This Short Story Advent Calendar Under $50 Is The Perfect Gift For Readers

Looking for something to give yourself this holiday season? (The only gift that really matters?) Available from Hingston & Olsen Publishing, this Short Story Advent Calendar is perfect for writers and readers, and it's just $60 CAD (under $50 USD), so it's probably well within your "treat yo' self" price range.

So what is a short story advent calendar? Well, it contains 25 short stories, and you open and read one a day from Dec. 1 through Christmas Day. The stories — which are generally literary fiction, and are all non-religious — are written by 25 acclaimed authors, including Anthony Doerr (All the Light We Cannot See), Omar El Akkad (American War), Lauren Groff (Florida), Jack Pendarvis (Cigarette Lighter), Casey Plett (Little Fish), and Ian Williams (Reproduction). The publisher will also reveal new interviews with the authors of the stories every day of advent season, and you will be able to read all of those on their website.

The 2019 Short Story Advent Calendar is available in five colors — Cobalt, Forest, Indigo, Sage, and Smoke — and two editions. In addition to the $60 CAD edition, a $120 CAD (about ($92 USD) Limited Edition features a wrap-around cover designed by Edmonton artist Jill Stanton. Only 126 copies of the Limited Edition are available, and co-publisher Michael Hingston tells Bustle they are already halfway sold out.

Readers may already be familiar with Hingston & Olsen, thanks to their Ghost Box — a boxed set of ghost stories available each fall, and 2019 marks the fifth year the publisher has offered its Short Story Advent Calendar to interested buyers. Previous Short Story Advent Calendars have featured tales from Kelly Link (Get In Trouble), Carmen Maria Machado (In the Dream House), and R.O. Kwon (The Incendiaries), among others.

The 2019 Short Story Advent Calendar is available for pre-order today.