Category: Favorites

2025 Favorites

Time to turn the page on 2025 in hopes for better things in the year ahead.

This is the 12th SSMT year-end note, which is difficult for me to fathom. Twelve! That’s more than a quarter of my life.

Each year around this time I list out all the short stories I’ve posted about on the site during the previous 12 months, ranked based on how much I enjoyed them. This being the 12th such ranking, I thought it would be fun to look back quickly at each year’s No. 1 story. There are a lot of literary prizes out there, but I’m not sure I can think of any that come with the prestige of Short Story Magic Tricks Story of the Year.

2014

1. ‘Hot Ice’ by Stuart Dybek
2. ‘A Good Man Is Hard To Find’ by Flannery O’Connor
3. ‘The Lady With The Little Dog’ by Anton Chekhov
4. ‘Jeeves And The Impending Doom’ by P.G. Wodehouse
5. ‘The Babysitter’ by Robert Coover

2015

1. ‘The Dead’ by James Joyce
2. ‘The Semplica Girl Diaries’ by George Saunders
3. ‘Bullet In The Brain’ by Tobias Wolff
4. ‘Wash’ by William Faulkner
5. ‘A Rose For Emily’ by William Faulkner

2016

1. ‘Blight’ by Stuart Dybek
2. ‘The Vanishing American’ by Leslie Parry
3. ‘Eisenheim The Illusionist’ by Steven Millhauser
4. ‘The Red-Headed League’ by Arthur Conan Doyle
5. ‘Dog Heaven’ by Stephanie Vaughn

2017

1. ‘Axis’ by Alice Munro
2. ‘Sea Oak’ by George Saunders
3. ‘Pastoralia’ by George Saunders
4. ‘Roman Fever’ by Edith Wharton
5. ‘Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman’ by Haruki Murakami

2018

1. ‘The Adventure Of The Speckled Band’ by Arthur Conan Doyle
2. ‘Brokeback Mountain’ by Annie Proulx
3. ‘St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised By Wolves’ by Karen Russell
4. ‘The Man Of The World’ by Frank O’Connor
5. ‘Irish Revel’ by Edna O’Brien

2019

1. ‘The Beginning Of A Long Story’ by Maeve Brennan
2. ‘The Point’ by Charles D’Ambrosio
3. ‘The Doll Queen’ by Carlos Fuentes
4. ‘Pig-hoo-o-o-o-e-y’ by P.G. Wodehouse
5. ‘Mystery In São Cristóvão’ by Clarice Lispector

2020

1. ‘Wenlock Edge’ by Alice Munro
2. ‘The Green Banana’ by J.F. Powers
3. ‘Love Letter’ by George Saunders
4. ‘A Jonquil For Mary Penn’ by Wendell Berry
5. ‘Family Furnishings’ by Alice Munro

2021

1. ‘The Mad Lomasneys’ by Frank O’Connor
2. ‘Bluebell Meadow’ by Benedict Kiely
3. ‘The Turkey Season’ by Alice Munro
4. ‘Another Christmas’ by William Trevor
5. ‘Bravado’ by William Trevor

2022

1. ‘Roses, Rhododendron’ by Alice Adams
2. ‘Foaling Season’ by Aryn Kyle
3. ‘Children On Their Birthdays’ by Truman Capote
4. ‘The Last Thing We Need’ by Claire Vaye Watkins
5. ‘Read This And Tell Me What It Says’ by A. Manette Ansay

2023

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

2024

1. ‘Death By Landscape’ by Margaret Atwood
2. ‘The Moon In Its Flight’ by Gilbert Sorrentino
3. ‘Torch Song’ by John Cheever
4. ‘You Never Get It Back’ by Cara Blue Adams
5. ‘Peach Cobbler’ by Deesha Philyaw

I’m bound to be biased as this literally is a list of stories that are ranked according to how much I liked them, but even with that said, wow, that’s a really cool list of stories! You could do a lot worse anthology wise than to spend a couple weeks reading those 55 stories.

And now it’s time to unveil the 2025 rankings. Which stories from this year will rise to the top? Which will enter the SSMT pantheon?

2025

1. ‘The Best Of Everything’ by Richard Yates
2. ‘A Manual For Cleaning Women’ by Lucia Berlin
3. ‘Office Hours’ by Ling Ma
4. ‘The Country Husband’ by John Cheever
5. ‘Marito In Citta’ by John Cheever
6. ‘Emperor Of The Air’ by Ethan Canin
7. ‘Peking Duck’ by Ling Ma
8. ‘The Canal’ by Richard Yates
9. ‘A Wrestler Of Sharks’ by Richard Yates
10. ‘Conversion Of The Jews’ by Philip Roth
11. ‘The Red Convertible’ by Louise Erdrich
12. ‘The Deposition’ by Tobias Wolff
13. ‘A Really Good Jazz Piano’ by Richard Yates
14. ‘Intruders Of Sleepless Nights’ by Pamela Painter
15. ‘Korea’ by John McGahern
16. ‘The Year Of Getting To Know Us’ by Ethan Canin
17. ‘Goodbye Marcus, Goodbye Rose’ by Jean Rhys
18. ‘Happiest Moment’ by Lydia Davis
19. ‘Scales’ by Louise Erdrich
20. ‘Best Western’ by Louise Erdrich
21. ‘A Clearing’ by Wendell Berry
22. ‘Snowfall’ by Deesha Philyaw
23. ‘Great Experiment’ by Jeffrey Eugenides
24. ‘Every Night For A Thousand Years’ by Chris Adrian
25. ‘They’re Not Your Husband’ by Raymond Carver
26. ‘Sweethearts’ by Richard Ford
27. ‘Crown-Fire’ by Erskine Caldwell
28. ‘For A Long Time, This Was Griselda’s Story’ by Anthony Doerr
29. ‘Star Food’ by Ethan Canin
30. ‘Lies’ by Ethan Canin
31. ‘We Are Nighttime Travelers’ by Ethan Canin
32. ‘The Man In The Moon’ by William Maxwell
33. ‘The Smile On Happy Chang’s Face’ by Tom Perrotta
34. ‘The Little Statue’ by Maeve Murphy
35. ‘A Glutton For Punishment’ by Richard Yates
36. ‘Liquid Papers’ by Nicolette Polek
37. ‘The B.A.R. Man’ by Richard Yates
38. ‘Xmas, Jamaica Plain’ by Melanie Rae Thon
39. ‘Minotaur’ by Jim Shepard
40. ‘American Beauty’ by Ethan Canin
41. ‘The Hollow Children’ by Louise Erdrich
42. ‘Nothing To Declare’ by Richard Ford
43. ‘The Hunter’s Wife’ by Anthony Doerr
44. ‘When Eddie Levert Comes’ by Deesha Philyaw
45. ‘Fires’ by Rick Bass
46. ‘The Romance Of Certain Old Clothes’ by Henry James
47. ‘Delivery’ by Bruce Barrow
48. ‘Dirt’ by Maud Casey
49. ‘Blackbird Pie’ by Raymond Carver
50. ‘La Vita Nuova’ by Allegra Goodman
51. ‘The Toast’ by Rebecca Curtis
52. ‘Helen On Eighty-Sixth Street’ by Wendi Kaufman
53. ‘The Hand’ by Colette
54. ‘Snares’ by Louise Erdrich
55. ‘The Prom Terrorists’ by Rabih Alameddine
56. ‘Biology’ by Kevin Wilson
57. ‘The Nice Restaurant’ by Mary Gaitskill
58. ‘A Tiny Feast’ by Chris Adrian
59. ‘The Lucid Eye In Silver Town’ by John Updike
60. ‘The Rider Was Lost’ by Nancy Hale
61. ‘The Fir Tree’ by Hans Christian Andersen
62. ‘Do Not Disturb’ by A.M. Homes
63. ‘The Shell Collector’ by Anthony Doerr
64. ‘Lessons With Father’ by Jai Chakrabarti
65. ‘Across The Bridge’ by Graham Greene
66. ‘Still-Life’ by John Updike
67. ‘The Pearl Of Love ‘ by H.G. Wells
68. ‘Boy And Girl Games Like Coupling’ by Jamie Paige
69. ‘A Woman Driving Alone’ by Marie-Helene Bertino
70. ‘The Ghost Birds’ by Karen Russell
71. ‘There He Go’ by Ladee Hubbard
72. ‘Where We Are Now’ by Ethan Canin
73. ‘Things My Mother Said’ by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
74. ‘Goodbye To The Road Not Taken’ by A.M. Homes
75. ‘Live Wires’ by Thomas Beller
76. ‘Psychology’ by Katherine Mansfield
77. ‘What’s Wrong With You? What’s Wrong With Me?’ by J.M. Holmes
78. ‘They Told Us Not To Say This’ by Jenn Alandy Trahan
79. ‘The Last Grownup’ by Allegra Goodman
80. ‘Smote, Or When I Find I Cannot Kiss You In Front Of A Print By Bridget Riley’ by Eley Williams
81. ‘Song Of Roland’ by Jamaica Kincaid
82. ‘The Last Question’ by Isaac Asimov
83. ‘How To Make The Wrong Impression’ by Katherine Heiny
84. ‘Let’s Play Dead’ by Senaa Ahmad
85. ‘Doggerland’ by Kaliane Bradley
86. ‘Crouch End’ by Stephen King
87. ‘Happy’ by Richard Ford
88. ‘A Sudden Story’ by Robert Coover
89. ‘Dagon’ by H.P. Lovecraft
90. ‘Los Angeles’ by Ling Ma
91. ‘Good Legs’ by Joshua Ferris
92. ‘The Space’ by Christopher Boucher
93. ‘Fathers’ by Robley Wilson Jr.

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.

2024 Favorites

Hello, I hope you are having a nice holiday season. This is a new year I wasn’t expecting to celebrate on SSMT. I fully intended to stop the site on the 10^th anniversary this past June.

But, quite obviously, I couldn’t stay away.

I pulled back on the frequency so that we’re only posting once a week – every Monday – with some special exceptions. Not nearly as many short stories as I was reading before, but still a nice selection and a nice way to keep the website community here going without monopolizing too much of my decreasingly available time.

I’m excited to head into another new year of stories. There is a neverending supply of great work from long ago to continue digging through, but I’m also very energized and inspired by where the form is going. There are a ton of new writers out there doing great things, pushing boundaries of what short stories can be. I’m not sure I would have said that three or four years ago.

OK, on to a wonderful 2025, and, as is tradition at SSMT, here is a list of all the stories featured on the site during the past year – in order only by how much I liked them.

1. ‘Death By Landscape’ by Margaret Atwood
2. ‘The Moon In Its Flight’ by Gilbert Sorrentino
3. ‘Torch Song’ by John Cheever
4. ‘You Never Get It Back’ by Cara Blue Adams
5. ‘Peach Cobbler’ by Deesha Philyaw
6. ‘Night Of The Living Rez’ by Morgan Talty
7. ‘The Sea Latch’ by Cara Blue Adams
8. ‘In The Cart’ by Anton Chekhov
9. ‘Sex Appeal’ by Lucia Berlin
10. ‘The Pleasures Of Television’ by Rebecca Bernard
11. ‘Pitch Memory’ by Ethan Canin
12. ‘Quenby And Ola, Swede and Carl’ by Robert Coover
13. ‘Class Picture’ by Tobias Wolff
14. ‘Barn Burning’ by Haruki Murakami
15. ‘Three Women Of Chuck’s Donuts’ by Anthony Veasna So
16. ‘Hole’ by Andrew Porter
17. ‘Martha, Martha’ by Zadie Smith
18. ‘Boys And Girls Like You And Me’ by Aryn Kyle
19. ‘Brigid’ by Mary Lavin
20. ‘The Run Of Yourself’ by Richard Ford
21. ‘Sarah Cole: A Type Of Love Story’ by Russell Banks
22. ‘Departure’ by Andrew Porter
23. ‘Face Time’ by Lorrie Moore
24. ‘Roseheath’ by John Cheever
25. ‘City Of Churches’ by Donald Barthelme
26. ‘Sierra Leone’ by John McGahern
27. ‘Flight’ by John Updike
28. ‘The Reverse Bug’ by Lore Segal
29. ‘The Worm In Philly’ by Sam Lipsyte
30. ‘An Unlucky Man’ by Samanta Schweblin
31. ‘Leaf Season’ by John Updike
32. ‘Axolotl’ by Julio Cortázar
33. ‘The Basement Room’ by Graham Greene
34. ‘A Stick Of Green Candy’ by Jane Bowles
35. ‘This Is Salvaged’ by Vauhini Vara
36. ‘Making Friends’ by Joy Williams
37. ‘Hollywood Lanes’ by Megan Abbott
38. ‘Former Marine’ by Russell Banks
39. ‘The New Englander’ by Sherwood Anderson
40. ‘A Penny Short’ by Pete Hsu
41. ‘The Choc-Ice Woman’ by Mary Costello
42. ‘Coyotes’ by Andrew Porter
43. ‘Admirals’ by Michael Chabon
44. ‘Teenage Punk’ by Lucia Berlin
45. ‘Chance’ by Alice Munro
46. ‘Parker’s Back’ by Flannery O’Connor
47. ‘Death’ by Sherwood Anderson
48. ‘Sophistication’ by Sherwood Anderson
49. ‘Harrison Bergeron’ by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
50. ‘The Long Black Line’ by John L’Heureux
51. ‘The Slip-Up’ by John McGahern
52. ‘Paradise’ by Edna O’Brien
53. ‘The Swan’ by Roald Dahl
54. ‘Today Will Be A Quiet Day’ by Amy Hempel
55. ‘Fjord Of Killary’ by Kevin Barry
56. ‘Eula’ by Deesha Philyaw
57. ‘Guests’ by Mary Terrier
58. ‘Twenty Minutes’ by James Salter
59. ‘Headlights’ by Samanta Schweblin
60. ‘The Haunted And The Haunters’ by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
61. ‘Rough Deeds’ by Annie Proulx
62. ‘My Heart Is Either Broken’ by Megan Abbott
63. ‘My House’ by George Saunders
64. ‘Christmas At The Cross’ by Maeve Murphy
65. ‘The Finkelstein 5’ by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
66. ‘Witness’ by Jamel Brinkley
67. ‘In A Tub’ by Amy Hempel
68. ‘Rose’ by Guy de Maupassant
69. ‘Vandals’ by Alice Munro
70. ‘The Continuity Of Parks’ by Julio Cortázar
71. ‘The Night’s For Cryin’’ by Chester Himes
72. ‘Which Is More Than I Can Say About Some People’ by Lorrie Moore
73. ‘The Disappeared’ by Andrew Porter
74. ‘The Maths Tutor’ by Tessa Hadley
75. ‘B.F. And Me’ by Lucia Berlin
76. ‘The Eclipse’ by Elizabeth Spencer
77. ‘A Wet Day’ by Mary Lavin
78. ‘Love Is Not A Pie’ by Amy Bloom
79. ‘The House Behind’ by Lydia Davis
80. ‘What It Takes To Keep A Young Girl Alive’ by Jayne Anne Phillips
81. ‘Hearts Of Oak And Bellies Of Brass’ by John McGahern
82. ‘Take Half, Leave Half’ by Thomas McGuane
83. ‘One-Percent Humidity’ by Michelle Lyn King
84. ‘A Real Doll’ by A.M. Homes
85. ‘Seeing Ershadi’ by Nicole Krauss
86. ‘Those As Are Brothers’ by Nancy Hale
87. ‘The Man Who Saw The Flood’ by Richard Wright
88. ‘Animal Behavior’ by Laurie Colwin
89. ‘Envoy’ by Caleb Crain
90. ‘You’re The Sweetest’ by LaShonda Katrice Barnett
91. ‘Late Love’ by Joyce Carol Oates
92. ‘Rules Of The Game’ by Amy Tan
93. ‘A Cruelty’ by Kevin Barry
94. ‘Donkey Gets Greedy, Donkey Gets Punched’ by Steve Almond
95. ‘A Country Christmas’ by Louisa May Alcott
96. ‘The Ascent’ by Ron Rash
97. ‘The Dune’ by Stephen King
98. ‘First Dark’ by Elizabeth Spencer
99. ‘Control Negro’ by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
100. ‘A Visit To Grandmother’ by William Melvin Kelley
101. ‘Rumm Road’ by Alice Elliott Dark
102. ‘The Glass House’ by Chris Adrian
103. ‘By The Waters Of Babylon’ by Stephen Vincent Benét
104. ‘A Thing At Work’ by George Saunders
105. ‘The Colonel’s Daughter’ by Robert Coover
106. ‘My Jockey’ by Lucia Berlin
107. ‘Bangkok’ by James Salter
108. ‘The Music School’ by John Updike
109. ‘It’s Like A Whisper’ by Megan Abbott
110. ‘The Adventure Of The Musgrave Ritual’ by Arthur Conan Doyle
111. ‘Oxford Girl’ by Megan Abbott
112. ‘The Wind In The Rose-Bush’ by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
113. ‘Ten-Year Affair’ by Erin Somers
114. ‘Footfalls’ by Wilbur Daniel Steele
115. ‘Monster’ by Michael Czyzniejewski
116. ‘An Actor Prepares’ by Donald Antrim
117. ‘I, Buffalo’ by Vauhini Vara
118. ‘The Blessed Man Of Boston, My Grandmother’s Thimble, And Fanning Island’ by John Updike
119. ‘Queer’ by Sherwood Anderson
120. ‘The Untold Lie’ by Sherwood Anderson
121. ‘Drink’ by Sherwood Anderson
122. ‘U.F.O. In Kushiro’ by Haruki Murakami
123. ‘What Feels Like The World’ by Richard Bausch
124. ‘The Triumph Of Night’ by Edith Wharton
125. ‘The Orphaned Swimming Pool’ by John Updike
126. ‘Julia’ by Ada Zhang
127. ‘Comfort’ by Jamel Brinkley
128. ‘Keats At Twenty-Four’ by Caleb Crain
129. ‘Our Eyes Couldn’t Stop Opening’ by Megan Abbott
130. ‘The Wrong Man’ by Nella Larsen
131. ‘We’ by Mary Grimm
132. ‘Freedom’ by Nella Larsen
133. ‘Ruthy And Edie’ by Grace Paley
134. ‘In A Different Light’ by Elizabeth Taylor
135. ‘Departure’ by Sherwood Anderson
136. ‘An Awakening’ by Sherwood Anderson
137. ‘One Night In New Jersey’ by Chester Himes
138. ‘Stuff’ by Joy Williams
139. ‘The Mom Of Bold Action’ by George Saunders
140. ‘The Man Who Loved Islands’ by D.H. Lawrence
141. ‘Draft Day’ by Rattawut Lapcharoensap
142. ‘Ocracoke Island’ by Alice Adams
143. ‘A Story Without A Title’ by Anton Chekhov
144. ‘Beach Town’ by Amy Hempel
145. ‘The Help’ by Mary Robison
146. ‘Korean Jesus’ by Pete Hsu
147. ‘Wish You Were Here’ by Claire Vaye Watkins
148. ‘A Sheltered Woman’ by Yiyun Li
149. ‘Plumbing’ by John Updike
150. ‘The Greatest Gift’ by Philip Van Doren Stern
151. ‘So Late In The Day’ by Claire Keegan
152. ‘The Prussian Officer’ by D.H. Lawrence
153. ‘A Dark And Winding Road’ by Ottessa Moshfegh
154. ‘Bad Behavior’ by Alexia Arthurs
155. ‘What Feminism Is’ by Louise Nealon
156. ‘Under The Boardwalk’ by Jayne Anne Phillips
157. ‘The Kid Nobody Could Handle’ by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
158. ‘Xífù’ by K-Ming Chang
159. ‘Miss Mary Pask’ by Edith Wharton
160. ‘The Age Of Love’ by Mary South
161. ‘Rebecca’ by Donald Barthelme
162. ‘Learn A Trade’ by John Updike
163. ‘Celia Is Back’ by Amy Hempel
164. ‘You Are Not Alone’ by Vauhini Vara
165. ‘Foster’ by Bryan Washington
166. ‘Annunciation’ by Clare Sestanovich
167. ‘Alvin The Typesetter’ by Lydia Davis
168. ‘Bayonne’ by John Cheever
169. ‘William Wei’ by Amie Barrodale
170. ‘Thataway’ by Thomas McGuane
171. ‘Tickets, Please!’ by D.H. Lawrence
172. ‘The Rescue’ by John Updike
173. ‘Chow!’ by Patricia Collinge
174. ‘The Leap’ by Louise Erdrich
175. ‘The Return’ by Elizabeth Bowen
176. ‘The Alligators’ by John Updike
177. ‘When Stars Collide’ by Ottessa Moshfegh
178. ‘How I Became A Vet’ by Rivka Galchen
179. ‘You Tell Me’ by Clare Sestanovich
180. ‘Texas’ by David Gates
181. ‘Unknown Unknowns’ by Vauhini Vara
182. ‘Embroidery’ by Ray Bradbury
183. ‘It’s Not You’ by Elizabeth McCracken
184. ‘Three Popes Walk Into A Bar’ by Amy Hempel
185. ‘My Mother’s Memoirs, My Father’s Lie, And Other True Stories’ by Russell Banks
186. ‘Pool Night’ by Amy Hempel
187. ‘Oliver’ by Kevin Maloney
188. ‘Chance The Cat’ by David Means
189. ‘The Island’ by Tove Jansson
190. ‘Island’ by Gretel Ehrlich
191. ‘The Wisdom Of Eve’ by Mary Orr
192. ‘Life Without Children’ by Roddy Doyle
193. ‘Referent’ by Ray Bradbury
194. ‘The Body’s Defenses Against Itself’ by Nafissa Thompson-Spires
195. ‘An Uncomfortable Bed’ by Guy de Maupassant
196. ‘The Fog Horn’ by Ray Bradbury
197. ‘Jeeves And The Hard-Boiled Egg’ by P.G. Wodehouse
198. ‘The Wrong Shape’ by G.K. Chesterton
199. ‘Today We Hit’ by Megan Abbott
200. ‘The Ends’ by Peter Ho Davies
201. ‘The Treasure In The Forest’ by H.G. Wells
202. ‘Five Weddings’ by Kevin Maloney
203. ‘The Breaking Up Of The Winships’ by James Thurber
204. ‘What Stumped The Blue-Jays’ by Mark Twain
205. ‘Taylor Swift’ by Hugh Behm-Steinberg
206. ‘Thunderbirds: Who, Why, and How’ by Rebecca Scherm
207. ‘University Days’ by James Thurber
208. ‘An Enigmatic Nature’ by Anton Chekhov
209. ‘The New Lodger’ by Amy Hempel
210. ‘Detour’ by Évelyne Trouillot

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.