For Readers: Blog

Short stories with rave reviews

If it’s been a while since you’ve picked up a collection of short stories, now is an excellent time to give these unassuming literary powerhouses another try! Short stories are a great way to sample the writing style of a new author or try a new genre, and they’re just the ticket for busy readers who only have a little time here and there to get through a book.

Ed Park is getting rave reviews for the originality of his recent collection, An Oral History of Atlantis. Creative, offbeat, and occasionally surreal, the sixteen stories in this work look for the absurd and the remarkable in everyday life. With a sharp sense of wit, Park has curated a strange but captivating group of tales about human nature for readers looking for something a little different. [e-book | print]

Twelve Post-War Tales by Graham Swift examines the enduring impact of war and trauma on ordinary people. From World War II to the Cuban Missile Crisis to more recent unprecedented times, these stories provide stark portraits of loss, resilience, and the intersection of the mundane and the horrific during times of tragedy. This collection should be a hit with readers who like character-driven slice-of-life fiction. [e-book | print]

If you don’t want your short stories too short, Stag Dance by Torrey Peters brings together a novella and three longer short stories. Drawing from speculative fiction, horror, and westerns, this collection is a fascinating genre mishmash about gender identity and desire. With a subtle wit and complex characters, this insightful anthology has evoked comparisons to the unconventional writing of George Saunders. [e-book | print | audiobook]

From the mountains to the marshes, the stories in Carrie R. Moore’s Make Your Way Home capture the essence of the American South. In this richly detailed collection, Black men and women living in the South reckon with a complicated sense of home and how the past impacts place. Despite the varied locales, a strong sense of place and history connects all of the moving tales for a cohesive collection. [e-book | print]

The lyrical and atmospheric stories in Ghostroots by Pemi Aguda transport readers to an uneasy version of Lagos, Nigeria. While the inhabitants of Lagos are vividly imagined, so are the supernatural actors that lurk under the surface. Interweaving folklore, fantasy, and speculative fiction, this haunting collection revolves around the tension between generations, motherhood, and betrayal. [e-book | print]

For our nonfiction fans, The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl captures the feel of short stories with its 52 bite-sized chapters. Going week by week, Renkl revisits a year in her backyard, sharing the wonders of the natural world that visited and grew around her. Through its lyrical descriptions of the changing seasons and reflections on humanity’s relationship with the environment, this collection of essays makes for a calming and thoughtful read. [e-book | print | audiobook]

⏤Laura