It’s pretty wild that my first time taking part in the Deal Me In short-stories challenge was all the way back in 2015! That feels like a lifetime ago and another internet era back when blogrolls mattered, comment sections were lively, and discovering new literary works often meant stumbling onto them through someone else’s post. This challenge was started by Jay over at Bibliophilopolis, and while I’m not sure whether he’s stepped away from blogging altogether, I still think fondly of those early days and the sense of connection they brought.
I would be truly honored to carry the torch and keep Deal Me In going. During its heyday, this challenge felt like a shared ritual: drawing a card, finding a story, reading it with intention, and then gathering in the comments to talk it through. It was such a joy discovering short stories I never would have picked up otherwise. It would be so cool to see a bit of that old magic return, so please help spread the word and jump in!
What is the goal of this challenge?
To read 52 short stories in 2026. That’s only one per week, which should be manageable.
What do I need?
- Access to at least fifty-two short stories (don’t own any short story collections or anthologies? You can find plenty of them online for free).
- A deck of cards.
- An average of perhaps just thirty minutes of reading time each week.
How do I pick which stories to read?
The 52 stories themselves are totally up to you. Before you get start reading, come up with a roster of fifty-two stories and assign each one to a playing card in a standard deck of cards. It can be fun to use different suits for different types of stories, but that is optional. Each “week,” (if you’re like me, you may occasionally fall a story or two behind) you draw a card at random from your deck and that is the story you will read.
How do I sign up?
Anyone can join even if you don't have a blog. Leave a comment below with any links (blogs, website, social media, goodreads, etc) and I will try my best to share them all in a weekly wrap up post.
Happy short-story reading everyone!
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This year, I decided to go with four different categories: A Century of Fiction in the New Yorker (anthology), Hugo Award Winners, The Black Fantastic (Anthology) and Ray Bradbury + Ursula Le Guin.
Spades ♠: A Century of Fiction in the New Yorker (anthology)
A ♠ – A Perfect Day for Bananafish by J.D. Salinger
2 ♠ – The House of the Famous Poet by Muriel Spark
3 ♠ – The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber
4 ♠ – Children are Bored on Sunday by Jean Stafford
5 ♠ – The Ladder by V.S. Pritchett
6 ♠ – The State of Grace by Harold Brodkey
7 ♠ – I Live on Your Visits by Dorothy Parker
8 ♠ – Voices Lost in Snow by Mavis Gallant
9 ♠ – Father's Last Escape by Bruno Schulz
10 ♠ – Red Girl by Jamaica Kincaid
J ♠ – All Will Be Well by Yiyun Li
Q ♠ – Last Evenings on Earth by Roberto Bolano
K ♠ – Going for a Beer by Robert Coover
Hearts ❤: The Black Fantastic (Anthology)
A ❤ – Herbal by Nalo Hopkinson
2 ❤ – The Hospital Where by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
3 ❤ – Tender by Sofia Samatar
4 ❤ – The Final Flight of the Unicorn Girl by Alex Smith
5 ❤ – Habibi by Tochi Onyebuchi
6 ❤ – All That Touches the Air by An Owomoyela
7 ❤ – Sanford and Sun by Dawolu Jabari Anderson
8 ❤ – The Malady of Need of Kiini Ibura Salaam
9 ❤ – The Venus Effect by Violet Allen
10 ❤– The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by Phenderson Djeli Clark
J ❤ – Calendar Girls by Justina Ireland
Q ❤ – Spyder Threads by Craig Laurance Gidney
K ❤ – We Travel the Spaceways by Victor Lavalle
Clubs: Hugo Award Winners
A ♣ – Stitched to Skin Like Family Is by Nghi Vo (2025 winner)
2 ♣ – Fermi and Frost by Frederick Pohl (1986 Winner)
3 ♣ – The Water That Falls On You From Nowhere by John Chu (2014 Winner)
4 ♣– Even the Queen by Connie Willis (1992 winner)
5 ♣ – A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman (2004 Winner)
6 ♣ – Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar (2017 Winner)
7 ♣ – As the Last I May Know by S.L. Huang (2020 Winner)
8 ♣ – Eurema's Dam by R.A. Lafferty (1973 Winner)
9 ♣ – Cassandra by C.J. Cherryh (1979 Winner)
10 ♣ – The Crystal Spheres by David Brin (1985 Winner)
J ♣ – Bridesicle by Will McIntosh (2010 Winner)
Q ♣ – Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers by Lawrence Watt-Evans (1988 Winner)
K ♣ – Exhalation by Ted Chiang (2009 Winner)
Diamonds ♦: Ray Bradbury + Ursula Le Guin
A ♦ – Season of Disbelief by Ray Bradbury
2 ♦ – The Matter of Seggri by Ursula Le Guin
3 ♦ – And the Rock Cried Out by Ray Bradbury
4 ♦ – The Diary of the Rose by Ursula Le Guin
5 ♦ – The Emissary by Ray Bradbury
6 ♦ – Vaster than Empires and More Slow by Ursula Le Guin
7 ♦ – One More, Legato by Ray Bradbury
8 ♦ – Unlocking the Air by Ursula Le Guin
9 ♦ – The Cistern by Ray Bradbury
10 ♦ – Solitude by Ursula Le Guin
J ♦ – Icarus Montgolfier Wright by Ray Bradbury
Q ♦ – The Rule of Names by Ursula Le Guin
K ♦ – The Smiling People by Ray Bradbury
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