September-November Reading Round-Up

Still playing catch up from the end of 2020 here, so you get three months' worth of online bookmarked loveliness for the price of one. Lucky you!

(I started reading several new books over this period, but didn't actually finish any of them. There'll be one in my post about December though, coming soon...)

Anyway, here's what I do have to share with you:

September

Beetle by Sam Payne (Reflex Fiction) - A dreamlike invasion of the wild into the normal; gorgeous description and a touch of weirdness.

Curve and Sway by Cathy Ulrich (The Phare) - I love Cathy Ulrich's writing and this is no exception. An apocalyptic, poetic dance of a story.

The Three Witches by Hannah Grieco (Atlas & Alice) - I always like a fairy tale turned on its head, and this gives us three of them, cleverly twisted and spun.

to distill by Tyler Barton (Cease, Cows) - An interestingly weird and surreal story, with a sad edge to it. A commentary on how fame (or notoriety) can treat people, perhaps.

In Every Girl There Is a Forest by Jonathan Cardew (100 Word Story) - Love love love this! A perfect tiny lyrical micro, each line tumbling one after another and carrying you along.

Silver and Blood by Michael Loveday (Fictive Dream) - Another weird, sad fairy tale (what can I say, I have a type!), about greed, and giving love, and taking it. 

Delivery by Amy Barnes (Reflex Fiction) - This story placed third in the Summer 2020 Reflex Fiction competition, and you can understand why. Lovely, somewhat creepy imagery.

October

Amelia by Noa Covo (Milk Candy Review) - Way back when I was about 14 I decided I was going to write a novel about Amelia Earhart - that story doesn't exist (yet - never say never I suppose!) but this one by Noa Covo does and it's beautiful.

Fascination Street by Mileva Anastasiadou (Dream Journal) - Four paragraphs, each a single sentence, each getting progressively longer, to create a stream of consciousness sense of the narrator's feelings.

Just To Say by Rachael Smart (Ellipsis Zine) - A CNF piece that is funny, and cutting, and sort of sexy, and all about plums.

Two Poems by Kali Richmond (The Babel Tower Notice Board) - Fabulous poetry that cries out to be read aloud. I think the first one is my favourite of the two, but they're both great.

A Bird in the Hand by Jude Higgins (Fictive Dream) - A story about parent-child relationships, with a bird motif that adds layers to the telling.

Cracked by Lucy Zhang (Jellyfish Review) - A dark, dangerous-feeling story, with some gruesome, uncomfortable moments, about death, and life, and pregnancy.

Metamorphosis by Dettra Rose (Fifty Word Stories) - This tiny micro manages to conjure incredible images in so few words, with a slightly unsettling feel.

I Change You by Dana Diehl (Waxwing) - An amazing, weird, magical, sad piece about transformation, and what people accept in a relationship, or maybe about the danger of accepting things in a relationship.

Red by Melissa Ostrom (Matchbook) - A piece that is always relevant, but sadly feels all too timely right now. I bookmarked it at the time because it's another interesting fairy tale take; a story told almost entirely in questions.

Qi Xi by Joyce Chng (Uncanny Magazine) - I think there should be more SF/space poetry out there - I keep meaning to try and write some. This one is beautiful; I think it's based on a Chinese legend (but am prepared to be corrected!)

Oh Lord by Jude Higgins (Ellipsis Zine) - A lockdown-inspired CNF, funny and hopeful at the same time.

November

Deer Lord / Dear Lord by E.B. Schnepp (Longleaf Review) - Gorgeous folk horror poetry, dark and creepy and lovely.

In Whitby you may have the misfortune to be caught by Daphne Milne (FlashBack Fiction) - Great, evocative historical flash, and because it's FlashBack Fiction you can listen to the author reading it aloud too.

Interstitial by Matt Neil Hill (Splonk) - Fantastic imagery and structure in this, and the language use is stunning.

Forest Elegy by Despy Boutris (Craft Literary) - One of those pieces where you're not sure if it's a micro fiction or a prose poem and it doesn't really matter anyway because it conveys a feeling brilliantly.

Fol-De-Rol by Rose Rae (Reflex Fiction) - More fab twisted fairy tale goodness here, exactly my kind of thing, with wonderfully gruesome description.

People Present on Carnaby Street on a Saturday Afternoon in Early May by Matt Kendrick (Reflex Fiction) - This piece is incredible; I see more in it every time I come back and reread it. It's a list story and a breathless paragraph all in one, and the details and mounting tension as you realise what is in there, between the lines - amazing.

In Praise of Disney Villains who Refuse to Retire by Angela Readman (Atrium Poetry) - A great poem about womanhood and ageing and embracing your inner villain.

There - getting a bit closer to catching up... December next, then I can start on this year! 😏