This is a considerable source of stress for me: that there's The Best American Short Stories and The O. Henry Prize Stories every year. And no story appears in both, which strikes me as odd; or, collusion by the publishers. So I want to read the best short stories of 2005--which do I buy? (Note: I've found that the O. Henry stories are better.)

I got a gift card to Barnes & Noble for Christmas and decided to walk to the Coop tonight to spend it. (Why is he writing about going to a bookstore, you ask. Because I spent the rest of the day sitting close to the TV, intermittently patting my stomach.) I came away with Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard, and The Shell Collector, a collection of stories by Anthony Doerr. If you can find a story of his called "The Hunter's Wife," read it. It was a mentally and physically exhausting process deciding on only two books.

Tonight was clear and cold. On the walk back I had to keep shifting the books from hand to hand, stuffing the free hand in my pocket to warm. Somewhere near my house, hidden, cats were fighting, making noises like tiny engines revving.

My eyelids are falling as I write,/So I'm afraid, friends, this shall be all for tonight.

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