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LitReading - Short Stories and Timeless Tales
Based on Podcast App listening data
LitReading - Short Stories and Timeless Tales episodes
- The Girl and the Photograph by L. M. Montgomery — A Stolen Photograph and a Mistaken Identity Test a Romance
A fleeting glimpse in the pines, a photograph stolen from a friend’s mantel, and a correspondence born from mistaken identity—The Girl and the Photograph by Lucy Maud Montgomery is no simple tale of memory. It’s about the way chance, error, and destiny conspire to test a heart’s fidelity. What begins as a love nurtured by letters and a photograph turns into a crisis of identity, and then, at the last moment, a revelation that love had been waiting patiently all along. This isn’t just about remembering a face—it’s about recognizing a soul when it finally stands before you.
If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
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24 min - A Country Cottage by Anton Chekhov — A Couple’s Quiet Country Escape Is Invaded by FamilyLife has a nasty habit of throwing us curves that we can either cause us long-term misery or force us to make the best of a bad situation as illustrated in this very short tale.
Anton Chekhov was undoubtedly brilliant. A physician by trade, his premier talent was writing. Chekhov had a unparalleled gift for understanding the depths of human emotions and sharing them first through his short stories and later, his plays. Chekhov once said “Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress.”If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
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7 min - The Mark on the Wall by Virginia Woolf — One Mark Sends a Mind Wandering Across the WorldVirginia Woolf demonstrates how simply focusing on one thing has the power to unleash torrents of thoughts and memories.
Born Adeline Virginia Stephen in 1882, British author Virginia Woolf went on to become an icon of modern 20th century literature.If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
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22 min - The Romance of a Busy Broker - a Classic Short Story by O. HenryThere are those for whom work becomes an obsession to the detriment of their personal lives. The businessman in our next story gives new meaning to the modern term “workaholic.”
William Henry Porter, better known as O. Henry led a short albeit intriguing life. Before he died in New York City in 1910 at age 47, Porter was a pharmacist, sheep ranch hand, draftsman, banker, and prolific author of short stories. Oh, and he was also a convicted embezzler who served time in federal prison.We are so honored to have been featured by Apple Podcasts as a great source for summer stories. If you don't want to miss our future stories, please Follow or Subscribe. Also, we have over 100 stories in our back catalog. Enough stories to keep you entertained for weeks.
Looking for even more stories? Check out all out narrative podcasts at shortstoryverses.com
If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/donmcdonald
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11 min - The McWilliamses And The Burglar Alarm - a Classic Short Story by Mark TwainWe aren't the first generation to be frustrated by advancing technology. More than a century ago, new fangled products were making people crazy like this gentleman who supposedly related our next hilarious tale Mark Twain.
Mark Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) had an unmatched knack for taking a normal story and turning it into a hilariously funny tall tale.If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
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17 min - The Widow’s Cruise by Frank Stockton — Four Old Sailors Swap Tall Tales Until a Widow Tops Them AllWe have been sharing stories with each other since the beginning of time. On occasion these tales have been known to grow a bit tall, as was the case when four elderly seamen spent an evening with a widow sharing a variety of yarns each one wilder than the next. Then the wood adds a tale of her own.
Frank Stockton was a 19th century author and humorist with an uncanny knack for poking fun a human failings. One of his most famous stories was "The Lady or the Tiger."If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
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30 min - Désirée’s Baby by Kate Chopin — A Mother Learns the Terrible Truth Behind Her Baby’s AncestryRacism has always been an ugly part of the human condition. Yet, the horrors of racism in America are most undeniably illustrated by the treatment of African-Americans, particularly in the South. Here is just a small example of the pain caused by racial hatred in antebellum Louisiana.
I have presented the story exactly as written, as the author, Kate Chopin, lived during this terrible period in US history. Just five years after the end of the Civil War, Chopin married a French-American and lived with him for more than a decade in Louisiana. While Chopin’s brilliant writing is as powerful today as it was more than a century ago, it, like so many other tales of the time, focused on the suffering of white characters, ignoring the true cruelty suffered by their slaves.If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
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16 min - The Log by Guy de Maupassant — A Quiet Evening by the Fire Becomes a Confession of InfidelityThe lure of an illicit affair is not a new facet of human nature. People have been both tempting and tempted throughout time. But for a sudden twist of fate, our next story might have ended badly for everyone involved.
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a 19th-century French author considered one the era greatest short storyist spinning realistic tales of the human conditionIf you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
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13 min - The Story-Teller by Saki — A Bachelor Silences Three Children with a Deliciously Improper Tale
Most stories for children try to teach a lesson—this one tries to blow them up. In The Storyteller by Saki, an overstuffed train car, three fidgety kids, and one very unconventional tale collide in a wickedly sharp jab at moralistic storytelling. It’s short, twisted, and just the kind of thing you’d expect from an author who clearly didn’t have much patience for either sanctimony or small talk.
If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
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14 min - The Three-Day Blow by Ernest Hemingway — Two Friends Drink Through a Storm and Debate a Lost LoveOur second tale in this story series by a young Ernest Hemingway picks up a few months after our last story, "The End of Something," which you might want to hear before listening to this tale. A few month's after his breakup, Nick visits his friend Bill as a fall storm hits the Horton’s Bay region.
Our second tale in this story series by a young Ernest Hemingway picks up a few months after our last story, The End of Something, which you might want to hear before listening to this tale in which Nick visits his friend Bill as a fall storm hits the Horton’s Bay regionIf you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/donmcdonald
or click FOLLOW
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26 min
About LitReading - Short Stories and Timeless Tales
From the publisher's feed
LitReading: Great Short Stories Read Aloud
Great stories deserve to be heard.
LitReading brings you a complete short stories, unabridged and narrated by veteran…
broadcaster and voice actor Don McDonald. Hear the masters of the form, including Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, O. Henry, Edith Wharton, Anton Chekhov, Kate Chopin, William Faulkner, Katherine Mansfield, Stephen Crane, Saki, Bret Harte and Virginia Woolf. Along with them come overlooked gems from the golden age of American, British and Russian literature that deserve a second hearing.
Each episode is one full story, from a few minutes to a deeply immersive hour. Think of it as a free audiobook of short fiction, performed with warmth and clarity and just enough character to bring every voice to life. Play it on a commute, a walk or a quiet evening. It also makes good bedtime listening for grown-ups.
Come for a story. Leave with a world.
Help a good story travel. If LitReading has kept you company, tap Follow in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app. It's free, and new stories arrive automatically. A quick 5-star rating or a one-line review helps more than you'd guess, because that's how new listeners find us. And if a story stayed with you, send this episode to one friend who loves to read. That's how this show grows.
LitReading is part of Short Storyverses (shortstoryverses.com), a family of podcasts for people who love great storytelling:
- New Tales Told: original stories in the spirit of the classics
- FRIGHTLY!: tales of terror and the uncanny
- Sci-Finds: science fiction and speculative stories
- HumorUs: comic fiction
- Season's Readings: holiday stories for any time of year
- Readastorus: stories for younger listeners
Search for any of them wherever you get your podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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