December Challenge: Advent Calendar

[Blagica , Challenges]

14/20
14/24

Sam how are you liking it that's on my to do list for January

[Cassandra]

I forgot to update for the last few days:

December 12
To Catch An Actor - Blair C. Babylon
2092 - Rysa Walker

December 13
Second Variety - Philip K. Dick
Imposter - Philip K. Dick

December 14
The King of the Elves - Philip K. Dick
Adjustment Team - Philip K. Dick

14/31

[Cobwebs-in-Space-Ice]

Msg. 69 updated

[Karina]

*Updated to here*

Aiee, we're nearly half-through the month (and more than half-through the challenge for many of us)!

[Debra]

14/24

[Clare]

Message 11 updated now at 14/24
Another short fromThe Mistletoe Bride & Other Haunting Tales and from Stories on the Go: 101 Very Short Stories by 101 Authors

[Amy (Other Amy)]

Oh, so behind on updating. It turns out to be a good thing I am reading the complete Lovecraft, as I have had to have him pinch hit for me on several days. Holidays are challenging, I am finding.

Stories
Dec 8: "The Outsider" by Lovecraft
Dec 9: "Herbert West: Reanimator" by Lovecraft
Dec 10: The Tallest Doll in New York City by Maria Dahvana Headley
Dec 11: The Log Goblin: A Tor.Com Original by Brian Staveley
Dec 12: "Hypnos" by Lovecraft
Dec 13: "The Lurking Fear" by Lovecraft
Dec 14: Errata by Jeff VanderMeer

Poems:
Dec 8: To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell (I just randomly looked this up to find where the line "Had we but world enough and time," came from. Then I didn't read any other poetry. Oops.
Dec 9: To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick (I figured if I'd read "To His Coy Mistress" I needed to read this one, too.)
Dec 10: So We'll Go No More a Roving by Lord Byron
Dec 11: Funeral Blues by WH Auden
Dec 12: I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman
Dec 13: Crossing the Bar by Lord Tennyson
Dec 14: If— by Rudyard Kipling

14/31 for both stories and poems; will update reading for 12/15 here shortly.

[Amy (Other Amy)]

Dec 15:
Story: That Seriously Obnoxious Time I Was Stuck at Witch Rimelda's One Hundredth Birthday Party: A Tor.Com Original by Tina Connolly
Poem: Remember by Christina Rossetti

15/31 for both

[ChrisR]

Solomon Crow's Christmas Pockets by Ruth McEnery Stuart
#15/24

[Cobwebs-in-Space-Ice]

Msg 69 updated. Overtime is a wonderful Lovecraftian story.

[Sam F]

15/24

[Stefani - SpelingExpirt]

Forgot to update for a few days. After midnight here so I've read today's.

Advent Calendar

24 short stories. 1 a day.

Future Visions: Original Science Fiction Inspired by Microsoft
1. Hello, Hello by Seanan McGuire
2. The Machine Starts by Greg Bear
3. Skin in the Game by Elizabeth Bear
4. Machine Learning by Nancy Kress
5. Riding With the Duke by Jack McDevitt
6. A Cop's Eye by Blue Delliquanti and Michele Rosenthal
7. Looking for Gordo by Robert J Shaw
8. The Tell by David Brin
9. Another Word for World by Ann Leckie

The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick 1: The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford
10. Stability by Philip K Dick
11. Roog by Philip K Dick
12. The Little Movement by Philip K Dick
13. Beyond Lies the Wub by Philip K Dick
14. The Gun by Philip K Dick
15. The Skull by Philip K Dick
16. The Defenders by Philip K Dick

16/24

I'm really enjoying this, I might have to try and keep it up in the New Year.

[Sam]

15/25

[Nicole]

*UPDATE*

Nicole W. (Msg. 57)

Goal Met So Far: 15/24

[Debra]

15/24

[Jane]

14/24 "The Four Fists" and "The Jelly-Bean" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Jazz Age Stories)

15/24 "The Camel's Back" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Jazz Age Stories) & "The Warrior's Son," "The Second Summer," and "The Sunset Pool" by Pete Hamill (The Christmas Kid: And Other Brooklyn Stories)

16/24 "The Man with the Blue Guitar," "The Hitter Bag," "Trouble," "The Home Country," & "The Waiting Game" by Pete Hamill (The Christmas Kid: And Other Brooklyn Stories)

[Blagica , Challenges]

16/20
16/24

just want to say I will so miss this challenge once it's gone thank you for hosting!

[Sam F]

16/24

[ChrisR]

Mallory Heart wrote: "Msg 69 updated. Overtime is a wonderful Lovecraftian story."

My favorite story of this month has been Rogue Farm also written by Charles Stross. I'd never read anything by him before, but I'll read that one next. (tor.com)

But today's story: McAllister's Christmas by Arthur Train
#16/24

[Robin]

I have been reading A Christmas Train by David Baldacci. I am really enjoying it. I want to read ahead, but I'm making myself wait!

[Cassandra]

December 15
Foster, You're Dead - Philip K. Dick
Upon the Dull Earth - Philip K. Dick
Autofac - Philip K. Dick
The Minority Report - Philip K. Dick
The Days of Perky Pat - Philip K. Dick
Precious Artifacts - Philip K. Dick
A Game of Unchance - Philip K. Dick
We Can Remember It For You Wholesale - Philip K. Dick

15/31

[Amy (Other Amy)]

December 16
I finally read an actual Christmas story for my short story today, and I really enjoyed this one:
Adult Children of Alien Beings by Dennis Danvers (free from Tor.com)

The poem I chose at random off a list and it wasn't nearly as fitting, but I did like it: Invictus by William Ernest Henley

16/31 for both

[Alisia]

16/24 Completed

13th- The Pugilist at Rest by Thom Jones in The Pugilist at Rest

14th- Choose Peas by Ellisa Barr in Stories on the Go: 101 Very Short Stories by 101 Authors

15th- Payback's A Witch by Marilyn Vix in Stories on the Go: 101 Very Short Stories by 101 Authors

16th- Thursday at the Ritz-Carlton by Jean Louise in Stories on the Go: 101 Very Short Stories by 101 Authors

[Karina]

Blagica: I'm happy you're enjoying this challenge! It has been a delightful change of pace for me, too - and I think I really will read more short stories along with all the novels in the next months.

Mallory Heart and ChrisR: I love Stross' Laundry Files universe! Those stories are fantastic. :)

Cassandra: How's all the PKD working for you? He tends to be very hit-or-miss for me - I know I read a short story collection of his, which I feel like I've forgotten everything about. "Minority report" is the kind of PKD I like a lot, though.

[Cobwebs-in-Space-Ice]

I borrowed from "Overtime" for my sig line. We actually have a fireplace, and I'm very Lovecraftian, so I'll be keeping a CLOSE eye on.that fireplace till Dec. 26:)

Msg 69 updated.

[Cassandra]

It has been interesting to read them all in a row like this. I can't decide if it's the best way to read PKD or the worst way. It's nice, because you can see a definitely theme running through the stories and see how his interests and perspective over time. Unfortunately, not all of PKD's stories are that great and they can also start to sound the same. The main thing I noticed is that the characters are basically interchangeable... He doesn't seem to care about character development, so the characters almost feel like automatons running through the worlds he created.

I did like The Minority Report - it was one of my favorites from this collection. I also liked Second Variety, The Electric Ant, and Upon the Dull Earth.

Stefani - how are you feeling about the PKD stories you're reading?

[Nicole]

I finished one book of short stories, Unnatural Creatures, and that puts me at 16/24. I enjoyed most of the stories in this collection. :)

I'm going to read some of Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die to finish out my 24 and will probably go ahead and go through the last day of the month (I don't think I'll finish).

[Clare]

Update to message 11 now at 16/24

[Debra]

16/24

[Angela Jr.]

updated message 10! 16/24

i haven't read today's story yet, but i'm about to start :)

[Cobwebs-in-Space-Ice]

Msg. 69 updated

[ChrisR]

#17/24
The Little Match-Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

[Cassandra]

Yesterday I finished out Selected Stories by Philip K. Dick.

December 16
Faith of Our Fathers - Philip K. Dick
The Electric Ant - Philip K. Dick
A Little Something For Us Tempunauts - Philip K. Dick
The Exit Door Leads In - Philip K. Dick
Rautavaara's Case - Philip K. Dick
I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon - Philip K. Dick

16/31

[Amy (Other Amy)]

December 17

Story: Please Undo This Hurt by Seth Dickinson (Loved this one.)
Poem: Dec 17: A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns

17/31 for both

[Amy (Other Amy)]

Cassandra wrote: "It has been interesting to read them all in a row like this. I can't decide if it's the best way to read PKD or the worst way. It's nice, because you can see a definitely theme running through the ..."

I'm having a very similar reaction to Lovecraft. (Although in all fairness, I was not a fan to begin with.) On the whole, I think I probably like him better this way (reading at one go and in order), because the sum of the whole is better here than the parts. I'm going to have to try that PKD collection; I really liked Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? up to the last chapter or so. (That last chapter went to a very weird place.)

[Cassandra]

I agree with you on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.

I looked through several PKD collections, and the one I read seemed to be the best - it has most of his short stories that have been made into films (We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, The Minority Report, Adjustment Team) and quite a few other well-known stories.

[Debra]

17/24

[Amy (Other Amy)]

Cassandra wrote: "I agree with you on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.

I looked through several PKD collections, and the one I read seemed to be the best - it has most of his short stories that ha..."

Thanks, Cassandra. I added it to my TBR mountain.

[Cassandra]

I like that... TBR mountain. I probably need to go through and clear out some of my TBR mountain.

[Amy (Other Amy)]

I definitely do. I've about decided to quit adding 'someday/maybe' reads to GR. (I joined GR largely to quit buying those someday/maybe books; my mind feels better having another place to park them. But things are getting out of hand here.)

[Cassandra]

I still add a ridiculous number of books to my TBR list... But I figure if I don't put them down somewhere, they'll never get read. I do try to go through every couple of months and get rid of books if I can't remember why I put them there.

[Amy (Other Amy)]

Maybe I should institute that discipline and it wouldn't be so bad.

[Sam]

17/25

[Sam F]

Blagica wrote: "14/20
14/24

Sam how are you liking it that's on my to do list for January"

I'm not enjoying it quite as much as the other 3. I heard though that the author divided the 4th book into 2 and put some story lines in A Feast For Crows and some in A Dance with Dragons. I think I'll enjoy the story lines that are present in the fifth book better. We'll see.

At 17/24 now!

[Cassandra]

I started Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories and so far I'm really enjoying it. I didn't quite know what to expect, but these two stories made me think.

December 17
Three Moments of an Explosion - China Miéville
Polynia - China Miéville

17/31

[Blagica , Challenges]

18/20
18/24


I am all up to date I actually found a book of 13 short paranormal stories I will continue with after the 20th so I will happily be reading until 31st

[Karina]

Cassandra wrote: "I started Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories and so far I'm really enjoying it. I didn't quite know what to expect, but these two stories made me think.


I'm getting to the end of that collection now - it's so weird. In a beautiful and... very foreign way. More than anything it reminds me of the talk by the author I attended a few years ago - it was about "the uncanny", where the concept of uncanniness was split into sub-categories, like "abcanny" and "subcanny". Very clever and very funny. A lot of these stories are about... reality just changing the rules? One weird thing or other suddenly happens, breaking biology and physics, and though it's not gruesome or gritty, it's... upsetting and chaotic.

(His novels are... different! And excellent.)

[Cassandra]

I think that sums up my feeling about it exactly. So far there's been no explanation or uncovering the details about the weirdness, but just the way people react to it. This is my first introduction to this author, but I think I'll definitely seek out a novel. Which would you recommend?

[Jane]

17/24 "May Day" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Jazz Age Stories)

18/24 "Head and Shoulders" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Jazz Age Stories)

I don't want this book of stories or this challenge to end!

[Cobwebs-in-Space-Ice]

I agree--i want to do.this challenge again and again!

Msg. 69 updated.