Jess > Recent Status Updates

The last in my planned Japanese January triad! (Unless I finally tackle my manga pile)

So far this is very cozy slice-of-life with no sense that it's by the author of the Memory Police. Which is fine but also. . . Some tension would be nice. We'll see, maybe when the secrets come out it'll pick up

I feel like Mrs Harrer is being racist but I honestly don't know who in 1989 Hungary she would be racist against

That was really good

I appreciated the catharsis in this one

Only one story left!

What even was that?

Oh yay some humor

Oof those two really hit, in different waya

I listened to a podcast about screwworms today and those things are truly terrifying. This story might have scared me a little if I didn't have that fresh in mind

Those children were terrifying but also leaving them alone playing with a pistol is maybe not a great choice but also I get it

This collection is so uneven

Another Marcie Rendon story that reminds me how cross-racial fostering is not the good it's marketed as

That one was actually scary!

All right, time to get back to "short story December." This is probably the last anthology I'll get through but we'll see!

I'd forgotten what a shit Peter is in this book. I vaguely remember that he does grow up over the course of it but the experience of reading the process is making me physically tense

My knowledge of music theory is basically nil but the "revisionist piano tuning" scene was still hilarious

Oh, Valuska's autistic

What a ride

Anxiety in written form

Kid seems likeable and generally easy-going but I am starting to realize that he's not really a good guy

Where boats go - skillful but left me cold

Roadkill - heartbreaking

Broccoli Plains - clever, misanthropic, and the most action of any of the stories far. I'd be curious to read one of the full-length novels in this series

Between Zero and One - I don't like time travel stories generally but this one is as much about why people long for the option, and seemed perfect for a short format. Really enjoyed

Sky Walker - the most emotionally honest/vulnerable story in the collection so far and also the most developed worldbuilding. I hope some of the author's other work has been translated into English!

Storm between my teeth - delightful