Deal Me in Challenge: 2025 edition!

Here we go again! It's a brand new year, which means it's time for the annual "Deal Me In Challenge" hosted by Jay over at Bibliophilopolis.  As an added incentive for me to read even more short-stories, count me in! 

What is the goal of this challenge?

To read 52 short stories in 2025 (that’s only one per week – versions with a lesser story requirement are noted below).

What do I need?

1. Access to at least fifty-two short stories (don’t own any short story collections or anthologies? See links to online resources below).
2. A deck of cards.
3. An average of perhaps just thirty minutes of reading time each week.

It's fun and not time consuming so what are you waiting for? Join up! 

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For now, all the stories on this list will be those that I didn't read in previous challenges or random. 

Spades ♠:

A ♠ – Emergency by Denis Johnson (Jesus' Son)

2 ♠ –  Steady Hands at Seattle General by Denis Johnson (Jesus' Son)

3 ♠ – The First Seven Years by Bernard Malamud

4 ♠ – The Bet by Anton Chekhov

5 ♠ – Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood

6 ♠ – The Mud Below by Annie Proulx (Close Range: Wyoming Stories)

7 ♠ – The New Owner by Donald Barthelme

8 ♠ – Concerning the Bodyguard by Donald Barthelme

9 ♠ – Leave it Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

10 ♠ – One of these Days by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Collected Stories)

J ♠ – The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado 

Q ♠ – Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty (Collected Stories)

K ♠ – Averroës's Search by Jorge Luis Borges 

Hearts ❤: 

A ❤ – Hot Air Balloons by Edwidge Danticat (Everything Inside)

2 ❤–  The Night Rhonda Ferguson was Killed by Edward P. Jones (Lost in the City)

3 ❤ – The Finkelstein 5 by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Friday Black)

4 ❤ – Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston (Hitting A Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick)

5 ❤ – A Room Forever by Breece D'J Pancake (Collected works)

6 ❤ – The Management of Greif by Bharati Mukherjee (The Middleman and other Stories)

7 ❤ – Paper Lantern by Stuart Dybek

8 ❤ – Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer (Collected stories)

9 ❤ – Key to the City by Diane Oliver (Neighbors and Other Stories)

10 ❤– New Things in My Life by Lydia Davis (The Collected Works of Lydia Davis)

J ❤ – Bridezilla by Kim Fu (Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century)

Q ❤ –  Children on their Birthdays by Truman Capote

K ❤ – The Johnson Girls by Toni Cade Bambara

Clubs:

A ♣ – Vitamins by Raymond Carver

2 ♣ –  You Never get it Back by Cara Blue Adams (UTL online)

3 ♣ – Peach Cobbler by Deesha Philyaw (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies)

4 ♣– Three Women Of Chuck’s Donuts by Anthony Veasna So

5 ♣ – Wednesday's Child by Yiyun Li

6 ♣ – The Black Monk by Anton Chekhov

7 ♣ – Last Night by James Salter

8 ♣ – Gwilan's Harp by Ursula Le Guin (The Unreal and Real, UTL online)

9 ♣ – The Drunkard by Frank O'Connor (online)

10 ♣ – The Voter by Chinua Achebe (Girls at War and Other Stories)

J ♣ –  A Strange and Sometimes Sadness by Kazuo Ishiguro

Q ♣ – Without Inspection by Edwidge Danticat (New York Times)

K ♣ – My Girl and the City by Sam Selvon (Penguin Book of Caribbean short stories)

Diamonds ♦:

A ♦ – The Poetry Cloud by Cixin Liu (Big Book of Science Fiction)

2 ♦ – Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes by J.D. Salinger

3 ♦ – The King of Bread by Alberto Urrea (online)

4 ♦ – When it Changed by Joanna Russ (Big Book of Science Fiction)

5 ♦ – Galaxy Girl and the November Monstrosity by Aleksandra Hill (online)

6 ♦ –  The Clockmaker and His Daughter by Tobi Ogundiran (online)

7 ♦ – Heaven by Mary Gaitskill

8 ♦ – Ms. Sen's by Jhumpa Lahiri (Interpreter of Maladies)

9 ♦ – The Gorge by Umberto Eco (online)

10 ♦ – Three People by William Trevor

J ♦ – A Loaf of Bread by James Alan McPherson (Elbow Room)

Q ♦ – The Mad Lomasneys by Frank O'Connor

K ♦ – Cafeteria by Isaac Bashevis Singer