Hahaha I read almost nothing. (Nothing published— I’m discounting the 1.3 secret WIPs I beta read for friends. About 90k there.) In April, I suffered 3 consecutive “family situations” spanning 4 weeks. Some of this was fun. The longest running situation was not! But also, my workload’s decreased from 12-14 hours per day to a far more reasonable 10-11ish. That does make a big difference to my available time. Though, so far, I’ve mostly been using that extra time to cook or play Valheim. (Valheim = Minecraft, but make it vikings. Minecraft for dads? Yeah.)

Short stories

“Labbatu Takes Command of the Flagship Heaven Dwells Within” by Arkady Martine

Instant Kill Six Billion Demons vibes. Sunday Morning Transport reprinted this from The Mythic Dream anthology, and god do I love reprints, cuz most everybody misses most things the first time around. When I was a kid, I’d go into dingy, underfunded public libraries and gravitate towards beaten-up books older than me. I didn’t like the idea of stories getting forgotten.

This one’s fun. Space piracy cyberpunk about a bloody family conflict. Arkady packs a ton of worldbuilding in. I have mixed feelings about the framing device, but this definitely achieves what it set out to do.

“Select All Bicycles” by Shaenon K. Garrity

A story about AI, and machines that work for and against humans.

“Sister, Come to Me” by Shaenon K. Garrity

Dang, this one was good. Nostalgia like a kick to the teeth. Vibes of frustration with a small world, and surviving despite that, nailed.

“The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For” by Cameron Reed

Queer love in a cyberpunk bodymod corporate dystopia. Well done, fun read. I mean, depressing, but compelling.

“Propagating Rosa glacies” by Dawn Vogel

A short short story. Inventive and readable.

Books

The Mysteries by Bill Watterson and John Kascht

It’s a children’s book. A fable. The blurb on the back says “for adults,” but this would’ve hit better for kid!me, who still had room in daily life for marveling at the sublime. Adult!me is too damn busy for mysteries. Which is adjacent to the point of this book.

And of course I picked this up because the Calvin and Hobbes guy collabed on it. Hope to someday read it with my kid.