3 Short Reads If You're Short on Change

I’ve always loved short stories, a way to experience the wonder of a novel in a quick yet fulfilling way! They're also generally easier to read and a much shorter commitment for those who don’t have time or feel intimated by the thought of reading a whole novel.

Of course, I love novels as well, often taking you on a whole journey and encapsulating you in the universe created among the pages, but today I’ll be focusing on some short story recommendations. And to make sure that a majority of people can read these, I have chosen short stories that range from free to five dollars max!

These are some of my personal favorites and what I believe are intriguing reads for those who want a quick mental bite.

1.The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories by Agatha Christie

This short story collection is one of my favorites among her works, and I’m a huge Agatha Christie fan. I’ve always been drawn to mysteries and loved reading about the crime solving process. 

However, this short story collection is not all mysteries and a big reason why I recommend it to all of you.

Of the nine stories featured in this collection, there’s a good mix of mystery, romance, puzzles, and a hint of strange occurrences.

This book is most probably available in your local public library but also on Amazon, Google Play Books, and Apple for about $3.99. And for all the short stories it offers, I think it’s well worth it. Here are the titles of the short stories and a little one-line summary (that is purposefully vague) I have devised about each of them.  

•          "The Edge" : A questioning of morals that leaves you with chills
•          "The Actress" : A cunning ploy
•          "While the Light Lasts" : A decision
•          "The House of Dreams" : About a house?
•          "The Lonely God" : Two people meeting
•          "Manx Gold" : A puzzle
•          "Within a Wall" : Art and love and goosebumps
•          "The Mystery of the Spanish Chest" (a Hercule Poirot story) : A classic murder mystery
•          "The Harlequin Tea Set" (a Harley Quin story) : Strange occurrences

Once again, I highly recommend this short story collection, even to people who have never read Agatha Christie. It’s a cool way to get a glimpse of life in the past and a good mix of topics and genres for the price. (And one of my personal favorites!)

2. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

No doubt everyone has heard of Sherlock Holmes, the popularity of the character still lives on today in the form of movies and TV shows. BBC’s Sherlock rose quickly to popularity only a few years ago and Elementary on CBS aired until the summer of last year.

Despite that, most people have not actually read about the intrepid detective and the best way to glean an insight into the character in his original form is through this 12 short story collection. It’s a easy way to look into the world of Sherlock Holmes in more manageable chunks than picking up a novel and provides intriguing puzzles for you to solve.

It’s around $0.99 on Amazon, Google and Apple along with your local public library. For less than a dollar, it’s well worth it to get the collection and explore the famed Sherlock Holmes. Here is a list of the stories:

•          "A Scandal in Bohemia" : Featuring the famous Irene Adler
•          “The Red-Headed League" : A strange little puzzle
•          "A Case of Identity" : A foiled? Plan
•          "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" : A classic murder mystery
•          "The Five Orange Pips" : A foretold death
•          "The Man with the Twisted Lip" : Another strange puzzle
•          "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" : About a carbuncle
•          "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" : A murder?
•          "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb" : A wild story
•          "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor" : About love
•          "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet" : Love? (It’s the 19^th century, things were weird then)
•          "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches" : An odd request

As you can see it’s a good mix of puzzles, mysteries and even some happy endings. Not all of them are about murder, for those who might not want to read that, and for the price you get a mix of the famous detective in his natural form. I definitely enjoyed the read!

3. The Oblong Box by Edgar Allen Poe

My final recommendation is, what I believe, the easiest read of Poe’s short stories. Filled with a puzzle and enough hints, you might figure out what’s happening before the end! It’s also absolutely free!

Here is a link: https://poestories.com/read/oblong

This website actually contains all of the famed author’s short stories (just click on the side bar: stories) so if you want to read any others, I’d recommend The Murders and Rue Morgue as another interesting read. The site also includes his poetry if that interests you.

A lot of Poe’s work can be heavy or a little hard to read if you’re not used to the language, but The Oblong Box certainly has a quick pace and reads pretty quickly, and for a free pdf, why not?

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And there you have it! My 3 short reads if you’re short on change! I know all of these short stories are old but these authors gained fame because they’re good! (It also keeps the cost of these books really low) 

I hope that by reading any one of these you get a glimpse of a different time and genre than what you might be used to, it could be a good change of pace! I also wanted to choose things I’ve actually read and loved and, truthfully, I haven’t read that many short stories from the modern day. So, if you have any short story recommendations for me to get into the 21th century I’d love to read them!

Thank you all for reading this post and I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!

I’ll see you all next month!

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