I hope everyone has enjoyed reading a short story or two this week. Below are links to new posts since last Sunday’s update. If you are participating in the Deal Me In challenge but not necessarily posting about your stories, feel free to tell us what you’ve read in the comments to this post.
Dale read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Ethan Brand”: http://mirrorwithclouds.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/nathaniel-hawthornes-ethan-brand/
The Returning Reader drew her Three of Hearts and tantalizes us with a short review of Donald Barthelme’s “The School” http://returningreader.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/short-story-8-the-school-donald-barthelme/
Then, in an amazing coincidence, Candiss at Read the Gamut drew her King of Spades leading her also to… Donald Barthelme’s “The School” http://readthegamut.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/deal-me-in-challenge-story-8-the-school-by-donald-barthelme/ What are the odds? (I think 1 in 2,704? – that would be before either card was drawn; once one is drawn, then there is a 1 in 52 chance that it would be matched I guess – I was never good at understanding how odds are calculated, as Marilyn vos Savant’s column in Parade Magazine used to frequently remind me…)
Katherine at The Writerly Reader shares her thoughts on “The Conversion of Tegujai Batir” by Jack Kirby http://katenread.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/deal-me-in-week-8-the-conversion-of-tegujai-batir/
http://www.shelfari.com/books/16334/The-Best-American-Short-Stories-1998/reviews/4410861
Here’s one I missed a couple weeks back: Susan at Avid Series Reader commented on a couple stories she’s read for DMI2014 via Shelfari: Padgett Powell’s Wayne in Love and Chance by Edith Pearlman – the latter story featuring a poker game (quite appropriate for this challenge, eh?)
I read Robert Bloch’s “The Hungry House” https://bibliophilica.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/mirror-mirror-on-the-wall-robert-blochs-the-hungry-house/ Bloch is the author of “Pyscho” of the 1959 Hitchcock movie fame.
Well, these were the posts that had been published as of my creating this wrap-up. Feel free to link to any other posts in the comments. Happy reading and see you next week!
-Jay
Bibliophilopolis 
Candiss said,
February 23, 2014 at 6:49 pm
How cool that two of us drew the same story!
As I said over on Returning Reader’s blog a minute ago, I’ve been waiting until your wrap-up post each week to visit the others’ blogs and see what they’ve drawn, so I’m less likely to miss anyone. It’s also easy to consolidate all my Deal Me In stuff on the same day: draw card, read story, write post, then read others’ posts when the wrap-up goes up. But too often I’m down to the wire. Hence, note to self: I really, really need to start drawing my cards earlier in the week. I keep either getting them in just in time or missing the wrap-up time and having to catch up. I’ll see if I can get into the habit of doing it mid-week instead of waiting til the weekend. 🙂
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Jay said,
February 23, 2014 at 6:58 pm
Hi Candiss,
I just finished reading “The School” a few minutes ago. What an odd story! I’m still not quite sure what it means, so I will stew on it for awhile…
I still draw my card on Saturday morning and try to write a little something immediately afterward, but don’t always publish it immediately. And I’ll make a confession here that I actually started a week early this year since, with my “duties” as host of this challenge, I really don’t want to fall behind. 🙂
I’m really enjoying having several others play along this year and always look forward to seeing what the luck of the draw had led everyone to read. Maybe in 2015 we’ll gain some more additional participants.
-jay
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Returning Reader said,
March 1, 2014 at 2:46 am
Sorry, I never replied to this post here! It is indeed amazing that we both drew the same book in the same week – I won’t argue with your mathematics as to the odds, Jay! I loved the story, and am enjoying the ongoing reading and blogging, even if I’m not a great commment-er on others’ blogs.
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Jay said,
March 2, 2014 at 7:59 pm
No worries. 🙂 I did end up reading the story too and found it intriguing and thought provoking. I’m glad you’re enjoying the challenge. I think we’ve got a nice core group of readers who are posting consistently each week (or close to it). I look forward each weekend to seeing what everyone’s read.
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