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.

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December 2018 favorites

December 2018

The December stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Unlighted Lamps’ by Sherwood Anderson
  2. ‘The Doll’ by Edna O’Brien
  3. ‘Flowers For Algernon’ by Daniel Keyes
  4. ‘Homecoming’ by William Maxwell
  5. ‘Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie’ by Beryl Bainbridge
  6. ‘The Christmas Miracle’ by Rebecca Curtis
  7. ‘Christmas Longings’ by Elizabeth Spencer
  8. ‘The Enchanted Bluff’ by Willa Cather
  9. ‘New York Mining Disaster’ by Haruki Murakami
  10. ‘Christmas Song’ by Langston Hughes
  11. ‘Present For Joyce’ by Langston Hughes
  12. ‘Lost In The City’ by Edward P. Jones
  13. ‘The Cat’ by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
  14. ‘Leg’ by Stephen Polansky
  15. ‘The Cold Outside’ by John Burnside
  16. ‘Stuff’ by Joy Williams
  17. ‘Horatio’s Trick’ by Ann Beattie
  18. ‘The Night Of Chancellorsville’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  19. ‘Home For Christmas’ by Jeffrey Shaffer

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.