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

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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

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March 2022 favorites

March 2022

The March stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Foaling Season’ by Aryn Kyle
  2. ‘Something That Needs Nothing’ by Miranda July
  3. ‘The Mountain Day’ by Jean Stafford
  4. ‘Blackie’ by Elizabeth Spencer
  5. ‘Tiny In The Wilderness’ by Tom Drury
  6. ‘Mrs. Box’ by Michael Chabon
  7. ‘Small Avalanches’ by Joyce Carol Oates
  8. ‘My Kinsman, Major Molineaux’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  9. ‘Jacklighting’ by Ann Beattie
  10. ‘The Prospectors’ by Karen Russell
  11. ‘A Wagner Matinée’ by Willa Cather
  12. ‘Nest Egg’ by Jesse Stuart
  13. ‘On The Oregon Trail’ by Caitlin Horrocks
  14. ‘The Sentimentality Of William Tavener’ by Willa Cather
  15. ‘Snakebite’ by Arthur Bradford
  16. ‘Impulse’ by Conrad Aiken
  17. ‘Residents And Transients’ by Bobbie Ann Mason
  18. ‘Giving Blood’ by John Updike
  19. ‘Rain On Tanyard Hollow’ by Jesse Stuart

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December 2020 favorites

December 2020

The December stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Mirrorball’ by Mary Gaitskill
  2. ‘Accident Brief’ by Karen Russell
  3. ‘The Unknown Masterpiece’ by Honoré de Balzac
  4. ‘Drinking Coffee Elsewhere’ by ZZ Packer
  5. ‘The Half-Husky’ by Margaret Laurence
  6. ‘Home For Christmas’ by Carson McCullers
  7. ‘Seven’ by Edwidge Danticat
  8. ‘A Room Forever’ by Breece D’J Pancake
  9. ‘The Weirdos’ by Ottessa Moshfegh
  10. ‘Irina’ by Mavis Gallant
  11. ‘The Lily-White Boys’ by William Maxwell
  12. ‘The Pocketbook Game’ by Alice Childress
  13. ‘The Dancer’ by Patricia Highsmith
  14. ‘The Yo-Yo’ by P.D. James
  15. ‘Temptation’ by Clarice Lispector
  16. ‘Ordinary Nudes’ by Stuart Dybek
  17. ‘Neighbors’ by Anthony Tognazzini
  18. ‘The Canebrake’ by Mohammed Mrabet
  19. ‘Odd Behavior’ by Lydia Davis
  20. ‘The Warmth Of Things’ by Nélida Piñón
  21. ‘Times’ by Ann Beattie

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

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