September 2023 favorites

September 2023

The September stories ordered solely by my personal tastes.

  1. ‘The Pretty Daughters’ by John O’Hara
  2. ‘Concord 34’ by Sally Rooney
  3. ‘Mojave Rats’ by Kirstin Valdez Quade
  4. ‘Ordinary Sins’ by Kirstin Valdez Quade
  5. ‘Miss Anna’s Asleep’ by Jesse Stuart
  6. ‘Bestiary’ by Julio Cortázar
  7. ‘The Strength Of God’ by Sherwood Anderson
  8. ‘On The Agenda’ by Lore Segal
  9. ‘This Farm For Sale’ by Jesse Stuart
  10. ‘Wrens And Starling’ by J.F. Powers
  11. ‘The Teacher’ by Sherwood Anderson
  12. ‘The Boundary’ by Jhumpa Lahiri
  13. ‘Adventure’ by Sherwood Anderson
  14. ‘My Girls’ by John O’Hara
  15. ‘Turn Back The Bed’ by Wendell Berry
  16. ‘Roy’ by Timothy Willis Sanders
  17. ‘The Boy Upstairs’ by Joshua Ferris
  18. ‘The Thinker’ by Sherwood Anderson
  19. ‘Battle With The Bees’ by Jesse Stuart
  20. ‘As Ye Sows, So Shall Ye Reap’ by Jesse Stuart
  21. ‘A Big Night’ by Leslie Norris
  22. ‘Old Hope’ by Clare Sestanovich
  23. ‘You’ll Enjoy It When You Get There’ by Elizabeth Taylor
  24. ‘The Discovery Of Kentucky’ by Wendell Berry
  25. ‘Trash’ by Souvankham Thammavongsa
  26. ‘The Woman The Book Read’ by Sarah Hall
  27. ‘Respectability’ by Sherwood Anderson
  28. ‘Tandy’ by Sherwood Anderson
  29. ‘A Ribbon For Baldy’ by Jesse Stuart
  30. ‘Loneliness’ by Sherwood Anderson

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 2021 favorites

October 2021

The October stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Suspicion’ by Dorothy Sayers
  2. ‘Bad Dreams’ by Tessa Hadley
  3. ‘Mrs. Charbury At Eltham’ by Max Porter
  4. ‘The Man Who Knew How’ by Dorothy Sayers
  5. ‘The Flight Of Geese’ by Leslie Norris
  6. ‘The Open Window’ by Saki
  7. ‘The Lighthouse’ by Agnes Owens
  8. ‘Pornography’ by Ian McEwan
  9. ‘De Mortuis’ by John Collier
  10. ‘The Fountain Plays’ by Dorothy Sayers
  11. ‘An Arrow O’er The House’ by Dorothy Sayers
  12. ‘Then Later, His Ghost’ by Sarah Hall
  13. ‘When The Door Closed, It Was Dark’ by Alison Moore
  14. ‘Le Miroir’ by Robert Aickman
  15. ‘Dilemma’ by Dorothy Sayers
  16. ‘August Heat’ by W.F. Harvey
  17. ‘The Demon Lover’ by Elizabeth Bowen
  18. ‘The Apparition Of Mrs. Veal’ by Daniel Defoe
  19. ‘The Mystery Of Hunter’s Lodge’ by Agatha Christie
  20. ‘A Haunted House’ by Virginia Woolf
  21. ‘The Crystal Egg’ by H.G. Wells
  22. ‘The Lamp’ by Agatha Christie
  23. ‘Click-Clack The Rattlebag’ by Neil Gaiman

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.