it's been a long time since i've read a great story. one that really made me say, "Wow! that's really good." or made me pause and exclaim, "Why didn't I think of that?"

small servings. that's what i call my love for short stories. i enjoy getting just a taste of a writer's work. a novel for me is an entire meal that requires commitment, time and attention to digest the work properly. unless i trust the author to fill me up or if the novel's subject is truly delectable enough then i'm not going to invest in reading it, which is why anthologies are the best version of "tapas" for short stories.

i love anthologies the best because i get to be introduced to new writers and different writing styles. if not for "best SF writings", i would not have know fritz lieber, ray bradbury, robert heinlen, william gibson, and orson scott card. if not for "alfred hitchcock presents", i would have never met john lutz, roald dahl, robert bloch, hal ellson and their fellow writers. my literary world would have been confined to neil gaiman, stephen king, anne rice, edgar allan poe and conan arthur doyle.
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so what's that one great story i've read lately? it's orson scott card's "ender's game" from the book, "Novel ideas: Science Fiction ed. by Brian M Thomsen". the story was where the entire novel sprang up and i found the concept of training children for interplanetary warfare in the guise of games absolutely fascinating. although the story was able to stand on its own, it left enough "what if's" to allow the writer to expound on the story into a full novel. now i am quite interested in getting a copy of the novel itself to see how it turned out.

the good thing about anthologies is the range of topics that writers can explore without boring the reader. i suppose that's my problem - i bore easily. so far i've read portions of The Ultimate Frankenstein ed. by Byron Preiss, More Twisted: Collected Stories vol. 11 by Jeffery Deaver, Return to the Twilight Zone ed. by Carol Serling, The Twisters ed. by Jean Rabe & Martin H. Greenberg and Murder on the Menu ed. by Waugh, Greenberg & Asimov. i hope to finish these books while i devour The Judas Strain by James Rollins, Misery by Stephen King and The Alexandria Link by Steve Berry at the same time. whew! my nose must be bleeding from too much information.

and yet i am loving every minute of it!