2025 4th Quarter favorites

4th Quarter 2025

The 4th Quarter (Oct-Dec) stories ordered solely by my personal tastes.

  1. ‘The Best Of Everything’ by Richard Yates
  2. ‘A Manual For Cleaning Women’ by Lucia Berlin
  3. ‘The Canal’ by Richard Yates
  4. ‘A Wrestler Of Sharks’ by Richard Yates
  5. ‘The Deposition’ by Tobias Wolff
  6. ‘A Really Good Jazz Piano’ by Richard Yates
  7. ‘Intruders Of Sleepless Nights’ by Pamela Painter
  8. ‘The Little Statue’ by Maeve Murphy
  9. ‘Minotaur’ by Jim Shepard
  10. ‘A Glutton For Punishment’ by Richard Yates
  11. ‘Liquid Papers’ by Nicolette Polek
  12. ‘American Beauty’ by Ethan Canin
  13. ‘The B.A.R. Man’ by Richard Yates
  14. ‘Xmas, Jamaica Plain’ by Melanie Rae Thon
  15. ‘The Romance Of Certain Old Clothes’ by Henry James
  16. ‘Delivery’ by Bruce Barrow
  17. ‘Dirt’ by Maud Casey
  18. ‘The Rider Was Lost’ by Nancy Hale
  19. ‘The Fir Tree’ by Hans Christian Andersen
  20. ‘Live Wires’ by Thomas Beller
  21. ‘Let’s Play Dead’ by Senaa Ahmad
  22. ‘Doggerland’ by Kaliane Bradley
  23. ‘Crouch End’ by Stephen King
  24. ‘Happy’ by Richard Ford
  25. ‘Dagon’ by H.P. Lovecraft

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December 2017 favorites

December 2017

The December stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Vanka’ by Anton Chekhov
  2. ‘Master Eustace’ by Henry James
  3. ‘Christmas Poem’ by John O’Hara
  4. ‘Brothers’ by Sherwood Anderson
  5. ‘Cat Person’ by Kristen Roupenian
  6. ‘Christmas Gift’ by Robert Penn Warren
  7. ‘Snow Angel’ by Stephanie Vaughn
  8. ‘The Last Night Of The World’ by Ray Bradbury
  9. ‘Uncle Raymond’ by Nelson Eubanks
  10. ‘Christmas Freud’ by David Rakoff
  11. ‘The Sunday After Christmas’ by Mavis Gallant
  12. ‘Where You’ll Find Me’ by Ann Beattie
  13. ‘Through The Tunnel’ by Doris Lessing
  14. ‘The Angel Of The Bridge’ by John Cheever
  15. ‘Nobody’s Story’ by Charles Dickens
  16. ‘A Different Kind Of Imperfection’ by Thomas Beller
  17. ‘Christmas By Injunction’ by O. Henry
  18. ‘The Errors Of Santa Claus’ by Stephen Leacock
  19. ‘The Feast Of Nemesis’ by Saki

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.