A Yuletide Universe - ed Brian M Thomsen

one sentence summary
a collection of totally quirky short Christmas stories.

review:

a real hit and miss collection, all of the stories are worth reading even if only because the really terrible stories make the next ones seem better. the strong authors who I love (Gaiman, McCaffrey, and Willis) stories can be found elsewhere, I recommend doing that as they were almost disapointing anyway.
6/10

Blood Lite - ed. Kevin J Anderson

one sentence summary
a collection of short, often witty, paranormal stories.

review
these stories range in quality from "why the hell did I waste my time reading that" to "wow, listen to this..." with the majority being in the first category. I was disappointed by most of the stories but Butcher's was really good and Snell's was interesting (if not particularly well executed) but that was pretty much it for good writing. The more I know the author the more disappointed I was in their story.

2/10

Faeries Gone Wild - Mary-Janice Davidson, Michelle Hauf, Lois Greiman, Leandra Logan

one sentence summary
A collection of four short stories all with happy endings and a dash of love.

review
Mary Janice: absolutely hilarious with characters from her other novels flitting about. Well written and witty - the best story in the book for sure.
Michelle: another hilarious story, the tooth fairy is losing her job because the mothers in her district are forcing their kids to stop believing. She has to figure out a way to save her job with the help of a hunky sandman. a story worth reading for sure.
Lois: an author I hadn't read buy will keep an eye out for. Her story was sweet but she was trying to fit too much plot into too few pages. Well written if a bit rushed feeling.
Leandra: the age old story of trying to find your place in the world, well told and entertaining but ultimately forgettable.

8/10

The Delaney Christmas Carol - Kay Hooper, Iris Johansen and Fayrene Preston

one sentence summary:
many generations of the Delaney family have looked into the magic mirror and seen a glimpse of the future, these are three of those stories.

Review:
none of these stories were particularly well conceived or well written. Iris Johansen's was the best in my opinion and the other two weren't much worse. All three felt rushed and without strong plots. The Delaney family, however, does seem like a family worth writing about and I will probably seek out more of their stories.

4/10

The Bite Before Christmas - Heidi Betts

one sentence summary:
even vampires need a little love around the holidays.

Review:
Three vampire stories that all feed one to another and are written by Betts. She has done a phenomenal job of all three vampire tropes, human girl loves vampire male, vampire female loves human male, and vampire female loves vampire male. All in all  three stories about overcoming the odds, coming to terms with your emotions and falling in love, all with happily forever after endings. The writing is pretty alright, easy reading for sure. The stories are cute and entertaining. Great reading for a snowy afternoon by the fireplace (or the sweltering heat of July if you, like me, are in need of a taste of Christmas to lift your spirits.)

7/10

The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

one sentence summary:
A woman suffering from depression is treated with isolation and fresh country air by her doctor husband, it does not end well.

Review:
Ok, I know this is a short story, you can read it here http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1952 it is only 6000 words long. Originally published in 1892 it tells the story of a woman who is suffering from depression and they way that women's illnesses were treated at that time. Wonderfully written in the first person it follows the decent into madness that isolation and boredom can bring on. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. It is well written, uses great vocabulary and nicely illustrates a low point in women's history.

10/10