A blue and white short story booklet lies atop a shaggy brown throw pillow. The number 25 appears in a deep pink in the centre of the booklet’s cover.
The Leaf-Sweeper, by Muriel Spark.
“It sounds hard. But perhaps you don’t know how repulsive and loathsome is the ghost of a living man.”
#SSAC2024 #Day25 #ReadMoreBooks #ReadDammit #Booksky
A tawny cat sits on a cat tree beside a pink and blue short story booklet with the number 24 in light blue in the centre of its cover.
A tawny cat sits on a cat tree beside a pink and blue short story booklet with the number 24 in light blue in the centre of its cover.
A tawny cat sits on a cat tree beside a pink and blue short story booklet with the number 24 in light blue in the centre of its cover.
A tawny cat sits on a cat tree beside a pink and blue short story booklet with the number 24 in light blue in the centre of its cover.
The Thieves Who Couldn’t Help Sneezing, by Thomas Hardy.
“‘I can conjure up a tempest in a cupboard,’ Hubert replied.”
#ReadDammit #ReadMoreBooks
#SSAC2024 #Day24
#Booksky
@mrmuleman.bsky.social
Has to be said Jason but if you peruse the Higston & Olsen X page it’s basically you and me who highlight every #ssac2024 story!
We should be their executive reviewers! ☺️
#ssac2024 Day 25 “The Leaf-Sweeper” by Muriel Spark
“This business of leaf-sweeping he learnt during the years he spent in the asylum…He looks much older than he is, for it is not quite twenty years ago that Johnnie founded the Society for the Abolition of Christmas.”
It's a story I've read before, but not in this format. 😅
If today's #ssac2024 story was longer, I could see it being in the Biblioasis series. I'd love to see it illustrated by Seth.
Today's story booklet on top of a row of holiday music CDs.
Day 25 #ssac2024
The Leaf-Sweeper by Muriel Spark
'"It's 'The Holly and the Ivy," said Miss Geddes. "Can't we have something else? We had that all morning."
(As always, thanks for the bonus story, Hingston & Olsen. And thanks to my Adventarian buddies for the great discussions. ❤️💚)
Day 25 The Leaf Sweeper
Muriel Spark #ssac2024
Johnny is so obsessed with the Society for the Abolition of Christmas, he is committed to an asylum.
Years later, he meets his ghost with opposing views.
Talk to yourself more.
The world would be a better place for all.
Day 25, #ssac2024
“The Leaf-Sweeper” by Muriel Spark
The unexpected story of the short lived Abolition of Christmas😎
“But perhaps you don’t know how repulsive and loathsome is the ghost of a living man.”
I meant to write in the ALT text that inside the box are the names of all the stories and authors that have appeared in the SSACs over the past ten years. #ssac2024
The Short Story Advent Calendar box sits empty under the Christmas Tree. The last story, #25, sits on top of the box. Its cover is light blue with a red 25 in the centre. The design is of snowflakes, like those you used to cut out of paper as a kid.
Thank you, Hingston & Olsen! What a cleverly designed box and brilliant, brilliant stories this year.
Merry Christmas everyone!
#ssac2024
A pink and blue short story booklet lies on a bedsheet with a set of Minnie Mouse ears. The number 23 appears in light blue in the centre of the booklet’s cover.
Anaheim by Jennifer Croft, a roller coaster of a story that does, indeed, include a roller coaster.
“He was 42, and he felt like everything that was going to happen in his life had happened now, and the rest would just be waiting.”
#BookSky #Day23 #SSAC2024 #ReadMoreBooks #ReadDammit
Day 24: The Thieves Who Couldn’t Stop Sneezing -Thomas Hardy
A fun final story from the humanist poet and novelist
He wrote in Christmas 1924:
'Peace upon earth!' was said. We sing it,
And pay a million priests to bring it.
After two thousand years of mass
We've got as far as poison-gas.
#ssac2024
And the answer is yes. 🥺 I mocked myself for this the other day, saying it's because I'll have no more stories to read 😭🤣 #ssac2024
Today's story booklet in the midst of wrapped gifts in bags ready to be delivered, all next to a bookshelf.
Day 24 #ssac2024
The Thieves Who Couldn't Help Sneezing by Thomas Hardy
This has to be the cheeriest Hardy story I've ever read!
A pink and blue short story booklet is held in front of an analog wall clock. A light blue number 22 appears in the centre of the booklet’s cover. The time is ten to two.
The One with the Multiverse, by Josh Riedel.
“He developed his own philosophy of tenses, writing out a proof showing how the simple past and the future perfect were essentially the same...”
#ReadDammit #ReadMoreBooks #SSAC2024 #Day22 #BookSky
Day 24 The Thieves Who Couldn’t Help Sneezing
Thomas Hardy #ssac2024
A boy gets his revenge when his horse his stolen yet chances upon a family gathered for a Christmas feast at a mansion in the deepest countryside…
Never estimate the cunning ingenuity of a young English boy!
Day 23: Anaheim by Jennifer Croft
“The year came to an end as it always did, a deafening train blowing your hat off as it sped past your station…He was forty-two, and he felt like everything that was going to happen in his life had happened now, and the rest would just be waiting.”
Oof…
#ssac2024
My husband asked: “Are you and all of your friends going to be sad tomorrow?” #ssac2024
This year’s Christmas tree. Yes, we stuck with our artificial although we contemplated going natural this year. We put on new lights and gave this old tree a second life. Note: We didn’t put up any of our old ornaments. They’re still stuck in a box somewhere. Instead, we decided to gift each other socks. In the meantime, these socks make cool Xmas ornaments. All other ornaments were recently gifted to us: a stack of books, a goldfinch, a silvery bike, a bookworm.
#ssac2024 Day 24: “The Thieves Who Couldn’t Help Sneezing” by Thomas Hardy
“Come, since it is Christmas Eve, we’ll treat him well.”
A cute Christmas story for all ages.
I was looking forward to this particular story after reading Croft’s translations of Tokarczuk’s work. I wasn’t disappointed! #ssac2024
I loved it! #ssac2024
I've been enjoying the Short Story Advent calendar all month, but today's story, Anaheim by Jennifer Croft, is special because I'm pretty sure it's an ode to Inside Llewellyn Davis #ssac2024
Day 23 Anaheim
Jennifer Croft #ssac2024
Tired of his life as a Translator, Alex checks out after winning a big award. Reliving his childhood he goes to Disneyland and befriends a boy in distress.
But when COVID hits, it opens a surprising new door.
Tragedy doesn’t have to decide your future.
A pink and blue short story booklet, with a light blue 21 printed in the centre of the cover, stands atop a pile of white, orange, and neon green sneakers — and a single pair of heavy, black emo boots.
Wars and Winters, by Hannah Pittard.
“I didn’t know which I liked less, being compared to his students or being compared to his wife.”
#ReadDammit #ReadMoreBooks #SSAC2024 #Day21 #BookSky
Image from the internet of a 1970s Cinderella watch. The centre is blue and full of magical stars. Cinderella’s arms serve as the hour and minute hands. A yellow banner saying Cinderella is above her head.
However, I was able to find a picture of the watch online.
Remember when we had Time?
#ssac2024
Today’s story propped up between a small crate of clementines and a snow globe. The snow globe will have to serve as my Rosebud as I could not find my Cinderella watch. Pooh Bear and Eeyore flank the snow globe, which by the way, has a pile of books inside.
#ssac2024 Day 23 “Anaheim” by Jennifer Croft
“Boredom was the best thing about childhood.”
So I had the perfect prop in mind for this story: My first watch, a Cinderella watch with a red patent alligator leather strap. At least, that’s how I remember it. But it’s lost in Time.
I've read Croft's memoir Homesick and I could pick out some recurring themes. #ssac2024
I also wasn’t sure where this story was going to go. But I’m glad it ended in the way that it did. #ssac2024
I loved today's story. I wasn't sure where it would end up and the ending was great. #ssac2024
