3rd Quarter 2024 favorites

3rd Quarter 2024

The 3rd Quarter (Jul-Sep) stories ordered solely by my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Death By Landscape’ by Margaret Atwood
  2. ‘Guests’ by Mary Terrier
  3. ‘Twenty Minutes’ by James Salter
  4. ‘Headlights’ by Samanta Schweblin
  5. ‘My Heart Is Either Broken’ by Megan Abbott
  6. ‘My House’ by George Saunders
  7. ‘Witness’ by Jamel Brinkley
  8. ‘In A Tub’ by Amy Hempel
  9. ‘Rose’ by Guy de Maupassant
  10. ‘Vandals’ by Alice Munro
  11. ‘Donkey Gets Greedy, Donkey Gets Punched’ by Steve Almond
  12. ‘My Jockey’ by Lucia Berlin
  13. ‘Bangkok’ by James Salter
  14. ‘Ten-Year Affair’ by Erin Somers
  15. ‘The Prussian Officer’ by D.H. Lawrence
  16. ‘An Uncomfortable Bed’ by Guy de Maupassant
  17. ‘Jeeves And The Hard-Boiled Egg’ by P.G. Wodehouse
  18. ‘Taylor Swift’ by Hugh Behm-Steinberg

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March 2024 favorites

March 2024

The March stories ordered solely by my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Torch Song’ by John Cheever
  2. ‘You Never Get It Back’ by Cara Blue Adams
  3. ‘Three Women Of Chuck’s Donuts’ by Anthony Veasna So
  4. ‘The Worm In Philly’ by Sam Lipsyte
  5. ‘Brigid’ by Mary Lavin
  6. ‘Chance’ by Alice Munro
  7. ‘Departure’ by Andrew Porter
  8. ‘The Long Black Line’ by John L’Heureux
  9. ‘The Run Of Yourself’ by Richard Ford
  10. ‘The Slip-Up’ by John McGahern
  11. ‘The Maths Tutor’ by Tessa Hadley
  12. ‘Hearts Of Oak And Bellies Of Brass’ by John McGahern
  13. ‘Take Half, Leave Half’ by Thomas McGuane
  14. ‘What Feels Like The World’ by Richard Bausch
  15. ‘Seeing Ershadi’ by Nicole Krauss
  16. ‘The Triumph Of Night’ by Edith Wharton
  17. ‘Ocracoke Island’ by Alice Adams
  18. ‘Those As Are Brothers’ by Nancy Hale
  19. ‘The Man Who Saw The Flood’ by Richard Wright
  20. ‘Envoy’ by Caleb Crain
  21. ‘Rumm Road’ by Alice Elliott Dark
  22. ‘The Glass House’ by Chris Adrian
  23. ‘A Story Without A Title’ by Anton Chekhov
  24. ‘Beach Town’ by Amy Hempel
  25. ‘The Help’ by Mary Robison
  26. ‘Korean Jesus’ by Pete Hsu
  27. ‘So Late In The Day’ by Claire Keegan
  28. ‘The Kid Nobody Could Handle’ by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
  29. ‘Xífù’ by K-Ming Chang
  30. ‘Miss Mary Pask’ by Edith Wharton
  31. ‘You Tell Me’ by Clare Sestanovich

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February 2024 favorites

February 2024

The February stories ordered solely by my personal tastes.

  1. ‘The Moon In Its Flight’ by Gilbert Sorrentino
  2. ‘Night Of The Living Rez’ by Morgan Talty
  3. ‘Quenby And Ola, Swede and Carl’ by Robert Coover
  4. ‘Class Picture’ by Tobias Wolff
  5. ‘Sierra Leone’ by John McGahern
  6. ‘Flight’ by John Updike
  7. ‘An Unlucky Man’ by Samanta Schweblin
  8. ‘Leaf Season’ by John Updike
  9. ‘Today Will Be A Quiet Day’ by Amy Hempel
  10. ‘Axolotl’ by Julio Cortázar
  11. ‘Roseheath’ by John Cheever
  12. ‘Plumbing’ by John Updike
  13. ‘One-Percent Humidity’ by Michelle Lyn King
  14. ‘A Real Doll’ by A.M. Homes
  15. ‘The Blessed Man Of Boston, My Grandmother’s Thimble, And Fanning Island’ by John Updike
  16. ‘The Age Of Love’ by Mary South
  17. ‘Rebecca’ by Donald Barthelme
  18. ‘Stuff’ by Joy Williams
  19. ‘Learn A Trade’ by John Updike
  20. ‘Celia Is Back’ by Amy Hempel
  21. ‘The Rescue’ by John Updike
  22. ‘Chow!’ by Patricia Collinge
  23. ‘The Leap’ by Louise Erdrich
  24. ‘The Return’ by Elizabeth Bowen
  25. ‘The Alligators’ by John Updike
  26. ‘When Stars Collide’ by Ottessa Moshfegh
  27. ‘How I Became A Vet’ by Rivka Galchen
  28. ‘Oliver’ by Kevin Maloney
  29. ‘Embroidery’ by Ray Bradbury

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January 2024 favorites

January 2024

The January stories ordered solely by my personal tastes.

  1. ‘City Of Churches’ by Donald Barthelme
  2. ‘In The Cart’ by Anton Chekhov
  3. ‘Parker’s Back’ by Flannery O’Connor
  4. ‘Death’ by Sherwood Anderson
  5. ‘Sophistication’ by Sherwood Anderson
  6. ‘Harrison Bergeron’ by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
  7. ‘The Continuity Of Parks’ by Julio Cortázar
  8. ‘The Night’s For Cryin’’ by Chester Himes
  9. ‘Love Is Not A Pie’ by Amy Bloom
  10. ‘The House Behind’ by Lydia Davis
  11. ‘Queer’ by Sherwood Anderson
  12. ‘The Untold Lie’ by Sherwood Anderson
  13. ‘Fjord Of Killary’ by Kevin Barry
  14. ‘Drink’ by Sherwood Anderson
  15. ‘U.F.O. In Kushiro’ by Haruki Murakami
  16. ‘Ruthy And Edie’ by Grace Paley
  17. ‘What It Takes To Keep A Young Girl Alive’ by Jayne Anne Phillips
  18. ‘In A Different Light’ by Elizabeth Taylor
  19. ‘Departure’ by Sherwood Anderson
  20. ‘An Awakening’ by Sherwood Anderson
  21. ‘Under The Boardwalk’ by Jayne Anne Phillips
  22. ‘One Night In New Jersey’ by Chester Himes
  23. ‘It’s Not You’ by Elizabeth McCracken
  24. ‘Three Popes Walk Into A Bar’ by Amy Hempel
  25. ‘My Mother’s Memoirs, My Father’s Lie, And Other True Stories’ by Russell Banks
  26. ‘Pool Night’ by Amy Hempel
  27. ‘Thunderbirds: Who, Why, and How’ by Rebecca Scherm
  28. ‘University Days’ by James Thurber
  29. ‘An Enigmatic Nature’ by Anton Chekhov
  30. ‘The New Lodger’ by Amy Hempel
  31. ‘Detour’ by Évelyne Trouillot

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

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