Short Story
The age of grief
Jane Smiley
FICTION Smiley, Jane
Fiction, Short Story
The luminous novella and stories in The Age of Grief explore the vicissitudes of love, friendship, and marriage with all the compassion and insight that have come to be expected from Jane Smiley, the Pulitzer Prize—winning author of A Thousand Acres. In “The Pleasure of Her Company,” a lonely, single woman befriends the married couple next door, hoping to learn the secret of their happiness. In “Long Distance,” a man finds himself relieved of the obligation to continue an affair that is no longer compelling to him, only to be waylaid by the guilt he feels at his easy escape. And in the incandescently wise and moving title novella, a dentist, aware that his wife has fallen in love with someone else, must comfort her when she is spurned, while maintaining the secret of his own complicated sorrow. Beautifully written, with a wry intelligence and a lively comic touch, The Age of Grief captures moments of great intimacy with grace, clarity, and indelible emotional power.
The collected stories of Arthur C. Clarke.
Arthur C. (Arthur Charles) Clarke
SCIENCE FICTION Clarke, Arthur C.
Science Fiction, Short Story
Travel by wire - How we went to Mars - Retreat from Earth - Reverie - The awakening - Whacky - Loophole - Rescue party - Technical error - Castaway - The fires within - Inheritance - Nightfall - History lesson - Transience - The wall of darkness - The lion of Comarre - The forgotten enemy - Hide and seek - Breaking strain - Nemesis - Guardian angel - Time's arrow - A walk in the dark - Silence please - Trouble with the natives - The road to the sea - The sentinel - Holiday on the moon - Earthlight - Second dawn - Superiority - If I forget Thee, Oh Earth... - All the time in the world - The nine billion names of God - The possessed - The parasite - Jupiter five - Encounter in the dawn - The other tiger - Publicity campaign - Armaments race - The deep range - No morning after - Big game hunt - Parent pending - Refugee - The star - What goes up - Venture to the moon - The pacifist - The reluctant orchid - Moving spirit - The defenestration of Ermintrude Inch - The ultimate melody - The next tenants - Cold war - Sleeping beauty - Security check - The man who ploughed the sea - Critical mass - The other side of the sky - Let there be light - Out of the sun - Cosmic Casanova - The songs of distant Earth - A slight case of sunstroke - Who's there? - Out of the cradle, endlessly orbiting - I remember Babylon Trouble with time - Into the comet - Summertime on Icarus - Saturn rising - Death and the Senator - Before Eden - Hate - Love that universe - Dog star - Maelstrom II - An ape about the house - The shining ones - The secret - Dial F for Frankenstein - The wind from the sun - The food of the gods - The last command - Light of darkness - The longest science fiction story ever told - Playback - The cruel sky - Herbert George Morley Roberts Wells, Esq. - Crusade - Neutron tide - Reunion - transit of Earth - A meeting with Medussa - Quarantine - siseneG - The steam powered word processor - On golden seas - The hammer of God - The wire continuum (with Stephen Baxter) - Improving the neighborhood.
Added by Beth
The complete stories
Flannery O'Connor
FICTION O'Connor, Flannery
Fiction, Short Story
O'Connor published her first story, "The Geranium," in 1946, while she was working on her master's degree at the University of Iowa. Arranged chronologically, this collection shows that her last story, "Judgement Day"--sent to her publisher shortly before her death―is a brilliantly rewritten and transfigured version of "The Geranium." Taken together, these stories reveal a lively, penetrating talent that has given us some of the most powerful and disturbing fiction of the twentieth century. Introduction / by Robert Giroux -The geranium - The barber - Wildcat - The crop - The turkey - The train - The peeler - The heart of the park - A stroke of good fortune - Enoch and the gorilla - A good man is hard to find - A late encounter with the enemy - The life you save may be your own - The river - A circle in the fire - The displaced person - A temple of the Holy Ghost - The artificial nigger - Good country people - You can't be any poorer than dead - Greenleaf - A view of the woods - The enduring chill - The comforts of home - Everything that rises must converge - The partridge festival - The lame shall enter first - Why do the heathen rage? - Revelation - Parker's back - Judgment Day.
Added by Beth
Toil & trouble : 15 tales of women & witchcraft
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Toil
Young Adult, Read Woke, Short Story, LGBTQ+, Fantasy
"History is filled with stories of women accused of witchcraft, of fearsome girls with arcane knowledge. Toil & Trouble features fifteen stories of girls embracing their power, reclaiming their destinies and using their magic to create, to curse, to cure--and to kill...This collection reveals a universal truth: there's nothing more powerful than a teenage girl who believes in herself"--Publisher.
This collection of short stories , some by YA superstars, casts a charm firm and good. Look for culturally, and LGBTQIA+ diverse characters, strong women, and some worlds you won't want to leave. -Casey
The world doesn't require you : stories
Rion Amilcar Scott
FICTION Scott Rion
Short Story, Black Lives Matter
"One of Esquire's Most Anticipated Books of 2019 Breathtakingly imaginative and unapologetically original, The World Doesn't Require You announces a bold, generational talent. Deftly spinning genres of his feverish literary invention, Rion Amilcar Scott creates his very own Yoknapatawpha County with fictional Cross River, Maryland. Established by the leaders of America's only successful slave revolt, the town still evokes the fierce rhythms of its founding. Among its residents are David Sherman, a struggling musician who just happens to be God's last son; Tyrone, a ruthless PhD candidate, whose dissertation about a childhood game ignites mayhem in the neighboring, once-segregated town of Port Yooga; and Jim, an all-too-obedient robot who serves his Master. Culminating with an explosive novella, these haunting stories of the denizens of Cross River serve to explore larger themes of religion, violence, and love--all told with sly humor and a dash of magical realism. Shattering rigid literary boundaries, Scott is "a necessary voice in American literature" (PEN Award citation), a writer whose storytelling gifts the world very much requires"--
Added by Brian
Exhalation
Ted Chiang
eBOOK
Science Fiction, Short Story
This much-anticipated second collection of stories is signature Ted Chiang, full of revelatory ideas and deeply sympathetic characters. In "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," a portal through time forces a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and the temptation of second chances. In the epistolary "Exhalation," an alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with ramifications not just for his own people, but for all of reality. And in "The Lifecycle of Software Objects," a woman cares for an artificial intelligence over twenty years, elevating a faddish digital pet into what might be a true living being. Also included are two brand-new stories: "Omphalos" and "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom." In this fantastical and elegant collection, Ted Chiang wrestles with the oldest questions on earth--What is the nature of the universe? What does it mean to be human?--and ones that no one else has even imagined. And, each in its own way, the stories prove that complex and thoughtful science fiction can rise to new heights of beauty, meaning, and compassion.
Chiang explores determinism, A.I. and alternate realities. Every tale is unique and fascinating. So much so that I can't choose a favorite. I recommend this to anyone who wants their Sci-Fi to get them thinking. -Brian
A manual for cleaning women : selected stories
Lucia Berlin
FICTION Berlin Lucia
Short Story
"Stories from a lost American classic "in the same arena as Alice Munro" (Lydia Davis) "In the field of short fiction, Lucia Berlin is one of America's best kept secrets. That's it. Flat out. No mitigating conditions." --Paul Metcalf A Manual for Cleaning Women compiles the best work of the legendary short-story writer Lucia Berlin. With her trademark blend of humor and melancholy, Berlin crafts miracles from the everyday--uncovering moments of grace in the cafeterias and Laundromats of the American Southwest, in the homes of the Northern California upper classes, and from the perspective of a cleaning woman alone in a hotel dining room in Mexico City. The women of Berlin's stories are lost, but they are also strong, clever, and extraordinarily real. They are hitchhikers, hard workers, bad Christians. With the wit of Lorrie Moore and the grit of Raymond Carver, they navigate a world of jockeys, doctors, and switchboard operators. They laugh, they mourn, they drink. Berlin, a highly influential writer despite having published little in her lifetime, conjures these women from California, Mexico, and beyond. Lovers of the short story will not want to miss this remarkable collection from a master of the form"--
Lately I've been enjoying collections of short stories. Lucia Berlin's stories are about many characters, but all are semi-autobiographical. And though most stories seem to be about ordinary events in ordinary towns with ordinary people, all contain extraordinary insights into the human condition. -Mari
Lot : stories
Bryan Washington
FICTION Washingt Bryan
Fiction, Short Story, LGBTQ+
Coming of age in his family's Houston restaurant, a mixed-heritage teen navigates bullying, his newly discovered sexual orientation, and the ripple effects of a disadvantaged community.
Added by Jason
Hakumei & Mikochi : tiny little life in the woods
Takuto Kashiki
MANGA Kashiki Hakumei
Graphic Novels, Nature, Fantasy, Humor, Short Story
"Deep within a lush, green forest live Hakumei and Mikochi. Making their home in trees, using leaves for umbrellas, and riding bugs for transportation is just part of everyday life for these tiny pals!"--
Nonstop cuteness from start to finish--a sweet slice of teeny tiny life! -Casey
Black dahlia & white rose
Joyce Carol Oates
FICTION Oates Joyce
Short Story
Joyce Carol Oates, winner and nominee of several awards, including the National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and National Humanities Medal has quite a prolific collection of work. This 2012 collection of stories received the Bram Stoker Award (BSA) for superior achievement in Horror. BSA winners and finalists make great reading options for horror fans as the award winners are chosen by Horror Writer's Association members and lovers of Horror writing. -Shawna
Added by Beth