Short stories
Short stories books to start from. Open one to see books like it, or tell BookSense what you loved for four picks made for you.
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New to the genre? These 5 are the books to read first.
Young Goodman Brown
Nathaniel HawthorneA New England tale of a man's loss of faith, one of the early American models of the form's ambiguity.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Edgar Allan PoeOften cited as the first modern detective story, and an early example of a tightly built short narrative.
The Overcoat
Nicolai GogolA clerk's single wish and its loss, used to widen into a sharp comment on Russian bureaucracy.
The Necklace
Guy de MaupassantA short story whose ending reverses its setup, a standard example of the surprise-ending tradition.
Dubliners
James JoyceFifteen stories of Dublin life that build toward epiphany, a key model for modern short fiction.
Chosen and described with AI from our notes on the genre.
More short stories books
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- The Lottery
The LotteryShirley Jackson - Ficciones
FiccionesJorge Luis Borges - Dance of the Happy Shades
Dance of the Happy ShadesAlice Munro - The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
The Ones Who Walk Away from OmelasUrsula K. Le Guin - What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
What We Talk About When We Talk About LoveRaymond Carver - Interpreter of Maladies
Interpreter of MaladiesJhumpa Lahiri - Stories of Your Life and Others
Stories of Your Life and OthersTed Chiang - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Adventures of Sherlock HolmesArthur Conan Doyle1892 - I, Robot
I, RobotIsaac Asimov1950 - Heart of Darkness
Heart of DarknessJoseph Conrad1899 - The Silmarillion
The SilmarillionJ.R.R. Tolkien1977 - Skeleton Crew
Skeleton CrewStephen King1985