What I'm Reading: April 2

All-Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages, edited by Saundra Mitchell

Short story reading continues—as of this moment, I'm up to 113 so far for the year, which puts me a little bit ahead of my one-a-day schedule*.

All-Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages is a really solid collection! A lot of short fiction anthologies showcase a pretty broad range of quality, but in this one, the stories only range from Pretty Good to Outstandingly Excellent. Which makes for a satisfying read across the board.

In addition to the stories by Anna-Marie McLemore and Tehlor Kay Mejia—which made me itch to read more, more, more by both authors—my favorite stories, hands down, were:

And They Don't Kiss at the End, by Nilah Magruder, which looks at roller skating, Jane Austen, and growing up asexual in the 1970s. (Speaking as someone who spent a lot of time in a roller rink as a kid, the atmosphere and social dynamics in this one are particularly great.)

New Year, by Malinda Lo, which looks at a moment in which a girl in 1950s era San Francisco sees the possibilities for her future expand exponentially. (I especially love that the romance here wasn't the main character's romance, but one she observed. AND I love that her realizations about her possible future can also be read as a form of romance. *clutches story to chest*)

Three Witches, by Tessa Gratton, which looks at desire and love and faith and belief—and yes, witches!—in a medieval convent. (I so appreciate that Gratton has so much faith in her readers' abilities. Her stories are always smart and complex and layered and rich, whether they're a few pages long or legit doorstops.)

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*The same cannot be said of my goal to read at least two comic books a day—I'm twelve behind there, sigh.