I've become so impatient with reading and I'm looking for something that grabs me from the beginning to the end and is not very long read either. I want something memorable, something you end up thinking about afterward, though doesn't need to be shocking or anything, just not easy to forget.
by fink_barton
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“The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell
“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs.
Both are 100+ years old but I still think about them decades after reading.
The Egg – Andy Weir
The Beggar and the Diamond Stephen King
For comedy, I really love **One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories** by BJ Novak. Novak was a writer and guest star of the Office (American version), so that sort of deadpan, absurdist humor is what you can expect (though no stories happen in an office). My favorite story is The Rematch, which begins right after the Hare wakes up from his mid-race nap to find the Tortoise has beaten him.
For horror, I love **The Imago Sequence,** by Laird Barron. Barron has real Lovecraftian, cosmic horror vibes. This book is nine short stories, and the one the book is named after is about a man who becomes obsessed with seeing three infamous photographs that have almost never been seen by the same person.
For post-apocalyptic/dystopian, I recommend **The Apocalypse Tryptich**, a three-volume anthology of a bunch of different apocalypses told by up-and-coming authors. They all choose their own apocalypse (nuclear, pandemic, asteroid, a doomsday cult that’s correct, etc).
For nonfiction, i recommend **What If?** by Randall Munroe. It’s a bunch of silly what if questions that Munroe answers with detailed, scientific accuracy. For instance, what if a baseball pitcher could throw a ball 90% the speed of light?
“Blood Child & Other Stories” by Octavia E. Butler – Sci-fi, includes a story about an alien species that uses the bodies of male humans to grow their young. Butler is a fantastic author.
“The Djinn in the Nightengale’s Eye” by A.S. Byatt – Literary fairy tales. Heavy on vocabulary, but worth it. Includes a story about a Djinn (genie) who appears before a middle aged academic woman.
“The Little Black Book of Stories” by A.S. Byatt – Literary fairy tales, including a story of a woman who slowly turns to stone.
I like the following books, all are filled with short stories:
*Pure Slaughter Value,* by Robert Bingham
*Bear And His Daughter,* by Robert Stone
*Taking Care, Escapes,* and *Honored Guest,* all three by Joy Williams