Continuing the monthly summaries of what I’ve been reading and listening to.
BOOKS
To keep my numbers consistent with what I have listed on Goodreads, I count completed magazine issues as “books.” I read or listened to 8 books in September: 7 in print, 1 in e-book format, and 0 in audio format. They were:
1. Lightspeed Magazine #124 (September, 2020 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams. The usual fine assortment of sf and fantasy short stories. This month’s favorites for me were Caroline M. Yoachim’s “Shadow Prisons of the Mind,” Sunny Moraine’s “Note to Self,” Moses Lewis’s “Moses,” and Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam’s “Entanglement.”
2. Tarzan: Battle for Pellucidar by Win Scott Eckert. The second new canonical ERB Universe novel brings the Jungle Lord back to the Hollow Earth alongside his granddaughter, Jason Gridley and family, and a few other surprises. There’s also a bonus novella by Mike Wolfer featuring Victory Harben in the Land That Time Forgot. FULL REVIEW HERE.
3. Greatheart Silver and Other Pulp Heroes by Philip Jose Farmer. Meteor House’s hardcover reissue of Farmer’s three pulp adventure pastiches featuring Greatheart Silver includes two other classic Farmer pulp-inspired tales: “Savage Shadow” and “Skinburn.”
4. Middlegame by Seanan McGuire. The new stand-alone (so far) science fiction novel from Seanan is amazing, full of deep characterization and a really unique take on the feature known in gaming circles as “save points.” Twins separated at birth Roger and Dodger were created to enable their “father” to rule the world. But they might have other plans.
5. Over The Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker. At the heart of McGuire’s Middlegame is a series of children’s books written by an alchemist named A. Deborah Baker. So of course, McGuire had to write the book she’d be quoting from. It’s a wonderful portal fantasy, and you don’t have to have read Middlegame to enjoy it (although if you have, you’ll see the parallels and connections.) FULL REVIEW HERE.
6. Halloween Season by Lucy A. Snyder. Another great short story collection from Snyder, mostly horror and a bit of comedy focused on Halloween. But of course Christmas can’t resist getting in on the act a little early. FULL REVIEW HERE.
7. The Shadow Diaries by Shadow, with help from his “daddy” Joseph Pittman. A really cute journal by a dog learning about his new home and fathers. Originally appeared as a series of weekly posts on Pittman’s Facebook page. Kids will love it.
8. Hawkman Vol 3: The Darkness Within by Robert Venditti, Pat Oliffe, Tom Palmer and others. I was afraid this volume would be derailed by its connection to one of DC’s all too frequent line-wide crossovers, but Venditti and company manage to retain everything I’ve come to love about the series even in the crossover episodes.
STORIES
I have a goal of reading 366 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) this year (366 because it’s a Leap Year). Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.
1. “The Author’s Wife Vs. The Giant Robot” by Adam-Troy Castro, from Lightspeed Magazine #124 (September 2020 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams.
2. “Note To Self” by Sunny Moraine
3. “Machine Learning” by Hugh Howey
4. “Moses” by L.D. Lewis
5. “Destinations of Waiting” by Alexander Weinstein
6. “Persephone of the Crows” by Karen Joy Fowler
7. “Entanglement” by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
8. “Believe” by Seanan McGuire, on the author’s Patreon page.
9. “Wait For Night” by Stephen Graham Jones, from Tor.Com website.
10. “Savage Shadow” by Philip Jose Farmer, from Greatheart Silver and Other Pulp Heroes
11. “Skinburn” by Philip Jose Farmer
12. “Hazelnuts and Yummy Mummies” by Lucy A. Snyder, from Halloween Season
13. “Cosmic Cola” by Lucy A. Snyder
14. “Visions of the Dream Witch” by Lucy A. Snyder
15. “What Dwells Within” by Lucy A. Snyder
16. “The Porcupine Boy” by Lucy A. Snyder
17. “In The Family” by Lucy A. Snyder
18. “The Kind Detective” by Lucy A. Snyder
19. “A Preference For Silence” by Lucy A. Snyder
20. “Wake Up Naked Monkey You’re Going To Die” by Lucy A. Snyder
21. “The Great VuDu Teen Linux Zombine Masacree” by Lucy A. Snyder
22. “The House That Couldn’t Clean Itself” by Lucy A. Snyder
23. “The Toymaker’s Joy”’ by Lucy A. Snyder
24. “The Tingling Madness” by Lucy A. Snyder
So that’s 24 short stories in September. Not quite “1 per day,” but pretty close and keeping me only slightly short for the year-to-date. (September 30th was the 274th day of 2020.)
Summary of Reading Challenges:
“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 1 read; YTD: 4 of 14 read.
366 Short Stories Challenge: This month: 24 read; YTD: 269 of 366 read.
Graphic Novels Challenge: This month: 1 read; YTD: 20 of 52 read.
Goodreads Challenge: This month: 8 read; YTD: 106 of 125 read.
Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 2 read; YTD: 9 of 24 read.
Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0; YTD: 0 read/watched.
Complete the Series Challenge: This month: 0 books read; YTD: 6 of 16 read.
Series fully completed: 0 of 3 planned
Monthly Special Challenge: I didn’t set a monthly mini-challenge for September.
October’s usual mini-challenge is Horror, Horror, Horror!