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Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen

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Started: 8/19/19
Gave up: 8/23/19

Time travel story that’s a little heavy-handed on the SF aspect.  I like hard SF, and I like time travel, but there’s something about the way we’re being told about the time travel bureau that feels amateurish.  The plot device for it could work, but it’s too clinical, I think.  Too much telling, not enough showing, maybe.  And the fact that the guy is in trouble for something he a) couldn’t control, and b) CAN’T REMEMBER seems really crappy.  Not finishing!

We Have Always Died In The Castle by Elizabeth Bear

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Started: 8/18/19
Finished: 8/19/19

Short story by an author I like, but I was led astray by the title.  I assumed, since with one word changed, it’s the title of a Shirley Jackson book, that it would be similar or related to that book.  It’s not, not at all.  The title is perfectly appropriate to the story, and a cute nod to Shirley Jackson, but I spent a lot of time (for such a short story) trying to figure out the connection.  I might have enjoyed it more without that.  It’s about a virtual reality game company employee who has “volunteered” to do some training to avoid being fired for being a jerk, basically. Will she learn? Will she grow?  Once I let go of the title, I liked it.

Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones

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Started: 8/12/19
Finished: 8/18/19

Another book that was good but one I don’t know if I liked.  It’s a coming of age story, but the framing device was a little confusing…and then I was totally engrossed in the story, and the framing device sort of starts to make sense near the end (most of the story is within the frame, so it doesn’t matter in the moment), but then the very end made NO sense to me.  The book includes an essay by the author about the themes and inspirations, and I can tell you I missed all of that. It did make everything make more sense, and I don’t mean to say that the book didn’t make sense (except for the end, which was confusing), and now I’m not making sense, so I’ll end by saying that this book could be taught in a literature course and the students would get a lot out of it.

Creatures of Will and Temper by Molly Tanzer

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Started: 8/4/19
Finished: 8/12/19

A gender-swapped take on The Picture of Dorian Gray, but with magic (okay, like explicit magic).  And demons.  And sword-fighting!  I didn’t love it.  It was slow to start, and the two main characters were pretty annoying (they got better), and the demon plot took FOREVER to roll, and the two main characters got the same information from different sources, but the information was identical, and WE, the lucky readers, got to read about it both time, and okay, maybe I didn’t like it, either.  I mean, I didn’t hate it.  But I probably won’t read the sequel.

The Cabin At The End Of The World by Paul Tremblay

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Started: 8/3/19
Finished: 8/4/19

I can’t tell you if I liked this book because I don’t know.  There’s a really nice, very real family, maybe an apocalypse, definitely a home invasion, something TRULY AWFUL happens, and then…so, it was good?  I mean, it was GOOD, but I don’t know if I liked it.

Cloudbound by Fran Wilde

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Started: 7/28/19
Finished: 8/3/19

Sequel to Updraft, which I enjoyed, but I have nearly put this down more than once.  It’s plenty good, and the main character is a somewhat realistic 20-year-old (which is kind of annoying, but I guess good?). The problem is that I DO want to know how this world is constructed (at the moment, my best guess is that the towers these people live on and fly between are spines on the back of an enormous turtle), but I don’t care enough about the plot to keep reading to find out.

Update: I kept reading, I DID finish it, and I’ll tell you offline what I know about how the world is constructed if you ask nicely.  Also, I don’t plan to read the third one.  These books aren’t bad, but I just don’t care that much.

If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho

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Started: 7/28/19
Finished: 7/28/19

This was the very last Hugo-eligible story I read, and it took a serious run at the top of my novelette list (I landed on #2 for it, but it was close).  It’s a refreshingly NICE story, and I am moving the author’s novels higher up my to-read list.

The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by P. Djèlí Clark

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Started: 7/28/19
Finished: 7/28/19

The style of this short story was interesting – like encyclopedia entries – and I appreciate how each of the “donors” affected George Washington, but this was both a little too weird for me (I’m shuddering at the whole teeth thing) and a little not enough.

When We Were Starless by Simone Heller

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Started: 7/27/19
Finished: 7/28/19

For a novelette, it took too long to reel me in.  I considered not finishing it, and come on, it’s a novelette.  I did finish it, and it did get good, but there’s too much left to the imagination after the end.  And I’m not sure I care enough to imagine it.

The Thing About Ghost Stories by Naomi Kritzer

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Started: 7/27/19
Finished: 7/27/19

LOVED this novelette – the style, the voice, the story.  It’s about a woman who has just returned to her academic research after losing her mother (who she took care of for years).  It rocketed to the top of my voting list for novelette this year.

The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat by Brooke Bolander

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Started: 7/24/19
Finished: 7/25/19

I loved the voice of the narrator in this short story.  Same author as the sad elephant novella, but I would never have guessed that.  I feel like the plot is given away in the title, and I’m okay with that.

The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander

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Started: 7/14/19
Finished: 7/18/19

I had heard such wonderful things about this story, but at its start, all I can think of is how SAD it is.  Update: at its end, all I can think of how sad it is.  It’s an alternate history that combines two true events tragedies: Topsy the Elephant and the Radium Girls.  It’s very good, but very hard to read.  I suppose it’s a good thing it’s a novelette…

Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson

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Started: 7/8/19
Finished: 7/14/19

I was just getting into the swing of things when it ended!  That’s the problem with novellas, I suppose.  Good story, but there’s a lot about the world and their mission that I didn’t completely follow.  I care enough to wish I could find out more, but that also means I’m a little disappointed in it.