Best of 2014: Short Story Collections

I read 22 short story collections and anthologies that were published in the US in 2014.  Since I only read 6 anthologies and didn't want to do a truncated section with them (as well as there being five stronger single author collections to fill out a Top 5 list), I thought I would note here that there won't be any anthologies on this year's list.  I decided to go with only a Top 5 for this category as this happens to be the number of collections that appear on my overall Top 50 for 2014 list.  But enough gabbing, here's the list:


5.  Lydia Davis, Can't & Won't 

Another excellent collection from a renowned master of the short story form.

4.  Hilary Mantel, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher 

Pleasantly surprised to see that the two-time Booker Prize winner is just as adept at writing short stories as she is at writing historical novels.

3.  Kyle Minor, Praying Drunk 

One of the more moving, probing collections I've read this year.

2.  Julia Elliott, The Wilds

This debut collection is full of outstanding stories.

1.  Phil Klay, Redeployment 

This National Book Award winning collection is one of my favorite books overall this year.