I love the concept for the Deal Me In Short Story Reading Challenge (2014), which is hosted by Jay at Bibliophilopolis. The goal is to be able to read 52 short stories in 2014, one for each week of the year. You come up with a list of 52 stories (drawing from any source) and “assign each one to a playingcard in a standard deck of cards.” Every week, you randomly pick a card from your deck, basically Letting the Cards Decide which story to read. The challenge lets you explore new authors and genres without being too intimidating. It also encourages a weekly habit of reading for at least an hour, and I think that’s good for anyone. And the element of chance makes everything extra exciting.
I decided to include stories from books already on my TBR, to help me along with my other reading challenges. My list features stories from Drown by Junot Diaz, Cathedral by Raymond Carver, My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead edited by Jeffrey Eugenides, and Where the God of Love Hangs Out by Amy Bloom.
CLUBS (Stories by Junot Diaz, Raymond Carver, and Amy Bloom)
A Ysrael (Diaz)
2 Fiesta, 1980 (Diaz)
3 Aurora (Diaz)
4 Aguantando (Diaz)
5 Drown (Diaz)
6 Vitamins (Carver)
7 Careful (Carver)
8 Where I’m Calling From (Carver)
9 The Train (Carver)
10 Fever (Carver)
J Between Here and Here (Bloom)
Q Where the God of Love Hangs Out (Bloom)
K William and Clare// Your Borders, Your Rivers, Your Tiny Villages/ I Love to See You Coming, I Hate to See You Go/ The Old Impossible/ Compassion and Mercy (Bloom)
SPADES (Stories by Junot Diaz, Raymond Carver, and Amy Bloom)
A Feathers (Carver)
2 Chef’s House (Carver)
3 Preservation (Carver)
4 The Compartment (Carver)
5 A Small, Good Thing (Carver)
6 Boyfriend (Diaz)
7 Edison, New Jersey (Diaz)
8 How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie (Diaz)
9 No Face (Diaz)
10 Negocios (Diaz)
J The Bridle (Carver)
Q Cathedral (Carver)
K Lionel and Julia// Sleepwalking/ Night Vision/ Light Into Dark/ Fort Useless and Fort Ridiculous (Bloom)
HEARTS (Stories from My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead: Great Love Stories, from Chekhov to Munro edited by Jeffrey Eugenides)
A How to be an Other Woman by Lorrie Moore
2 Yours by Mary Robinson
3 The Bad Thing by David Gates
4 First Love by Isaac Babel
5 Tonka by Robert Musil
6 Jon by George Saunders
7 Red Rose, White Rose by Eileen Chang
8 Fireworks by Richard Ford
9 We Didn’t by Stuart Dybek
10 Something that Needs Nothing by Miranda July
J The Magic Barrel by Bernard Malamud
Q Innocence by Harold Brodkey
K The Bear Came Over the Mountain by Alice Munro
DIAMONDS (Stories from My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead: Great Love Stories, from Chekhov to Munro edited by Jeffrey Eugenides)
A First Love and Other Sorrows by Harold Brodkey
2 The Lady with the Little Dog by Anton Chekhov
3 Love by Grace Paley
4 A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
5 The Dead by James Joyce
6 Dirty Wedding by Denis Johnson
7 Natasha by David Bezmozgis
8 Some Other, Better Otto by Deborah Eisenberg
9 The Hitchhiking Game by Milan Kundera
10 Lovers of their Time by William Trevor
J Mouche by Guy de Maupassant
Q The Moon in Its Flight by Gilbert Sorrentino
K Spring in Fialta by Vladimir Nabokov