Coyote Ugly

*happy sigh* - this was a wonderful stew of stories and illustrations - a real mix of genres but a continuous thread of voice and topics to tie it all together. Such a strong sense of location in a lot of the stories, too.

The collection reminded me somewhat of 'Mothers and Other Monsters', a collection of short stories by Maureen F. McHugh, not least because of the AU Civil War stories in the two collections, and the 'small sci fi' stories: human, low-key, and therein lies their power...

The story Coyote Ugly itself really picked me up and took me with the narrator in their desperation - I missed my stop on the way home because I couldn't bring myself to break out of the story at that critical moment!

This collection of short stories is a delightful mishmash of genres. They aren't set in the same place or time and really show off Nagle's versatility. Characters and plots have stayed with me long after reading this collection.

I liked most of the short stories in this book, which I can't always say about short story compilations. Most of the stories felt very fresh compared to a lot of the stale same-old-story stuff that is out there.

It is hard to categorize the stories in this book - some are romances, some are fantasy, some are science fiction, some are historical...most are a mesh of one or more genres. Elves, gods, vampires, talking cats, scientists, FBI agents, medieval Italian damsels, soldiers, rebels and Yanks, space stations ...there are even a couple of recipes included. I liked the artwork that was coupled with each story, but as I read the book on my Kindle, I wonder if they were in color or not (I went back and downloaded the pdf of the story and show more discovered that yes, indeed, they are in color!). Most of the stories were well-edited, compact nuggets of story that almost felt like the beginning of something larger, as though the author was trying out some ideas within various larger worlds. Each of the stories reflected a definite voice and character, and I enjoyed them, but the looseness of the collection makes the book somewhat easy to put down. However, the anticipation of the unknown is also quite a draw.

My one big complaint is that in the third story, The Cygnius sedonai Caper, the feline characters just did not read as anything other than human.
I would recommend this book for anyone who likes something that is new, wistful and evocative.

I received a free review copy of this book through LibraryThing.com. show less

Coyote Ugly is not what most would consider an “edge of your seat” read however in this age of vampires and zombies it is a nice change from the throat chomping, brain eating regular fair. I found it to be a lovely collection of mostly Mexican short stories involving a love of nature and the gods and goddesses that inhabit that world. The first story takes you into the world of a river goddess getting revenge on those who don’t look after the river and the rest of the stories follow much the same suit. It’s a book that should be sent to all of the big company CEOs who are bound and determined to ruin an absolutely beautiful planet. Or else maybe some of the protectors of nature from the novel could deal with them as they dealt show more with the unscrupulous beings in the novel. show less

Pati Nagle presents a wonderful collection of short-stories in her book which, for lack of time, has been on my TBR shelf far too long and once I started reading it I devoured it in only two sittings.
The stories dip into various genres, ranging from fantasy to science fiction and from historical to romance. While this might appear to be quite a wild mix, and I was honestly surprised about the variety of genres, the stories blend together amazingly well in my opinion. I like variety when it comes to such collections and Pati provides just that with her well written, engaging tales that are held together by different yet distinctive narratives that gave the book a common ground that is only (a little bit) disturbed by the recipes strewn show more in every now and then.
Like everyone else I have my favorites in the book, but generally almost all of the featured stories are of high quality and will keep you reading on and on.
In short: An engrossing collection of short-stories that bridges many genres - highly recommendable! show less

I really enjoyed this collection. The stories have a (very) wide range of genres, but it never felt jarring going from one story to the next. I liked the variety because it kept things from getting repetitive, and it felt more like I got to take a tour of Nagle's mind, which I found creative and interesting. I don't think I can pick a favorite story. Each time I try, I flit from story to story remembering all the different things I liked in each. The variety in the stories makes it difficult to compare them to one another.

I received this book as an Early Reviewer -- and reviewed it really late! And I'm sorry I did.
This is an eclectic collection of short stories, ranging in time from the Medicis to the future, passing through a couple of different Indigenous mythologies -- and all very enjoyable. There's even some very cool recipes along the way, for those of us who love anything with chili in it. I don't think I can choose one favourite story, although Mother Ditch stands out for me. The slight twist to the vampire story was refreshing, as was the story I disrespectfully call "Hawai'ians in Space" in my own head.
I really enjoyed this book, and recommend it most especially to those who like a little variety on their reading.