Two Weeks Worth

I’d been updating my growing list of short stories I’ve read for the year on my Tumblr page, but I’ve decided to move that back over here. I don’t know how much it really interests anyone regardless of where I put it, but it is of interest to me at least. I’ve learned  a ton about reading all these stories. I’ve uncovered some writers I’ll be reading for years to come as well. Originally I intended to read just one story a day, then bumped that up to two, and now I’ve been working toward three. I have a ton of stuff I want to get read by the end of the year, and it’s already half over! What follows is the last two weeks worth of stories; weeks 23 and 24. My total-to-date is 391.

1. Daphne McAndrews and the Smack-Head Junkies by Stuart MacBride from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/03/2012)
2. Postwar Boom by Andrew Vachss from L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories (ebook) (06/04/2012)
3. The League of the Old Men by Jack London from The Great Adventure Stories of Jack London (Bantam) (06/04/2012)
4. The Last Bachelor of North Miami by Jason Starr from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/05/2012)
5. Last Rite by Zoe Sharp from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/05/2012)
6. So Perfect by Stephen Graham Jones from The Ones That Got Away (ebook) (06/05/2012)
7. Funeral for a Friend by Simon Kernick from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/06/2012)
8. Children by Richard Ford from Rock Springs (Vintage) (06/07/2012)
9. The Killer Beside Me by Alan Guthrie from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/07/2012)
10. The Real Deal by James Oliver Hilton from Action: Pulse Pounding Tales Volume 1 (ebook) (06/07/2012)
11. Miracle Boy by Pinckney Benedict from Miracle Boy and Other Stories (Salt) (06/08/2012)
12. Tender Mercies by Jeff Abbott from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/08/2012)
13. Pros and Cons by Donna Moore from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/08/2012)
14. Stepping Up by Mark Billingham from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/08/2012)
15. Femme Fatale by Laura Lippman from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/09/2012)
16. Double-Blind by Alethea Black from I Knew You’d Be Lovely (Broadway) (06/09/2012)
17. The Daughter of Erlik Khan by Robert E. Howard from El Borak and Other Desert Adventures (Ballantine) (06/10/2012)
18. The Colorist by Hal Niedzviecki from Look Down, This Is Where It Must Have Happened (City Lights) (06/10/2012)
19. Payoff by Steve Brewer from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/10/2012)
20. Ruins and Wraiths by Charles Gramlich from In the Language of Scorpions (Borgo) (06/11/2012)
21. Hell is for Children by Charles Gramlich from In the Language of Scorpions (Borgo) (06/11/2012)
22. The Plunge of the Brave by Louise Erdrich from The Red Convertible (Harper Collins) (06/11/2012)
23. Geezer Tricks by Charlie Stella from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/11/2012)
24. The Need by Frank Bill from Crimes In Southern Indiana (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux) (06/12/2012)
25. When We Rise by Shann Ray from American Masculine (Graywolf) (06/12/2012)
26. Requiem for Moe by Reed Farrel Coleman from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/13/2012)
27. Has Anyone Seen Mrs. Lightswitch? by Colin Cotterill from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/13/2012)
28. The Old Gun by Ken Bruen from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/13/2012)
29. Knute: Breaking Point by Chad Rohrbacher from Azreal Deception (ebook) (06/14/2012)
30. The Far Side of the Moon by Alethea Black from I Knew You’d Be Lovely (Broadway) (06/14/2012)
31. Cold Rifts by Sandra Seamans from Cold Rifts (ebook) (06/15/2012)
32. Dog by Pinckney Benedict from Town Smokes (Ontario) (06/16/2012)
33. Encore by Milton Burton from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/16/2012)
34. Cranked by Bill Crider from Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush) (06/16/2012)

I’ve been reading extra to get through that Damn Near Dead collection (which has been fabulous); I may finish it today, as I only have a couple stories left, I think. One collection I did finish this past week was I Knew You’d Be Lovely by Alethea Black. This is my review from Goodreads:

I picked this book up on a whim at the local bookstore because it had a “local author” sticker on it, and I wanted a collection of stories from a woman to augment all the male-written collections I’d accumulated before I started my read-two-stories-a-day project for 2012. I don’t know how often Alethea Black is actually in Missoula, but I’d like to meet her. This is a fine collection of work, and I enjoyed every offering. There is more than a little humor without them being “funny” stories (if that makes any sense), solid characters, and some thought provoking/heart breaking stuff as well. I’m kinda bummed to have finished it. Whenever the book came up on the queue I knew I was going to be getting something good.

Also finished L.A. Noire, a companion collection of stories for the video game. It was enjoyable as well. Really reminded me how much I love Megan Abbott‘s period-noir stuff. I hope she hasn’t abandoned that stuff permanently, because I love it.