Book meme: Day 17!

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My watermelon sorbet was terrible. The flavor was just completely wrong and more than a little off. I think a big part of that was the watermelon being way past ripe -- I should have ditched it and bought a fresh watermelon. Plus I used Rachael Ray's recipe, which included a half-cup of light corn syrup, and that was the dominant flavor (plus one cup of the watermelon had to be heated up, which definitely brought out very gross scents and flavors). Ugh. Next time I'm going to try the recipe that is just 5 cups of chunked watermelon, 1/4 - 1/2 cup of sugar to taste, and 2 tbsp of lime juice blended together and then frozen.

Day 17 - Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.)

I am not really a short story kind of person. I find it really difficult to care about what's going on in a story that's under 10,000 words. That's one of the great things about fanfic for me -- I already care about the characters in the story, so 1,000 words is still satisfying. But it takes a really skilled writer to have brand new characters and a brand new word in a story and world build enough for me to be interested and give me enough character development to make me care and amidst all that actually tell a story.

(That's something I tend to really like about the short form romance stories -- they are usually at least 20,000 words, if not 25,000, so there's time to really get into the characters and their situations.)

I really enjoyed reading Tiptree's short fiction, although I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say that I liked it. Reading it from a perspective of knowing Tiptree's secret "real life" identity of Alice Sheldon (and I read most of it after I read her biography by Julie Phillips) definitely altered the way I read the stories, although I'm not sure I can put my finger on exactly how. That's my own personal perspective, though, and I know a lot of people who loved Tiptree before her "secret identity" came out.

I thought "The Screwfly Solution" (arguably her most famous story? Probably) was okay, and much preferred stories like "The Women Men Don't See" and "A Momentary Taste of Being"; all three of those are in Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, which is a good intro to her most famous work.

Candas Jane Dorsey has a bunch of short stories, most of which I really enjoyed reading.

Vanilla and Other Stories is worthwhile and intense, and Machine Sex and Other Stories is also great.

The best collection of short stories (etc.) I ever read, though, has got to be Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life: and Others. It was originally published by Tor, so I read it when it was in proofs, and then bought copies for everyone I knew who'd love it (which was a bunch of people!). The stories are all really well written. I think most of them were originally published elsewhere, and then collected with one or two original stories for the book. Right now it's out of print, but Small Beer Press is releasing a new edition in October. (Or the older versions are cheap on alibris, if that's your thing.)

My favorite Chiang story is "Hell is the Absence of God" (that link is to fictionwise, where it's available by itself as e-text in various formats for $1.15). I tend to recommend this story to people who are into angels and people who are fans of seasons 4 and 5 of Supernatural -- even if neither of those things are what you're into, you might like this story, since it's awesome.

Your turn! As always, you are welcome to post your answers or a link to your own blog post in the comments, even if you are not answering the other prompts in the meme.


Other days of the book meme:

Day 01 - A book series you wish had gone on longer OR a book series you wish would just freaking end already (or both!)
Day 02 - A book or series you wish more people were reading and talking about
Day 03 - The best book you've read in the last 12 months
Day 04 - Your favorite book or series ever
Day 05 - A book or series you hate
Day 06 - Favorite book of your favorite series OR your favorite book of all time
Day 07 - Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise
Day 08 - A book everyone should read at least once
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A book that disappointed you
Day 12 - A book or series of books you’ve read more than five times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood book OR current favorite YA book (or both!)
Day 14 - Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender)
Day 15 - Your "comfort" book
Day 16 - Favorite poem or collection of poetry
Day 17 - Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.)
Day 18 - Favorite beginning scene in a book
Day 19 - Favorite book cover (bonus points for posting an image!)
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite romantic/sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 22 - Favorite non-sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 23 - Most annoying character ever
Day 24 - Best quote from a novel
Day 25 - Any five books from your "to be read" stack
Day 26 - OMG WTF? OR most irritating/awful/annoying book ending
Day 27 - If a book contains ______, you will always read it (and a book or books that contain it)!
Day 28 - First favorite book or series obsession
Day 29 - Saddest character death OR best/most satisfying character death (or both!)
Day 30 - What book are you reading right now?