Short Stories 366:84 — “Awaken,” by Anne Shade

The middle novella of three in Femme Tales (a trio of retellings of fairy tales through a Black queer women-loving-women contemporary lens), "Awaken" brings forth its 'Sleeping Beauty' charm with a softer, and even slightly magical trace than "Beast" did with 'Beauty and the Beast,' but that's neither a bad thing nor a complaint about …

Short Stories 366:80 — “Lead Counsel,” by Aurora Rey

I listened to this audio novella over the course of two days of walking the doggo in the midst of winter, and the setting of a heat-soaked New Orleans was like a balm of relief, frankly. Once again, Lori Prince performs wonderfully, and her voice acting for the various characters left me never in doubt …

Short Stories 366:77 — “Beast,” by Anne Shade

You all know I love a good retelling, and even better when it's a queer retelling. I imagine you also likely know how much I adore interconnected short(er) fictions, and so I leapt on Femme Tales the moment I read the blurb, which should surprise no one. Anne Shade takes three fairy tales: 'Beauty and …

Short Stories 366:74 — “The Diary of a Hounslow Girl,” by Ambreen Razia

This was an unexpected delight from Audible, as part of their Audible Originals series. Originally a stage play, this was performed by the writer (and actress) and as such the level of performance was pretty much set on eleven from the first step. It's about sixteen year-old Shaheeda, a British Muslim teen and begins with …

Short Stories 366:67 — “Let It Shine,” by Alyssa Cole

My Audible-available quartet of novellas from Alyssa Cole comes to an (almost) close today with "Let it Shine." Of the four historical novellas, this one comes the closest to present day, set in 1961, when the Freedom Rides are underway and racist anti-black violence is front-page news. Sofronia (or "Sophie") has done everything in her …

Short Stories 366:63 — “Wally Roux, Quantum Mechanic,” by Nick Carr

Sometimes I hit a rut in audiobooks where even though I might be enjoying a few collections at once (as is almost always the case) and have a few full-length audiobook novels by authors I adore performed by performers I always find good I just can't quite bring myself to click the play button and …