***The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society by T. Kingfisher***Pretty short tale about a couple of faerie boys, a selkie and a pooka sitting around a campfire and recounting their amorous adventures with a woman called Rose MacGregor.Takes old British folktales about women pining away after they had faerie lovers and turns them on their head.Otherwise kinda pointless. Not sure why it was nominated for a HUGO.You can read it here: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/t...Or listen to the...

T. Kingfisher for The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration SocietyNommed for Hugo '19This short story had some cleverness to it and a bit more style. It was enjoyable, read from the PoV of a fairy. :)Naomi Kritzer for The Thing About Ghost StoriesAlso nommed for Hugo '19Itself a ghost story about ghost stories, this academic ruminates on the nature of redemption. Entertaining. Solid. Worth the read. :)

Particularly enjoyed the stories by T. Kingfisher and Naomi Kritzer, and Diana M. Pho's essay.

This is a short story nominated for Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 2019The story follows the discussion of fae boys and other Mythical creatures about a "slim-hipped, broad-shouldered, and handsome as the devil" woman named Rose MacGregor, with whom all of them had carnal relationship in the past. A nice easy read, which doesn't leave any lasting impression.

Update #2: Review added for "How to Swallow the Moon," a Locus Award nominated short story.Two 2019 Hugo award nominees and a Locus Award nominee in this issue of Uncanny magazine, free to read online! 4 stars for each of these stories, which are very different: a sex comedy type of fantasy (Kingfisher's), a poignant story about ghosts, love and loss (Kritzer's), and a queer love story set in a mythic Philippine culture (Yap's). Reviews first posted on Fantasy Literature:"The Rose MacGregor Drin...

3.5 stars; a sweet little Hugo-nominated novelette about death, closure, and hauntings, seen through the lens of a folklorist working on her dissertation collecting ghost stories from other people across America. It's a quick, poignant read -- and the narration has such a great voice, so you get a really clear image of this persnickety academic, fraying at the edges from the toll of looking after her mother with Alzheimers, and yet there's such heart in it.

Review for “The Thing About Ghost Stories“ by Naomi Kritzer, 22 pages, ★★½☆☆“The most interesting thing about ghost stories is that almost everyone has one.“A story about a woman collecting ghost stories. Meh. A bit rambling, not quite boring but nothing interesting for me. Her mother‘s Alzheimers and her changing relationship with her was the only redeeming feature, but it was too little to matter.Can be read for free here: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/t...Other Naomi Kritzer stories I r...

I only read The Rose McGregor Drinking and Admiration Society", and goodness, I thoroughly loved the tone of the story! Talk about spinning the usual tropes on their heads! XD

Purchased Kindle for the Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novelette,“The Thing About Ghost Stories” (2019), by Naomi Kritzer.

How to Swallow the Moon by Isabel Yap ★★★★☆ “I am your jewel, and you are my sword.” From Far East legends of magical virgins in towers and the dragons who covet them. Amira and Anyag are determined to write their own ending.The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society by T. Kingfisher ★★★★☆ Most women pine away and die after a passionate night with a fae. Rose MacGregor could send them home a week later exhausted. A funny light-hearted story of turnabout. My Name is Cybernetic Model XR38...

Sigh. I had reviews for the stories I had read, but goodreads deleted them because they insist on conflating short stories, apparently just to piss users off, since I know zero people who prefer this practice.I think I've read:An Account of the Land of Witches by Sofia SamatarThe Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society by T. Kingfisher 3 starsCute idea but it doesn't really DO anything, or feel emotionally convincing. My least like thing my this author to date. (Do try her, though! She's

Rating (for the moment) is solely for the Kingfisher and Kritzer stories, both Hugo award nominees.See Tadiana's review, nearby. I still need to read the Filipina Isabel Yap's story "How to Swallow the Moon", https://uncannymagazine.com/article/h...Tadiana liked Yap's use of Philippine mythology: see her review for the details. On the (ever-growing) TBR list. Though I'm likely to be catching up in the next few (I hope) weeks!

4.5★I was led here after reading an absolutely wonderful poem by Hal Y. Zhang in an issue of Strange Horizons. I'm not sure if Strange Horizons magazines are allowed on Goodreads & I don't want to find out by having my review deleted, so I will review here.From Strange Horizons 22/02/21 IssueGo Agile I thought this poem was mad, fragmented and absolutely wonderful. Read it here 5★I was so intrigued I wanted to read more. Cardioid for me was not the equal of Go Agile, but it was still an evocativ...

“Is this what it’s like when they pine away after us?” “We are not pining!”Slightly ribald version of the shaggy dog story. Riotously indirect. I’ve already told you too much; read it. (Cover art is Uncanny Magazine 25, November-December 2018, in which the story appears.)“I’ll tell you all about it when you’re older.” She paused, looking down at the stubborn little face. “Much … much older.” (Finalist 2019 Hugo Award for Short Story)Merged review:“I think they’re the manifestation of people’s de...

Read for two 2019 Hugo nominations:"The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society" by T. Kingfisher, 2018Best Short Story nominationhttps://uncannymagazine.com/article/t..."But far beyond the merriment and the music and the trapped mortals, there was a campfire, and around it sat a half-dozen men, and a great bull selkie, and a horse the color of night.Three and a half flowers, rounding up.Thoughts Posted permanently at https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2020/...***********************"The Thi...

The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society is a 2019 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Short Story category. Half a dozen faerie boys, a selkie and a horse are sitting around a fire. They’re trying to figure out why Rose MacGregor didn’t pine for them, instead marrying the blacksmith. “Are we pining?” asked the green-eyed fae suddenly. “Is this what it’s like when they pine away after us?” Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this short story at all.Once Upon a Nitpick: The spelling of Rose’s s...

https://uncannymagazine.com/article/t...A hoot. I wouldn't mind reading other stories with those characters. "Are we pining?"(note that the cover art is not for this story, the Rose MacGregor by Kingfisher, though)

The stories I read: The Thing About Ghost Stories by Naomi Kritzer ***I liked this one, especially since it's not scary at all. Instead, it's quite touching and personal. Too bad the ending was too easy. The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society by T. Kingfisher*I have no idea why this was nominated for the Hugo, sorry.How to Swallow a Moon by Isabel Yap: ***Fantastic imageries. A bit too YA for me and too much pining but I love the female agency here. I was surprised with the mention o...

Review is for "The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society", by T. Kingfisher.T. Kingfisher writes my favourite modern fairytales when she's being serious, and in taking a lighter look at the genre she's outdone herself. This was funny, the tiniest bit raunchy, and absolutely fantastic.

A group of faerie males, a pookah, and a selkie, are sitting around a fire, drinking and talking.They're talking about a human woman, Rose MacGregor.The faerie folk are accustomed to seducing human maidens, and then leaving the maidens to pine away from them. Rose does not play that game.Not that she avoids the the faerie folk. Not at all. Instead, she seeks them out. It's just that things don't go the way the faerie expect.This isn't a very substantial story, but it's light, fun, funny. I reall...