My favorite short stories
1

by
4.40 avg rating — 295,342 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.19 avg rating — 244,551 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.16 avg rating — 284,917 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.51 avg rating — 216,483 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
3.84 avg rating — 175,296 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.54 avg rating — 3,322 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.39 avg rating — 40,742 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.59 avg rating — 2,896 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.18 avg rating — 154,525 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.07 avg rating — 355,444 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.02 avg rating — 84,378 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.29 avg rating — 37,948 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.14 avg rating — 343,754 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.56 avg rating — 25,632 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.37 avg rating — 31,973 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.18 avg rating — 205,940 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.21 avg rating — 377,887 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.06 avg rating — 224 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
4.04 avg rating — 197,963 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.13 avg rating — 107,510 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.33 avg rating — 28,412 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.41 avg rating — 1,097 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.62 avg rating — 1,127 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
4.41 avg rating — 22,375 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.11 avg rating — 101,362 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
3.90 avg rating — 1,411,424 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.42 avg rating — 1,120 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.03 avg rating — 81,162 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.30 avg rating — 30,207 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.26 avg rating — 15,758 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.12 avg rating — 6,287 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.24 avg rating — 7,881 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
4.37 avg rating — 52,577 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
3.85 avg rating — 251,119 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
3.88 avg rating — 8,366 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.16 avg rating — 49,607 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.95 avg rating — 87,758 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.84 avg rating — 17,996 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
3.84 avg rating — 36,880 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.03 avg rating — 57,036 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.17 avg rating — 74,867 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
3.77 avg rating — 58,518 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
4.14 avg rating — 3,365 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
4.15 avg rating — 8,017 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
4.09 avg rating — 117,603 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
4.18 avg rating — 6,132 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
4.13 avg rating — 64,369 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
4.24 avg rating — 40,065 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.16 avg rating — 33,413 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.14 avg rating — 96,586 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
3.86 avg rating — 267,084 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
4.45 avg rating — 1,749 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
4.35 avg rating — 15,316 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
4.04 avg rating — 13,111 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
3.89 avg rating — 563,263 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.88 avg rating — 2,937 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.04 avg rating — 109,151 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.02 avg rating — 6,628 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.97 avg rating — 1,214 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
4.25 avg rating — 7,310 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
4.05 avg rating — 72,775 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
4.20 avg rating — 14,903 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
3.99 avg rating — 18,431 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.88 avg rating — 60,341 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
4.30 avg rating — 7,643 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.74 avg rating — 187,954 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
3.90 avg rating — 65,021 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
4.85 avg rating — 13 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.01 avg rating — 37,266 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
4.17 avg rating — 8,766 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
4.02 avg rating — 22,997 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
4.05 avg rating — 129,538 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
4.24 avg rating — 123,334 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
4.05 avg rating — 49,491 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.29 avg rating — 108,477 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
3.97 avg rating — 137,323 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.74 avg rating — 35 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 102 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
4.31 avg rating — 6,989 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
3.95 avg rating — 71,888 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
4.31 avg rating — 2,596 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
4.20 avg rating — 8,317 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
3.88 avg rating — 7,870 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
4.17 avg rating — 1,681 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
4.10 avg rating — 78,059 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.28 avg rating — 1,116 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
4.16 avg rating — 5,976 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
3.93 avg rating — 462 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
3.55 avg rating — 222 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.18 avg rating — 3,523 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
4.10 avg rating — 21,605 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.06 avg rating — 47,291 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
93

by
4.09 avg rating — 16,636 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
4.09 avg rating — 26,832 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 136,226 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
4.40 avg rating — 78,671 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.13 avg rating — 3,411 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
4.26 avg rating — 7,219 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
4.18 avg rating — 6,505 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
4.13 avg rating — 22,702 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
1,761 books · 1,048 voters · list created November 26th, 2008 by Tess (votes) .
200 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Tess 2608 books
66 friends
Rowena 85 books
1286 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3386 books
851 friends
John 316 books
2637 friends
Bettie 15674 books
19 friends
Elizabeth 168 books
244 friends
Melanie 834 books
6 friends
Jake 1370 books
89 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-14 of 14 (14 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Bea (new)

Bea #106 and #17 have the same title and author but different covers. It looks like the same book.


message 2: by Gabby (new)

Gabby Can we add newer short stories?


Jülie ☼♄  Gabby wrote: "Can we add newer short stories?"

Please do :)


message 4: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis Miraculously, the duplicates link works. The system found and removed 4 duplicates.


message 5: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis Removed for being a full length novel: Salem's Lot, #325.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

If you see others, please list the page# or book# along with the title.

System found and removed another duplicate.


message 6: by Donna (last edited Jul 31, 2018 12:26AM) (new)

Donna Davis The system found and removed 1 duplicate.

Removed for being out of genre, The Informers: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...

and My Wolf's Bane: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...


message 7: by George P. (new)

George P. I don't think # 370 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer should be in this list. It is not a short story nor a collection of them. The chapters are all about the same main character (Tom) and it's really a novel. I did like it though.


message 8: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis George wrote: "I don't think # 370 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer should be in this list. It is not a short story nor a collection of them. The chapters are all about the same main character (Tom) and it's really a..."

Thanks for the heads-up, George. This title has been removed for genre issues.

The system has found and removed 3 duplicates.


message 9: by John (new)

John There is a genre that was popular in the Middle Ages and Renaissance of linking stories through a framing device (a bunch of people get together and tell stories, for example, or Scheherazade has to keep telling stories to avoid being killed). These include The Arabian Nights, the Decameron, the Heptameron, and the Canterbury Tales (which is mostly narrative poetry). Several of these books are listed but I didn't vote for them because they seem like a different genre to me. But I can see how they would end up here.


message 10: by John (new)

John I have read a lot of short story anthologies, particularly The Best American Short Stories, which comes out every year - I added the ones I've read, but if folks think that's not appropriate, feel free to delete.


message 11: by John (new)

John Oh no! I accidentally added a duplicate Night Shift (page 17, no. 1604). Could someone with the magic power of removal take care of this mistake?


message 12: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis John wrote: "Oh no! I accidentally added a duplicate Night Shift (page 17, no. 1604). Could someone with the magic power of removal take care of this mistake?"

Done.
It's always nice to have an excuse to return to this list, anyway. ;)


message 13: by Rainbowheart (new)

Rainbowheart Removed Journey to the West. This is promotional author spam and not a short story. It's a full-length memoir.


message 14: by Heidi (last edited Jan 26, 2023 03:04PM) (new)

Heidi I wonder if somebody could help me find a shor t story.
I am quite sure that I read it in around 1975. It was
in a high school textbook anthology book.

It was about an attractive girl who was asked out by
a not terribly attractive guy and she mocked him and
somehow at the end she was changed into being a girl
with a medusa head.

I am prettty sure that this is a fairly recent short story.


back to top



Related News

  At the beginning of each calendar month, Goodreads’ crack editorial squad assembles a list of the hottest and most popular new books...

Anyone can add books to this list.