Parakeet started out strong with the bride when, on the week of her wedding, she receives a visit from a bird she feels is her dead grandmother. The parakeet-grandmother drills the bride about her life at present before telling her not to get married and to go find her brother, from whom the bride is estranged.

Moody, atmospheric, untethered — an anthropologist, a surveyor, a psychologist, and a biologist all walk into an area named X. There they are to gather samples, map the terrain, and document their observations. But this is the twelfth expedition to Area X, which has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Each previous expedition has reported back something different, with many members disappearing or dying under mysterious circumstances.

From the possible influence of two earlier dystopian stories, and the definite impact this had on two later dystopian stories, We holds its own among the heralding bells of danger ahead.

Years following his exile, Oedipus's daughter Antigone takes on the role of biographer, determined to set the record straight about her father's life and death. Through her eyes, we get a new perspective on the tragic tale of Oedipus, a mythical Greek king who unknowingly faced a prophecy foretelling his dark destiny: to kill his father and marry his mother.

Queen Hereafter takes on the difficult task of blending the legendary portrayal of Lady Macbeth from Shakespeare's (woefully inaccurate) Macbeth with the real-life historical figure, Gruoch. While Schuler's endeavor falls short of perfection, she managed to weave a rich tapestry for this well-known figure of Lady M in the Scottish play.

With hints of a first contact story any of us would know well, The Mountain in the Sea explores the idea of consciousness in a strangely surreal and deceptively serene near-future novel where humans have discovered intelligent life in an octopus species.

Elsa M. Anderson, a renowned pianist, is intrigued by a woman she encounters at an Athens flea market as she purchases mechanical dancing horses Elsa also wants. The appearance of this woman, who strikingly resembles Elsa, raises questions about the possibility of them being doppelgängers.

Checkout 19 a stream-of-consciousness novel about a writer and her deep connection to writing. It explores her encounters with books, both her own writing and the works of others, and how reading and writing transform her life.

After a recent accident and subsequent time in the hospital, author Sidney Orr walks into a new stationary shop and purchases a blue Italian-made notebook. Something about the notebook calls to him and his inspiration to write returns when he takes pen to paper.

As with any short story collection, some are winners and some are not. Same here, and this was actually my first foray into Saunders. So I do wonder….

Years before other novels (ones that become classics and immortalized on film), Arnim lays the groundwork for Rebecca and Before the Fact (both adapted famously by Hitchcock — and both with Joan Fontaine), with echos of Wuthering Heights….