Books:

**** The Early Slavs by P. M. Barford
*** The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Science Fiction by Cory Doctorow and Karl Schroeder


Stories:

** "The Frog's Princess" by Kristin Noone
*** "Red Dirt Kingdom" by Jay Lake
**** "Bob and the Mermaid" by William R. Eakin
***** "Urdumheim" by Michael Swanwick
**** "Winter's Wife" by Elizabeth Hand
*** "Where the Winds Are All Asleep" by Michael F. Flynn
**** "The Hanged Man" by William Gleason
**** "Shalott's Inn" by Leah Cypress
**** "Teddy Bear Toys" by Carl Frederick
** "In the Autumn of the Empire" by Jerry Oltion
**** "A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or the Devil's Ninth Question" by Andy Duncan
***** "Holiday" by M. Rickert
**** "Shallow Copy" by Jesse L. Watson
*** "An Idea Whose Time Had Come" by Robert Grossbach
*** "Wolf Maiden" by Linda L. Donahue
**** "Cold Words" by Juliette Wade
***** "The Things" by Peter Watts
**** "The Far Shore" by Elizabeth Hand
*** "The Valley of the Gardens" by Tony Daniel
**** "After the Dragon" by Sarah Monette
*** "Return to Sender" by James Maxey
**** "Barrens Dance" by Peter S. Beagle
**** "Bandits of the Trace" by Albert E. Cowdrey
*** "The Way They Wove the Spells in Sippulgar" by Robert Silverberg


Quick Takes:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Science Fiction by Cory Doctorow and Karl Schroeder: my review is on my main web site

"Urdumheim" by Michael Swanwick (Best SF and Fantasy of the Year, vol.2): artful reworking of the Sumerian mythos, probing themes of language and civilization

"The Hanged Man" by William Gleason (Analog): nicely done psychological horror tale in science-fictional trappings

"Shalott's Inn" by Leah Cypress (Sword and Sorceress XXIII): a pleasing riff on the Tennyson poem

"Teddy Bear Toys" by Carl Frederick (Analog): fun tale of recursion and self-reference in simulated (and actual?) reality

"A Diorama of the Infernal Regions, or the Devil's Ninth Question" by Andy Duncan (Wizards): ghosts, wizards, the Devil, and the Winchester House, seamlessly woven into a very satisfying coming-of-age story

"Holiday" by M. Rickert (Best SF and Fantasy of the Year, vol.2): unsettling, poignant ghost fantasy evoking memories of Jonbenet Ramsey.

"The Things" by Peter Watts (Clarkesworld): excellent retelling of The Thing, from the point of view of the alien creature!

"Barrens Dance" by Peter S. Beagle (Wizards): beautifully written tale of obsession, love, and magic.


My ratings:
***** excellent: memorable, satisfying, a pleasure to read
**** very good: well written, good read
*** good: readable, engaging, but not very memorable or exciting for me
** sub-par: a rough read, I found it flawed 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)