What Mario Scietto Says by Emmy Laybourne
My rating: 3/5 cats
WELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!
boilerplate mission statement intro:
for the past two years, i’ve set december’s project aside to do my own version of a short story advent calendar. it’s not a true advent calendar since i choose all the stories myself, but what it lacks in the ‘element of surprise’ department it more than makes up for in hassle, as i try to cram even MORE reading into a life already overcrammed with impossible personal goals (live up to your potential! find meaningful work! learn to knit!) merry merry wheee!
since i am already well behind in my *regular* reviewing, when it comes to these stories, whatever i poop out as far as reflections or impressions are going to be superficial and perfunctory at best. please do not weep for the great big hole my absented, much-vaunted critical insights are gonna leave in these daily review-spaces (and your hearts); i’ll try to drop shiny insights elsewhere in other reviews, and here, i will at least drop links to where you can read the stories yourselves for free, which – let’s be honest – is gonna serve you better anyway.
HAPPY READING, BOOKNERDS!
links to all stories read in previous years’ calendars can be found at the end of these reviews, in case you are a person who likes to read stories for free:
2016: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show…
2017: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show…
scroll down for links to this year’s stories which i will update as we go, and if you have any suggestions, send ’em my way! the only rules are: it must be available free online (links greatly appreciated), and it must be here on gr as its own thing so i can review it. thank you in advance!
DECEMBER 11
Awful things happen. Terrible losses crush down on us. And you lay there, flat on your back, for a good long while. And then you get up.
I don’t think I can.
Fake it till you make it, sweetheart.
I can’t. I just want . . . I want to sleep and never wake up again.
You’re just feeling sorry for yourself.
You gonna clam up on me now, huh? Well, Crunch ’n Munch.
Crunch ’n Munch. Ever heard of it?
Crunch ’n munch? Yeah. It’s, like, popcorn.
Ever had it? Yeah? Then you know it’s delicious. Buttery toffee and popcorn and some nuts glommed on in there. When I say Crunch ’n Munch, do you want to eat it?
Do you?
Tell the truth.
Yes.
That’s it. The will to eat Crunch ’n Munch is the will to live, just on the tiniest, most superficial scale. Get me?
Yes.
i finished the monument 14 trilogy about three years ago, giving it a fairly tepid review: this is pretty much a three-star series across the board. it’s perfectly enjoyable escapist fun perfect for summertime adults, reluctant reader teens, or YA aftermath novel completists.
many more uncapitalized words followed, me being me, but i wouldn’t call it a glowing takeaway.
and yet – i keep discovering these little branchoff stories, and i keep reading them, and every time i do, i enjoy them in a medium way. none of that is remarkable or unexpected. what IS remarkable is that every time i read a new short story set in this book’s reality, i remember the books in full detail, which is not something i can say for a lot of series, including series more recently-read and better-enjoyed.
this is no small feat, so full hurrahs to emmy laybourne for planting her story-roots so damn deep in my brain.
this series isn’t my favorite thing she has written, but i keep coming back for more, and i still have ONE MORE story to read in this series: The Most Important Meeting In My Life by Max Skolnik, which appears to no longer be available?? if anyone knows how i can read it (because read it i must) drop me a link please! and i’ll share all the crunch n’ munch in my bunker with you. right now that means zero crunch n’ munch, but i’ll work on it.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2014/04/15/what-m…
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