This is a short story collection so if you can't do EVERY story pick one or two to focus on.

Discussion Dates and Stories Covered Below

May 24th: The Marks of Aegis through Wake World

May 31st: Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel through The Thing In Us We Fear Just Wants Our Love

This months queer book club theme is inspired by the "Short Story Collection" square on the bingo card.

This will be a short poll, 48 hours from the time of this post.

Both discussions will be posted on a Sunday this time (for my sanity).

May 24th - Halfway Discussion (Based on whichever story ends closest to the halfway mark).

May 31st - Final Discussion

Because this is once again a short turn around time (we will be posting polls for June later this month so it doesn't happen again) each discussion post will be divided into sections for each story. So if you can't read ALL the stories chose one story you'd like to focus on and discuss.

Mind the page count and the short turn around time to read.

I once again tried focus on a variety of themes, settings, and tones and variety of queer-rep.

I can't post polls so please upvote your favorite option in the comments below.

Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel - Julian K Jarboe

Pages: 204

In this debut collection of body-horror fairy tales and mid-apocalyptic Catholic cyberpunk, memory and myth, loss and age, these are the tools of storyteller Jarboe, a talent in the field of queer fabulism. Bodily autonomy and transformation, the importance of negative emotions, unhealthy relationships, and bad situations amidst the staggering and urgent question of how build and nurture meaning, love, and safety in a larger world/society that might not be "fixable." 

Add Magic to Taste - Assorted Authors

Pages: 306

For Add Magic to Taste, 20 authors have come together to produce all-new, original short stories uniting four of our absolute favorite themes: queer relationships, fluff, magic, and coffee shops! Our diverse writers have created an even more diverse collection of stories guaranteed to sweeten your coffee and warm your tart.

Gods of Want - K-Ming Chang

Pages: 224

In "Auntland," a steady stream of aunts adjust to American life by sneaking surreptitious kisses from women at temple, buying tubs of vanilla ice cream to prepare for citizenship tests, and hatching plans to name their daughter "Dog." In "The Chorus of Dead Cousins," ghost-cousins cross space, seas, and skies to haunt their live-cousin, wife to a storm-chaser. In “Xífù,” a mother-in-law tortures a wife in increasingly unsuccessful attempts to rid the house of her. In "Mariela," two girls explore one another's bodies for the first time in the belly of a plastic shark while in "Virginia Slims," a woman from a cigarette ad comes to life. And in "Resident Aliens," a former slaughterhouse serves as a residence to a series of widows, each harboring her own calamitous secrets. With each tale, K-Ming Chang gives us her own take on a surrealism that mixes myth and migration, corporeality and ghostliness, queerness and the quotidian. Stunningly told in her feminist fabulist style, these are uncanny stories peeling back greater questions of power and memory. 

Trans-Galactic Bike Ride - Edited by Lydia Rogue

Pages: 192

"What would the future look like if we weren't so hung up on putting people into boxes and instead empowered each other to reach for the stars? Take a ride with us as we explore a future where trans and nonbinary people are the heroes.

In worlds where bicycle rides bring luck, a minotaur needs a bicycle, and werewolves stalk the post-apocalyptic landscape, nobody has time to question gender. Whatever your identity you'll enjoy these stories that are both thought-provoking and fun adventures.

Featuring brand-new stories from Hugo, Nebula, and Lambda Literary Award-winning author Charlie Jane Anders, Ava Kelly, Juliet Kemp, Rafi Kleiman, Tucker Lieberman, Nathan Alling Long, Ether Nepenthes, and Nebula-nominated M. Darusha Wehm. Also featuring debut stories from Diana Lane and Marcus Woodman."

Mothman is my Boyfriend - McKayla Coyle

Pages: 192

Welcome to Cryptid Creek, a secret town full of undiscovered creatures, from yetis to lake monsters. Only very special humans can find their way here, but when they do stumble in, they can’t resist the allure of this cozy locale—or its fascinating citizens.

Join the humans of this inclusive fantasy community as they browse the bookshop with Mothman, hit the skate park with nightcrawlers, wander the botanical garden with the Jersey Devil, and go on other dream dates that offer new spins on classic romance tropes. Stories include:

• A friends-to-lovers slow burn with the Loveland Frog
• A fake dating scheme with a swamp monster
• A butch/femme hookup with Sasquatch
• A second-chance drama with the Michigan Dogman
• And more fun trysts with your favorite creatures!

If you loved Legends and Lattes and That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf, get ready to dust off your cryptozoology equipment and put on your cutest outfit—because monster lovers, misfits, and anyone who relates to cryptids will never want to leave this mountain town.