Books:

** The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory
** Reading by Starlight: Postmodern Science Fiction by Damien Broderick

Stories:

*** "Corona Centurion FAQ" by Terry Bisson
***** "Paradiso Lost" by Albert E. Cowdrey
**** "Our Lady of Scarlet" by Tanith Lee
**** "Adaptogenia" by Wayne Wightman
*** "Sooner or Later or Never Never" by Gary Jennings
**** "Our Last Words" by Damon Kaswell
*** "The Dreaming Wind" by Jeffrey Ford
*** "Economancer" by Carolyn Ives Gilman
**** "The Spaceman" by Mike O'Driscoll
*** "Healing Benjamin" by Dennis Danvers
*** "Polish On, Polish Off: A Dragon Tale" by Tom Inister
***** "On Horizon's Shores" by Aliette de Bodard
*** "Command Transfer" by Darren Eggett
**** "White Charles" by Sarah Monette

Quick Takes:

***** "Paradiso Lost" by Albert E. Cowdrey (F&SF):Some times you have to love a story just because it's so good to read.  There's nothing mind-blowing here, just lots of good ingredients simmered into a perfect sf curry. Hard to put down, and I don't often say that about novellas.

**** "Our Lady of Scarlet" by Tanith Lee (Realms of Fantasy): a superbly atmospheric piece about the Black Death and Renaissance magic.

** The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory: recycled generic fantasy tropes, badly in need of a major edit. I'll pass on the remainder of this series.

**** "Our Last Words" by Damon Kaswell (Writers of the Future XXIII): a surprisingly adept time-travel story that moves beyond its frame.

** Reading by Starlight: Postmodern Science Fiction by Damien Broderick: I'm interested in books that offer an academic analysis of sf and fantasy, and I'm interested in postmodernism. Alas. this book, after a promising start, gets bogged down in opaque academic jargon and undo attention to the author's favorite works.

*** "Polish On, Polish Off: A Dragon Tale" by Tom Inister (Sword and Sorceress XXIII): a cute, witty twist on the classic knight/maiden/dragon fairy tale.

***** "On Horizon's Shores" by Aliette de Bodard (IGMS): powerful tale of extreme transformation, interesting sf premises and strongly written characters, emotions, and relationships.

My ratings:
***** excellent: memorable, satisfying, a pleasure to read
**** very good: well written, good read, perhaps with small flaws or not quite aligned with my personal taste
*** good: readable, engaging, but with some problems or just not memorable or exciting for me
** sub-par: a rough read, either amateurish or just uninteresting to me
* huh? someone published this?

My ratings are part objective appraisal of the writing, part unapologetic personal preference (certain subjects and subgenres just don't appeal to me as much as others)