2nd Quarter 2025 favorites

2nd Quarter 2025

The 2nd Quarter (Apr-Jun) stories ordered solely by my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Office Hours’ by Ling Ma
  2. ‘The Country Husband’ by John Cheever
  3. ‘Marito In Citta’ by John Cheever
  4. ‘Korea’ by John McGahern
  5. ‘They’re Not Your Husband’ by Raymond Carver
  6. ‘A Clearing’ by Wendell Berry
  7. ‘Snowfall’ by Deesha Philyaw
  8. ‘La Vita Nuova’ by Allegra Goodman
  9. ‘The Toast’ by Rebecca Curtis
  10. ‘Helen On Eighty-Sixth Street’ by Wendi Kaufman
  11. ‘Blackbird Pie’ by Raymond Carver
  12. ‘The Hunter’s Wife’ by Anthony Doerr
  13. ‘When Eddie Levert Comes’ by Deesha Philyaw
  14. ‘Do Not Disturb’ by A.M. Homes
  15. ‘The Shell Collector’ by Anthony Doerr
  16. ‘Lessons With Father’ by Jai Chakrabarti
  17. ‘Across The Bridge’ Graham Greene
  18. ‘What’s Wrong With You? What’s Wrong With Me?’ by J.M. Holmes
  19. ‘They Told Us Not To Say This’ by Jenn Alandy Trahan
  20. ‘The Last Grownup’ by Allegra Goodman
  21. ‘A Sudden Story’ by Robert Coover
  22. ‘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.

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.

June 2021 favorites

June 2021

The June stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘A Dedicated Man’ by Elizabeth Taylor
  2. ‘A Success Story’ by Margaret Drabble
  3. ‘Butcher’s Perfume’ by Sarah Hall
  4. ‘The Boots At The Holly-Tree Inn’ by Charles Dickens
  5. ‘An Abduction’ by Tessa Hadley
  6. ‘Crossing The Alps’ by Margaret Drabble
  7. ‘The Lumber-Room’ by Saki
  8. ‘Lappin And Lapinova’ by Virginia Woolf
  9. ‘Summer 1976’ by Chris Power
  10. ‘Mortmain’ by Graham Greene
  11. ‘The Spring Hat’ by H.E. Bates
  12. ‘A Day In The Life Of A Smiling Woman’ by Margaret Drabble
  13. ‘The Gifts Of War’ by Margaret Drabble
  14. ‘If It Keeps On Raining’ by Jon McGregor
  15. ‘She Said He Said’ by Hanif Kureishi
  16. ‘The Pier Falls’ by Mark Haddon
  17. ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ by Margaret Drabble
  18. ‘G-String’ by Nicola Barker
  19. ‘Louise’ by Somerset Maugham
  20. ‘Let Me Count The Times’ by Martin Amis
  21. ‘Wolf-Alice’ by Angela Carter
  22. ‘Nadine At Forty’ by Hilary Mantel

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.

February 2021 favorites

February 2021

The February stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘A Family Supper’ by Kazuo Ishiguro
  2. ‘Filling Up With Sugar’ by Yuten Sawanishi
  3. ‘A Perfect Day For Kangaroos’ by Haruki Murakami
  4. ‘The Rocking-Horse Winner’ by D.H. Lawrence
  5. ‘Gómez Palacio’ by Roberto Bolaño
  6. ‘Two Gentle People’ by Graham Greene
  7. ‘The Confession’ by Leïla Slimani
  8. ‘A Family Like Any Other’ by Carlos Fuentes
  9. ‘The Kangaroo Communiqué’ by Haruki Murakami
  10. ‘The Adopted Son’ by Guy de Maupassant
  11. ‘The Lazy River’ by Zadie Smith
  12. ‘I Arrive First’ by Emma Jane Unsworth
  13. ‘Saint Julian The Hospitaller’ by Gustave Flaubert
  14. ‘Tell Them Not To Kill Me!’ by Juan Rulfo
  15. ‘The Switchman’ by Juan José Arreola
  16. ‘Kew Gardens’ by Virginia Woolf
  17. ‘The Hammam’ by Hervé Guibert

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 2019 favorites

January 2019

The January stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘The Beginning Of A Long Story’ by Maeve Brennan
  2. ‘The Point’ by Charles D’Ambrosio
  3. ‘Guests Of The Nation’ by Frank O’Connor
  4. ‘Voices’ by Alice Munro
  5. ‘Dear Life’ by Alice Munro
  6. ‘The Enduring Chill’ by Flannery O’Connor
  7. ‘The Eye’ by Alice Munro
  8. ‘Armistice’ by Bernard Malamud
  9. ‘O Youth And Beauty’ by John Cheever
  10. ‘Real Estate’ by Lorrie Moore
  11. ‘Night’ by Alice Munro
  12. ‘The Trouble With Mrs. Blynn, The Trouble With The World’ by Patricia Highsmith
  13. ‘The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen’ by Graham Greene
  14. ‘The Slaves In New York’ by Tama Janowitz
  15. ‘Batman And Robin Have An Altercation’ by Stephen King
  16. ‘Tied In A Bow’ by Langston Hughes
  17. ‘The Stranger’ by Rainer Maria Rilke

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.