Category: Favorites

July 2023 favorites

July 2023

The July stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Interpreter Of Maladies’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
  2. ‘Three People’ by William Trevor
  3. ‘Mrs. Sen’s’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
  4. ‘In The Basement’ by Isaac Babel
  5. ‘The Dancing-Master’s Music’ by William Trevor
  6. ‘This Blessed House’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
  7. ‘A Real Durwan’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
  8. ‘Di Grasso’ by Isaac Babel
  9. ‘Miss Brill’ by Katherine Mansfield
  10. ‘The Diver’ by V.S. Pritchett
  11. ‘The Secret Of Cartwheels’ by Patricia Henley
  12. ‘Sexy’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
  13. ‘The Parrot’ by Elizabeth Bowen
  14. ‘First Love’ by Isaac Babel
  15. ‘Sacred Statues’ by William Trevor
  16. ‘The Third And Final Continent’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
  17. ‘The Widow’ by Isaac Babel
  18. ‘Allegiance’ by Aryn Kyle
  19. ‘How Things Were Done In Odessa’ by Isaac Babel
  20. ‘The Meeting’ by Alix Ohlin
  21. ‘Graillis’s Legacy’ by William Trevor
  22. ‘After Rain’ by William Trevor
  23. ‘Odd Jobs’ by Jonathan Escoffery
  24. ‘The Treatment Of Bibi Haldar’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
  25. ‘Invisible Bird’ by Claire-Louise Bennett
  26. ‘I Am An American’ by James Alan McPherson
  27. ‘Pestilence’ by Jonathan Escoffery
  28. ‘Ten Indians’ by Ernest Hemingway
  29. ‘The Cure’ by Melissa Febos
  30. ‘The Break Up Of Ice’ by Lucie Elven
  31. ‘In Bed One Night’ by Robert Coover

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

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June 2023 favorites

June 2023

The June stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘The Gorge’ by Umberto Eco
  2. ‘Not Here You Don’t’ by Thomas McGuane
  3. ‘Just Before The War With The Eskimos’ by J.D. Salinger
  4. ‘The Laughing Man’ by J.D. Salinger
  5. ‘Paddle To Canada’ by Heather Monley
  6. ‘Playin With Punjab’ by Toni Cade Bambara
  7. ‘Waves Of Darkness’ by Cord Meyer Jr.
  8. ‘Zero Pineapples’ by Timothy Willis Sanders
  9. ‘Uncle Wiggily In Connecticut’ by J.D. Salinger
  10. ‘Wish’ by Bobbie Ann Mason
  11. ‘First Heat’ by Peter Taylor
  12. ‘Billy Goats’ by Jill McCorkle
  13. ‘Madame Lazarus’ by Maile Meloy
  14. ‘The Entire Northern Side Was Covered With Fire’ by Rivka Galchen
  15. ‘Girls In Their Summer Dresses’ by Irwin Shaw
  16. ‘God’s Work’ by Kevin Canty
  17. ‘The (Unhealthy) Breakfast Club’ by Monica Roe
  18. ‘A Perfect Day For Bananafish’ by J.D. Salinger
  19. ‘An Imperial Message’ by Franz Kafka
  20. ‘It’s Just Another Day In Big Bear, California’ by Ann Beattie
  21. ‘Raft In Water, Floating’ by A.M. Homes
  22. ‘Down At The Dinghy’ by J.D. Salinger
  23. ‘Behind The Blue Curtain’ by Steven Millhauser
  24. ‘The Empress’s Ring’ by Nancy Hale
  25. ‘Flotsam’ by Diane Cook
  26. ‘The Love-Philtre Of Ikey Schoenstein’ by O. Henry
  27. ‘The Night Of The Curlews’ by Gabriel García Márquez
  28. ‘The Scooby-Doo Lunch Box’ by Quinton Bradley
  29. ‘The Deal’ by Leonard Michaels
  30. ‘The Descent Of Man’ by Edith Wharton

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

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May 2023 favorites

May 2023

The May stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘A Strange And Sometimes Sadness’ by Kazuo Ishiguro
  2. ‘Some Of Us Had Been Threatening Our Friend Colby’ by Donald Barthelme
  3. ‘My Father’s Friends’ by William Maxwell
  4. ‘The Young Painters’ by Nicole Krauss
  5. ‘The First Day’ by Edward P. Jones
  6. ‘The Things They Carried’ by Tim O’Brien
  7. ‘Panther Eyes’ by Luisa Valenzuela
  8. ‘The Baby Party’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  9. ‘The War Of The Alligators’ by Horacio Quiroga
  10. ‘New York Girl’ by John Updike
  11. ‘Baster’ by Jeffrey Eugenides
  12. ‘Circus At Dawn’ by Thomas Wolfe
  13. ‘Future Cat’ by Xuan Juliana Wang
  14. ‘A Nursery Tale’ by Vladimir Nabokov
  15. ‘The Sorrows Of Gin’ by John Cheever
  16. ‘Tomorrow’ by Lu Xun
  17. ‘Apple Cake’ by Allegra Goodman
  18. ‘When We Were Happy We Had Other Names’ by Yiyun Li
  19. ‘Everything Is Far From Here’ by Cristina Henríquez
  20. ‘The Flood’ by Emile Zola
  21. ‘Now More Than Ever’ by Zadie Smith
  22. ‘Talpa’ by Juan Rulfo
  23. ‘Gideon’ by ZZ Packer
  24. ‘Alms’ by Stuart Dybek
  25. ‘They Tell Me… Now I Know’ by Shay Youngblood
  26. ‘In The West Country’ by Leslie Norris
  27. ‘The Starlet Apartments’ by Jonathan Lethem
  28. ‘The Voter’ by Chinua Achebe
  29. ‘The $30,000 Bequest’ by Mark Twain
  30. ‘The Huntress’ by Sofia Samatar
  31. ‘Two Ruminations On A Homeless Brother’ by David Means

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

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April 2023 favorites

April 2023

The April stories ordered solely by my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Intertextuality’ by Mary Gordon
  2. ‘Leopard’ by Wells Tower
  3. ‘The Coast Of Leitrim’ by Kevin Barry
  4. ‘The Ship Ahoy’ by Ursula K. Le Guin
  5. ‘Cat In The Rain’ by Ernest Hemingway
  6. ‘Mother Savage’ by Guy de Maupassant
  7. ‘Sex Scenes From A Chain Book Store’ by Aryn Kyle
  8. ‘Flights’ by Alice Adams
  9. ‘A Sister’s Confession’ by Guy de Maupassant
  10. ‘The Lying Bee’ by John Henrik Clarke
  11. ‘A Country Wedding’ by Laurie Colwin
  12. ‘Are You In Love?’ by Alice Adams
  13. ‘The Balloon’ by Donald Barthelme
  14. ‘Beautiful Girl’ by Alice Adams
  15. ‘Lifeguard’ by John Updike
  16. ‘Edna In Rain’ by Marie-Helene Bertino
  17. ‘The Last Married Man’ by Alice Adams
  18. ‘The Last Lovely City’ by Alice Adams
  19. ‘The Day Before The Revolution’ by Ursula K. Le Guin
  20. ‘A Domestic Dilemma’ by Carson McCullers
  21. ‘The Great Hug’ by Donald Barthelme
  22. ‘Son Of Friedman’ by Emma Cline
  23. ‘The Presentation On Egypt’ by Camille Bordas
  24. ‘Heart Of Hearts’ by Emily Temple
  25. ‘Comma’ by Hilary Mantel
  26. ‘At The Zoo’ by Caitlin Horrocks
  27. ‘Rain, Rain, Go Away’ by Isaac Asimov
  28. ‘Tapioca Surprise’ by William Goyen
  29. ‘The Company Is Not Responsible’ by Mary McCarthy
  30. ‘Ex Parte’ by Ring Lardner

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

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March 2023 favorites

March 2023

The March stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘The Past Perfect, The Past Continuous, The Simple Past’ by Claire Vaye Watkins
  2. ‘When Mr. Pirzada Came To Dine’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
  3. ‘Sliding’ by Leslie Norris
  4. ‘Different People’ by Clare Sestanovich
  5. ‘A Choice Of Butchers’ by William Trevor
  6. ‘Rondine Al Nido’ by Claire Vaye Watkins
  7. ‘The Stain’ by Tessa Hadley
  8. ‘Sarah’ by Mary Lavin
  9. ‘Matrilineal’ by Tessa Hadley
  10. ‘Bad Boy’ by Kristen Roupenian
  11. ‘The Widow’s Son’ by Mary Lavin
  12. ‘The Piano Teacher’s Pupil’ by William Trevor
  13. ‘Wife Wooing’ by John Updike
  14. ‘In The Middle Of The Fields’ by Mary Lavin
  15. ‘The Adulterous Woman’ by Albert Camus
  16. ‘Coda’ by Tessa Hadley
  17. ‘Encounters With Unexpected Animals’ by Bret Anthony Johnston
  18. ‘Brother Boniface’ by Mary Lavin
  19. ‘The Bunty Club’ by Tessa Hadley
  20. ‘Happiness’ by Mary Lavin
  21. ‘The Ormulu Clock’ by Muriel Spark
  22. ‘An Upheaval’ by Anton Chekhov
  23. ‘The Itch’ by Don DeLillo
  24. ‘Ceil’ by Harold Brodkey
  25. ‘Look At Your Game, Girl’ by Kristen Roupenian
  26. ‘One Sun Only’ by Camille Bordas
  27. ‘After The Funeral’ by Tessa Hadley
  28. ‘The Ugliest Babies In The World’ by Vanessa Chan
  29. ‘The Night We All Had Grippe’ by Shirley Jackson
  30. ‘The Father’ by Raymond Carver
  31. ‘Head Over Knees’ by Eric Schlich

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

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February 2023 favorites

February 2023

The February stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Dead Men’s Path’ by Chinua Achebe
  2. ‘At The Clinic’ by Sally Rooney
  3. ‘Secret Weapons’ by Julio Cortázar
  4. ‘Bliss’ by Katherine Mansfield
  5. ‘Every Tongue Shall Confess’ by ZZ Packer
  6. ‘In The Name Of Bobby’ by Julio Cortázar
  7. ‘The Cold Boy’ by Benjamin Percy
  8. ‘Ain’t That Good News’ by Brit Bennett
  9. ‘The Pace Of Youth’ by Stephen Crane
  10. ‘I Am Twenty-One’ by Mary Robison
  11. ‘The Daughters’ by Maeve Brennan
  12. ‘Ray-Ray’s Picture Box’ by James McBride
  13. ‘Smart’ by Mary Robison
  14. ‘My Apology’ by Sam Lipsyte
  15. ‘Billboard’ by Richard Bausch
  16. ‘Ozème’s Holiday’ by Kate Chopin
  17. ‘The Waltz’ by Dorothy Parker
  18. ‘The Green Door’ by O. Henry
  19. ‘In The Woods’ by Mary Robison
  20. ‘Sugar Baby’ by Chinua Achebe
  21. ‘Some Like Them Cold’ by Ring Lardner
  22. ‘My Last Story’ by Janet Frame
  23. ‘Haunted’ by Walter Mosley
  24. ‘Yancey’ by Ann Beattie
  25. ‘The Neighbor’ by Russell Banks
  26. ‘A Deserted Street’ by Tawfiq Al-Hakim
  27. ‘Top Of The Food Chain’ by T. Coraghessan Boyle
  28. ‘Miracles’ by Lucy Corin

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

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January 2023 favorites

January 2023

The January stories ordered solely on my personal tastes. Continue reading →

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2022 favorites

2022 Favorites

Happy new year to you!

Time for the annual rundown of the SSMT stories. In 2022, we traveled to a different state (plus D.C. and Puerto Rico) each week. It was fun if a little more difficult than I expected. The toughest state to find stories for was Delaware. California and New York, predictably, could have filled the entire calendar.

Anyway, for 2023, SSMT is done with the concepts. No more organizing principles. The plan simply is to post a new magic trick every single day – 365 days, 365 stories. Easy.

First, the annual list ranking the stories highlighted this year on the site, sorted in order of my own enjoyment.

Enjoy. Continue reading →

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December 2022 favorites

December 2022

The December stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Read This And Tell Me What It Says’ by A. Manette Ansay
  2. ‘The Happiest I’ve Been’ by John Updike
  3. ‘A Jury Of Her Peers’ by Susan Glaspell
  4. ‘God Writes A Bad Hand’ by J.F. Powers
  5. ‘Naked Ladies’ by Antonya Nelson
  6. ‘The Champ’ by Pedro Juan Soto
  7. ‘Sybil’ by A. Manette Ansay
  8. ‘Grandma’s Wake’ by Emilio Díaz Valcárcel
  9. ‘Changes In Louise’ by Tom Drury
  10. ‘The Sculptor’s Funeral’ by Willa Cather
  11. ‘Agnes Of Iowa’ by Lorrie Moore
  12. ‘Kansas’ by Antonya Nelson
  13. ‘Camping Out’ by James Wilcox
  14. ‘Beautiful Grade’ by Lorrie Moore
  15. ‘Purification On Cristo Street’ by René Marqués
  16. ‘Spit In The Governor’s Tea’ by Shay Youngblood
  17. ‘Peyo Mercé: English Teacher’ by Abelardo Díaz Alfaro
  18. ‘Dundun’ by Denis Johnson
  19. ‘The Way Of The World’ by Willa Cather
  20. ‘One Christmas’ by Truman Capote
  21. ‘The Artichoke’ by Marilyn Krysl

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

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November 2022 favorites

November 2022

The November stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Reunion’ by Julie Schumacher
  2. ‘Caveat Emptor’ by Joan Hess
  3. ‘Ashes’ by Cristina Henríquez
  4. ‘The Wellman Twins’ by Mary Robison
  5. ‘Chasing Birds’ by Cristina Henríquez
  6. ‘Too Much To Bare’ by Joan Hess
  7. ‘Nebraska’ by Ron Hansen
  8. ‘Drive’ by Cristina Henríquez
  9. ‘That Thing Around Your Neck’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  10. ‘Polaroid’ by Sally Wells
  11. ‘Peter’ by Willa Cather
  12. ‘Correspondence’ by Carson McCullers
  13. ‘Beatrice Trueblood’s Story’ by Jean Stafford
  14. ‘Murder At Fork Junction’ by Alston Anderson
  15. ‘I Get By’ by Mary Robison
  16. ‘Bad Latch’ by Curtis Sittenfeld
  17. ‘The Haunter Of The Dark’ by H.P. Lovecraft
  18. ‘This Is My Living Room’ by Tom McAfee

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.

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