Wayward Children
As I mentioned last week, I finally started Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series. I am not a big series reader at all, but I love the concept of children finding random doors to other worlds, and then having to essentially go to rehab to deal with how awful the real world is in comparison.
I loved the first two books (Every Heart a Doorway, and Down Among the Sticks and Bones), following the story of two disparate sisters; Jack and Jill. Beneath the Sugar Sky was fine; a little too light for my taste, but I am back into the bleakness with In An Absent Dream, and I love it. Anyway, all of this is to say this is my new obsession, and please let me know if you share it.
Short Stories
Thank you to the wonderful Gavin at Small Beer Press for letting me get my hands on Sarah Pinkser’s forthcoming collection, Lost Places. I loved re-reading Two Truths and A Lie; anything with weird TV shows that may not have existed always grabs my attention. Can’t wait to read more of the collection; Pinsker is a master.
I also revisited Humiliation by Paulina Flores. According to my trusty spreadsheet, I read the title story in June 2020, and I still think about it very often. Glad to dive back in.
Chain-Gang All-Stars
Speaking of stories I think about often, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s The Finkelstein 5 is absolutely devastating. His collection, Black Friday, is odd and arresting. So it came as no surprise to me that Adjei-Brenyah’s debut novel, Chain-Gang All-Stars is fantastic so far. I’ve had a lot of, “this is horrific, and it could happen in real life” moments. I’m about halfway through, and I’ll pop up a review as soon as I can!
Kelly Link
Why wouldn’t Kelly Link deserve her own section? She’s fantastic. There is a point to this though, but do not click the below link if your TBR pile is already giving you anxiety. Here’s a list of Kelly Link’s book recommendations, which contains some absolutely stone-cold classics.
Also, Link’s perfect new collection, White Cat, Black Dog is perfect, and is released in March. If you pre-order from Book Moon, you get a free limited edition chapbook. Here’s my review, if you need any more convincing.
California Reading 