LitReading - Original Short Stories and Classic Tales
Episodes
Love in the Night–a Classic Short Story by F. Scott Fitzgerald
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A young man's longing for love is briefly fulfilled on one moonlight evening on the sea off the coast of Cannes. We are expanding our universe of shor...
Indian Camp–a Classic Short Story by Ernest Hemingway
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Thankfully, I can now read Hemingway to you. This story is a powerful way to start. It’s a tale of duty, pain, suffering, racism and so much more. I...
Tobermory–a Classic Short Story by Saki
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Here is a biting satire of Victorian Era British upper class from the perspective of the family cat who gains a startling new skill.Saki was the pen n...
Gipsy–a Classic Short Story by Booth Tarkington
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Being a dog person, some of my favorite stories feature dogs. It only seems fair to feature a feline character. And you couldn’t ask for a story tha...
Mr. Know-All–a Classic Short Story by W. Somerset Maugham
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome aboard an early 20th Century trans-pacific ocean liner where one is likely to be stuck for weeks with any number of unusual characters. Of cou...
The Whirligig of Life–a Classic Short Story by O. Henry
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A rural mountain couple struggle with their differences, anger, and overpowering love for each other. We are expanding our universe of short story pod...
Second Best–a Classic Short Story by D.H. Lawrence
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A new love springs from the conversations of two sisters and a couple of moles. We are expanding our universe of short story podcasts on our new podca...
The Fable of the Preacher Who Flew His Kite, But Not Because He Wished to Do So–a Classic Short Story by George Ade
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When a preacher failed to stir the emotions of his congregants he resorts to the time tested tradition of embellishment. We are expanding our universe...
After Twenty Years–a Classic Short Story by O. Henry
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Twenty years after heading west to find his fortunes a man returns to meet a long lost friend. We are expanding our universe of short story podcasts o...
The Aged, Aged Man–a Classic Poem by Lewis Carroll
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I have always loved the work of Lewis Carroll. In fact, Litreading began with my rendition of Carroll’s nonsense poem Jabberwocky. His only foray in...
The Fly–a Classic Short Story by Katherine Mansfield
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Grief part of the human condition and we cope with it varies from person to person. When two old men discuss the loss of family members several years ...
Misery–a Classic Short Story by Anton Chekhov
24 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Loneliness is painful enough under normal circumstances, but social rejection in the face of a personal crisis can be devastating. We are expanding ou...
A Telephonic Conversation–a Classic Essay by Mark Twain
24 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is more a satirical essay than an actual short story, but it makes me smile. The first telephone was demonstrated at the Philadelphia Centennial ...
The Other Two–a Classic Short Story by Edith Wharton
23 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We are complex creatures and grow more so with time. Every relationship adds or subtracts from who we are. No relationship is more life changing than...
The Good and the Bad Little Boy–a Classic Short Story by Mark Twain
23 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the 19th Century particularly, good boys are supposed to enjoy the fruits of the righteousness, and bad boys were destined for eternal damnation, a...
The Cactus–a Classic Short Story by O. Henry
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pride does seem to go before a fall… In this very short story a young man’s life unravels thanks to a small vanity-induced dissimulation. We are e...
The Man in the Brown Coat–a Classic Short Story by Sherwood Anderson
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This special short, short story centers on a different kind of haunting, not from without, but from within. The darkness that comes from a profound lo...
Poor, Dear Margaret Kirby–a Classic Short Story by Kathleen Norris
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Happiness has always been elusive, usually found in unexpected places and, often, in the wake of the worst life eventsIn this heart-warming story, an ...
Solid Objects–a Classic Short Story by Virginia Wolff
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Virginia Wolff had a talent for taking mundane observations and weaving them into enchanting tales. Something a normal as watching two men on an ordin...
Three Questions–a Classic Short Story by Leo Tolstoy
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What should we do, when should we do it, and whose direction should we take? Those three questions have plagued humanity throughout time. Where can th...
In a Grove–a Classic Short Story by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What is truth? How does our perception color the facts as we observe them. Those differences how we see the world complicates this Japanese murder inv...
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button–a Classic Short Story by F. Scott Fitzgerald
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Would it be better to start life as an old man and end it as an infant? That was the question posed by Mark Twain that inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald to...
The Great American Pie Company–a Classic Short Story by Ellis Parker Butler
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
People dream of success. Those ambitions can often be prodigious. Rarely, however, do our future business strategies develop as quickly as do those in...
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge–a Classic Short Story by Ambrose Bierce
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Prepare to be moved by one of the most unusual short stories ever written, which tells a chilling tale of the simple life and complex death of a slave...
The Million Pound Bank Note–a Classic Short Story by Mark Twain
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This classic Mark Twain tale is a witty commentary on poverty and wealth. There is much of Twain’s personal circumstance reflected in the story, as ...
The Way the World Is–a Classic Short Story by Zona Gale
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Falling in love is one of humanities most common events and biggest mysteries. What is it that ignites one person's passion for another. This poignant...
The Interlopers–a Classic Short Story by Saki
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A long-running feud leads two men to face each other and the ravages of nature in this powerful classic story by one the best short story authors of a...
Memoirs of a Yellow Dog–a Classic Short Story by O. Henry
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I am a big fan of dogs and am fascinated with their non-verbal communication skills. I also enjoy dog stories and the writing of O. Henry, so what cou...
My Financial Career–a Classic Short Story by Stephen Leacock
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We all have our particular foibles and phobias. Today’s humorous short story focuses on one whose greatest fear is of banks. Would that be ripiaphob...
Jimmy Rose–a Classic Short Story by Herman Melville
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Life can deal any of us some terrible blows. In this semi-auto biographical tale we explore the life of a once wealthy merchant, Jimmy Rose We are exp...
The Enchanted Bluff–a Classic Short Story by Willa Cather
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Here is a wonderfully nostalgic tale of a time when boys could enjoy a taste of freedom, share ideas, and let’s their imaginations run wild, before ...
Nevada Funeral - Scotty Briggs and the Clergyman–a Classic Short Story by Mark Twain
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the 19th century, the United States was as diverse from region to region as were the country’s of Europe, except for the fact that we spoke some ...
A Jury of Her Peers–a Classic Short Story by Susan Glaspell
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the early 19th century country a farmer is murdered in his home. While investigated, local authorities task a local women with gathering a few thin...
Gentle Hand–a Classic Short Story by Mary Roberts Rinehart
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
During these stressful times, forced into close quarters with those we love. we may find ourselves growing angry when a softer approach tends to me fa...
A Pair of Silk Stockings–a Classic Short Story by Kate Chopin
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Money has the power to take us away, if only temporarily, from the due routines of life. However, there is always a price to pay for our fiscal flight...
Nobodys Story–a Classic Short Story by Charles Dickens
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Charles Dickens was a constant observer of the plight of his fellows and critical of the divisions between humanity’s strata. In this deep and poign...
The Boston Massacre–a Classic Short Story by Nathaniel Hawthorne
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What began as a street brawl on a winter evening in Boston, became one the biggest sparks to help ignite the American revolution. 250 years ago, on Ma...
Father Forgets–a Classic Short Story by W. Livingston Larned
17 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A special Father's Day episode of Litreading We are expanding our universe of short story podcasts on our new podcast channel, Short StoryVerses. List...
Jabberwocky–a Classic Poem by Lewis Carroll
16 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From the mind behind "Alice in Wonderland" comes one of the best examples of nonsense poetry. Jabberwocky tells the tale of a young knight who slays a...
Excerpts from Adam's Diary–a Classic Short Story by Mark Twain
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What must life have been like in the Garden of Eden for the first man, Adam, and that new creature who suddenly appeared in his idyllic life? Well, le...
Eve's Diary–a Classic Short Story by Mark Twain
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine waking up in a strange and wonderful place with no memory and no one to guide you. Your world is filled with strange creatures and incredible ...