For starters, I finally got around to those last two stories in Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet 22:
“Portfolio” by Mark Rigney. In the continuum of “when I was a boy…” stories from Steven Millhauser and Peter S. Beagle’s “Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel” this one was (thankfully) closer to Beagle. Rigney’s & Beagle’s stories both involved painting. Hmm. 5 out of 5.
“Dearest Cecily” by Kristine Dikeman. The narrative got me over my initial “Oh god, not another story told in letters!” reaction PDQ! 4 out of 5.
Next up was something that caught my eye in my RSS feed. “Taking Flight” by Ben Tanzer at Metazen. I’ve introduced you to Ben before. I dug Ben’s narrative of what future generations from the late 21st century onward will eventually call “the same old story.” 4 out of 5.
The rest are from Karen Joy Fowler’s collection What I Didn’t See and Other Stories.
“Booth’s Ghost.” John Wilkes is in it, but he’s not the main character. Brilliant. 5 out of 5.
“Last Worders.” Nice story with great setting description. The end was a little telegraphed for me, though–maybe not the detail, but the fact of it. 4 out of 5.
“The Dark.” Great story but with too many narrative threads that left me unsure which character or situation to really invest in. 4 out of 5.
“Always.” This one was more my speed–a character I could sympathize with in a situation, while weird, I could still understand. 5 out of 5.