2025 Alphabet Reading Challenges

In early 2025, someone posted about an “alphabet reading challenge” – that is, read one book with a title that starts with “A”, “B,” etc. Of course, I can’t do anything by halves, so I also decided to try to read one book by an author whose last name starts with “A,” “B,” etc. But I didn’t make it an intentional challenge – meaning I didn’t track throughout the year to see which letters I was still missing. In fact, I’d forgotten about the project during the second half of the year and only completed filling in the challenge pages this week.

I managed to come pretty close to success even so!

THE BOOK TITLE CHALLENGE

As you may be able to see in the photo, I managed 21 out of 25 letters. I did not read any books whose titles started with K, Q, R, X or Z. Yes, I was inconsistent with whether I counted words like “A” and “The” as the letter the title starts with.

The books I listed, for those who maybe can’t view the photos because of visual issues, were:

Amplitudes (edited by Lee Mandelo)

Black Fire Concerto (by Mike Allen)

Calladita No More (by Hady Mendez)

Don’t Sleep With the Dead (by Nghi Vo)

Everything Is Tuberculosis (by John Green)

Front Seat Passenger, The (by Pascal Garnier)

Girl in the Creek (by Wendy N. Wagner)

I Love The Bones of You (by Christopher Eccleston)

Jaws (by Peter Benchley)

Lies I Tell Myself: Stories (by Jeffrey Ricker)

My Time to Stand (by Gypsy Rose Blanchard)

Natalie Wood: The Complete Biography (by Susan Finstad)

Our Share of Night (by Mariana Enriquez)

Prelude to Mayhem (by Edward C. Aubrey)

Sterling City (by Stephen Graham Jones)

The Art Thief (by Michael Finker)

Upon the Midnight Queer (by ‘Nathan Burgoine)

Vagabond (by Tim Curry)

Wild Spaces (by S.L. Coney)

Yours Cruelly, Elvira (by Cassandra Peterson)

THE AUTHOR CHALLENGE

As you may be able to see in the photo, I managed 22 authors, missing only the letters I, Q, U, and X. Again, for those who may not be able to view the list in the photo, I read books by:

Allen, Mike (Black Fire Concerto and Trail of Shadows)

Beard, Jim (Sgt. Janus and The House That Loved Death and Jack of All Comics!)

Coney, S.L. (Wild Spaces)

Drake, Jerry C. (Hazel Was A Good Girl)

Enriquez, Mariana (Our Share of Night)

Fry, Stephen (Odyssey)

Grant, Mira (Overgrowth)

Hawke, Lydia (Web of Obsidian)

Jones, Stephen Graham (Sterling City and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter)

Kushner, Ellen (The Golden Dreidel)

Landay, William (Defending Jacob)

Miller, Lulu (Why Fish Don’t Exist)

Neill, Sam (Did I Ever Tell You This?)

Obama, Barack (Dreams From My Father)

Perrin, Kristin (How To Solve Your Own Murder and How To Seal Your Own Fate)

Ricker, Jeffrey (Lies I Tell Myself: Stories)

Sullivan, Archer (The Witch’s Orchard)

Trejo, Danny (Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood)

Vo, Nghi (Don’t Sleep With The Dead)

Winkler, Henry (Being Henry)

Yang, Gene Luen, and others (New Super-Man Volume 2)

Zelazny, Roger (A Night in the Lonesome October)

I’m doing this again in 2026 just for the heck of it. Again, I am not planning to put any pressure on myself.

SUNDAY SHORTS: 2025 RoundUp Part 2

Last week on Sunday Shorts I listed all of the stories I read in January through June of 2025, with links (where possible) to where they could be found. Today I present the list of all the short stories I read in the second half of 2025. As with the first post, I decided to break them up by month and then within each month by where they were published. I am really going to try to do monthly round-ups instead of waiting until the end of the year.

JULY

Lightspeed Magazine #182, edited by John Joseph Adams

“The Lord of Mars” by Meghan McCarron

“How to Win Against the Robots” by Katherine Crighton

“Domestic Disputes” by Naomi Kanakia

“Finding Love in a Time Loop: A How-To Guide” by Leah Cypess

“What Else, What Else, in the Joyous City” by Sadoeuphemist

“A Dish Best Served Cold, or, an Excerpt from the Cookbook of the Gods” by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe

“Un-Pragmagic: A Tyler Moore Retrospective” by Spencer Nitkey

“You Knit Me Together in My Mother's Womb” by Paul Crenshaw

Nightmare #154 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

“Asking For It” by Kristi DeMeester

“The Hearth” by Benjamin Percy

Clarkesworld #226 edited by Neil Clarke

“Serpent Carriers” by K.A. Teryna

The Dark #122 edited by Sean Wallace

“Skin and Bones” by Gary McMahon

The Shivers (Amazon Originals) (editor unknown)

“The Indigo Room” by Stephen Graham Jones

“Letter Slot” by Owen King

“The Blanks” by Grady Hendrix

“Night and Day in Misery” by Catriona Ward

Kaleidotrope Summer 2024 edited by Fred Coppersmith

“How to Create a God” by Rachel Meresman

AUGUST

Lightspeed Magazine #183, edited by John Joseph Adams

“Five Dispatches From Conflict Zone W-924/B Regarding Post-Battle Deployment of A. Thanatensis” by David Anaxagoras

“Feast of Famine” by Adam-Troy Castro

“The Dream Tourists” by Sarah Langan

“To Access Seven Obelisks, Press Enter” by V.M. Ayala

“It Might Be He Returns” by Fatima Taqvi

“Dad Went Out to Get the Milk” by Osahon Ize-Iyamu

“Savannah and the Apprentice” by Christopher Rowe

“Anti-Capitalism vs. The Man of Flowers” by Naomi Kanakia

Seanan McGuire’s Patreon

“Those Three Girls From Rush's Bend” by Seanan McGuire

Carribean Phantom and Other Stories (single-author collection)

“The Ghost Crutches” by Mary Gann

“The Wanted Bone” by Mary Gann

“Juan” by Mary Gann

“On Board the Argolla” by Mary Gann

“The Winking Eye” by Mary Gann

“There Is A Way” by Mary Gann

“The Governor's Visit” by Mary Gann

SEPTEMBER

Lightspeed Magazine #184, edited by John Joseph Adams

“Last Meal Aboard the Awassa” by Kel Coleman

“The Place I Came To” by Filip Hajdar Drnovsek Zarko

“The Girlfriend Experience” by C.Z. Tacks

“City of One” by Stephen S. Power

“Beginning Before and After The End” by Jake Stein

“Apeiron” by Cadwell Turnbull

“On An Unusual Kind of Spatially Distributed Haunting” by Bogi Takacs

“Human Voices” by Isabel J. Kim

Seanan McGuire’s Patreon

“Married in Gray” by Seanan McGuire

Nightmare #156 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

“Autogas Ferryman” by Champ Wonsatayanont

Carribean Phantom and Other Stories (single-author collection)

“Across the Bluff” by Mary Gann

“The Bungalow of Mystery” by Mary Gann

“Outwitting Justice” by Mary Gann

“What Was It?” by Mary Gann

“What Happened to Jim MacNarth” by Mary Gann

“The Black Bat” by Mary Gann

“Dr. Holm's Unsolved Problem” by Mary Gann

“Xcunya” by Mary Gann

“Orchid Hall” by Mary Gann

“Heirlooms” by Mary Gann

“Admonition” by Mary Gann

“The Tide of Retribution” by Mary Gann

“Port Quin” by Mary Gann

“Little Pitchers” by Mary Gann

“The Little Wood” by Mary Gann

Black Hole Heart and Other Stories (single-author collection)

“Black Hole Heart” by K.A. Teryna (Translator: Alex Shvartsman)

“Songs of the Snow Whale” by K.A. Teryna (Translator: Alex Shvartsman)

“The Errata” by K.A. Teryna (Translator: Alex Shvartsman)

“Untitled” by K.A. Teryna (Translator: Alex Shvartsman)

“Morpheus” by K.A. Teryna (Translator: Alex Shvartsman)

“Copy Cat” by K.A. Teryna and Alex Shvartsman

“The Chartreuse Sky” by K.A. Teryna and Alexander Bachilo

“The Jellyfish” by K.A. Teryna (Translator: Alex Shvartsman)

“No One Ever Leaves Port Henri” by K.A. Teryna (Translator: Alex Shvartsman)

“Madame Felides Elopes” by K.A. Teryna (Translator: Anatoly Belilovsky)

“The Tin Pilot” by K.A. Teryna (Translator: Alex Shvartsman)

“Lajos and His Bees” by K.A. Teryna (Translator: Alex Shvartsman)

“The Farctory” by K.A. Teryna (Translator: Alex Shvartsman)

OCTOBER

Lightspeed Magazine #185, edited by John Joseph Adams

“O Mechfighter, O Starfighter” by Osahon Ize-Iyamu

“The Porniest Porn in Porntown” by Stephen Graham Jones

“Everyone Hates the Auditor” by Megan Chee

“Thaw” by An Owomoyela

“At the Bottom of the Bonfire” by Martin Cahill

“Dirge and Gleam” by Micah Dean Hicks

“Dating Fortune” by Sean McMullen

“Drosera regina” by A.L. Goldfuss

Asimov's Science Fiction #596/597 edited by Sheila Williams

“Frankenstein's Book Launch” by Karen Heuler

Seanan McGuire’s Patreon

“Seek Sweet Safety” by Seanan McGuire

Nightmare #157 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

“Courtney Lovecraft's Book of the Dead” by Sam J. Miller

“The Version of Yourself That You're Better Off Without” by Aimee Ogden

Silver and Lead (October Daye Novel)

“Seas and Shores” by Seanan McGuire

Complete Tales and Poems (single-author collection)

“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

NOVEMBER

Lightspeed Magazine #186, edited by John Joseph Adams

“How to Set Up Your Mourning Robot” by Angela Liu

“Elegy For Zephyr One” by Gene Doucette

“Visible Damage” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

“Operation: Grapevine” by Joel W.D. Buxton

“In the Zone” by Lisa M. Bradley

“Beneath the Umdlebe Tree; or, A Vegetable Love Story” by Modupeoluwa Shelle

“How to Build a Homecoming Queen: A Guide by a Bad Asian Girl” by Tina S. Zhu

“The Cold Burning Light of Her” by Sam W. Pisciotta

Seanan McGuire’s Patreon

“What We Forget, What We Forgive” by Seanan McGuire

Delphi Anthology One (single-author collection)

“Kade & Karger: Big Trouble for Lil' Easy” by Randy Duncan

“The Four Aces: Zombies of Howling Cave” by Randy Duncan

“Conrad's Crew: The Crimson Triangle” by Randy Duncan

DECEMBER

Lightspeed Magazine #187, edited by John Joseph Adams

Reality Check by Nancy Kress

Us, In Another Universe by A.C. Wise

The Hub Living Among the Stars by Oyadotun Damilola Muess

The Space Between Us by P.A. Cornell

You Always Told Her You'd Give Her the World by Aimee Ogden

Cricket in the Lost Light by Jonathan Olfert

HagioClass by Jose Pablo Iriarte

Memories of the MindMine by David Marino

Seanan McGuire’s Patreon

Infringement by Seanan McGuire

Lies I Tell Myself: Stories (single-author collection)

How to Make A Souffle in 38 Easy Steps by Jeffrey Ricker

Looking for Bigfoot by Jeffrey Ricker

Peripheral by Jeffrey Ricker

Shepherd by Jeffrey Ricker

Multiverse by Jeffrey Ricker

Nightmare #159 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

The Short History of a Long-Forgotten, Ill-Fated Telenovela by Dante Luiz

Review: When the Baby Sleeps by Lyndsie Manusos

Shahmeran by Leyla Hamedi

The Dark #127 edited by Sean Wallace

Most Likely To ... (Class of 1997) by A.C. Wise

Lustre Mining by Eliza Chan

Uncanny #67 edited by Lynne Thomas and Michael Damien Thomas

The Millay Illusion by Sarah Pinsker

Who Are You Wearing? by Russell Nichols

To Speak in Silence by Mary Robinette Kowal

Plott Hound #3 edited by Allison Thai

The Cemetary Cat by Renee Carter Hall

A Mountain Retirement by Jeanne Kramer-Smyth

Clarkesworld #229 edited by Neil Clarke

The Job Interview by Carrie Vaughn

In Luck's Panoply Clad, I Stand by Phoebe Barton

Beneath Ceaseless Skies #447 edited by Scott H. Andrews

A Good Brother by Anne Wilkins

Vanya and the Dog Witch by Walter J. Wiese

Upon The Midnight Queer (single-author collection)

Dolph by 'Nathan Burgoine

Frost by 'Nathan Burgoine

Reflection by 'Nathan Burgoine

The Five Crowns and Colonel's Sabre by 'Nathan Burgoine

Five Shillings and Sixpence by 'Nathan Burgoine

The Doors of Penlyon by 'Nathan Burgoine

A Day (Or Two) Ago by 'Nathan Burgoine

The Future in Flame by 'Nathan Burgoine

Not The Marrying Kind by 'Nathan Burgoine

All of '81 by 'Nathan Burgoine

Folly by 'Nathan Burgoine

‘Nathan Burgoine’s Website

Wonder by 'Nathan Burgoine

A Winter's Hourglass by 'Nathan Burgoine

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction #773 edited by Sheree Renee Thomas

Soul Rebel by Maurice Broaddus

Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days (single-author collection)

Spirit of Christmas by Jeanette Winterson

The SnowMama by Jeanette Winterson

Dark Christmas by Jeanette Winterson

Christmas in New York by Jeanette Winterson

The Mistletoe Bride by Jeanette Winterson

O'Brien's First Christmas by Jeanette Winterson

The Second-Best Bed by Jeanette Winterson

Christmas Cracker by Jeanette Winterson

Ghost Story by Jeanette Winterson

The Silver Frog by Jeanette Winterson

The Lion, The Unicorn and Me by Jeanette Winterson

The Glow-Heart by Jeanette Winterson

Strange Horizons November 2025 ed. by Joyce Chng, Dante Luiz, Hebe Stanton, Kathryn Weaver and Aigner Loren Wilson

Palimpset by Melissa A Watkins

If Dragon's Mass Eve Be Cold and Clear (single-author collection)

If Dragon's Mass Eve Be Cold and Clear by Ken Scholes

The Doom of Love in Small Spaces by Ken Scholes

Golden Age Christmas Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler

Mystery For Christmas by Anthony Boucher

Christmas and Other Horrors edited by Ellen Datlow

The Importance of a Tidy Home by Christopher Golden

The Ones He Takes by Benjamin Percy

His Castle by Alma Katsu

The Mawkin Field by Terry Dowling

The Blessing of the Waters by Nick Mamatas

Dry and Ready by Glen Hirschberg

Last Drinks at Bondi Beach by Garth Nix

Return to Bear Creek Lodge by Tananarive Due

The Ghost of Christmases Past by Richard Kadrey

Our Recent Unpleasantness by Stephen Graham Jones

All The Pretty People by Nadia Bulkin

Loyla Sow-na by Josh Malerman

Cold by Cassandra Khaw

Gravé of Small Birds by Kaaron Warren

The Visitation by Jeffrey Ford

The Lord of Misrule by M. Rickert

No Light, No Light by Gemma Files

After Words by John Langan

Mysterious Bookshop Chapbook, edited by Otto Penzler

A Christmas Delivery by Andrew Welsh-Huggins

Jericho Hill Books Chapbook, editor unknown

A Night in the Lonesome by Richard Chizmar and W.H. Chizmar

A Good Night For Bad Dreams by W.H. Chizmar

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, editor unknown

A Scandal in Bohemia by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Adventure of the Red-Headed League by Arthur Conan Doyle

A Case of Identity by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Bascombe Valley Mystery by Arthur Conan Doyle

The Only Way Out Is Through The Window (single-author collection)

Build My Body Around My Bones by Christine Vartoughian

All The Falling Stars of Rome by Christine Vartoughian

As Far As My Body Can Take Me by Christine Vartoughian

The Only Way Out Is Through The Window by Christine Vartoughian

The Color of Forgotten Dreams by Christine Vartoughian

Small Creatures Vanishing by Christine Vartoughian

The Benefits of Being Misunderstood by Christine Vartoughian

Animals of A Vicious Kind by Christine Vartoughian

No One Dies Here by Christine Vartoughian

The Last Encore by Christine Vartoughian

SUNDAY SHORTS: 2025 RoundUp, Part 1

Here’s a list of all the short stories I read in the first half of 2025. I decided to break them up by month and then within each month by where they were published, with links where appropriate and available.

JANUARY

Lightspeed Magazine #176, edited by John Joseph Adams

“Tell Them A Story To Teach Them Kindness” by B. Pladek

“The Exquisite Pull of Relentless Desire” by Will McMahon

“Dyson Spheres of the Vaba Cluster” by Filip Hajdar Drnovsek Zorko

“After the God Has Moved On” by Kate Elliott

“A Heap of Petrified Gods” by Adelehin Ijasan

“Bone and Marrow Woven Into Song” by Neon Yang

“I Eat the Sky For Us” by Vijayalaxmi Samal

“Chickenfoot Soup” by Marika Bailey

Uncanny #62 edited by Lynne Thomas and Michael Damien Thomas

“Kaiju Agonistes” by Scott Lynch

“Six People to Revise You” by J.R. Dawson

Janie's Got A Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Aerosmith ed. by Michael Bracken

“Sight For Sore Eyes” by John C. Bruening

Pulp Reality #5 edited by Charles F. Millhouse and Mary Ann Millhouse

“No Quarter” by Jim Beard

Nightmare #148 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

“The Morning Room” by Katharine Tyndall

“They Bought a House” by Osahon Ize-Iyamu

“Karabasan” by Leyla Hamedi

Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson edited by Jesse J. Holland

“Everyone's Hero” by Maurice Broaddus

“Exclusive Content” by Sheree Renee Thomas

The Dark #116 edited by Sean Wallace

“Four Questions with Something Like God” by Carlie St. George

“In the Blue Room” by Orrin Grey

“Lost You Again” by Ian Rogers

“Coffin Dancing” by Chris Kuriata

Do Not Go Quietly edited by Jason Sizemore & Leslie Connor

“Kill The Darlings (Silicone Sisters Remix)” by E. Catherine Tobler

Strange Locations edited by Marissa Van Uden

“See the Empress of Yesteryear!” by Violet Marr

“Echoes of Toyland on the Harmonic Coast” by Daisy Lyle

“The Ephemeral Conservatory of Dr. Carmen Sol Echeverria” by Silvathcus Riddle

“A Plea to Our Readers” by Steve Neal

“Those Who Stand Beneath Sagrada” by Akis Linardos

“For the Pilgrims of Mary Magdalena” by Salena Casha

“Late Exhibition” by Guilherme Vieira

“The Theatre Meridian” by Nicholas Jay

“Heroica” by Andrew Kao

“If Nothing, The Cloud Remembers” by Mwenya S. Chikwa

“The People's Republic of You” by Gordon Brown

You Glow In the Dark (single author collection)

“The Cave” by Liliana Colanzi (trans. by Chris Andrews)

“Atomito” by Liliana Colanzi (trans. by Chris Andrews)

FEBRUARY

Lightspeed Magazine #177, edited by John Joseph Adams

“It Holds Her in the Palm of One Hand” by Lowry Poletti

“Books to Take At the End of the World” by Carolyn Ives Gilman

“My Girlfriend is a Nebula” by David DeGraff

“An Omodest Proposal” by Andrew Dana Hudson

“Standardized Test” by Seoung Kim

“Some to Cradle, Some to Eat” by Eugenia Triantafyllou

“What We Don't Know About Angels” by Kristina Ten

You Glow In the Dark (single author collection)

“The Debt” by Liliana Colanzi (trans. by Chris Andrews)

“Chaco” by Liliana Colanzi (trans. by Chris Andrews)

“The Greenest Eyes” by Liliana Colanzi (trans. by Chris Andrews)

“The Narrow Way” by Liliana Colanzi (trans. by Chris Andrews)

“You Glow in the Dark” by Liliana Colanzi (trans. by Chris Andrews)

Dark Corners (Amazon short story collection, editor unknown)

“The Sleep Tight Motel” by Lisa Unger

Strange Locations edited by Marissa Van Uden

“The Urban Explorer: Site 1337” by Sam W. Pisciotta

“Wiki.StrangePlaces/TheLeaningSlabGallery” by Sarena Ulibarri

“Summer's Crimson Shadow” by Jonathan Wood

“A Review of the Myrkvi Black Sand Beach Tours” by Dale Rappineau

“Visitors' Guide: Personal Hygiene on Jones Atoll” by Kay Vaindal

“Fecal-Oral Tours Presents: Anusha's Bed and Breakfast” by Nina Miller

Nightmare #149 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

“God of the Black Moon” by Dan Stintzi

Clarkesworld #220 edited by Neil Clarke

“When There Are Two of You: A Documentary” by Zun Yu Tan

Beneath Ceaseless Skies #424 edited by Scott H. Andrews

“Late Autumn on the Pilgrim's High Road” by Samuel Jensen

“The Garden Must Thrive” by Anaea Lay

The Deadlands Winter 2025 edited by E. Catherine Tobler

“Extreme Sports Club for Octogenarians” by Kate Lechler

Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2025 edited by Robert Greenberger

“57 Seconds” by Christopher Priest

“Doc Dresden and the Lost Hollow” by Bobby Nash

“The Collar” by Charles Ardai

“She-Devil of Paris” by Win Scott Eckert

“Stories You Tell When You Get to Hell” by Paul Kupperberg

“Goldmark's Universe” by Elliot S! Maggin

“The Game of Wons and Toos” by Michael Jan Friedman

“The Thing in the Crate” by Jeffrey J. Mariotte

“The Bonds of Friendship” by Aaron Rosenberg

“The Tale of the Never Be” by Dan Abnett

“My Crush” by William F. Wu

“Gnat” by Russ Colchamiro

“Zayne Stormrunner and the Prince of Saturn” by Mary Fan

“ESPD” by Hildy Silverman

“Grey” by Liz Braswell

MARCH

Lightspeed Magazine #178, edited by John Joseph Adams

“Dekar Druid and the Infinite Library” by Cadwell Turnbull

“Those Who Seek to Embrace the Sun” by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe

“Message in a Babel” by Adam-Troy Castro

“Instructions for Good Boys on the Interplanetary Expedition” by Rachael K. Jones

“Pure of Heart” by Jake Kerr

“Memories of Temperance” by Anya Ow

“The Shift” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

“The Lexicon of Lethe” by Sunwoo Jeong

Seanan McGuire’s Patreon

“Chide the Waves” by Seanan McGuire

Uncanny #63 edited by Lynne Thomas and Michael Damien Thomas

“10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days” by Samantha Mills

“Butterfly Pavilion” by G. Willow Wilson

“Red, Scuttle When the Ships Come Down” by Wen-yi Lee

Clarkesworld #222 edited by Neil Clarke

“From Enceladus, with Love” by Ryan Cole

Strange Horizons February 2025 ed. by Joyce Chng, Dante Luiz, Hebe Stanton, Kathryn Weaver and Aigner Loren Wilson

“Ticket po mamser” by Caroline Hung

Nightmare #150 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

“sharp house” by Samir Sirk Morato

Strange Locations edited by Marissa Van Uden

“1 Star, March 15th 2022” by M. Lopes da Silva

“Prometheus Live” by Sasha Brown

“The Food Truck at the Corner of the Street Where I Live That Everybody Sys is Overrated But Eat at Anyway” by Sek Han Foo

“A Disappointing Experience After 'Unintentionally' Consuming a Bioluminescent Mushroom in the Glow Wood” by Rachel Ashcraft

“A Travel Advisory For Your Past” by Ende Mac

“Welcome to Resurrection Lodge” by Chris Clemens

“Exploring the Tangents of Indus: The Mad Omnivorous Ruins of Lakir” by Amayah Perveen

“Ghost Tours of Eaden Marsh” by Marie Croke

“Ephemera” by Derrick Boden

“The-Town-Where-All-the-Residents-Are-Saints” by Avra Margariti

“Greendam” by Kurt Fawver

“Welcome Home - An Art Tour of Your New Apartment” by Ashley K. Frantik

“A Walk Down Emberley Road” by Amanda Van Rhyn

The Dark #118 edited by Sean Wallace

“Malo Malo Malo Malo” by Louis Inglis Hall

The Deadlands Winter 2025 edited by E. Catherine Tobler

“His Love's Ashes On His Tongue” by Monte Lin

Beneath Ceaseless Skies #427 edited by Scott H. Andrews

“Bind the Herbs to Bring the Shift” by R.Z. Held

Installment Immortality (InCryptid novel)

“Mourner's Waltz” by Seanan McGuire

Shivers Collection (Amazon Originals), editor unknown

“Jackknife” by Joe Hill

Kaleidotrope Winter 2025 edited by Fred Coppersmith

“The Diamond Mountain” by Helen De Cruz

“Once, Now, Always” by Ire Coburn

Apex Magazine #148 edited by Jason Sizemore

“One By One” by Lindz McLeod

APRIL

Lightspeed Magazine #179, edited by John Joseph Adams

“Does Harlan Lattner Dream of Infected Sheep” by Sarah Langan

“Meditations From the Event Horizon” by Deborah L. Davitt

“Talk: "The Siren Song of the Otherworld Goggles”” by Domenica Phettleplace

“To Navigate the Night” by Rich Larson

“The Price of Miracles” by Nigel Faustino

“The Potter, His Daughter, and the Boy with Tribal Marks On His Face” by Oyedotun Damilola Muess

“The Other River” by John Lasser

Stand-Alone E-Book

“The Bee Wife” by Francesca Forrest

Kaleidotrope Winter 2025 edited by Fred Coppersmith

“Hidden Meaning” by Lindsey Duncan

MAY

Lightspeed Magazine #180, edited by John Joseph Adams

“Rthing It Up: An Oral History” by Gene Doucette

“The Temporal Displacement of the Graves” by Russel Nichols

“Through the Machine” by P.A. Cornell

“The Meaning We Seek” by Nancy Kress

“Shadows on the Pavement” by R.P. Sand

“The Price of Manners” by Martin Cahill

“Ninnagan Says Remember” by Jonathan Olfert

Nightmare #152 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

“Beak” by Ian Muneshwar

Amplitudes: Tales of Queer and Trans Futurity edited by Lee Mandelo

“The Republic of Ecstatic Consent” by Sam J. Miller

“Trans World Takeover” by Nat X Ray

“The Orgasm Doula” by Colin Dean

“The Shabbos Bride” by Esther Alter

“MoonWife” by Sarah Gailey

“Forever Won't End Like This” by Dominique Dickey

“They Will Give Us a Home” by Wen-yi Lee

“There Used to Be Peace” by Margaret Killjoy

“Fettle & Sunder” by Ramez Yoakeim

“Six Days” by Bendi Barrett

The Bloody Chamber (single-author collection)

“The Bloody Chamber” by Angela Carter

“The Courtship of Mr. Lyon” by Angela Carter

“The Tiger's Bride” by Angela Carter

“Puss-in-Boots” by Angela Carter

“The Snow Child” by Angela Carter

JUNE

Lightspeed Magazine #181, edited by John Joseph Adams

“The Twenty-One Second God” by Peter Watts

“Multi-Spatial Apartment Complex Malfunction Results in Body Horror” by Reyes Ramirez

“See Now the Misfortune of the Thinking Tenax” by Lowry Poletti

“All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt” by Marissa Lingen

“Eyes Grown Thick on the World” by Will McMahon

“When the Faerie King Toured the Human Realm” by Vanessa Fogg

“A Week at the Raven Feather Salon” by Carrie Vaughn

“My Mother, the Supervillain” by Benjamin Blattberg

Amplitudes: Tales of Queer and Trans Futurity edited by Lee Mandelo

“The They Whom We Remember” by Sunny Moraine

“When the Devil Comes From Babylon” by Maya Deane

“Copper Boys” by Jamie McGhee

“A Few Degrees” by Ash Huang

“Where The World Goes Sharp and Quiet” by Ewen Ma

“Circular Universe” by Ta-wei Chi (trans. Ariel Chu)

“The Garden of Collective Memory” by Neon Yang

“Sugar, Shadows” by Aysha U. Farah

“A Step Into Emptiness” by Aiki Mira (trans. by CD Covington)

“pocket futures in the present past” by Katharine Duckett

“Bang Bang” by Meg Elison

Apex Magazine Bonus Issue #1 edited by Jason Sizemore

“The Swap” by Lavie Tidhar

Nightmare #153 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

“Here I Go Again” by Lindz McLeod

“Eleven Songs for Another Lover” by V.H. Chen

“Edgar Addison, the Author of Devorer (1862 - 1933)” by Ben Peek

Strange Horizons May 2025 ed. by Joyce Chng, Dante Luiz, Hebe Stanton, Kathryn Weaver and Aigner Loren Wilson

“Everything We Lost in the Apocalypse” by Mar Vincent

Kaleidotrope Spring 2025 edited by Fred Coppersmith

“Mabinogion” by Katie McIvor

Seanan McGuire’s Patreon

“What's Fair to Offer in Exchange” by Seanan McGuire

The Dark #121 edited by Sean Wallace

“The Death of Abigail Goudy” by Neil Williamson

Amazon Original Stories (editor unknown)

“Abscond” by Abraham Verghese

Clarkesworld #225 edited by Neil Clarke

“Emily of Emerald Starship” by Ng Yi-Sheng

Sunday Morning Transport edited by Julian Yap and Fran C. Wilde

“Welcome 2 the Freedom Galaxy” by Maurice Broaddus

And there’s the first half of 2025! Tune in next week for the list of stories I read in July through December of 2025.

2025 Reading Roundup: By The Numbers

Time for my annual round-up of what I read and watched in 2025. Because I dropped the ball on doing monthly Round-Up reports, I’m going to run a few more detailed posts over the next week or two listing everything I’ve read or watched. Today’s post is mostly a “by the numbers” thing.

BOOKS

I did manage to read 123 books in 2025: 13 hardcovers, 49 softcover/paperbacks, 35 e-books, and 23 audiobooks. 19 of those titles were rereads, the rest books I read for the first time in 2025.

Monthly distribution: 7 in January; 9 in February; 9 in March; 6 in April; 5 in May; 11 in June; 9 in July; 10 in August; 13 in September; 5 in October; 13 in November; and 26 in December.

I read work from approximately 110 different creators (authors and anthology editors mostly; I did not track graphic novels editorial staff, colorists, and letterers this year).

17 of these books were for book clubs at Sparta Books in Sparta NJ and Stanza Books in Beacon NY. 12 of them were Advanced Review Copies (either print or from NetGalley). 3 of them were for my “Reread My Favorites” project (hopefully debuting on the blog soon.)

The shortest book I read was 41 pages long (Jeffrey Ricker’s short story collection Lies I Tell Myself: Stories), the longest 609 (Suzanne Finstad’s Natalie Wood: The Complete Biography).

Genre Breakdown:

·       Adventure: 1

·       Biography: 1

·       Crime: 1

·       Pop culture analysis: 2

·       Fantasy: 20

·       Historical fiction: 2

·       History: 2

·       Horror: 28

·       Memoirs: 25

·       Mimetic/current day fiction: 3

·       Mixed genre short story collections: 2

·       Mystery: 12

·       Mythology: 1

·       Romance: 7

·       Science: 3

·       Science Fiction: 11

·       Superhero: 2

·       Thriller: 1

·       True Crime: 1

These were my own rough classifications, and in hindsight I’m not sure why I broke crime fiction and mysteries into separate categories. I was surprised to realize I once again read a lot more horror than I thought. I didn’t read any playscripts this year for the first time in a while. And also, for the second year in a row, not a single poetry collection. I am not a big poetry reader, but I usually like to at least try to read a collection or two during National Poetry Month.

STORIES

I did manage to read 366 short stories in 2025 by 243 different authors (this includes translators).

The monthly distribution: 35 in January; 38 in February; 36 in March; 8 in April; 24 in May; 31 in June; 17 in July; 16 in August; 39 in September; 14 in October; 12 in November, and 96 in December. (Clearly, I was way behind my 1-per-day pace by the time I hit December, but a few anthologies and single-author collections helped me catch up.)

These stories came from 23 anthologies and single-author collections, 15 different magazines, 1 author Patreon site, 1 author website, 1 stand-alone e-book independently published, 3 printed chapbooks, and 2 novels (as back-matter). Last year, I calculated exactly how many stories came from each format, but as I’m running behind on this post, I’m going to skip that this year. In previous years I’ve also counted how many different editors were involved, but I neglected to accurately track that this year as well.

Genre breakdown:

·       Adventure: 3

·       Comedy: 3

·       Crime: 3

·       Fantasy: 102

·       Horror: 134

·       Mimetic/modern-day: 4

·       Mystery: 9

·       Science Fiction: 104

·       Super-Heroes: 4

Again, I’m surprised that I read a bit more horror than I thought I did. And I’m still not sure why I separated crime, mystery, and thrillers into distinct subcategories.

MOVIES

I didn’t even come close on my “watch 52 movies” challenge. I watched 3 whole movies in 2025.

I had challenged myself to watch more of the several hundred DVDs I own (split between movies and television series). 1 of the 3 movies watched was on DVD. The other two were in actual movie theaters.

Genre breakdown:

·       Horror (kind of): 1 (The Life of Chuck, a movie that is hard to categorize)

·       Super-Heroes: 2 (Superman and Fantastic Four: First Steps)

These 3 movies were the work of 3 different directors.

TELEVISION

I only managed to watch 63 distinct episodes across 9 series, so nowhere near the “1 episode for every day” goal.

Genre breakdown:

·       Comedy: 2 series

·       Science Fiction: 2 series

·       Super-Heroes: 1 series

·       Horror: 1 series

·       Crime: 1 series

·       Variety/Comedy Specials: 2

LIVE THEATER

I saw 11 live theatrical productions in 2025, so I missed my “average one per month” goal by 1! I attended these shows in 11 different theaters, 9 of which were in New York City. One was in the Los Angeles area, and 1 was a local high school production. 8 were musicals, 3 were dramas. One was a new production of a show I’ve seen live before (Guys and Dolls), and two were shows I’ve seen movie or filmed stage versions of (Moulin Rouge and Pirates of Penzance).

OTHER LIVE EVENTS

I also tracked what other live events I went to. I attended:

·       one college graduation (my goddaughter’s, from the University of Pittsburgh),

·       1 baseball game (our local minor league team, The Sussex Miners)

·       1 work convention

·       2 book conventions/festivals (PulpFest; Milford Readers and Writers)

·       1 antiquarian book fair (in NYC)

·       1 annual birthday bookstore crawl (in NYC)

·       4 In-Person Author Events (1 at Kew and Willow in NYC, 3 at Stanza Books in Beacon)

·       6 online author events (mostly on C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez’s Twitch channel)

·       16 book club meetings (6 at Sparta Books in Sparta NJ, 10 at Stanza Books in Beacon NY)

PODCASTS

I only really started listening to podcasts late this year (other than about a decade ago when I used to listen to the New Yorker’s short story podcast, back when I still had an iPod Nano). So of course I decided to track my listening: 54 individual episodes across 5 different podcasts. All of them were comic book-related with the exception of 2 episodes:

·       The Borgo Pass podcast (Universal Monsters): 2 episodes

·       World on Fire: the All-Star Squadron podcast: 3 episodes

·       The Boxing Glove Arrow podcast (Green Arrow): 5 episodes

·       JSA Presents (various Justice Society related shows): 16 episodes

·       The History of Comic Books in 500 Issues: 24 episodes

COMIC BOOKS

I also decided to track how many individual comic books (single monthly issues, or “floppies”) I read in 2025. The total was 467. 30 of those were rereads, the other 437 were new (and mostly newly published). These issues were stretched across approximately 112 different titles from 10 different publishers.

The monthly distribution: 32 in January; 55 in February; 15 in March; 34 in April; 45 in May; 42 in June; 35 in July; 29 in August; 31 in September; 66 in October; 29 in November, and 54 in December.

The genre breakdown:

·       Comedy: 2

·       Fantasy: 25

·       Horror: 44

·       Mystery: 7

·       Sports: 2

·       Science Fiction: 2

·       War: 2

·       Super-Heroes: 383

Summary of Challenges:

366 Short Stories Challenge: 366 of 365 read.

Goodreads Challenge: 123 of 120 read.

Movie Challenge: 3 of 52 watched.

Television Challenge: 63 of 365 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: 11 of 12 shows attended.

2026 Reading Challenges!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here’s hoping for a healthy book-and-story-filled 2026.

I always set myself more than one reading/viewing challenge per year. Some goals carry over from year to year, and some are new. Some are broad and some are themed. And in many cases, books read will help me meet more than one challenge. In 2024 I also started making some formal movies, television, and live theatre viewing challenges.

On the reading side of things, in 2025, I hit my overall book and short story goals but on the viewing side of things, I only got close to my goal for live theater, and majorly dropped the ball on my television and movie viewing goals. Instead of one large annual wrap-up post, I’m going to make a series of shorter posts: one for overall numbers (probably tomorrow), one for books, two for short stories (the first of which will go up on Sunday January 4), one for comic books, one for live theater and other live events (Thursday, January 8), and one for television/movies.

Once again, this year, I’m sticking mostly to the basic challenges:

365 SHORT STORIES CHALLENGE

Every year, I challenge myself to read one short story per day. Some years I keep the pace well, and some years I fall behind and then scramble to catch up (and some years, I catch up and fall behind again, and some years I blow past the goal handily). I’m defining “short story” as anything from flash fiction to novella-length. I am going to once again make an effort to review one or two stories every Sunday in my “Sunday Shorts” feature.

GOODREADS CHALLENGE

Goodreads allows members to set a challenge. In previous years, I’ve set goals ranging from 125 to 150 books. For 2025, I’m setting a goal of 120 to start with (10 books per month), and we’ll see what happens.

MOVIE CHALLENGE

I own a lot of DVDs. (I know, you’re shocked. Shocked!) Every year I say, “This is the year I’m going to make an effort to watch them!” And then, somehow, I … don’t. One year, I did a list of 12 and two alternates as I used to do for the ToBeRead Challenge, called it the ToBeWatched Challenge … and failed it miserably. In 2024, I got about halfway to the goal of 52 movies (an average of one per week). In 2025, not so much. So this year, I’m setting myself the same challenge. This includes movies on DVD, streaming services, and any trips to an actual movie theater (which have become rare for me).

TELEVISION CHALLENGE

Did I mention I own a lot of DVDs? And that I’m subscribed to a lot of streaming services? I did? Well, you won’t be shocked to know that it’s not all about the movies. So I’m setting myself a “TV Series Watch” challenge akin to my Short Story Challenge: an average of one full episode of a television series (regardless of length) for each day in the year, which this year means 365 episodes.

LIVE THEATRE CHALLENGE

I did pretty well with this one in 2025, even though I didn’t manage to post reviews of everything. So I’m continuing the goal for 2026: I want to see at least 1 live theatrical performance per month. Most of them will be in New York City, but I’ll count any play, musical, opera, ballet, or staged reading I see anywhere, regardless of whether it’s fully professional productions, college, community theatre, whatever. (Music concerts, author signings, and conferences/conventions do not count towards this but will be tracked separately.)

COMIC BOOK CHALLENGE

I also own a lot of comic books. I went “cold turkey” on buying new comics about 20 years ago for budget and space reasons. But then in 2018 Seanan McGuire and Saladin Ahmed, two authors whose work I love, started writing various comics for Marvel and thought brought me back into buying monthly comics. And I keep buying more. 2025 was the first year I actually tracked every individual comic book issue (“floppies,” as some people call them) I read, so I’m going to make this an official Challenge for 2026: as with the short stories and the television episodes, I plan to read at least one comic book (new or back issue) for every day of the year … so again, 365 total.

ALPHABET CHALLENGE

I saw at the beginning of 2025 several book bloggers posting about various alphabet challenges: one book title for each letter of the alphabet, one author for each letter of the alphabet. I made a good run at both in 2025 without necessarily making reading decisions based on either, so I think I’m going to do them again in 2026.

 NOVELLA NOVEMBER

I’ve made NovellaNovember (or, as another book blogger on Bluesky coined it, Novellavember) a thing for the past few years. My goal is to promote and discuss novellas and short novels (and even novelettes) throughout the month, including publisher, author and editor interviews. I say every year I’m going to shoot for a novella day, but I think I’ll make that a novella every two days for 2026.

OTHER UNOFFICIAL CHALLENGES

There are a few ongoing (in some cases, sort of life-long, or at least second-half-of-my-life long) challenges that I don’t think I’ve ever written about here. For instance, I’m well on my way to having read everything Bram Stoker ever wrote. Here are those challenges, and I’m going to do my best to create dedicated posts early in the year showing what I’ve already read/watched for each challenge and then update as I go along. Again, these are multi-year challenges:

·       The Complete Bram Stoker Read-Through

·       The Complete Seanan McGuire Read-Through

·       The Complete Silvia Moreno-Garcia Read-Through

·       The Complete Philip Jose Farmer Read-Through

·       The Complete Edgar Rice Burroughs Read-Through

·       The Complete Maurice Broaddus Read-Through

• The Complete Perry Rhodan Read-Through

·       The Complete Dark Shadows Rewatch

·       The Complete Doctor Who Rewatch

·       The Complete Star Trek Rewatch

·       The Complete Planet of the Apes Rewatch

·       The Complete Brother Cadfael Read-Through and Rewatch

·       The Complete A.A. Fair (Cool and Lam series) Read-Through

·       The Complete Marvel Comics 1970s Novels Reread

·       The Complete Hard Case Crime Read-Through

·       The Complete Radium Age of Science Fiction Read-Through

·       The Complete American Mystery Classics Read-Through

·       The Complete Doc Savage Read-Through

·       The Complete Three Investigators Read-Through

·       The Complete Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Girl From U.N.C.L.E. Read-Through and Rewatch

·       The Complete All-Star Squadron Reread

·       The Complete The Invaders (Marvel Comics) Reread

·       The Complete Starman (2000’s DC) Reread

·       The Complete Tomb of Dracula Reread

·       The Complete Micronauts and ROM Reread

·       The Complete Shakespeare Watch (either Live theater or filmed)

·       Read A Book or Story From Every Nation in the World

·       Read a Book From Every State and US Territory

·       Read a Book from Every Canadian Province/Territory

And one of these days I would really like to finish creating a list of every book I remember reading in my life.

ACCOUNTABILITY

So how am I going to hold myself accountable? I’m planning to bring back my monthly Reading RoundUps. (I know, I know … I said this in the 2025 Challenge post and failed miserably at actually doing it. Second time’s the charm?) I’m not going to rename/rebrand because I like the alliterative title (which falls well in line with Series Saturday, Sunday Shorts, and a few other blog series I’m hoping to make regular features again in 2026), but those posts will also track the Viewing challenges.

I would love to hear what YOUR Reading, Writing, or Viewing Challenges are for 2024. Let me know in the comments!

Reading Round-Up: 2024

Time for my annual round-up of what I read and watched in 2024.

I … did not do well on most of the reading and watching challenges I set for myself for 2024. Even though so many of them overlapped (the Graphic Novel Challenge and Non-Fiction Challenge and TBR Challenge all fed into my Goodreads (Read 120 books) Challenge, for examples). I managed to complete the two “big” reading challenges (120 books, 366 short stories), but didn’t come close on the subsidiary challenges. Nor did I come close on my “watching” challenges, as we’ll see below. I did do well on my “see live theater” challenge, as discussed in yesterday’s post.

BOOKS

I did manage to read 120 books in 2024: 13 hardcovers, 49 softcover/paperbacks, 35 e-books, and 23 audiobooks.

Monthly distribution: 10 in January; 9 in February; 8 in March; 15 in April; 9 in May; 9 in June; 14 in July; 8 in August; 7 in September; 11 in October; 5 in November; and 15 in December.

I read work from approximately 110 different creators (authors and anthology editors mostly, but also adding in graphic novels artists, colorists, and letterers).

Genre Breakdown:

·       Adventure: 4

·       Biography: 1

·       Children’s Books: 3

·       Crime: 2

·       Pop culture analysis: 4

·       Fantasy: 23

·       Historical fiction: 3

·       History: 2

·       Horror: 22

·       Memoirs: 13

·       Mimetic/current day fiction: 3

·       Mixed genre short story collections: 2

·       Mystery: 2

·       Playscripts: 3

·       Romance: 7

·       Science Fiction: 13

·       Spy fiction: 1

·       Superhero: 9

·       Thriller: 1

These were my own rough classifications, and in hindsight I’m not sure why I broke crime fiction, mysteries, spy fiction, and thrillers into separate categories. I was surprised to realize I read a lot more horror than I thought, and fewer memoirs than I thought. And also, for the first year in a while, not a single poetry collection. I am not a big poetry reader, but I usually like to at least try to read a collection or two during National Poetry Month.

STORIES

I did manage to read 366 short stories in 2024 (since 2024 was a leap year), by 200 different authors.

The monthly breakdown: 26 in January; 19 in February; 34 in March; 42 in April; 37 in May; 21 in June; 23 in July; 24 in August; 44 in September; 31 in October; 22 in November, and 43 in December.

46 of those stories were in anthologies (there were quite a few anthologies that I only read a story or two in, though); 7 were on Author Patreons or websites; 6 were in printed chapbooks; 124 were in single-author collections; 175 were in magazines (pretty much all in e-book form); 4 were additional material at the back of a novel; 1 was on a publisher’s website; and 2 were stand-alone e-books.

Genre breakdown:

·       Comedy: 1

·       Crime: 22

·       Fantasy: 109

·       Horror: 118

·       Mimetic/modern-day: 11

·       Mystery: 1

·       Pulp adventure: 4

·       Romance: 6

·       Science Fiction: 92

·       Spy fiction: 1

·       Thriller: 1

Again, I’m surprised that I read a bit more horror than I thought I did. And I’m still not sure why I separated crime, mystery, and thriller into distinct subcategories. With the magazines in particular, I tended to stick to familiar ground: Lightspeed, Nightmare, Clarkesworld, The Dark, and towards the end of the year Beneath Ceaseless Skies a bit more regularly. Towards the end of the year I also realized that I have a lot of anthologies that have been on my shelves a long time and that I will probably never get around to reading in their entirety, so I started just reading a story or two in random anthologies before putting them in the “bring to the used bookstore or donate” boxes.

MOVIES

I didn’t even come close on my “watch 52 movies” challenge. But I did make it to 24, so kind of half-way there.

I had challenged myself to watch more of the several hundred DVDs I own (split between movies and television series). 17 of the 24 movies watched were on DVD. 6 were on streaming services, and 1 was in a ballroom at the Pulpfest convention.

Genre breakdown:

·       Action: 1

·       Biography: 1

·       Documentary: 1

·       Horror: 2

·       Kaiju: 8 (all the Showa Era “Gamera” movies)

·       Musical: 1

·       Mystery: 1

·       Noir: 2

·       Romance: 1

·       Science Fiction: 1

·       Super-Heroes: 3

·       Thriller: 1

These 24 movies were the work of 19 different directors.

TELEVISION

I did a little better on my “watch 366 episodes of television” challenge. I managed 232 distinct episodes across 21 series on 8 different streaming services (plus 4 episodes of Doctor Who watched in full at the Pandorica Restaurant in Beacon NY, which you really should visit if you’re a Doctor Who fan and you’re in the NY/NJ/CT/PA area).

Genre breakdown:

·       Comedy: 3 series

·       Fantasy: 5 series

·       Romance: 1 series

·       Science Fiction: 5 series

·       Spy: 1 series

·       Super-Heroes: 3 series

·       Talk Show: 1 series

·       Variety/Comedy Specials: 2

Summary of Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: 7 of 15 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: 366 of 366 read.

Goodreads Challenge: 120 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge: 17 of 52 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: 22 of 12 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: YTD: 2 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: 24 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: 232 of 366 watched.

READING ROUND-UP: July 2024

Here’s what I read, listened to, and watched in July 2024!

BOOKS

I read 15 books in July: 9 in print, 3 in e-book format, and 3 in audio format. They were:

1.       Represent! by Rosalie Mastaler, Hunter Mastaler and Brant Day (PRINT)

2.       Let the Games Begin by Rosalie Mastaler, Hunter Mastaler and Betty Yuku (PRINT)

3.       Hunter's Tall Tales by Rosalie Mastaler, Hunter Mastaler, and Danelle Prestwich (PRINT)

4.       A Scout Is Brave by Will Ludwigsen (E-BOOK) REVIEW HERE

5.       Caesar Now Be Still (Wilson Hargreave #1) by Frank Schildiner (E-BOOK) REVIEW HERE

6.       Changes in the Land by Matthew Cheney (PRINT)

7.       Prez: Setting a Dangerous President by Mark Russell, Benjamin Caldwell, Wilfredo Torres, Mark Morales, and others (PRINT, Graphic Novel Challenge)

8.       Reflections (Indexing #2) by Seanan McGuire (AUDIO)

9.       Star Trek Adventures: The Operations Division Supplemental Rulebook by Chris McCarver, Andy Peregrine, Jack Geiger, and others (PRINT)

10.   Dancing on the Edge by Russ Tamblyn (AUDIO, non-fiction challenge)

11.   Lovely Creatures by KT Bryski (PRINT)

12.   A Stick-Figure Macbeth by Mya L. Gosling (PRINT) REVIEW HERE

13.   Super Sons: The Complete Collection Book 1 by Peter J. Tomasi, Jorge Jiminez, Patrick Gleason, Carlo Barberi, and others (PRINT, graphic novel challenge)

14.   We by Yvgeney Zamyatin, translated by Clarence Brown (AUDIO)

15.   Victory Harben: Tales from the Void, edited by Christopher Paul Carey (E-BOOK, ARC (book to be published in September)

STORIES

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 Last Lucid Day” by Dominique Dickey in Lightspeed Magazine #170, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “The Only Writing Advice You'll Ever Need to Survive Eldritch Horrors” by Aimee Picchi

3.       “The Heist for the Soul of Humanity” by Filip Hajdar Drnovšek

4.       “The Aliens Said They Want to Party” by Joel W.D. Buxton

5.       “Songs of the Sorrow of Thorns” by Amayah Perveen

6.       “The Red Queen's Heart” by Vanessa Fogg

7.       “A Guide on How to Meet the Deity of Many Faces” by Oyedotun Damilola Muess

8.       “Between Above and Below” by Carrie Vaughn

9.       “The Girl Who Loved Peacocks” by Seanan McGuire, from the Author’s Patreon

10.   “The Terms and Conditions of Kindness” by James Bennett, from The Dark #110, edited by Clara Madrigano and Sean Wallace

11.   “That Maddening Heat” by Ray Cluley

12.   “Every Hopeless Thing” by Tia Tashiro, from Clarkesworld #214, edited by Neil Clarke

13.   “Pellucidar: Dark of the Sun” by Christopher Paul Carey, from Victory Harben: Tales from the Void, edited by Christopher Paul Carey

14.   “Victory Harben: Clash on Caspak” by Mike Wolfer

15.   “Victory Harben: Stormwinds of Va-Nah” by Ann Tonsor Zeddies

16.   “Victory Harben and the Lord of the Veiled Eye” by Christopher Paul Carey

17.   “Jason Gridley of Earth: Across the Moons of Mars” by Geary Gravel

18.   “Beyond the Farthest Star: Rescue on Zandar” by Mike Wolfer

19.   “Grottmata” by Thomas Ha, from Nightmare Magazine #142, edited by Wendy N. Wagner

20.   “Automaton Boy” by Sara S. Messenger

21.   “The Museum of Cosmic Retribution” by Megan Chee

22.   “Tamaza's Future and Mine” by Kenneth Schneyer, from Asimov's Science Fiction 582/583, edited by Sheila Williams

23.   “The Phantasmagoria of Castle Specfel” by Greta Hayer, from Kaleidotrope Summer 2024, edited by Fred Coppersmith

So that’s 23 short stories in July. Less than “1 per day” again, which puts me slightly behind again for the year! (July 31st was the 213th day of 2024.)

MOVIES

I watched one movie in July:

1.       The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

The week ending July 28th was the 31st week of the year, so I’m still way behind on the “1 movie per week” challenge.

TELEVISION

·       Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2, Episodes 1 – 20 (20 episodes)

That’s 20 episodes of television, which is well below the “1 per day” I was shooting for and keeps me behind the pace for this challenge.

LIVE THEATER

I didn’t get to any live theatrical performances in July!

Summary of Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 6 of 15 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month:  23 read; YTD: 202 of 366 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 15 read; YTD: 75 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 2 read; YTD: 15 of 52 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 3 read; YTD: 12 of 12 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 1 read/watched; YTD: 2 read/watched. (I read The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie earlier in the year and finally watched the movie this month.)

Movie Challenge: This month: 1 watched; YTD: 17 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 20 episodes watched; YTD: 149 of 366 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 0 shows attended; YTD: 9 of 12 attended.

READING ROUND-UP: June 2024

A little late in the month, here’s what I read, listened to, and watched in June 2024!

BOOKS

I read 9 books in June: 4 in print, 4 in e-book format, and 1 in audio format. They were:

1.       Next of Kin (Stardust and Ashes Book 1) by Melinda Mitchell (PRINT, Sparta Books Book Club pick)

2.       Losing Hit Points by Kristopher Mielke (E-BOOK)

3.       The Unwanted by Jeffrey Ricker (E-BOOK, To Be Read Challenge)

4.       Fever by Jordan L. Hawk (E-BOOK)

5.       The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag (PRINT, Graphic Novel Challenge)

6.       You Like It Darker: Stories by Stephen King (PRINT)

7.       Captain Kid Volume 1 by Mark Waid, Tom Peyer, Wilfredo Torres, Kelly Fitzpatrick, and A Larger World (PRINT, Graphic Novel Challenge)

8.       Pangs by Jerry Wheeler (E-BOOK, To Be Read Challenge)

9.       Indexing (Indexing #1) by Seanan McGuire (AUDIO)

STORIES

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 Waking Sleep of a Seething Wound” by dave ring in Lightspeed Magazine #169, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Udo Gehler and the Virgin Bitch of the Resistance” by Andrea Kriz

3.       “The Help Hotline” by Dominica Phettleplace

4.       “Warning Notes from an Annihilator Machine” by Oyedotun Damilola Muess

5.       “Sparrow and the Parasol” by Varsha Dinesh

6.       “An Otherworldly Cat Tells You the Secrets of the Universe” by Megan Chee

7.       “In the Hands of the Mountain God” by Deborah L. Davitt

8.       “The Weight of Salt” by Shanna Germain

9.       “No One Leaves for Good” by Seanan McGuire, from the Author’s Patreon

10.   “Two Talented Bastids” by Stephen King, from You Like It Darker: Stories

11.   “The Fifth Step” by Stephen King

12.   “Willie the Weirdo” by Stephen King

13.   “Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream” by Stephen King

14.   “Finn” by Stephen King

15.   “On Slide Inn Road” by Stephen King

16.   “Red Screen” by Stephen King

17.   “The Turbulence Expert” by Stephen King

18.   “Laurie” by Stephen King

19.   “Rattlesnakes” by Stephen King

20.   “The Dreamers” by Stephen King

21.   “The Answer Man” by Stephen King

So that’s 21 short stories in June. Less than “1 per day” again, which puts me slightly behind again for the year! (June 30th was the 182nd day of 2024.)

MOVIES

I watched five movies in June:

1.       Beautiful Thing (1996)

2.       Gamera vs. Jiger (1970)

3.       Gamera vs. Zigra (1971)

4.       Gamera: Super Monster (1980)

5.       Jim Henson Idea Man (2024)

The week ending June 30th was the 26th week of the year, so I’m still way behind on the “1 movie per week” challenge.

TELEVISION

·       Shoresy Season 3, Episodes 1 – 6 (6 episodes)

·       Doctor Who (2024) Season 1, Episodes 6-8 (3 episodes)

·       Dead Boy Detectives Season 1, Episodes 1 – 8 (8 episodes)

·       The 77th Annual Tony Awards (1 episode)

That’s 18 episodes of television, which is well below the “1 per day” I was shooting for and keeps me behind the pace for this challenge.

LIVE THEATER

·       The Play That Goes Wrong Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Central Valley PA

·       N/A, Mitzi Newhouse Theatre, Lincoln Center, NYC

Summary of Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 2 read; YTD: 6 of 15 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month:  21 read; YTD: 179 of 366 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 9 read; YTD: 60 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 2 read; YTD: 13 of 52 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 9 of 12 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0 read/watched; YTD: 1 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 5 watched; YTD: 16 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 18 episodes watched; YTD: 129 of 366 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 2 shows attended; YTD: 9 of 12 attended.

READING ROUND-UP: May 2024

Here’s what I’ve been reading, listening to, and watching in May 2024!

BOOKS

I read 14 books in May: 4 in print, 1 in e-book format, and 4 in audio format. They were:

1.       Mercedes General by Jerry L. Wheeler (PRINT, short story collection)

2.       All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business by Mel Brooks (AUDIO, Non-Fiction Challenge, To Be Read Challenge (audio alternate title))

3.       Or by Liz Duffy Adams (PRINT) (also saw staged reading live performance)

4.       Tommy's Tale by Alan Cumming (AUDIO)

5.       The Women by Kristin Hannah (PRINT, Sparta Books Book Club June selection)

6.       Merlin's Booke by Jane Yolen (PRINT, To Be Read Challenge (print alternate title)

7.       Rita Moreno: A Memoir by Rita Moreno (AUDIO, Non-Fiction Challenge)

8.       You Can Thank Me Later by Kelly Harms (AUDIO)

9.       Tidal Creatures (Alchemical Journeys #3) by Seanan McGuire (E-BOOK, ARC)

STORIES

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.       “We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read” by Caroline M. Yoachim in Lightspeed Magazine #168, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “The Last Thing They See Is Laika” by Stephen Geigen-Miller

3.       “Over A Long Time Ago” by Nisi Shawl

4.       “Chaos Theory” by Ash Howell

5.       “Done Deal” by Rory Harper

6.       “Exit Interview” by Ben Peek

7.       “And the Dreams That You Dare to Dream” by Marissa Lingen

8.       “Richard Nixon and the Princess of Crows” by P H Lee

9.       “A Pilgrimage to the God of High Places” by Marissa Lingen, from Beneath Ceaseless Skies #406 edited by Scott H. Andrews

10.   “A Series of Accounts Surrounding the Risen Lady of the Orun-Alai and Other Alleged Miracles in the Final Days of the Riverlands War” by Aimee Ogden

11.   “Fishy” by Alice Towey, from Clarkesworld #212, edited by Neil Clarke

12.   “The Portmeirion Road” by Fiona Moore

13.   “In Which Caruth is Correct” by Carolyn Zhao

14.   “The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video” by Thomas Ha

15.   “An Offering from the Void” by Daniel David Froid, from Nightmare Magazine #140, edited by Wendy N. Wagner

16.   “Solve This One, Mrs. Miller” by Carlie St. George

17.   “like blood on the mouths of death” by Victor Forna

18.   “The Girl with No Hands” by Jordan Taylor, from Kaleidotrope Spring 2024, edited by Fred Coppersmith

19.   “The Blood of Raizor” by Jason Scott Aiken, from Strange Incursions

20.   “Galazi in the Enchanted City” by Jason Scott Aiken

21.   “The Confession of Brother Blaise” by Jane Yolen, from Merlin’s Booke

22.   “The Wild Child” by Jane Yolen

23.   “Dream Reader” by Jane Yolen

24.   “The Gwynhfar” by Jane Yolen

25.   “The Dragon's Boy” by Jane Yolen

26.   “The Sword and the Stone” by Jane Yolen

27.   “Evian Steel” by Jane Yolen

28.   “In the Whitethorn Wood” by Jane Yolen

29.   “Epitaph” by Jane Yolen

30.   “Fringe” by Jerry L. Wheeler, from Mercedes General

31.   “The Circus” by Jerry L. Wheeler

32.   “The 12:40 to Chicago” by Jerry L. Wheeler

33.   “The Incident” by Jerry L. Wheeler

34.   “Senior Prom for a Mob” by Jerry L. Wheeler

35.   “Pavane for Three Dead Women” by Jerry L. Wheeler

36.   “Mercedes General” by Jerry L. Wheeler

37.   “Another Death, Another Path” by Jerry L. Wheeler

So that’s 37 short stories in May. More than “1 per day” for the first time this year, which puts me back on pace, and slightly ahead, for the year! (May 31st was the 152nd day of 2024.)

MOVIES

I only watched two movies in May:

1.       Baby Driver (2017)

2.       Gamera Vs. Guiron (1969)

The week ending May 26th was the 21st week of the year, so I’m still way behind on the “1 movie per week” challenge.

TELEVISION

·       Shoresy Season 2, Episodes 1 – 6 (6 episodes)

·       Doctor Who (2024) Season 1, Episodes 1-5 (5 episodes)

·       Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episodes 1 – 10 (10 episodes)

·       Star Trek: Short Treks Season 1, Episode 2 (1 episode)

·       The Ready Room Season 14, Episodes 2 – 10 (9 episodes)

·       Larry Dean: Fandan Comedy Special (1 episode)

That’s 32 episodes of television, which surpasses the “1 per day” I was shooting for but still puts me behind the pace for this challenge.

LIVE THEATER

·       Or, What She Will Red Bull Theatre, NYC

Summary of Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 2 read (both from the “alternates” list); YTD: 4 of 15 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month:  37 read; YTD: 158 of 366 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 10 read; YTD: 51 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 0 read; YTD: 11 of 52 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 2 read; YTD: 9 of 12 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0 read/watched; YTD: 1 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 2 watched; YTD: 11 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 32 episodes watched; YTD: 111 of 366 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 1 show attended; YTD: 7 of 12 attended.

READING ROUNDUP: April 2024

Here’s what I’ve been reading, listening to, and watching in April 2024!

BOOKS

I read 14 books in April: 7 in print, 3 in e-book format, and 4 in audio format. They were:

1.       Triad Blood (Triad #1) by ‘Nathan Burgoine (PRINT)

2.       The Brides of High Hill (Singing Hills Cycle #5) by Nghi Vo (E-BOOK)

3.       Macbeth (an undoing) by Zinnie Harris (PRINT) (also saw a live production)

4.       Triad Soul (Triad #2) by ‘Nathan Burgoine (PRINT)

5.       Becoming by Michelle Obama (AUDIOBOOK, Non-Fiction Challenge, 2024 TBR Challenge)

6.       Stories of a Lifetime by Dan Rather (AUDIOBOOK, Non-Fiction Challenge)

7.       Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes Book 1) by Travis Baldree (E-BOOK)

8.       The Champions Classic: The Complete Collection by Tony Isabella, Bill Mantlo, Don Heck, John Byrne and others. (PRINT, Graphic Novel Challenge)

9.       House of Slaughter Volume 3: The Butcher's Return by James Tynion IV, Tate Brombal, Werther Dell’Edera, Antonio Fuso and Miquel Muerto (PRINT, Graphic Novel Challenge)

10.   House of Slaughter Volume 4: Alabaster by James Tynion IV, Sam Johns, Werther Dell’Edera, Letizia Cadonici and Francesco Segala (PRINT, Graphic Novel Challenge)

11.   All The Names They Used for God: Stories by Anjali Sachdeva (AUDIOBOOK, short story challenge)

12.   Paradox Lost by Roberta Pescow (E-BOOK, short story challenge)

13.   Breaking Bold and Brave: A Fan's Journey Through One of Comics' Greatest Titles by Jim Beard (introduction by Paul Kupperberg) (PRINT, Non-Fiction Challenge)

14.   Harry Clarke by David Cale (AUDIOBOOK)

STORIES

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.       “A Pedra” by Endria Isa Richardson, in Lightspeed Magazine #167, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Under a Star, Bright as Morning” by David Anaxagoras

3.       “Mother's Day, After Everything” by Susan Palwick

4.       “Limping Towards Sunrise” by Rich Larson

5.       “a testament to indirection, an enigma, the sun above” by Mitchell Shanklin

6.       “How To Know Your Father Is a God” by Modepeoluwa Shelle

7.       “Salemo” by David Marino

8.       “Travelers' Tales from the Ends of the World” by Vandana Singh

9.       “A Traveler's Guide to Fantastical Countries” by Seanan McGuire, on the Author’s Patreon

10.   “Vivisepulture” by James Bennett, from The Dark #107, edited by Sean Wallace

11.   “Water Like Broken Glass” by Carina Bissett

12.   “Imago” by Steve Rasnic Tem

13.   “Dead But Dreaming Still” by Michael Kelly

14.   “The Coffee of Torcat” by Devin Miller, from Beneath Ceaseless Skies #404 edited by Scott H. Andrews

15.   “The Lark Ascending” by Eleanna Castroianni, from Clarkesworld #211, edited by Neil Clarke

16.   “An Intergalactic Smuggler's Guide to Homecoming” by Tia Tashiro

17.   “Stitched to Skin Like Family Is” by Nghi Vo, from Uncanny Magazine #57, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas

18.   “The Best Ever Cosplay of Whistle and Midnight” by Annalee Newitz

19.   “Three” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, from Blood Sacraments: Gay Vampire Erotica, edited by Todd Gregory

20.   “Possession” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, from Erotica Exotica: Tales of Sex, Magic, and the Supernatural, edited by Richard LaBonté

21.   “Bound” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, from Not Just Another Pretty Face, edited by Louis Flint Ceci

22.   “The World by Night” by Anjali Sachdeva, from All the Names They Used for God

23.   “Glass-Lung” by Anjali Sachdeva

24.   “Logging Lake” by Anjali Sachdeva

25.   “Killer of Kings” by Anjali Sachdeva

26.   “All the Names They Used for God” by Anjali Sachdeva

27.   “Robert Greenman and the Mermaid” by Anjali Sachdeva

28.   “Anything You Might Want” by Anjali Sachdeva

29.   “Manus” by Anjali Sachdeva

30.   “Pleiades” by Anjali Sachdeva

31.   “A Life in the Service” by Roberta Pescow, from Paradox Lost

32.   “Bad Left Turns” by Roberta Pescow

33.   “A Monster's Tears” by Roberta Pescow

34.   “Be Right Back” by Roberta Pescow

35.   “A Presence Beyond the Shadows” by David Lee Summers, from Arithmophobia: An Anthology of Mathematical Horror, edited by Robert Lewis

36.   “The Artful Eagle” By Barbara Krasnoff, from Kaleidotrope Magazine, Spring 2024, edited by Fred Coppersmith

37.   “Where the Girls Who Were Eaten Alive Live” by R.K. Duncan

38.   “Pillow Fort” by Alexandra Munck

39.   “Harry Clarke” by David Cale, from Harry Clarke

40.   “Lillian” by David Cale

41.   “Necessary Evils” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, from Raising Hell: Demonic Gay Erotica, edited by Todd Gregory

42.   “Intercession” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, from Wings: Subsersive Gay Angel Erotica, edited by Todd Gregory

So that’s 42 short stories in April. More than “1 per day” for the first time this year, which puts me back on pace for the year! (April 30th was the 121st day of 2024.)

MOVIES

April was an improvement over March because I managed to watch four movies in April:

1.       Knock at the Cabin (2023)

2.       Gamera vs. Viras (1968)

3.       Just What the Doctor Ordered (2021)

4.       Doctor Who: The Movie (1996)

TELEVISION

·       Heartstopper Season 1, Episodes 1-8 (8 episodes)

·       Heartstopper Season 2, Episodes 1 – 8 (8 episodes)

That’s 16 episodes of television, again not the “1 per day” I was shooting for, and slightly worse than February’s total.

LIVE THEATER

It was another good month for live theater:

·       Macbeth (an undoing), Polonsky Shakespeare Center, Brooklyn, NYC

·       Water For Elephants, Imperial Theatre, NYC

Summary of Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 1 read; YTD: 2 of 14 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month:  42 read; YTD: 121 of 366 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 14 read; YTD: 41 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 3 read; YTD: 11 of 52 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 3 read; YTD: 7 of 12 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0 read/watched; YTD: 1 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 4 watched; YTD: 9 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 16 episodes watched; YTD: 79 of 366 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 2 shows attended; YTD: 6 of 12 attended.