April 2024 favorites

April 2024

The April stories ordered solely by my personal tastes.

  1. ‘The Basement Room’ by Graham Greene
  2. ‘Barn Burning’ by Haruki Murakami
  3. ‘Boys And Girls Like You And Me’ by Aryn Kyle
  4. ‘The Sea Latch’ by Cara Blue Adams
  5. ‘Hole’ by Andrew Porter
  6. ‘Face Time’ by Lorrie Moore
  7. ‘The Reverse Bug’ by Lore Segal
  8. ‘The Eclipse’ by Elizabeth Spencer
  9. ‘A Wet Day’ by Mary Lavin
  10. ‘Paradise’ by Edna O’Brien
  11. ‘The Swan’ by Roald Dahl
  12. ‘Which Is More Than I Can Say About Some People’ by Lorrie Moore
  13. ‘The Disappeared’ by Andrew Porter
  14. ‘B.F. And Me’ by Lucia Berlin
  15. ‘By The Waters Of Babylon’ by Stephen Vincent Benét
  16. ‘A Thing At Work’ by George Saunders
  17. ‘I, Buffalo’ by Vauhini Vara
  18. ‘The Mom Of Bold Action’ by George Saunders
  19. ‘The Man Who Loved Islands’ by D.H. Lawrence
  20. ‘Draft Day’ by Rattawut Lapcharoensap
  21. ‘Texas’ by David Gates
  22. ‘Wish You Were Here’ by Claire Vaye Watkins
  23. ‘A Sheltered Woman’ by Yiyun Li
  24. ‘The Greatest Gift’ by Philip Van Doren Stern
  25. ‘Unknown Unknowns’ by Vauhini Vara
  26. ‘Chance The Cat’ by David Means
  27. ‘The Island’ by Tove Jansson
  28. ‘Island’ by Gretel Ehrlich
  29. ‘The Wisdom Of Eve’ by Mary Orr
  30. ‘Life Without Children’ by Roddy Doyle

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.

October 2023 favorites

October 2023

The October stories ordered solely by my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Seven Floors’ by Dino Buzzati
  2. ‘Behzin Meadow’ by Ivan Turgenev
  3. ‘The Yellow Ranch’ by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
  4. ‘Moist House’ by Kate Folk
  5. ‘Scenes From The Left Of A Double Monster’ by Vladimir Nabokov
  6. ‘Time And Again’ by Breece D’J Pancake
  7. ‘A Tree Of Night’ by Truman Capote
  8. ‘2 B R 0 2 B’ by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
  9. ‘Out There’ by Kate Folk
  10. ‘Thrawn Janet’ by Robert Louis Stevenson
  11. ‘The Hidden Cause’ by Machado de Assis
  12. ‘Blind Girls’ by Jayne Anne Phillips
  13. ‘Luvina’ by Juan Rulfo
  14. ‘Diary Of A Madman’ by Lu Xun
  15. ‘Catskin’ by Kelly Link
  16. ‘The Eyes Have It’ by Philip K. Dick
  17. ‘Brad Carrigan, American’ by George Saunders
  18. ‘Frights’ by Allegra Hyde
  19. ‘The Horla’ by Guy de Maupassant
  20. ‘The Intruder’ by Nada Alic
  21. ‘The Price’ by Neil Gaiman
  22. ‘The Self-Improvement Of Salvadore Ross’ by Henry Slesar
  23. ‘A Little More Research’ by Joan Hess
  24. ‘Death Of A Romance Writer’ by Joan Hess
  25. ‘What A Thought’ by Shirley Jackson
  26. ‘The Hammer Of God’ by G.K. Chesterton
  27. ‘Asleep At The Wheel’ by T. Coraghessan Boyle
  28. ‘The Call Of Cthulhu’ by H.P. Lovecraft
  29. ‘The Jewel Robbery At The Grand Metropolitan’ by Agatha Christie
  30. ‘Man-Size In Marble’ by Edith Nesbit
  31. ‘The Temple’ by Joyce Carol Oates

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.

January 2023 favorites

January 2023

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

November 2020 favorites

November 2020

The November stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Love Letter’ by George Saunders
  2. ‘A Temporary Matter’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
  3. ‘The Lie’ by Maeve Brennan
  4. ‘The Dead’ by Joyce Carol Oates
  5. ‘The Lady With The Pet Dog’ by Joyce Carol Oates
  6. ‘The Clever One’ by Maeve Brennan
  7. ‘Going To Meet The Man’ by James Baldwin
  8. ‘Horses In The Night’ by Margaret Laurence
  9. ‘The Turn Of The Screw’ by Joyce Carol Oates
  10. ‘The Old Man Of The Sea’ by Maeve Brennan
  11. ‘The Metamorphosis’ by Joyce Carol Oates
  12. ‘The Devil In Us’ by Maeve Brennan
  13. ‘The Barrel Of Rumors’ by Maeve Brennan
  14. ‘Fern’ by Jean Toomer
  15. ‘John Inglefield’s Thanksgiving’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  16. ‘The Boy Who Painted Christ Black’ by John Henrik Clarke
  17. ‘Mouses’ by Thom Jones
  18. ‘Housewife’ by Amy Hempel
  19. ‘Where I Lived, And What I Lived For’ by Joyce Carol Oates
  20. ‘My Brother At The Canadian Border’ by Sholeh Wolpé

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.

September 2020 favorites

September 2020

The September stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Heaven’ by Mary Gaitskill
  2. ‘The First Seven Years’ by Bernard Malamud
  3. ‘Notes From A Lady At A Dinner Party’ by Bernard Malamud
  4. ‘The Profile’ by Willa Cather
  5. ‘Simmering’ by Margaret Atwood
  6. ‘The Mourners’ by Bernard Malamud
  7. ‘On The Divide’ by Willa Cather
  8. ‘The Garden Lodge’ by Willa Cather
  9. ‘My Son The Murderer’ by Bernard Malamud
  10. ‘Angel Levine’ by Bernard Malamud
  11. ‘Dirty Deceivers’ by Chester Himes
  12. ‘The Under Graham Railroad Box Car Set’ by James McBride
  13. ‘My Flamboyant Grandson’ by George Saunders
  14. ‘Cooking Lesson’ by Rosario Castellanos
  15. ‘Dragged Fighting From His Tomb’ by Barry Hannah
  16. ‘The Egg Race’ by John Updike
  17. ‘The Namesake’ by Willa Cather
  18. ‘Cortés And Montezuma’ by Donald Barthelme
  19. ‘The Children’ by Andrea Lee
  20. ‘Cranberry Relish’ by Katherine Heiny
  21. ‘The Richer, The Poorer’ by Dorothy West
  22. ‘The Doctor And The Rabbi’ by Aimee Bender

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.