Anthology

I love the idea of anthologies–getting them for one author and discovering others–but what inevitably happens is I wait for the starring author to publish their contribution separately as a Kindle Single or go to a Barnes and Noble and read through the stories I’m actually interested in, skipping everything else. But every once in a while an anthology comes out that’s pure magic cover to cover, and all it took was George R.R. Martin on the editing team.

Songs of Love and Death: All-Original Tales of Star-Crossed Love includes Jim Butcher’s “Love Hurts,” a short story from the Dresden Universe that promises to solve at least some of Harry and Karen’s UST, and Neil Gaiman’s creepily mind-blowing imaginary girlfriend story, “The Thing About Cassandra,” both totally worth the anthology’s negligible Kindle price. However, also worth reading are M.N.L. Hanover’s haunted house story, which brings some genuine chills, and a sci-fi classic about a middle-aged man and his alien love, reinvented with use of the internet, by Peter S. Gould. And of course, the pièce de résistance, a snippet from the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon rounds off this anthology’s offerings of bittersweet romance.

If you’re sick of seeing the same old classic literature authors on the shelves of your local bookstore and are in the mood for something exciting, the science-fiction anthology Sound and Fury: Shakespeare Goes Punk should certainly be right up your alley. While the authors of the short stories do borrow from the Bard, the end result is Shakespeare as you’ve never seen him before.

For example, Macbeth is adapted into a dystopian cyberpunk tale that cautions you about being careful what you wish for. Yet despite the futuristic setting, each of the five authors manage to preserve the heart of Shakespeare’s tales, and literature geeks will enjoy scouring each piece for little nods to the original tale, too.

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The poetry anthology Unsettling America: An Anthology of Contemporary Multicultural Poetry, which was edited by Jennifer Gillan and Maria Mazziotti Gillan, takes a look at the multicultural voices found in American poetry.

This anthology features the works of poets such as Gary Soto, Pat Mora, Nellie Wong, David Hernandez, and many more. Each selected poem was chosen because the writing is not only beautiful but also powerful and evocative. The works encompass all languages, ethnicities, and religions to give a strong voice to the lives and experiences of ethnic Americans, many of whom are lost in the shadow of white privilege in today’s society.

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Whether you’re single or attached, Flirts! Five Romantic Short Stories by Lisa Scott is the perfect way to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Scott, who is the author of the Willowdale Romance series, entertains readers with five contemporary short stories that revolve around love. While each story can be read as a stand-alone, all five stories do eventually connect in the end.

The Hot Girl’s Friend follows Jane, a woman who’s tired of watching her friend Miranda fend off men while never getting a happy ending of her own. After griping with a bartender named Brady who tries to set her up with a few of his friends, Jane develops feelings for Brady (Editor’s Note: Um, spoiler alert?) and finally finds love.

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When most people think of Italian-American women, they think of trashy reality television shows like Jersey Shore or Mob Wives.  However, Olive Grrrls Anthology: Italian North American Women and the Search for Identity, which is available on Kindle, allows Italian-American women to let their voices be heard and their opinions be aired.

The topics range from essays on their personal experiences to haunting poetry and discussions about sexism, culture, activism, racism, and much more. The voices of these 20-something women resist the stereotypes that all Italian women living in North America are all brash, idiotic, overly sexual, or dumb materialistic party dolls who idolize Snookie and J-Woww.

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