Sunday, May 31, 2015

Day 31: Flies

by Robert Silverberg from Dangerous Visions

Another Sci-Fi Sunday selection.

Rating: 7/10

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Day 30: The Little Match Girl

by Hans Christian Anderson

After a week of Munro, I decided to try and find a classic that was new to me.  I figured Hans Christian Anderson was a good choice and picked this story that was new to me.

This story was much more too my liking than some of the other 'classic' stories I have read.

Rating: 7/10

Friday, May 29, 2015

Day 29: The Coming Out of Maggie

by O'Henry

I decided to finish out the month with the O'Henry Friday.

This story was a perfect end to my reading of O'Henry.  Like most of the stories I read of his, they seem very much stuck in the period of time that he is writing.  I failed to find the timelessness in his stories that I feel make a great story teller.

Rating: 3/10

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Monday, May 25, 2015

Day 25: The Wolves of Cernogazt

by H.H. Munro from americanliterature.com

After reading the longer stories from East of the West, I needed some quicker reads this week.  Decided to take this week and read 6 stories by H. H. Munro.

Rating 6/10

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Day 24: Evensong

by Lester del Rey in Dangerous Visions I

Sci-Fi Sunday and I decided I would be reading from this anthology for a while.

This was a great story and a perfect example of why I love reading Sci-Fi.  

Rating: 9/10

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Friday, May 22, 2015

Day 22: A Service of Love

by O'Henry

Ok... I think this will be my last O'Henry story.  I didn't hate this one so I think I will leave him with this his parting thought.

Rating: 5/10

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Monday, May 18, 2015

Day 18: East of the West

by Miroslav Penkov from East of the West

Another amazing story.  I'm am really glad I discovered this book to ready while in Bulgaria.  But even if we were not visiting I would want to read these stories.

Rating: 9/10

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Day 17: Fragments of a Hologram Rose

by William Gibson in Burning Chrome


Sci-Fi Sunday!  This one felt a little more like an idea for a story than a complete story.


Rating: 5/10

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Day 16: Makedonija

by Miroslav Penkov from East of the West

Since we are visiting Bulgaria I decided to look for stories about Bulgaria to read while we are there. 

This was an amazing story and my favorite to date.  There was so much to like about this story from the history of the country to the descriptions of an older married couple nearing the end of their lives.  The fact we were visiting the country at the time of the reading only added the overall enjoyment of this story.

Rating: 10/10

Friday, May 15, 2015

Day 15: The Skylight Room

by O'Henry from 100 selected stories.

These O'Henry stories are just not doing it for me.  I think I will finish the month with O'Henry Fridays and then move on to something else.

Rating: 4/10

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Monday, May 11, 2015

Day 11: Roselily

by Alice Walker from In Love and Trouble

I am just going to do ratings for some of these stories unless something stands out to me.

Rating 5/10

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Day 10: The Gernsback Continuum

by William Gibson in Burning Chrome

Sci-Fi Sunday.  I really enjoyed this story.  The imagery of the futuristic architectural style of the 1930's was something I had never really thought about.  It tied neatly into a quick story that I really enjoyed.

Rating: 8/10

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Day 9: The Schreuderspitze

by Mark Helprin from Ellis Island

We are starting this collection as well as a collection by Alice Walker.  We will alternate stories from the two books with the exception of our Sci-Fi Sunday and O'Henry Friday.

This is may favorite story so far.  Another longer story that deals with lose and how a person moves forward when they have lost everything.

Rating: 9/10

Friday, May 8, 2015

Day 8: Between Rounds

by O'Henry from 100 selected stories.

Ok...so far my two least favorite stories have been the O' Henry stories.  I will continue with the O'Henry Friday for another couple weeks but if they stories don't get better, I might abandon him on Fridays.

This was a rather boring story that really didn't go anywhere.  Add to that, this was really the first story of the project that I did not care for the writing.

Rating: 2/10

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Day 7: The Provincials

by Daniel Alarcon in The Best American Short Stories 2013

This is another rather long short stories.  It is hard to rate a story that is 4 pages long against a story that is 40 pages long.  I think in general I have enjoyed the longer stories simply because they are much more like a novel and this is what I normally read.

This had a couple very interesting characters in a setting that I found very interesting.  I have not read much about how Mexicans react to people who return to Mexico after leaving for the US.

Rating 7/10

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Day 6: The Death of a Clerk

by Anton Chekhov from Selected Stories of Chekhov

First, I love 19th century Russian writers.  I think The Brother's Karamazov is the greatest novel ever written.  I love Tolstoy and Gogol as well.  But for some reason I had never had the chance to read Chekhov till now.

This was almost like a satire of a 19th century Russian story.  Government clerk. Check.  Internal existential crisis. Check.  Death. Check.

All the pieces are there but present in a way that to me feels satiric.

Rating: 6/10

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Day 5: The Statement of Randolph Carter

by H.P. Lovecraft from Complete Writings of H.P. Lovecraft

I had read a few Lovecraft stories as a teenager but believe they were a couple of his longer works.  When I saw Lovecraft on my friends short story list, I thought this would be a good time to revisit his writing.

This was a quick story that is exactly what I would expect from a Lovecraft story. Great writing that really sets an atmosphere. 

Rating: 7/10

Monday, May 4, 2015

Day 4: Ysrael

by Junot Diaz in Drown

This is about 3 boys but only the one who we don't really know and who is disfigured is at all likable.  Maybe that is the point but the story left me feeling depressed.  Well written and a complete story but the subject of the story was unpleasant at best.

Rating: 6/10


Sunday, May 3, 2015

Day 3: Semley's Necklace

by Ursula K. Le Guin in The Wind's Twelve Quarters

Sci-Fi Sunday:  I decided to read a Sci-Fi story every Sunday.

I have read only one novel by Le Guin so I was happy to add this collection of her short stories to the list.  This was a little longer the the other short stories I have read this far, but I really enjoyed this story.  It was a little slow to develop  for a short story but the resolution was well done.  Excited to read more of these stories in the coming weeks.

Rating 8/10

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Day 2: Why Don't You Dance

by Raymond Carver from What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

I really enjoyed this 'story.'  I say story since it is really more of a scene that is left without answers.  But I find the lack of resolution works well in this situation.

Rating: 8/10

Friday, May 1, 2015

Day 1: Cosmopolite in a cafe

by O'Henry from 100 selected stories.

Having only read one story from O'Henry before this, 'Gift of a Magi' I was unsure exactly what to expect.  This was not my favorite story.  It was interestingly written but the story really did not interest me in the slightest.

Rating: 4/10