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bookgazingThe first full week of furlough has come and gone, and I have five short reviews of five short stories to show for it. Check me out reaching my small, self-imposed goal! Here's what I read this week:
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bookgazingShort Business: Life Moves Pretty Fast
Nov. 9th, 2020 06:37 pmbookgazingWhen I first started this post I expected it to be my last Short Business post of the year:
How the end of the retail year is working out is… I am back on furlough as all non-essential retail in England closed back down at the end of 04/11/20, in accordance with government guidance, as our country tries to get the 'R number' for coronavirus infections back down. The current government forecast is that we'll re-open on Dec 2nd, but of course we have to see how infection rates and NHS capacity goes before we really know whether that's going to be possible.
I think eventually we all realised there would have to be a second national lock down, but I can't say anyone at our shop expected it to be for a month. And while I absolutely think we need to be shutting places down again to lower infections, deaths, and risk, it's hard to be a human and not to have emotions about a second lock down in terms of how it impacts your own general life and work. With regards to work, our bookshop had just had a really great week. Like, really great. I was feeling positive, and as ready as you can ever be to go into peak retail hard. So, it's a tough turn around to go from that, as well as the level of activity that working retail puts into your life at this time of year, to furlough. My main message is, if you can support your local bookshops at this time (chain and indies) please do. Even a really nice customer comment sent through to managers right now would be appreciated.
Personally, I'm going to try to treat this month as a longish holiday and just chill out reading, watching movies, and TV, while also doing a few things to keep myself feeling like I have a sense of purpose. I'm going to finish the colour in Christmas cards I'm going to send this year. I'm going to try (again) to learn how to knit a scarf. I'm going to take regular walks. And I'm going to return to reading five short stories a week, and doing Short Business posts about them. Hurray, artificially created, self-imposed purpose?
Anyway, on to this week's stories. I don't have five this week because I finished work on Wednesday, and I am adjusting, and I make the rules for this whole thing. But I do have some thoughts on three really interesting stories (some spoilers under the cut).
( Read more... )
"Possibly my last Short Business post of 2020 as I've just had my last week of holiday until after Christmas? Idk, we'll see how the end of the retail year works out in our new landscape."
How the end of the retail year is working out is… I am back on furlough as all non-essential retail in England closed back down at the end of 04/11/20, in accordance with government guidance, as our country tries to get the 'R number' for coronavirus infections back down. The current government forecast is that we'll re-open on Dec 2nd, but of course we have to see how infection rates and NHS capacity goes before we really know whether that's going to be possible.
I think eventually we all realised there would have to be a second national lock down, but I can't say anyone at our shop expected it to be for a month. And while I absolutely think we need to be shutting places down again to lower infections, deaths, and risk, it's hard to be a human and not to have emotions about a second lock down in terms of how it impacts your own general life and work. With regards to work, our bookshop had just had a really great week. Like, really great. I was feeling positive, and as ready as you can ever be to go into peak retail hard. So, it's a tough turn around to go from that, as well as the level of activity that working retail puts into your life at this time of year, to furlough. My main message is, if you can support your local bookshops at this time (chain and indies) please do. Even a really nice customer comment sent through to managers right now would be appreciated.
Personally, I'm going to try to treat this month as a longish holiday and just chill out reading, watching movies, and TV, while also doing a few things to keep myself feeling like I have a sense of purpose. I'm going to finish the colour in Christmas cards I'm going to send this year. I'm going to try (again) to learn how to knit a scarf. I'm going to take regular walks. And I'm going to return to reading five short stories a week, and doing Short Business posts about them. Hurray, artificially created, self-imposed purpose?
Anyway, on to this week's stories. I don't have five this week because I finished work on Wednesday, and I am adjusting, and I make the rules for this whole thing. But I do have some thoughts on three really interesting stories (some spoilers under the cut).
( Read more... )
bookgazingI cannot thank ![[twitter.com profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/e0caa790ec10/-/twitter.com/favicon.ico)
forestofglory enough for alerting me to Marissa Lingen's work because every time I read a story by her it's such a treat. Each of her stories are so different, and her focus is so wide-ranging that I could easily read a bunch of them back to back.
( Warning for a mental illness slur )
( Warning for a mental illness slur )
bookgazingThis month, I unwittingly read three stories published by Luna Station Quarterly; a magazine I don't think I've ever read before. I'll definitely be investigating what they put out in the future because I really enjoyed all three stories.
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What short fiction have you been reading recently?
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What short fiction have you been reading recently?
Short Business: What I Read On My Holidays
Aug. 3rd, 2020 10:48 pmbookgazingI've got just enough time before I go back to work to fit in one more Short Business post about a few of the stories I read while I was off. I'm still on a serious, life-long hunt for SFF stories that are fun so that's what I've been trying to pick out this week.
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Short Business: Holiday Reads
Jul. 27th, 2020 11:09 ambookgazingHaving returned to work, and spent some time adjusting to the new retail, it's pretty clear that even while working at a smaller shop, with an earlier finishing time, and no events to run for the foreseeable future I'm not going to manage to keep creating weekly posts about five short stories. Happily, I've now got a week of holiday, even if that feels bizarre to say having only gone back under two months ago. And as I'm still not planning to go anywhere that isn't absolutely necessary, I have a bit of time to write about four of the short stories I've managed to squeeze into my lunch breaks.
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bookgazing( Read more... )
( Ideas for supporting these short fiction authors at this time )
Feel free to use the comments to recommend short stories you'd like to see written about here. Like, I said - bit of a weird week for me and short fiction, and I'd love some recs you think I'd really enjoy.
( Ideas for supporting these short fiction authors at this time )
Feel free to use the comments to recommend short stories you'd like to see written about here. Like, I said - bit of a weird week for me and short fiction, and I'd love some recs you think I'd really enjoy.
bookgazingThis week's stories are about magicians, haunted houses, the weirdest summer job, the politics of robots, and magical girls who grew into magical women. Dive in!
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( Ideas for supporting these short fiction authors at this time )
Feel free to use the comments to recommend short stories you'd like to see written about here.
( Read more... )
( Ideas for supporting these short fiction authors at this time )
Feel free to use the comments to recommend short stories you'd like to see written about here.
bookgazingAnother week, another five stories - I am just as surprised as you. This week I've been reading about fantastical maps, a helpful AI who loves cat pictures, fairy tales (obvs), and responsible body swapping. Enjoy.
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( Ideas for supporting these short fiction authors at this time )
Feel free to use the comments to recommend short stories you'd like to see written about here.
( Read more... )
( Ideas for supporting these short fiction authors at this time )
Feel free to use the comments to recommend short stories you'd like to see written about here.
bookgazingLibraries, cursed swords, magical restaurants, inter-galactic jazz bands, and the end of the world. Surely, there is something for everyone in this week's Short Business?
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( Ideas for supporting these short fiction authors at this time )
Feel free to use the comments to recommend short stories you'd like to see written about here.
( Read more... )
( Ideas for supporting these short fiction authors at this time )
Feel free to use the comments to recommend short stories you'd like to see written about here.
