynn Asprin The Best of Friends by C.J. Cherryh The Power of Kings by Jon DeCles Red Light, […]
Thieves’ World, Book 10: Aftermath (1987) edited by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey And now the series is back to where I enjoyed it–more petty arguments and thievery rather than war ranging on the physical and etheral plains. Dramatis Personae – Lynn Abbey Introduction – Robert Lynn Asprin Cade – Mark C. Perry Wake of […]
Thieves’ World, Book 9: Blood Ties (1986) edited by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey Thank goodness. Back to normal–or as normal as it gets. Introduction by Robert Lynn Asprin Lady of Fire by Diana L. Paxson Sanctuary is for Lovers by Janet & Chris Morris Lovers Who Slay Together by Robin Wayne Bailey In the […]
Thieves’ World, Book 8: Soul of the City (1986) edited by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey This is, hands down, my least favorite Thieves’ Word book. Dramatis Personae by Lynn Abbey Power Play by Janet Morris Dagger in the Mind by C.J. Cherryh Children of All Ages by Lynn Abbey Death in the Meadow by […]
Thieves’ World, Book 7: The Dead of Winter (1985) Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey More than halfway through now. Luckily, there were lighter stories to counteract the darkness of Janet Morris’ story. Dramatis Personae by Lynn Abbey Introduction by Robert Lynn Asprin Hell to Pay by Janet Morris The Veiled Lady, or A Look at […]
Thieves World, Book 6: Wings of Omen (1984) edited by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey Introduction by Robert Lynn Asprin What Women Do Best by Chris & Janet Morris Daughter of the Sun by Robin W. Bailey A Breath of Power by Diana L. Paxson The Hand That Feeds You by Diane Duane Witching Hour […]
Thieves World, Book 5: The Face of Chaos (1983) edited by Robert Asprin and Lynn Abbey Introduction by Robert Lynn Asprin High Moon by Janet Morris Necromant by C.J. Cherryh The Art of Alliance by Robert Lynn Asprin The Corners of Memory by Lynn Abbey Votary by David Drake Mirror Image by Diana L. Paxson […]