‘I’m going to put some 2-stroke oil in this good girl and watch that shrubbery fly!’

Fiction Anthology Purchasing Factors This survey is designed to help clarify how people decide on buying and reading short fiction anthologies. For the purposes of this survey, I am defining "anthology" to mean a book of multiple short...

Some indy research that I'll be sharing results of for everyone to see / use! This survey is on short fiction anthologies. You can take it even if you never read them, as there are Qs about that, too. The aim is to help anthologies shine, so please share it!
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

If you could design an A4 poster for this with a QR code, I’d put it up in my library branch, and plug to other branches

I’m doing the survey, and I can’t answer some of the radio button questions, the ones about preferences for single or multiple genres, and themes/concepts. Those aren’t a factor for me, I’m equally interested in any of the options. I know it’s too late, but ‘no preference’ might be an idea

A white male hand holding up a copy of 'Spent' by Alison Bechdel in a Spanish holiday apartment.

'Spent' by Alison Bechdel, a comedic auto-fiction comic about the kind of people I know, has become an instant favourite. I'd recommend it to anyone.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/1e2b...

#comics #graphicnovels #memoir #alisonbechdel #spent #books #booksky

A white male hand holding a copy of 'The Honjin Murders' by Yokomizo Seishi in a Spanish holiday apartment.

If you're an aficionado of mystery novels or Japanese fiction you probably know about Yokomizo Seisho. I'm not so I didn't but I enjoyed his first novel 'The Honjin Murders' (1946) hugely

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/ca63...

#crimefiction #mystery #yokomizoseisho #thehonjinmurders #books #booksky

A white male hand holding an iPad displaying Interzone #299 on a plane.

Just read Interzone 299 (2 years late). All great, as always, but especially ’The Clockwork Heart of Heaven’ by Roby Davies

#books #sf #sciencefiction #shortstories #interzone #booksky

A white male hand holding a copy of 'It Lasts Forever And Then It's Over' by Anne de Marcken in a domestic setting.

Winner of the Le Guin prize, 'It Lasts For Ever And Then It's Over' by Anne de Marcken is an incredibly beautiful book. To say anything else would be a spoiler, so just read it.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/32dd...

#sffh #ursulakleguinprize #books #booksky @annedemarcken.com

A white male hand holding a copy of 'The Finance Curse' by Nicholas Shaxson, against a domestic background.

If you ever thought you knew how much harm international finance does, it's probably worse. Nicholas Shaxson's 'The Finance Curse' lays it all out.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/16c7...

#finance #capitalism #nicholasshaxson #thefinancecurse #books #booksksy

@nasaartemis.bsky.social Will the crew wear their flight suits continuously until launch? What happens if they need the toilet in the next 5 hours?!

A white male hand holding up a copy of 'The Running Man' by Stephen King in a domestic setting.

I've just read Stephen King's 'The Running Man' for… reasons. It's very much of its time, but also an exemplary essay in the craft of thrillering.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/620d...

#sf #sciencefiction #stephenking #richardbachman #therunningman #books #booksky

It’s a new English language periodical containing a mix of classic reprints and new strips, some translated, some originally in English

A white male hand holding a copy of 'Metal Hurlant—Space Stares Back' in a domestic setting.

Finally read the rebooted English-language Metal Hurlant #2 (I've had #3 on the shelf for a while!) Gorgeously psychedelic SF and fantasy comics that treat the medium like poetry: linger over every frame and don't try to pin the meaning down…

#metalhurlant #comics #books #humanoides #booksky

A white male hand holding a copy of 'Red Sands' by Caroline Eden in a kitchen.

'Red Sands' by Caroline Eden is an unusually beautiful book, full of perceptive travel writing and tasty recipes from Central Asia.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/6f68...

#food #recipes #travel #centralasia #redsands #books #booksky @edentravels.bsky.social

I love French noises. French dogs say 'woah' and French guns say 'pan'!

A white male hand holding up a copy of 'Cast Long Shadows' by Cat Hellisen.

I really enjoyed 'Cast Long Shadows' by Cat Hellisen—a tense fantasy novel of court politics and women's lives in a quasi-medieval setting.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/4fa9...

#fantasy #books #booksky @clhellisen.bsky.social @lunapress.bsky.social

You do realise that outside has a floor, and you can run on it right?

I have a few of those old pocket sized editions too, they’re fab. Hard agree on the Von Bek volume, first in the series and (I think) the last written

He thought they’d be better presented in publication order—the supposed narrative sequence across the 14 books is pretty spurious, to be fair!

A white male hand holding a copy of Michael Moorcock's 'Count Brass' in a messy office.

'Count Brass' is the last of Michael Moorcock's disavowed 'Tale of The Eternal Champion' series: the Hero with a Thousand Faces meets its mystical Apocalypse. Loosely written, but fun and thought-provoking.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/f179...

#fantasy #eternalchampion #michaelmoorcock #books

A white male hand holding up a copy of 'The Arrival' by Shaun Tan.

'The Arrival' by Shaun Tan is a wonderful wordless comic, that uses surreal fantasy worldbuilding to explore the immigrant experience. He's an incredible artist and it's a thing of great beauty.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/1900...

#comics #illustration #books #booksky #shauntan #thearrival

A white male hand holding up a copy of 'The Works of Vermin' by Hiron Ennes.

I'm looking for my socks, as they've been knocked off by 'The Works of Vermin' by Hiron Ennes. A baroque, New-weird-ish, twisty, beautifully written dark fantasy in which nothing is what it seems.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/5092...

#fantasy #newweird #books #booksky @hironennes.bsky.social

A white male hand holding a copy of 'The Essential Cuisines of Mexico' by Diana Kennedy in front of a cluttered sitting room.

'The Essential Cuisines of Mexico' combines the 3 best known books by Diana Kennedy, the grand dame of Mexican food-writing in English. A fascinating, mouth-watering read.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/a4c7...

#food #mexico #mexicanfood #dianakennedy #theessentialcuisinesofmexico #books #booksky

A white male hand holding a copy of 'William Blake Now: Why He Matters More Than Ever' by John Higgs, in a hotel room.

'Wiliam Blake Now' by John Higgs is a short, erudite and inspiring argument for the continuing relevance of Britain's most contested poet.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/68a1...

#blake #poetry #art #johnhiggs #williamblakenow #books #booksky

That’s the kind of coffee making equipment I like to see ☕️

A copy of 'The Lotus Empire' by Tasha Suri, held by a white male hand in front of some audio equipment.

Tasha Suri's 'The Lotus Empire' vol 3 of her 'Burning Kingdoms' trilogy, was less involving than the earlier books for me, but still some of the best-written, most vivid contemporary epic fantasy I've read.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/c721...

#fantasy #tashasuri #thelotusempire #books #booksky

Review by paracyclops - The Mark The Mark is a tightly structured book, which explores a cluster of issues extremely relevant ...

In 'The Mark', Fríða Ísberg uses some well-drawn characters and a low-key SF premise to explore some important ideas around the cultural divisions currently troubling wealthy societies. I enjoyed it a lot.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/158d...

#sciencefiction #themark #fríðaísberg #books #booksky

A white male hand holding a copy of 'Cloud Labour' by Sabrina Huang, translated by Lin King, in a messy office.

I picked up this book on a whim in Hive Books in Norwich. It's a beautiful chapbook containing a single, exquisitely wrought SF short-story in translation. Lucid, polyvalent and ambiguous.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/a0b1...

#sf #sciencefiction #sabrinahuang #linking @strangerspress.bsky.social

A white male hand holding up a copy of 'The Beginning Place' by Ursula K. Le Guin, above a plaid blanket .

I'm exploring some of Ursula K Le Guin's lesser known books, and loving them. 'The Beginning Place' is a beautiful, subtle and perceptive allegorical portal fantasy about the passage into adulthood.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/7690...

#fantasy #ursulakleguin #thebeginningplace #books #booksky

I do find it funny to be identified with the group that can’t be grouped 😂