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

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

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February 2024 favorites

February 2024

The February stories ordered solely by my personal tastes.

  1. ‘The Moon In Its Flight’ by Gilbert Sorrentino
  2. ‘Night Of The Living Rez’ by Morgan Talty
  3. ‘Quenby And Ola, Swede and Carl’ by Robert Coover
  4. ‘Class Picture’ by Tobias Wolff
  5. ‘Sierra Leone’ by John McGahern
  6. ‘Flight’ by John Updike
  7. ‘An Unlucky Man’ by Samanta Schweblin
  8. ‘Leaf Season’ by John Updike
  9. ‘Today Will Be A Quiet Day’ by Amy Hempel
  10. ‘Axolotl’ by Julio Cortázar
  11. ‘Roseheath’ by John Cheever
  12. ‘Plumbing’ by John Updike
  13. ‘One-Percent Humidity’ by Michelle Lyn King
  14. ‘A Real Doll’ by A.M. Homes
  15. ‘The Blessed Man Of Boston, My Grandmother’s Thimble, And Fanning Island’ by John Updike
  16. ‘The Age Of Love’ by Mary South
  17. ‘Rebecca’ by Donald Barthelme
  18. ‘Stuff’ by Joy Williams
  19. ‘Learn A Trade’ by John Updike
  20. ‘Celia Is Back’ by Amy Hempel
  21. ‘The Rescue’ by John Updike
  22. ‘Chow!’ by Patricia Collinge
  23. ‘The Leap’ by Louise Erdrich
  24. ‘The Return’ by Elizabeth Bowen
  25. ‘The Alligators’ by John Updike
  26. ‘When Stars Collide’ by Ottessa Moshfegh
  27. ‘How I Became A Vet’ by Rivka Galchen
  28. ‘Oliver’ by Kevin Maloney
  29. ‘Embroidery’ by Ray Bradbury

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

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December 2019 favorites

December 2019

The December stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Bad Characters’ by Jean Stafford
  2. ‘The Possibility Of Evil’ by Shirley Jackson
  3. ‘The Loudest Voice’ by Grace Paley
  4. ‘Encarnación Mendoza’s Christmas Eve’ by Juan Bosch
  5. ‘The Discovery Of Christmas’ by Carson McCullers
  6. ‘The Christmas Turkey’ by Mário de Andrade
  7. ‘The Artist’ by Patricia Highsmith
  8. ‘Mortals’ by Tobias Wolff
  9. ‘Uncles’ by Peter Taylor
  10. ‘Santa Claus Is A White Man’ by John Henrik Clarke
  11. ‘The Cliff’ by Charles Baxter
  12. ‘Two Turtledoves’ by John O’Hara
  13. ‘His Final Mother’ by Reynolds Price
  14. ‘Sleep’ by Haruki Murakami
  15. ‘Rose’ by Mavis Gallant
  16. ‘On The Street Where You Live’ by Yiyun Li
  17. ‘All That’ by David Foster Wallace

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

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April 2016 favorites

April 2016

The April stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘The Garden Of The Forking Paths’ by Jorge Luis Borges
  2. ‘Walker Brothers Cowboy’ by Alice Munro
  3. ‘Red Dress – 1946’ by Alice Munro
  4. ‘The Bear Came Over The Mountain’ by Alice Munro
  5. ‘The Gospel According To Mark’ by Jorge Luis Borges
  6. ‘The Office’ by Alice Munro
  7. ‘You Could Look It Up’ by James Thurber
  8. ‘Runaway’ by Alice Munro
  9. ‘Ambush’ by Donna Tartt
  10. ‘Sanity’ by Tobias Wolff
  11. ‘Edison, New Jersey’ by Junot Diaz
  12. ‘The Library Of Babel’ by Jorge Luis Borges
  13. ‘The Approach To Al-Mu’tasim’ by Jorge Luis Borges
  14. ‘Late’ by Steven Millhauser
  15. ‘Serve-And-Volley Near Vichy’ by Greg Jackson
  16. ‘On Exactitude In Science’ by Jorge Luis Borges
  17. ‘Do Stay, Giraffe’ by Wolfgang Borchert

What do you think about this story? As always, join the conversation in the comments section below, on SSMT Facebook or on Twitter @ShortStoryMT.

January 2016 favorites

January 2016

The January stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘In The Garden Of North American Martyrs’ by Tobias Wolff
  2. ‘The Night In Question’ by Tobias Wolff
  3. ‘Bernice Bobs Her Hair’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  4. ‘Goodbye And Good Luck’ by Grace Paley
  5. ‘Break It Down’ by Lydia Davis
  6. ‘The Falls’ by George Saunders
  7. ‘The Sensible Thing’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  8. ‘Awaiting Orders’ by Tobias Wolff
  9. ‘Dice, Brassknuckles & Guitar’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  10. ‘Next Door’ by Tobias Wolff
  11. ‘The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  12. ‘Financing Finnegan’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  13. ‘New Year’s Night’ by Henry Lawson
  14. ‘When We Were Nearly Young’ by Mavis Gallant
  15. ‘Say Yes’ by Tobias Wolff
  16. ‘Homage To Switzerland’ by Ernest Hemingway
  17. ‘But The One On The Right’ by Dorothy Parker