Good Short Stories and Where to Find Them
In this post, I’d like to discuss the unique advantages of short stories (over novels), with a special focus on book club settings. Afterwards, I will present sources and ideas that can help find good stories for those that have never come into contact with them.
The Underrated, Overlooked Form of Prose Fiction?
Short stories are the underrated, overlooked form of prose fiction, it seems. That’s probably because book clubs are naturally associated with books, which are naturally associated with novels. When people join our club, they are often surprised to see that we spend a lot of time reading short stories (alongside novels). For some, it takes time to warm up to that idea, which is why I want to make a case for short stories here. They offer all the benefits of “regular” prose fiction (i.e. the novel) and can make for great discussions despite (or, maybe even, because of) their brevity.
As much as we love our novels, short stories have some unique advantages over these in a book club setting. First, they lower the barrier to entry for those who do not have the time to start a huge tome (or feel intimidated by their sheer size). Second, they are much easier to drop (psychologically speaking) once you realize they’re not your cup of tea (no huge investment up front). Third, they serve as perfect fill-ins between Monthly Picks, e.g. when some members have already finished a novel (and would like to move on) but others are still reading. Fourth, they allow us to peek into themes and topics or try out new genres, or even survey a broad range of these in a short amount of time.
A Good Short Story Is Hard to Find?
Whatever your genre preferences, short stories have you covered. They are frequently anthologized by genre, but cross-genre collections exist, too. The history of short stories goes back centuries, so there is a huge pool to pick from. The real challenge is finding those stories that appeal most to your taste. So where can we find good ones? Short answer: there are three major places to hunt for reads: Anthologies, magazines, socials/communities.
Anthologies usually introduce you to a broad range of authors, eras, and styles covering specific genres or topics. Some notable examples include:
- science fiction lovers might start with The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year’s Best Science Fiction,
- fantasy enthusiasts can check out The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction,
- crime and mystery lovers are well served by the yearly anthology The Best American Mystery and Suspense or The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries or any of the other Penguin Books Of…,
- horror aficionados might find something in any of the yearly The Best Horror of the Year anthologies by Ellen Datlow,
- very good cross-genre anthologies, e.g. A Century of Fiction in The New Yorker, The Granta Book Of The American Short Story.
Magazines deliver the latest stories and keep you up to date on new publications year-round. Some magazines worth mentioning:
- science fiction is well served by Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine,
- fantasy fanatics can check out The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction,
- crime and mystery lovers should have a look at Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine,
- horror enthusiasts might be interested in the Nightmare Magazine,
- general and cross-genre fiction is also published by various renowned magazines such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper’s Magazine, Granta, The Paris Review,
- for even more sources, writer and editor Erika Krouse has compiled an awesome list of 500 fiction litmags worth checking out.
Finally, social networks and online communities pick up trends and share notable publications for all genre lovers. Some notable sites are:
- the shortstories subreddit is probably the largest community dedicated to sharing original short stories,
- Wattpad is a huge social reading and writing platform where authors publish and readers comment, vote, and follow,
- Scribophile is a similar social platform catering to the writing community and, consequently, offering a broad range of original stories to their readers.
One last thing: if you like short stories as much as we do, consider joining us.
Enjoy the read!
