Review by Dee Lorraine

Life, death, and the stuff in-between: that’s Snapshots, Don Tassone’s fifth short story collection, published by Adelaide Books and available on Amazon. Exploring five themes: Hope, Fantasy, Nostalgia, Shadow, and Light, these 75 tales reveal their characters’ growth through ordinary and extraordinary events.

Tassone opens with the creative non-fiction drabble “Theo,” articulating happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic. In “Reconciled,” a widowed war veteran confronts his long-standing prejudices while waiting at an auto repair shop. “Final Dream” follows a young girl coping with her supernatural ability to foresee disasters as she sleeps.  

Snapshots gives 100-word-story lovers plenty of thought-provoking scenarios. Longer tales include “The Essence of Friendship,” “Free,” and “Ransom,” a 2,612-word thriller. “The Nature of Grace” leaves readers with a happy outcome while regretting the 176-page adventure is over. But don’t worry: Tassone’s next book, Collected Stories, debuts mid-March 2022. 

Dee Lorraine writes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, some of which can be found in Agape Review, Friday Flash Fiction, and Midwest Book Review. Dee’s YouTube channel, “Superfast Stories”, features her videos of writers’ drabbles; “Provoke Unto Love” promotes a Christ-centered permanent solution to the USA’s homelessness crisis.

Review by Laura Besley

In Bed with Melon Bread (Dreich Shorts, 2021) by Leonie Rowland is a chapbook tantalizing in its sweet tanginess that I devoured in one sitting.

Within each of these eight stories, there is a depth of alone- and loneliness. From the girl with cats painted on her nails watching a man in a booth on the other side of the restaurant, to the woman in a glass-walled teahouse, to the girl who “started visiting the cinema alone in preparation for death.”

The characters’ despair is underscored with a touch of quirkiness, making the stories even more palatable. In the title story, the protagonist receives slices of toast in paper packages, crumbs spilling all over the floor.

Rowland’s prose is bold and confident, not a word out of place and In Bed With Melon Bread will merely whet your appetite, leaving you hungry – No, ravenous! – for more.

Laura Besley is the author of micro fiction collection, 100neHundred (Arachne Press, 2021), and flash fiction collection, The Almost Mothers (Dahlia Books, 2020).  
She has been listed by TSS Publishing as one of the top 50 British and Irish Flash Fiction writers. Her work has been nominated for Best Micro Fiction and her story, To Cut a Long Story Short, will appear in the Best Small Fiction anthology in 2021.
Having lived in the Netherlands, Germany and Hong Kong, she now lives in land-locked central England and misses the sea. 

Review by Christian Garduno

Sepia-tinged nostalgia lures everyone in eventually. It’s tempting to skip back over bridges burned so long ago we can’t remember which one of us even held the match anymore. Everyone has plenty of emotional blind-spots. But how do you validate a memory when the one who holds the other half of your recollection is gone forever? Reyes Cardenas’ newest collection oscillates between themes of ageing out of childhood and returning to a place that no longer exists. He’s adopted a swift couplet-style, which is perfect because Cardenas’ meter is quick bursts of expressive, combustible imagery. If the Barrio Gods allowed the 12-year old you to peek behind the curtain and speak with the 60-year old you, would you ask what happens to Dad- to Lupita- to Pete with the Honda bike? Most likely, you’d find “sometimes your past and your future / meet up with each other to destroy themselves.”

Editor’s Note: You can also find Christian’s review as a blurb on Goodreads.

Christian Garduno’s work can be read in over 75 literary magazines. He is the recipient of the 2019 national Willie Morris Award for Southern Poetry. Garduno is a Finalist in the 2020-2021 Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Writing Contest. He lives and writes along the South Texas coast with his wonderful wife Nahemie and young son Dylan.

Review by Laura Stamps

Laura Besley has compiled 100 of her best micro fiction stories, each only 100 words in length, into a stunning, superbly written collection. In many ways this book reminds me of the verbena in my garden. A small 8” cutting of verbena planted in the ground in the spring will quickly blossom into a big, sprawling bush covered in thousands of lavender flowers by the end of the summer. This little book blossoms in a similar fashion, just like a verbena: 100 small stories, 100 different plots, 100 different situations, 100 different themes, over 100 characters. Each story deceptively small, yet together they encompass as much emotion and meaning as 100 different novellas. What an endless source of entertainment! No wonder I look forward to reading a few stories from it every day. You will too.

Laura Stamps is the author of several chapbooks and books, including IN THE GARDEN, CAT DAZE, and TUNING OUT. Her book THE YEAR OF THE CAT won the Muses Prize. She is also the recipient of 7 Pushcart Prize nominations. Her poetry and flash fiction have appeared in The Penwood Review, Sledgehammer Lit, Boston Poetry Magazine, Amethyst Review, The Pittsburgh Quarterly, Crush Literary, and more. You can find her every day on Twitter at @LauraStamps16. 

Review by Lindsey Pucci

Science Fiction is the weirdest of the genres. Dune is a weird entry in the sci-fi canon. Emperor of Dune is the weirdest book in the series. Let me tell you: I was here for every minute of it.

I loved it. It’s bizarre, bent, hilarious, and definitely one of a kind. Stay and pontificate with a 10,000 pound worm god/man about socioeconomics, philosophy, and history. I’ll say that again: A 10,000 POUND WORM SLASH GOD SLASH MAN. 

Much as I loved this book, I can only recommend to hard core Dune fans. It’s just way too much otherwise.

My last question for those who have read it is….why Duncan Idaho?

Lindsey Pucci has a degree in Art Education from U.W. La Crosse. Her work has been published by Simply Syndicated, Nightingale & Sparrow, and Parliament. She teaches and lives with her husband and young son in Minnesota.

Review by Katharine Blair

The Binding by Bridget Collins left me exhilarated, wrung out, and livid that the person I most wanted to share it with did not need to read Collins’ upsettingly well-crafted depictions of assault. That’s a compliment. This book has an audience that needs to see itself reflected more often. It’s about PTSD. It’s about having your mental health “managed” by outside forces. And it’s about giving readers a chance to read a queer book where parental homophobia is framed clearly as an abuse.

Collins employs a clever structuring of time in this story. My favourite moment in a novel comes at 60-70% when you’ve met everyone and you find yourself on the brink of the Big Something. The Binding tantalizingly brings you there thrice. I’m sorry, I know that’s not a helpful explanation but I’m hardly going to spoil it for you. Read it yourself and find out.

Katharine Blair (she/her) is a queer Canadian poet in California. She tweets @katharine_blair and fumbles the rest on instagram @kat_harineblair.