Short Stories to Read With Your Book Club

Neighbors and Other Stories is the posthumously published collection by Diane Oliver, who died in an accident at 23 “just a month before she would have graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.” The collection takes place in the Jim Crow South and follows the everyday lives of Black Americans.

The stories here can be extremely odd or endearing — or both! They follow the lives of Cambodian Americans, some of whom were born in the U.S. and some who have brought memories of the Khmer Rouge genocide with them. The refugees of Afterparties adapt to new lives in California while their children try to forge their own identities, contending with sexuality, race, and community along the way.

Another collection by Veasna So: Songs on Endless Repeat: Essays and Outtakes.

This says “Agatha Christie” in big, bold lettering, but it’s actually a collection of stories written by an amazing lineup of authors (from Leigh Bardugo to Alyssa Cole!) that features Christie’s iconic sleuth, Miss Marple. Each author gives their own interpretation of Miss Marple while staying true to the character and constructing a great mystery.

Talty’s characters bring to life a Maine-based Penobscot community. A boy finds a cursed jar, a man finds his friend unconscious in the woods, his hair frozen by the snow, and two friends try to rob the tribal museum for root clubs. All together, these stories use humor and insight to tell the tale of a people surviving and contending with tragedy.