In the last issue, I mentioned my go-to answer for the ubiquitous question “what do you like to read” has, up until recently, been “weird short stories.” Except, in reality, I haven’t been reading much of the stuff. In fact, I’ve moved in entirely the other direction, length-wise, seeking out winding, world-building, plot-driven series. That’s all well and good, but I leaned on the “weird short stories” answer for so long, that it’s kind of become my brand. Wait, that’s a bad reason to read something. I like weird short stories; I miss them. So there’s that. I’ve also been quite aware, lately, of the number of books on my shelves that remain unread. Now, there’s nothing wrong with buying books and never reading them. My industry, in fact, relies on this quirk of human behavior. But every so often, I feel I ought to take a break from buying books, press pause on reading frontlist. I go back to my shelves and remember the sense of delight and potential I had when I brought home this or that title. I see a book I’ve been meaning to read, and honestly forgot I owned.
So today I bring you weird short story collections that I own and have yet to read.
The Rental Heart by Kirsty Logan
Back in 2015 I read an article called “The best LGBT sex in literature.” It was a great article—it introduced me to Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue, a book I still don’t own because I haven’t found it while browsing (sure I could order it, but for one reason or another I want to find this one); they are fairytales with a feminist twist, a queer bent. Kirsty Logan, the article’s author wrote:
This book of retold fairytales is on just about every book list I’ve ever been asked to write, because it’s one of the best books I will ever read.
She says, about The Rental Heart, that she “didn’t mean to write a collection of queer love stories… But queer love is the love I know best, so many of the stories did end up that way.”
I was immediately into it. I also realized it’s not published in the states and, therefore, tricky to get. But not impossible! During Special Order training at my new job I learned that we could order direct from the UK. They would literally ship it here. On a boat. So it would take a while, but it would come. Three years later I still haven’t read this book. But hey, maybe this is the year.
The People in the Castle by Joan Aiken
I knew so specifically what had led me to the last book, and the next one, that I spent a good five minutes trying to trace where and why this book first snagged my attention. Is that important? Not really. Except that I began this newsletter as an effort to track books as they caught my attention, to create an archive of intention. So I’d tell you that it was this New Yorker article, but my reading spreadsheet says I began the book—and never finished it—about four months prior to the article’s publication. And I downloaded the galley two years before that. So likely it was Small Beer Press and the cover—the crowded, thatch-roofed houses beneath a simultaneously homey and forbidding castle indicate gothic and fay. Shirley Jackson, but more fairy tales than ghost stories.
I have no idea if this impression is accurate, like I said, I began but never finished it. But it has stuck in my brain and I didn’t stop because I didn’t like it. Other books just got in the way. A quote from Kirkus Review on the back reads
…for Aiken, a good death counts as a happy ending. She plays with the contrast between the eldritch and modern culture…
I love a good use of “eldritch” and they compare her to Sylvia Townsend Warner (read Lolly Willowes if you’re looking for a warm and witchy October tale). So there you go. I’m practically aching to read it now.
A Visit from the Footbinder by Emily Prager
One time I met Kelly Link at a party. I felt extremely awkward. My friend went on and on about what a huge fan I was, while I stood there, quote mortified. Add Link to the list of people who I think I’d genuinely get along with if only I wasn’t such an insufferable fangirl. But maybe even having a list of people I think I’d genuinely get along with if I could get over how cool they were, just proves that I am woefully out of touch with reality.
Anyway. Despite my utter discomfort, Link was very nice and wrote up a list of book recommendations. At least one of them I’ve since read! (I swear I do read.) It’s called Flying Leap by Judy Budnitz and it’s brilliant. Another one was A Visit from the Footbinder. Does that cover not make you super uncomfortable? Anyway, I haven’t read it, but I trust Link’s taste in weird short stories and so it sits on my shelves, waiting to be read.
Where the Light Falls: Selected Stories of Nancy Hale edited by Lauren Groff
I don’t want to admit how much time I spent scrolling through Carmen Maria Machado’s twitter until I found this tweet, which references the book I wanted to talk about next. Instead I’ll admit that I don’t own this book, so really it shouldn’t be in this particular lineup, but I’m afraid if I don’t get it down somewhere I’ll forget about it, and I don’t want to forget about someone whom Machado says “The fact that Nancy Hale isn’t a household name is a crime.”
Plus the jacket copy begins
A teenage girl in Connecticut driven to near delirium over her burgeoning sexuality. A twenty-something New Yorker transplanted to a small Virginia community who boldly befriends the town pariah. A New England widow in search of alcohol and excitement while babysitting her grandson. A Maryland socialite who has built a secret bomb shelter that becomes the center of her imaginative life.
Again, this is giving me Shirley Jackson feels. And I’ve been very in the mood to sink into writing that is a few decades old, feminist, strange, and subversive.
Currently Listening
I did just finish a book, but I haven’t quite figured out how to talk about it. Instead, I’d like to tell you about two podcasts I look forward to every single week.
Super Skull is a comic book podcast hosted by three people who work for Vault of Midnight, a comic book store in Michigan. It’s, so far, the only news & recommendations show focused on comics that I’ve found that I enjoy. Nick, Curtis, and Aaron are hilarious, and a lot of the books I end up bringing into the store and recommending I first hear of through them. Highly recommend if you’re at all interested in comics.
Print Run is a book industry podcast hosted by two literary agents. My friend Lauren introduced me to it, and I like it so much that I’ve listened to at least two dozen old episodes. They mostly discuss industry news, so you’d think old episodes wouldn’t keep, but their perspective on the publishing industry fascinates me. Plus they’re funny, charming, and dislike Amazon as much as I do.
I also want to recommend an article by Julia Armfield, author of Salt Slow. It’s called “On Body Horror and the Female Body.” It’s a short exploration of the genre body horror and the ways society turns the female body, especially during puberty, into a monstrosity. It made me want to read both her book and Ponti by Sharlene Teo.
Other Ways to Find Me On the Internets
I host a podcast called Drunk Booksellers where my best friend and I interview a fellow bookseller while drinking. I sometimes tweet about books and politics. I sometimes post pictures of books I’m reading, or cats I’m hanging out with on Instagram.
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