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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August 2023 favorites

August 2023

The August stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘All Will Be Well’ by Yiyun Li
  2. ‘Virginia City’ by Claire Vaye Watkins
  3. ‘A Consent’ by Wendell Berry
  4. ‘The Hurt Man’ by Wendell Berry
  5. ‘A Sandstone Farmhouse’ by John Updike
  6. ‘Wednesday’s Child’ by Yiyun Li
  7. ‘After The Theatre’ by Anton Chekhov
  8. ‘Don’t Send A Boy To Do A Man’s Work’ by Wendell Berry
  9. ‘The Devastating Boys’ by Elizabeth Taylor
  10. ‘The Bride’ by Maeve Brennan
  11. ‘The First Kiss’ by Clarice Lispector
  12. ‘Exit Zero’ by Marie-Helene Bertino
  13. ‘The Lost Bet’ by Wendell Berry
  14. ‘Home Sickness’ by George Moore
  15. ‘Bettering Myself’ by Ottessa Moshfegh
  16. ‘The Management Of Grief’ by Bharati Mukherjee
  17. ‘Brawler’ by Lauren Groff
  18. ‘Plan Of The Peak Cavern’ by Emily Temple
  19. ‘Three Days’ by Samantha Hunt
  20. ‘Gryphon’ by Charles Baxter
  21. ‘Cords’ by Edna O’Brien
  22. ‘The Archivist’ by Claire Vaye Watkins
  23. ‘Moon Rocket’ by Elizabeth Spencer
  24. ‘Separation’ by Clare Sestanovich
  25. ‘Thicker Than Liquor’ by Wendell Berry
  26. ‘The Cult Of Mary’ by Laura Van Den Berg
  27. ‘You Are Now Entering The Human Heart’ by Janet Frame
  28. ‘Wide Spot’ by Thomas McGuane
  29. ‘A Prize For Every Player’ by A.M. Homes
  30. ‘Lord Emsworth And The Girlfriend’ by P.G. Wodehouse
  31. ‘Resistance’ by Stephan Enter

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August 2022 favorites

August 2022

The August stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘The Murder’ by John Steinbeck
  2. ‘San Francisco’ by Amy Hempel
  3. ‘Iona Moon’ by Melanie Rae Thon
  4. ‘The Canoeists’ by Rick Bass
  5. ‘The Walk’ by Elizabeth Strout
  6. ‘Snow Blind’ by Elizabeth Strout
  7. ‘The Train’ by Flannery O’Connor
  8. ‘Greyhound People’ by Alice Adams
  9. ‘Elk’ by Rick Bass
  10. ‘The Story Of Keesh’ by Jack London
  11. ‘Fish And Fences’ by Veeda Bybee
  12. ‘Son In The Afternoon’ by John A. Williams
  13. ‘Officer Friendly’ by Lewis Robinson
  14. ‘Going To Shrewsbury’ by Sarah Orne Jewett
  15. ‘The Go-Getter’ by P.G. Wodehouse
  16. ‘The Naked Lady’ by Madison Smartt Bell
  17. ‘The Walled Garden’ by Peter Taylor
  18. ‘The Alaska Of Giants And Gods’ by Dave Eggers
  19. ‘From 100 Elvis Stories’ by Lisa Walker
  20. ‘What I Hear’ by Mary Robison

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August 2021 favorites

August 2021

The August stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘The Mad Lomasneys’ by Frank O’Connor
  2. ‘Bluebell Meadow’ by Benedict Kiely
  3. ‘Bravado’ by William Trevor
  4. ‘Upturned’ by Frank O’Connor
  5. ‘The Trout’ by Sean O’Faolain
  6. ‘News For The Church’ by Frank O’Connor
  7. ‘The Mouth Of The Cave’ by Edna O’Brien
  8. ‘The Day We Got Our Own Back’ by Maeve Brennan
  9. ‘Unread Messages’ by Sally Rooney
  10. ‘The Majesty Of The Law’ by Frank O’Connor
  11. ‘Lord Emsworth Acts For The Best’ by P.G. Wodehouse
  12. ‘The Sugawn Chair’ by Sean O’Faolain
  13. ‘Unholy Living And Half Dying’ by Sean O’Faolain
  14. ‘Color And Light’ by Sally Rooney
  15. ‘The Wine Breath’ by John McGahern
  16. ‘Everything In This Country Must’ by Colum McCann
  17. ‘A Dead Cert’ by Sean O’Faolain
  18. ‘The Poteen Maker’ by Michael McLaverty
  19. ‘Up The Bare Stairs’ by Sean O’Faolain
  20. ‘Who’s-Dead McCarthy’ by Kevin Barry
  21. ‘The Curfew’ by Roddy Doyle
  22. ‘Judas’ by Frank O’Connor
  23. ‘Legend For A Painting’ by Julia O’Faolain
  24. ‘On The Empty Shore’ by Seosamh Mac Grianna
  25. ‘(She Owns) Every Thing’ by Anne Enright

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

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