2023 favorites

2023 Favorites

Happy new year!

Every year at this time, I treat the SSMT audience to a giant list of all the stories featured on the website from the previous 12 months, organized by how much I liked them. I can’t imagine this is of interest to anyone else. But I do it anyway. The main point here is the incredible number of incredibly excellent short stories. I think this was probably my favorite year of reading.

So let’s celebrate!

In 2023, SSMT went daily for the first time – 365 short stories in 365 days. I’m planning to stop the site on June 9 of this year, which will be 10 years to the day from the start. It’s a relief to think about – with two young daughters, it’s more difficult than ever to find time for short stories. But it also makes me sad. I want to continue having time for short stories.

I guess we’ll see. The plan for now at least is to continue daily toward that 10^th anniversary. And then? Who knows what’s in store?

For now, here’s that list of amazing 2023 stories, ordered by my personal enjoyment:

1. ‘The Other Side Of The Street’ by John Updike
2. ‘A Strange And Sometimes Sadness’ by Kazuo Ishiguro
3. ‘Mrs. Sen’s’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
4. ‘The Gorge’ by Umberto Eco
5. ‘The Rent Manual’ by Sidik Fofana
6. ‘The Hunter’ by E.L. Doctorow
7. ‘Two Men’ by Andrew Porter
8. ‘The Past Perfect, The Past Continuous, The Simple Past’ by Claire Vaye Watkins
9. ‘Ms. Dallas’ by Sidik Fofana
10. ‘When Mr. Pirzada Came To Dine’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
11. ‘Interpreter Of Maladies’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
12. ‘Three People’ by William Trevor
13. ‘All Will Be Well’ by Yiyun Li
14. ‘Virginia City’ by Claire Vaye Watkins
15. ‘The Blessing Tobacco’ by Morgan Talty
16. ‘Seven Floors’ by Dino Buzzati
17. ‘The Pretty Daughters’ by John O’Hara
18. ‘Concord 34’ by Sally Rooney
19. ‘The Gentleman In The Pink-And-White Striped Shirt’ by Maeve Brennan
20. ‘Sliding’ by Leslie Norris
21. ‘Intertextuality’ by Mary Gordon
22. ‘Cat In The Rain’ by Ernest Hemingway
23. ‘Dead Men’s Path’ by Chinua Achebe
24. ‘At The Clinic’ by Sally Rooney
25. ‘A Choice Of Butchers’ by William Trevor
26. ‘L. DeBard And Aliette’ by Lauren Groff
27. ‘The Young Entrepreneurs Of Miss Bristol’s Front Porch’ by Sidik Fofana
28. ‘Different People’ by Clare Sestanovich
29. ‘Sisters’ by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
30. ‘In The Basement’ by Isaac Babel
31. ‘The Dancing-Master’s Music’ by William Trevor
32. ‘This Blessed House’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
33. ‘The Partridge Festival’ by Flannery O’Connor
34. ‘Just Before The War With The Eskimos’ by J.D. Salinger
35. ‘The Laughing Man’ by J.D. Salinger
36. ‘After The Theatre’ by Anton Chekhov
37. ‘Wednesday’s Child’ by Yiyun Li
38. ‘A Consent’ by Wendell Berry
39. ‘A Perfect Day For Bananafish’ by J.D. Salinger
40. ‘A Sandstone Farmhouse’ by John Updike
41. ‘The Coast Of Leitrim’ by Kevin Barry
42. ‘A Couple Of Nights Before Christmas’ by J.F. Powers
43. ‘Charity’ by Cara Blue Adams
44. ‘Bestiary’ by Julio Cortázar
45. ‘The Ship Ahoy’ by Ursula K. Le Guin
46. ‘Rondine Al Nido’ by Claire Vaye Watkins
47. ‘How To Become A Writer’ by Lorrie Moore
48. ‘Leopard’ by Wells Tower
49. ‘Some Of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby’ by Donald Barthelme
50. ‘My Father’s Friends’ by William Maxwell
51. ‘The Hurt Man’ by Wendell Berry
52. ‘The Diver’ by V.S. Pritchett
53. ‘The Secret Of Cartwheels’ by Patricia Henley
54. ‘The Things They Carried’ by Tim O’Brien
55. ‘Flights’ by Alice Adams
56. ‘Not Here You Don’t’ by Thomas McGuane
57. ‘Secret Weapons’ by Julio Cortázar
58. ‘Bliss’ by Katherine Mansfield
59. ‘After Rain’ by William Trevor
60. ‘Mojave Rats’ by Kirstin Valdez Quade
61. ‘Ordinary Sins’ by Kirstin Valdez Quade
62. ‘Federation For The Like-Minded’ by Sidik Fofana
63. ‘The Joker’ by Maeve Brennan
64. ‘Giving’ by Dean Doner
65. ‘King Kong Korab’ by Pete Hsu
66. ‘Behzin Meadow’ by Ivan Turgenev
67. ‘The Yellow Ranch’ by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
68. ‘Mother Savage’ by Guy de Maupassant
69. ‘Sex Scenes From A Chain Book Store’ by Aryn Kyle
70. ‘The Johnson Girls’ by Toni Cade Bambara
71. ‘Sabrina And Corina’ by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
72. ‘Bad Boy’ by Kristen Roupenian
73. ‘Brides’ by Aryn Kyle
74. ‘Don’t Send A Boy To Do A Man’s Work’ by Wendell Berry
75. ‘The Lifeguard’ by Mary Morris
76. ‘Sarah’ by Mary Lavin
77. ‘The Meeting’ by Alix Ohlin
78. ‘Balloons’ by Thomas McGuane
79. ‘The First Day’ by Edward P. Jones
80. ‘The Young Painters’ by Nicole Krauss
81. ‘Sacred Statues’ by William Trevor
82. ‘The (Unhealthy) Breakfast Club’ by Monica Roe
83. ‘The Flood’ by Emile Zola
84. ‘Down At The Dinghy’ by J.D. Salinger
85. ‘The First Kiss’ by Clarice Lispector
86. ‘Graillis’s Legacy’ by William Trevor
87. ‘The Devastating Boys’ by Elizabeth Taylor
88. ‘Almos’ A Man’ by Richard Wright
89. ‘Every Tongue Shall Confess’ by ZZ Packer
90. ‘Exit Zero’ by Marie-Helene Bertino
91. ‘On The Agenda’ by Lore Segal
92. ‘The Divine Fireplace’ by Maeve Brennan
93. ‘Snowing In Greenwich Village’ by John Updike
94. ‘The Tryst’ by Joyce Carol Oates
95. ‘The Stain’ by Tessa Hadley
96. ‘In The Name Of Bobby’ by Julio Cortázar
97. ‘The Cold Boy’ by Benjamin Percy
98. ‘The Pace Of Youth’ by Stephen Crane
99. ‘The Bride’ by Maeve Brennan
100. ‘The Daughters’ by Maeve Brennan
101. ‘Ray-Ray’s Picture Box’ by James McBride
102. ‘Smart’ by Mary Robison
103. ‘Paddle To Canada’ by Heather Monley
104. ‘Playin With Punjab’ by Toni Cade Bambara
105. ‘Waves Of Darkness’ by Cade Meyer Jr.
106. ‘The Thief’ by Guy de Maupassant
107. ‘Virginia Is Not Your Home’ by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
108. ‘A Sister’s Confession’ by Guy de Maupassant
109. ‘A Country Wedding’ by Laurie Colwin
110. ‘The View From The Kitchen’ by Maeve Brennan
111. ‘The Shot’ by Alexander Pushkin
112. ‘The Stone, Hot-Water Bottle’ by Maeve Brennan
113. ‘This Farm For Sale’ by Jesse Stuart
114. ‘Moist House’ by Kate Folk
115. ‘The Boundary’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
116. ‘Wrens And Starling’ by J.F. Powers
117. ‘Miss Anna’s Asleep’ by Jesse Stuart
118. ‘The Strength Of God’ by Sherwood Anderson
119. ‘The Teacher’ by Sherwood Anderson
120. ‘Burn’ by Morgan Talty
121. ‘Charades’ by Lorrie Moore
122. ‘Game Five’ by Pete Hsu
123. ‘The Wind’ by Lauren Groff
124. ‘In And Out Of Houses’ by Elizabeth Taylor
125. ‘The Carol Sing’ by John Updike
126. ‘North Of’ by Marie-Helene Bertino
127. ‘Home Sickness’ by George Moore
128. ‘Bettering Myself’ by Ottessa Moshfegh
129. ‘The Management Of Grief’ by Bharati Mukherjee
130. ‘Are You In Love?’ by Alice Adams
131. ‘Company Of Strangers’ by Aryn Kyle
132. ‘Buying A House Ahead Of The Apocalypse’ by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
133. ‘Ain’t That Good News’ by Brit Bennett
134. ‘An Upheaval’ by Anton Chekhov
135. ‘Ceil’ by Harold Brodkey
136. ‘All Her Names’ by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
137. ‘A Real Durwan’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
138. ‘Di Grasso’ by Isaac Babel
139. ‘Miss Brill’ by Katherine Mansfield
140. ‘The Third And Final Continent’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
141. ‘Wife Wooing’ by John Updike
142. ‘Brawler’ by Lauren Groff
143. ‘Panther Eyes’ by Luisa Valenzuela
144. ‘The Baby Party’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald
145. ‘First Love’ by Isaac Babel
146. ‘Unstuck’ by John Updike
147. ‘The Anachronism’ by Maeve Brennan
148. ‘Mrs. Fox’ by Sarah Hall
149. ‘College Town, 1980’ by Mary Gaitskill
150. ‘The Okiedoke’ by Sidik Fofana
151. ‘Circus At Dawn’ by Thomas Wolfe
152. ‘Raft In Water, Floating’ by A.M. Homes
153. ‘Girls In Their Summer Dresses’ by Irwin Shaw
154. ‘My Girls’ by John O’Hara
155. ‘Matrilineal’ by Tessa Hadley
156. ‘The Widow’s Son’ by Mary Lavin
157. ‘The Piano Teacher’s Pupil’ by William Trevor
158. ‘The Lying Bee’ by John Henrik Clarke
159. ‘My Apology’ by Sam Lipsyte
160. ‘The Lost Bet’ by Wendell Berry
161. ‘Uncle Wiggily In Connecticut’ by J.D. Salinger
162. ‘Sexy’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
163. ‘The Parrot’ by Elizabeth Bowen
164. ‘The Widow’ by Isaac Babel
165. ‘Allegiance’ by Aryn Kyle
166. ‘How Things Were Done In Odessa’ by Isaac Babel
167. ‘Lifeguard’ by John Updike
168. ‘The Last Married Man’ by Alice Adams
169. ‘Economics’ by Aryn Kyle
170. ‘Adventure’ by Sherwood Anderson
171. ‘Beautiful Girl’ by Alice Adams
172. ‘Edna In Rain’ by Marie-Helene Bertino
173. ‘God’s Work’ by Kevin Canty
174. ‘First Heat’ by Peter Taylor
175. ‘The Last Lovely City’ by Alice Adams
176. ‘A Tree Of Night’ by Truman Capote
177. ‘Elliott Spencer’ by George Saunders
178. ‘Found Objects’ by Jennifer Egan
179. ‘In The Middle Of The Fields’ by Mary Lavin
180. ‘Turn Back The Bed’ by Wendell Berry
181. ‘A Nursery Tale’ by Vladimir Nabokov
182. ‘Scenes From The Left Of A Double Monster’ by Vladimir Nabokov
183. ‘Time And Again’ by Breece D’J Pancake
184. ‘Alaska’ by Tom Franklin
185. ‘Perhaps A Family Failing’ by Elizabeth Taylor
186. ‘The War Of The Alligators’ by Horacio Quiroga
187. ‘Zero Pineapples’ by Timothy Willis Sanders
188. ‘The Adulterous Woman’ by Albert Camus
189. ‘Coda’ by Tessa Hadley
190. ‘Billboard’ by Richard Bausch
191. ‘When We Were Happy We Had Other Names’ by Yiyun Li
192. ‘Tomorrow’ by Lu Xun
193. ‘In The West Country’ by Leslie Norris
194. ‘The Starlet Apartments’ by Jonathan Lethem
195. ‘Now More Than Ever’ by Zadie Smith
196. ‘Everything Is Far From Here’ by Cristina Henríquez
197. ‘Plan Of The Peak Cavern’ by Emily Temple
198. ‘The Boy Upstairs’ by Joshua Ferris
199. ‘The Trip’ by Weike Wang
200. ‘Any Further West’ by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
201. ‘Over There’ by Julie Hecht
202. ‘2 B R 0 2 B’ by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
203. ‘Sisters’ by Mary Robison
204. ‘The Ormulu Clock’ by Muriel Spark
205. ‘The Balloon’ by Donald Barthelme
206. ‘The Sorrows Of Gin’ by John Cheever
207. ‘Baster’ by Jeffrey Eugenides
208. ‘The Shorn Lamb’ by Jean Stafford
209. ‘The Day Before The Revolution’ by Ursula K. Le Guin
210. ‘I Am Twenty-One’ by Mary Robison
211. ‘Brother Boniface’ by Mary Lavin
212. ‘Three Days’ by Samantha Hunt
213. ‘The Archivist’ by Claire Vaye Watkins
214. ‘Talpa’ by Juan Rulfo
215. ‘Gideon’ by ZZ Packer
216. ‘Alms’ by Stuart Dybek
217. ‘Remedies’ by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
218. ‘In The Woods’ by Mary Robison
219. ‘A Domestic Dilemma’ by Carson McCullers
220. ‘The Presentation On Egypt’ by Camille Bordas
221. ‘Thrawn Janet’ by Robert Louis Stevenson
222. ‘Battle With The Bees’ by Jesse Stuart
223. ‘As Ye Sows, So Shall Ye Reap’ by Jesse Stuart
224. ‘A Big Night’ by Leslie Norris
225. ‘A Wreath For Miss Totten’ by Hortense Calisher
226. ‘Moon Rocket’ by Elizabeth Spencer
227. ‘Wish’ by Bobbie Ann Mason
228. ‘Heart Of Hearts’ by Emily Temple
229. ‘Yours’ by Mary Robison
230. ‘The Thinker’ by Sherwood Anderson
231. ‘Out There’ by Kate Folk
232. ‘Roy’ by Timothy Willis Sanders
233. ‘You’ll Enjoy It When You Get There’ by Elizabeth Taylor
234. ‘The Hidden Cause’ by Machado de Assis
235. ‘Blind Girls’ by Jayne Anne Phillips
236. ‘Luvina’ by Juan Rulfo
237. ‘They Tell Me… Now I Know’ by Shay Youngblood
238. ‘I Am An American’ by James Alan McPherson
239. ‘Encounters With Unexpected Animals’ by Bret Anthony Johnston
240. ‘The Bunty Club’ by Tessa Hadley
241. ‘Happiness’ by Mary Lavin
242. ‘Diary Of A Madman’ by Lu Xun
243. ‘Old Hope’ by Clare Sestanovich
244. ‘The Discovery Of Kentucky’ by Wendell Berry
245. ‘Trash’ by Souvankham Thammavongsa
246. ‘The Entire Northern Side Was Covered With Fire’ by Rivka Galchen
247. ‘Billy Goats’ by Jill McCorkle
248. ‘Ozème’s Holiday’ by Kate Chopin
249. ‘Madame Lazarus’ by Maile Meloy
250. ‘New York Girl’ by John Updike
251. ‘Future Cat’ by Xuan Juliana Wang
252. ‘The Waltz’ by Dorothy Parker
253. ‘Under The Wave’ by Lauren Groff
254. ‘The Great Hug’ by Donald Barthelme
255. ‘Ghost Sickness’ by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
256. ‘The Eyes Have It’ by Philip K. Dick
257. ‘The Intruder’ by Nada Alic
258. ‘Respectability’ by Sherwood Anderson
259. ‘The Woman The Book Read’ by Sarah Hall
260. ‘The Itch’ by Don DeLillo
261. ‘Flashlight’ by Susan Choi
262. ‘The Match’ by Colson Whitehead
263. ‘Gryphon’ by Charles Baxter
264. ‘Cords’ by Edna O’Brien
265. ‘Odd Jobs’ by Jonathan Escoffery
266. ‘Ancient Rome’ by Kyle McCarthy
267. ‘Thicker Than Liquor’ by Wendell Berry
268. ‘The Kind Of Light That Shines On Texas’ by Reginald McKnight
269. ‘The Cult Of Mary’ by Laura Van Den Berg
270. ‘The Empress’s Ring’ by Nancy Hale
271. ‘Tandy’ by Sherwood Anderson
272. ‘A Ribbon For Baldy’ by Jesse Stuart
273. ‘Loneliness’ by Sherwood Anderson
274. ‘A Little More Research’ by Joan Hess
275. ‘Death Of A Romance Writer’ by Joan Hess
276. ‘Son Of Friedman’ by Emma Cline
277. ‘An Evening Out’ by Garth Greenwell
278. ‘The Green Door’ by O. Henry
279. ‘The Price’ by Neil Gaiman
280. ‘The Last Pilgrim’ by Laurie Colwin
281. ‘What A Thought’ by Shirley Jackson
282. ‘The Treatment Of Bibi Haldar’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
283. ‘Apple Cake’ by Allegra Goodman
284. ‘Invisible Bird’ by Claire-Louise Bennett
285. ‘Separation’ by Clare Sestanovich
286. ‘Femme’ by Aryn Kyle
287. ‘The Bubble’ by Nancy Hale
288. ‘After The Funeral’ by Tessa Hadley
289. ‘Looking For A Thief’ by Danielle Lazarin
290. ‘Sugar Baby’ by Chinua Achebe
291. ‘Look At Your Game, Girl’ by Kristen Roupenian
292. ‘One Sun Only’ by Camille Bordas
293. ‘An Imperial Message’ by Franz Kafka
294. ‘It’s Just Another Day In Big Bear, California’ by Ann Beattie
295. ‘Behind The Blue Curtain’ by Steven Millhauser
296. ‘The Voter’ by Chinua Achebe
297. ‘The Love-Philtre Of Ikey Schoenstein’ by O. Henry
298. ‘The Night Of The Curlews’ by Gabriel García Márquez
299. ‘The Scooby-Doo Lunch Box’ by Quinton Bradley
300. ‘The Third Person’ by Richard Leise
301. ‘When I Die, This Is How I Want It To Be’ by Anneliese Mackintosh
302. ‘Acceptance Journey’ by Mary Gaitskill
303. ‘Catskin’ by Kelly Link
304. ‘Brad Carrigan, American’ by George Saunders
305. ‘The Self-Improvement Of Salvadore Ross’ by Henry Slesar
306. ‘Feather Girls’ by Claire Massey
307. ‘Fern King’ by Kevin Maloney
308. ‘To Do’ by Kate Walbert
309. ‘The Grave’ by Katherine Anne Porter
310. ‘Little Miss Sophie’ by Alice Dunbar-Nelson
311. ‘The Car We Had To Push’ by James Thurber
312. ‘Dancing Dan’s Christmas’ by Damon Runyon
313. ‘The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall’ by Katherine Anne Porter
314. ‘The Horla’ by Guy de Maupassant
315. ‘August Evening’ by Joyce Carol Oates
316. ‘The Ugliest Babies In The World’ by Vanessa Chan
317. ‘The Night We All Had Grippe’ by Shirley Jackson
318. ‘Asleep At The Wheel’ by T. Coraghessan Boyle
319. ‘The Call Of Cthulhu’ by H.P. Lovecraft
320. ‘Independent Living’ by Jonathan Escoffery
321. ‘My Last Story’ by Janet Frame
322. ‘Haunted’ by Walter Mosley
323. ‘Flotsam’ by Diane Cook
324. ‘The $30,000 Bequest’ by Mark Twain
325. ‘Pestilence’ by Jonathan Escoffery
326. ‘Some Like Them Cold’ by Ring Lardner
327. ‘The Frog Prince’ by Robert Coover
328. ‘Evening On The Côte D’Azur – 1952’ by Richard Yates
329. ‘Yancey’ by Ann Beattie
330. ‘The Company Is Not Responsible’ by Mary McCarthy
331. ‘The Media’ by Ben Lerner
332. ‘The Neighbor’ by Russell Banks
333. ‘The Father’ by Raymond Carver
334. ‘A Deserted Street’ by Tawfiq Al-Hakim
335. ‘The Huntress’ by Sofia Samatar
336. ‘Two Ruminations On A Homeless Brother’ by David Means

337    ‘The Deal’ by Leonard Michaels

338. ‘The Caul’ by Russell Banks
339. ‘The Hammer Of God’ by G.K. Chesterton
340. ‘The Jewel Robbery At The Grand Metropolitan’ by Agatha Christie
341. ‘O’Brien’s First Christmas’ by Jeanette Winterson
342. ‘What Can You Do With A General’ by Emma Cline
343. ‘Frights’ by Allegra Hyde
344. ‘Top Of The Food Chain’ by T. Coraghessan Boyle
345. ‘The Black Lights’ by Thom Jones
346. ‘Comma’ by Hilary Mantel
347. ‘At The Zoo’ by Caitlin Horrocks
348. ‘The Descent Of Man’ by Edith Wharton
349. ‘You Are Now Entering The Human Heart’ by Janet Frame
350. ‘Wide Spot’ by Thomas McGuane
351. ‘A Prize For Every Player’ by A.M. Homes
352. ‘Ten Indians’ by Ernest Hemingway
353. ‘The Cure’ by Melissa Febos
354. ‘The Break Up Of Ice’ by Lucie Elven
355. ‘In Bed One Night’ by Robert Coover
356. ‘Rain, Rain, Go Away’ by Isaac Asimov
357. ‘Miracles’ by Lucy Corin
358. ‘Lord Emsworth And The Girlfriend’ by P.G. Wodehouse
359. ‘The Temple’ by Joyce Carol Oates
360. ‘The Strategy Of The Were-Wolf Dog’ by Willa Cather
361. ‘Man-Size In Marble’ by Edith Nesbit
362. ‘Resistance’ by Stephan Enter
363. ‘Tapioca Surprise’ by William Goyen
364. ‘Head Over Knees’ by Eric Schlich
365. ‘Ex Parte’ by Ring Lardner

As always, join the conversation in the comments section below, on SSMT Facebook or on Twitter @ShortStoryMT.

Subscribe to the Short Story Magic Tricks Monthly Newsletter to get the latest short story news, contests and fun.