I'm tardy for #12Booksof2024 but I love seeing and participating in this event, thanks for hosting again, @Andrew65 🤗
Since I'm playing catchup, here's Jan and Feb - Bourdain for Jan for his sheer charm humor and swagger and Friday Black bc the 2024 #auldlangspine list from vivastory (did they change sn? I can't tag them) really set a mood for the whole year in thoughtful sff.
PS the story arc about Black Friday is even seasonally appropriate! 😆
I need short stories to be super impactful. I want to vividly think about them years later.
Classics -
The Yellow Wallpaper - Gilman
The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas -Le Guin
The Storm - Chopin
Contemporary -
Friday Black - Adjei-Brenyah
Ring Shout - Clark
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies - Philyaw
#TLT #ThreeListThursday @dabbe
pickI managed to read only two books off of the generous #AuldLangSpine list from @vivastory - the tagged and Call for the Dead - however, this anthology is my fav read this month and I wouldn‘t be surprised if it pops up on my best-of-2024… The stories are all great, but I really knew I was in love when I finished the stories in the retail cycle; the way it went from zombie story to end with making connections in the modern world was breathtaking.
I haven‘t found an immersive read yet for this weekend so I‘m bouncing between these whenever I need a break. I‘m particularly enjoying the tagged anthology (thanks to the #auldlangspine list from @vivastory for reminding me that short stories are a thing) but it can be pretty gutting & the stories are all so different that I‘m finding taking a bit of time in between each is nice so they can settle in my mind before starting the next #weekendreads
pickMy 1st book in my #24in24. I thought this collection was amazing. All the stories had a bite to them, full of anger and despair. There were 3 that had to do with how the line between having a life and having a job blurs and next thing you know your life is the job. The most affecting were the ones about race, abortion, and school shootings. Not easy stories but ones that will stick with you long after. Thanks again, Scott. Pick!
WTF @vivastory ! The Finkelstein 5 is a knockout. What a way to start a collection. Thank you my friend for the books and the bookmark.
pickThis is the debut from the author of Chain-Gang All-Stars. It's good. And not long. The stories are interesting. I'm looking forward to whatever he comes up with next. The last story had Ray Bradbury vibes and I appreciate that.
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#BlackHistoryMonth Recommendations
Day 24 Fiction - Short Stories
Read this!! So incredibly good. There are very few short stories that stick with me, that I think are done incredibly well and are perfect in length and pacing Friday Black is top of the list. His stories are inventive and fantastical while also being a mirror into society.
I am reading his next fiction book now and it is also incredible. He is now an auto buy author.
pickMy favorite stories were The Finkelstein; Things My Mother Said; Friday Black and Through the Flesh.
pickThe stories in this collection have a dark humor to them that cuts right to the bone, the kind of humor where you‘re not sure whether to laugh or cry or throw up, where absurdity comes full circle into cold reality. Stories about the brutality of race in America, about rabid consumerism, about all kinds of violence, stories hard to categorize as speculative or satire or both. The observation behind these stories is so keen.
On Sale Audiobooks Find these at Librofm! I picked these books.cause I have read most of them and really loved them.
pickDystopian short stories that focus on themes of race and class and much more. I couldn‘t help but think of Black Mirror while listening to this. I would love to see these stories adapted to television. #blitsy #shortstories #dystopian
@TheAromaofBooks I got Bingo for #BookSpinBingo how fun! What a great way to read through my ever growing TBR.. I am having a blast. Thank you so much for hosting this awesome monthly event..
pickWhat an amazing collection of short stories that look at the state of our world and uses literature to discuss hard topics. Phenomenal. Excellent HIGHLY recommend!! 5 ⭐ @TheAromaofBooks This was my Double spin for #BookSpinBingo
^^The Twelve-tongued god/monster, the deal with the devil. Lots of Faustian bargains & souls sold in this collection, lots of longing for comfort & decency in the face of brutality. “The Hospital Where,” a story about pain & love & writing & illness has a lovely, writerly twist at the end where the narrator‘s empathy for those in hospital care frees them, and then the lingering question: at what cost? Good twists without feeling too manipulative.
pickWow this collection races out of the gate & won‘t quit. Reading that provokes an adrenaline surge, a quickening. Brutal, surreal violence but when the subject is power & greed & race, it shocks without surprising. Some stories feel like a naked homage to Saunders, but why not when they are this human, the energy this furious? Blood puddles & body piles on Black Friday!? Close to real. A few miss the mark, but most of these knocked me over. 2018
pickI‘m more of a chunkster book reader than a short story reader but these stories were great and really made me think. Maybe that‘s the point of short stories?
pickThis book is insanely good! When you start off with a story like The Finklestein 5 then you really aren‘t holding back. Then all those stories set in a mall are just amazing depictions of what work in retails, especially during sales can be turned into, if we keep going the way we do.
#bookly
My first thought at the end of the first story was wow that was intense. I guess this story is the kind of thing that gives white people nightmares; what it'll look like if people actually act on the rage that they, rightfully, feel.
so-soThis was a bit tough for me to stay interested in. Some of the stories felt like they were a bit lackluster and it was hard to stay focused on them because the flow just didn‘t stay strong. Some stories were great, but I didn‘t love a lot of them and got a bit bored.
pickI really enjoyed these stories. Some seem present day, some post-apocalyptic or adjacent. I always love short stories.
This anthology was his first book! Hope he does more.
pickFriday Black is a thought provoking anthology. Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah created a book I could relate to while being extremely heart-struck, furious , and to my surprise joyful about. The Finkelstein 5 is the first story within Friday Black, and it sets the mood for an amazingly unique collection of stories. Adjei-Brenyah is a talented young author with the ability to write wildly relatable characters, and I anticipate his future pieces of work.
About half way through these short stories that are so eye opening. Some are more modern and some futuristic and I cannot wait to discuss them with my group today. Reading with Calli on the couch this morning #dogsoflitsy
#manicmonday #letterF #favorites @JoScho
📚 Friday Black
✍️ Karen Joy Fowler
🍿Fast and Furious (all of them but Tokyo Drift)
📺 Father Brown
🎤 Florence
🎶 Footloose
At 14:27:16 April‘s #24B4Monday comes to an end.
✅ The Monarch of the Glen
✅Black Dog
✅Friday Black
📖 Anansi Boys at Chapter 4
📖 Les Miserables at Vol 1 Fantine Book Fifth
@SumisBooks @jb72 @Andrew65
All except sell!
Depends on how long the book is and the amount of time I have - average about 100 pages an hour, so quite quickly.
Tagged- just wasn‘t for me.
#wondrouswednesday
This was the second story collection I read last year, but one of the first I‘ve ever truly connected with in both topics and genre.
I‘d love to see some of these turn into either full novels or adaptations - there was so many instances of beautifully creepy imagery that it‘d be great to see how someone interpreted it for the screen.
#firstlinefridays
"Minding my business or up to no good, just like every other person in the world."
#blackhistorymonth
pickWow! This collection of short stories is so powerful! It was recommended to me by @Soubhiville and I‘m so glad I took her advice! Several stories knocked me off my chair. They are well paced, topical, unflinching. #MountTBR #Booked2020 #covercrush #ownvoices @Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft
I tend to approach reading like I do going out to eat - I order with my stomach instead of my brain and end up with far too much food, unable to finish it all.
So in this case, my ❤ is being over indulgent and wanting to READ ALL THE THINGS!
Some are carry overs from January... titles I'm still working on... others, I've had good intentions about in the past and just didn't get to for one reason or another.
#FebruaryTBR
pickWell, wow! I very rarely enjoy the short story format but I'm so glad I didn't bypass this outstanding collection. The writing is first class. The stories are weird and intriguing and disturbing and thought provoking and shocking and powerful and scary and touching and so many other things it's a wonder they all fit in such short pieces of writing. The Finkelstein Five was my favourite but I also loved the retail ones. Such black humour!
About to start this one ... with a little trepidation. Short stories are really not my thing AT ALL. Plus I've seen some Pan & Bail ratings from fellow Littens whose opinions I trust and/or whose bookish tastes are similar to mine.
But it does me good to get out my comfort zone from time to time! Who knows, it could be my favourite read of 2020! Or not... 🤔
With thanks to #netgalley for this book.
bailedI started this as part of a buddy read then put it down. When I tried to pick it back up today, I just didn‘t want to continue. The first story is a superb critique of navigating racist society as a black man. After that, it gets…weird. And not in a good way. So I‘m calling it at the halfway mark.
@Cinfhen and @TrishB bailed much more decisively than I did. 😬
Such a joy to open your lovely package of goodies, @ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled ! The chocolates are some of my favorites and I‘ve had this book on my TBR for a long time! Looking forward to cuddling up, reading and snacking over my holiday break. Thanks again for your #jolabokaflodswap package and thanks for organizing @MaleficentBookDragon !
pickWow this was brutal. A pick for the world building, the writing style and the capacity to explore deep stuff in new ways but... brutal is definitely the word. There were times when I could barely read it, he really didn‘t pull his punches with making this raw and uncompromising but I admire him for that, I admire how much it taught me through making me sit with that discomfort.
#wintergames #merryreaders #tbrread @Clwojick @StayCurious
My year in books 2019. Surpassed my challenge to read 52 books 😉 hoping to squeeze in a couple more before the end of the year! #goodreads
I tried/ but short story collections, especially ones that are dark and strange aren‘t my jam. Sorry @Hooked_on_books @TrishB but I‘m bailing at 51% mark.
bailedNearly half way through and bailed. The first story is really hard hitting and I think it set up expectations. Some I didn‘t understand at all and none I was very impressed with after the first. Didn‘t want to pick up again this morning!!
Buddy read failure strikes again!
What could be a better beginning than a quote from Kendrick Lamar 🙌🏻🖤🎶 “Anything you imagine you possess.” Lots of mixed reviews on Litsy and I‘m not great with short stories but let‘s see where this takes me.
Started for our buddy read @Cinfhen @Hooked_on_books hadn‘t realised it was short stories! Read the first one as watching the footie on the telly.....as the racist abuse unfolds on a black player ☹️
pan#unpopularopinion
I'm not a fan of the kind of satire used in this collection: once I saw what each story was driving at, they just seemed more like dreary exercises, no matter how much violence, fantasy, or dark comedy was piled on. The ones with less overt satirical elements and fantasy were oddly dry, as if they'd been edited to death. I liked one story: 'The Hospital Where', which reads like a real nightmare: wish more were like that one!
Whoa, these stories. Talk about dark, no-holds-barred satire. I'm halfway through, and so far FRIDAY BLACK is *absolutely* living up to the hype. Anyone else read/reading this?
pickI usually don‘t so short stories, but this collection was much more my speed. Reading through this felt like watching mini episodes of Black Mirror and I wouldn‘t mind seeing some of them expanded into full novels. Imagery and the atmospheres created in each story are also beautifully done!
Highlights: The Finkelstein 5, The Era, Lark Street, Zimmer Land, Friday Black & Light Spitter
Friday Black | 
