Joyce Carol Oates Reading Order

5 books (2005–2020)

The Akashic Drug Chronicles is a five-book anthology series edited by Joyce Carol Oates, published between 2005 and 2020. Each volume focuses on a different drug and features short stories by various acclaimed authors, including contributors like Lee Child, Laura Lippman, Megan Abbott, and many others. The series is complete and should be read in publication order, beginning with The Cocaine Chronicles. These literary anthologies blend mystery, thriller, and literary fiction perspectives on their respective subjects.

Start with The Cocaine Chronicles(By: Lee Child,Laura Lippman,Gary Phillips,Ken Bruen,Jervey Tervalon,Bill Moody), the first of 5 books in the Akashic Drug Chronicles series.

#	Title
1	The Cocaine Chronicles(By: Lee Child,Laura Lippman,Gary Phillips,Ken Bruen,Jervey Tervalon,Bill Moody) 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Speed Chronicles(By: Megan Abbott,Scott Phillips,Sherman Alexie,James Franco,William T. Vollmann,Jess Walter,Beth Lisick,Tao Lin,JamesGreer,Jerry Stahl,Natalie Díaz,Joseph Mattson,Kenji Jasper,Rose Bunch) 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Heroin Chronicles(By: Jervey Tervalon,Lydia Lunch,Erin Moon,Nathan Larson,Antonia Crane,Jerry Stahl,Eric Bogosian,Ava Stander,John Albert,Michael Albo,Sophia Langdon,Tony O'Neill,L.Z. Hansen) 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Marijuana Chronicles(By: Jonathan Santlofer) 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Nicotine Chronicles 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

121 books (2002–2025)

The Akashic Noir series is an ongoing anthology collection featuring noir and mystery fiction set in specific cities and regions around the world. With over 120 books published since 2002 and new volumes continuing to release through 2025, the series covers locations ranging from San Francisco and Brooklyn to Dublin and London. Each book is a standalone collection of stories by various authors, so readers can begin with any volume, though following publication order starting with San Francisco Noir provides the most comprehensive experience of how the series has evolved. The series is edited by Joyce Carol Oates and brings together established and emerging writers to explore crime, mystery, and noir themes through a distinctly local lens.

Start with San Francisco Noir, the first of 121 books in the Akashic Noir series.

#	Title
1	San Francisco Noir 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Bronx Noir 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Seattle Noir 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Brooklyn Noir 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Hasidic Noir 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Brooklyn Noir 2 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Chicago Noir 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Dublin Noir 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Baltimore Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	D.C. Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	London Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Manhattan Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Miami Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Twin Cities Noir 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Detroit Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Havana Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Los Angeles Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	New Orleans Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Wall Street Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Brooklyn Noir 3: Nothing But the Truth 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	D.C. Noir 2 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	Istanbul Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	Las Vegas Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	Manhattan Noir 2 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	Paris Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	Queens Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	Toronto Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	Trinidad Noir 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
29	Boston Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
30	Delhi Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
31	Phoenix Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
32	Portland Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
33	Rome Noir 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
34	San Francisco Noir 2 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
35	Copenhagen Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
36	Haiti Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
37	Indian Country Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
38	Lone Star Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
39	Los Angeles Noir 2 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
40	Mexico City Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
41	Moscow Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
42	Orange County Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
43	Philadelphia Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
44	Richmond Noir 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
45	Barcelona Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
46	Cape Cod Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
47	New Jersey Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
48	Pittsburgh Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
49	San Diego Noir 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
50	Boston Noir 2 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
51	Kansas City Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
52	Kingston Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
53	Long Island Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
54	Mumbai Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
55	St. Petersburg Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
56	Staten Island Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
57	Venice Noir 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
58	Buffalo Noir 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
59	Dallas Noir 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
60	Haiti Noir 2 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
61	Manila Noir 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
62	USA Noir 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
63	Belfast Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
64	Helsinki Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
65	Prison Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
66	Rio Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
67	Singapore Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
68	Tehran Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
69	Tel Aviv Noir 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
70	Beirut Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
71	Chicago Noir: The Classics 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
72	Marseille Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
73	Memphis Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
74	Providence Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
75	Zagreb Noir 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
76	Brussels Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
77	Mississippi Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
78	New Orleans Noir: The Classics 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
79	Prague Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
80	San Juan Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
81	St. Louis Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
82	Stockholm Noir 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
83	Atlanta Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
84	Buenos Aires Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
85	Montana Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
86	Montreal Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
87	New Haven Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
88	Oakland Noir 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
89	Trinidad Noir: The Classics 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
90	Baghdad Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
91	Berlin Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
92	Hong Kong Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
93	Lagos Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
94	Marrakech Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
95	Santa Cruz Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
96	Sydney Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
97	São Paulo Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
98	Vancouver Noir 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
99	Amsterdam Noir 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
100	Houston Noir 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
101	Milwaukee Noir 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
102	Accra Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
103	Addis Ababa Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
104	Alabama Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
105	Belgrade Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
106	Berkeley Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
107	Columbus Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
108	Miami Noir: The Classics 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
109	Nairobi Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
110	Santa Fe Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
111	Tampa Bay Noir 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
112	Palm Springs Noir 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
113	Denver Noir 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
114	Paris Noir: The Suburbs 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
115	South Central Noir 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
116	Cleveland Noir 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
117	East Jerusalem Noir 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
118	West Jerusalem Noir 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
119	Honolulu Noir 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
120	Hamburg Noir 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
121	Sacramento Noir 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

151 books (1964–2026)

Joyce Carol Oates has been a prolific editor and contributor to anthology collections spanning six decades, from 1964 through 2024. This ongoing series comprises 144 anthologies encompassing mystery, thriller, horror, and literary fiction across multiple genres and themes. These collections should be read in publication order to follow the evolution of the selected works and editorial perspectives over time. The series includes major award anthologies such as the O. Henry Prize Stories and The Best American Short Stories, alongside thematic collections exploring experimental fiction, supernatural horror, and contemporary American literature.

Start with The Best American Short Stories 1964, the first of 144 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	The Best American Short Stories 1964 1964Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Prize Stories 1970: The O. Henry Awards 1970Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Anti-Story: An Anthology of Experimental Fiction 1971Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Fiction International, No.1, Fall 1973 1973Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Prize Stories 1973: The O. Henry Awards 1973Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Scenes From American Life: Contemporary Short Fiction 1973Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Women and Fiction 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Banquet: Five Short Stories 1978Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	New American Writing 1979Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	The Best American Short Stories 1979 1979Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Dark Forces: New Stories of Suspense and Supernatural Horror 1980Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Night Walks 1982Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The Web She Weaves 1983Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Fiction International 15.1: Writing and Politics 1984Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Witches' Brew 1984Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	The Dark Descent 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	Demons & Dreams: The Best Fantasy and Horror 1 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	First Annual Collection 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Among Sisters: Short Stories by Women Writers 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Third Annual Collection 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	Third Annual Collection 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	Women Writers at Work 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	Colors of a New Day 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	Cries of the Spirit 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	Fourth Annual Collection 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	The Architecture of Fear 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	The Best American Short Stories 1991 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
29	The Picador Book of the New Gothic 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
30	The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Fourth Annual Collection 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
31	Volume III:A Fabulous, Formless Darkness 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
32	Fiction International 22 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
33	Flash Fiction: 72 Very Short Stories 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
34	Sisters In Crime 5 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
35	The Oxford Book of American Short Stories 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
36	The Short Story: 30 Masterpieces 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
37	God: An Anthology of Fiction 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
38	Ploughshares Winter 1993-94 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
39	Deadly Sins 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
40	Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: November 1994 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
41	First Fiction: An Anthology of the First Published Stories by Famous Writers 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
42	The Missouri Review: First Kisses First Wheels First Jobs (Volume XVII Number 2) 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
43	Bad Behavior 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
44	Obsession 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
45	Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
46	The Penguin Book of Modern Fantasy by Women 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
47	American Gothic Tales 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
48	Murder For Love 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
49	American Fiction 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
50	Black Swan, White Raven 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
51	Crimes of Passion 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
52	Granta 58: Ambition 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
53	Telling Stories 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
54	The Best American Mystery Stories 1997 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
55	Eleventh Annual Collection 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
56	Mirror, Mirror on the Wall 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
57	Murder for Revenge 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
58	Sex, Drugs, Rock'n'Roll: Stories to End the Century 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
59	Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
60	The Best of the Best 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
61	Irreconcilable Differences 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
62	The Best American Mystery Stories 1999 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
63	The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
64	40 Short Stories: A Portable Anthology 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
65	Black Heart, Ivory Bones 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
66	Here to Stay: Five Plays from the Women's Project 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
67	Master's Choice: Mystery Stories by Today's Top Writers and the Masters Who Inspired Them 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
68	Mr. Simonelli or the Fairy Widower 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
69	Ovid Metamorphosed 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
70	The Best American Essays of the Century 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
71	The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
72	The Best American Short Stories of the Century 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
73	The Good Parts 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
74	The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 2 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
75	Opening Shots, Vol. II 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
76	Redshift 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
77	Tails of Wonder and Imagination 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
78	The Best American Mystery Stories 2001 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
79	Writers on Writing 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
80	Best New American Voices 2003 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
81	Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, May 2002 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
82	The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 3 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
83	The Best American Mystery Stories 2003 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
84	The Dark: New Ghost Stories 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
85	More Stories We Tell 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
86	The Future Dictionary of America 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
87	The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Vol. 15 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
88	The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 5 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
89	Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
90	Dangerous Women 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
91	The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighteenth Annual Collection 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
92	Transgressions 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
93	Writers on Writers 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
94	Becoming Myself: Reflections on Growing Up Female 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
95	The Best American Mystery Stories 2007 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
96	The New Granta Book of the American Short Story 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
97	TwentiethAnnual Collection 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
98	Twenty-First Annual Collection 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
99	Unforgettable Ghost Stories by Women Writers 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
100	First Words: Earliest Writing from Favorite Contemporary Authors 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
101	Freedom 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
102	Half-Minute Horrors 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
103	The Best American Mystery Stories 2009 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
104	Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
105	Hint Fiction 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
106	Kenyon Review Fall 2010 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
107	L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
108	My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
109	What's Your Exit?: A Literary Detour Through New Jersey 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
110	The Mammoth Book of Angels and Demons 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
111	What You Wish For 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
112	Better Than Fiction: True Travel Tales From Great Fiction Writers 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
113	The Interrogator and Other Criminally Good Fiction 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
114	Hauntings 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
115	Ploughshares Spring 1988 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
116	What My Mother Gave Me 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
117	Boulevard 88 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
118	Boulevard No. 87 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
119	Nightmare Magazine 25: October 2014. Women Destroy Horror! Special Issue 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
120	Choose Wisely: 35 Women Up To No Good 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
121	Taking Aim: Power and Pain, Teens and Guns 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
122	The Best American Mystery Stories 2015 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
123	The Best Stories from Boulevard, 1985-2015 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
124	The Doll Collection 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
125	Boulevard No. 94 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
126	In Sunlight or In Shadow 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
127	Sleights of Hand: The Deception Issue 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
128	Unloaded 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
129	Alive in Shape and Color 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
130	Boulevard Nos. 95 & 96 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
131	Shadows Over Main Street Volume 2 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
132	Tales of Two Americas 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
133	The Best American Mystery Stories 2017 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
134	Simpsonistas, Vol. 1 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
135	Uncertainties Volume III 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
136	Cutting Edge: New Stories of Mystery and Crime by Women Writers 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
137	Simpsonistas, Vol. 2 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
138	Collectibles 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
139	Drawing Lines 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
140	Five Short Stories by Women 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
141	The Best Horror of the Year Volume Thirteen 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
142	When Things Get Dark 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
143	CVC10 Carter V Cooper Short Fiction Anthology: Book Ten 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
144	Screams from the Dark 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
145	Simpsonistas Vol. 4: Tales from the New Literary Project 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
146	The Mysterious Bookshop Presents the Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
147	A Darker Shade of Noir: New Stories of Body Horror by Women Writers 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
148	Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September-October 2023 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
149	Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, January-February 2025 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
150	Fears: Tales of Psychological Horror 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
151	Axe: Stories That Cut Deep 2026Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

19 books (1852–2022)

The Art of the Story is a 19-book anthology series curated by Joyce Carol Oates, featuring short story collections and selections from classic and contemporary authors spanning from 1852 to 2022. The series showcases diverse voices across literary fiction, mystery, horror, and other genres, including works by acclaimed writers such as Ivan Turgenev, Anton Chekhov, Katherine Mansfield, and Tobias Wolff. These books should be read in publication order to experience Oates's carefully selected progression of storytelling styles and themes. The series appears to be complete as of 2022.

Start with A Sportsman's Notebook(By: Ivan Turgenev), the first of 19 books in the Art of the Story series.

#	Title
1	A Sportsman's Notebook(By: Ivan Turgenev) 1852Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The General Zapped an Angel(By: Howard Fast) 1970Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	In the Garden of the North American Martyrs(By: Tobias Wolff) 1981Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Essential Tales of Chekhov(By: Anton Chekhov) 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Garden Party and Other Stories(By: Katherine Mansfield) 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Continent(By: Jim Crace) 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Wild Nights! 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Tunneling to the Center of the Earth(By: Kevin Wilson) 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Monstress(By: Lysley Tenorio) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Mr. and Mrs. Baby(By: Mark Strand) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	The Essential Tales Of Chekhov Deluxe Edition(By: Anton Chekhov) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Vanishing Princess(By: Jenny Diski) 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Catastrophe and Other Stories(By: Dino Buzzati) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls(By: Alissa Nutting) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	We Are Taking Only What We Need(By: Stephanie Powell Watts) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Here's Your Hat What's Your Hurry(By: Elizabeth McCracken) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Hue and Cry(By: Edward P. Jones,James McPherson) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	The Hurly Burly and Other Stories(By: Russell Banks,A.E. Coppard) 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Loss of Memory Is Only Temporary(By: Francine Prose,Johanna Kaplan) 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

19 books (2009–2026)

The Best Horror of the Year is an ongoing anthology series edited by Joyce Carol Oates that collects the most acclaimed short horror fiction published each year. Spanning 18 volumes from 2009 to 2025, the series should be read in publication order, beginning with Volume One. A retrospective collection titled The Best of the Best Horror of the Year: 10 Years of Essential Short Horror Fiction was published alongside the main series. This series appeals to readers seeking curated selections of contemporary horror short stories across literary, psychological, and genre styles.

Start with The Best Horror of the Year: Volume One, the first of 18 books in the Best Horror of the Year series.

#	Title
1	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume One 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Two 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Three 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Four 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Best Horror of the Year Volume Five 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Six 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Seven 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Eight 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Nine 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Ten 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	The Best of the Best Horror of the Year: 10 Years of Essential Short Horror Fiction 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Eleven 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Twelve 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	The Best Horror of the Year Volume Thirteen 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Fourteen 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Fifteen 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Sixteen 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Seventeen 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Best Horror of the Year, Volume Eighteen 2026Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

40 books (2012–2022)

Bibliomysteries is an anthology series of mystery and thriller stories, each centered around books, libraries, or literary themes. Spanning 40 entries published between 2012 and 2022, the collection features contributions from acclaimed mystery writers including Jeffery Deaver, Nelson DeMille, Laura Lippman, and many others. The series appears to be complete and should be read in publication order, beginning with An Acceptable Sacrifice. Each story stands alone while connected by the overarching bibliophilic premise that ties the collection together.

Start with An Acceptable Sacrifice(By: Jeffery Deaver), the first of 40 books in the Bibliomysteries series.

#	Title
1	An Acceptable Sacrifice(By: Jeffery Deaver) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Death Leaves a Bookmark(By: William Link) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Pronghorns of the Third Reich(By: C.J. Box) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Book Case(By: Nelson DeMille) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Book Thing(By: Laura Lippman) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Book of Virtue(By: Ken Bruen) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Rides a Stranger(By: David Bell) 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	The Book of Ghosts(By: Reed Farrel Coleman) 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Final Testament(By: Peter Blauner) 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	The Long Sonata of the Dead(By: Andrew Taylor) 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Book Club(By: Loren D. Estleman) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	It's in the Book(By: Max Allan Collins,Mickey Spillane) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Remaindered(By: Peter Lovesey) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	The Compendium of Srem(By: F. Paul Wilson) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	The Gospel of Sheba(By: Lyndsay Faye) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	The Nature of My Inheritance(By: Bradford Morrow) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	The Scroll(By: Anne Perry) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	The Sequel(By: R.L. Stine) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	What's in a Name?(By: Thomas H. Cook) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Condor in the Stacks(By: James Grady) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	Every Seven Years(By: Denise Mina) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	From the Queen(By: Carolyn Hart) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	Mystery, Inc. 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	The Book of the Lion(By: Thomas Perry) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	The Little Men(By: Megan Abbott) 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	Citadel(By: Stephen Hunter) 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	Dead Dames Don't Sing(By: John Harvey) 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	Reconciliation Day(By: Christopher Fowler) 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
29	The Haze(By: James W. Hall) 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
30	The Travelling Companion(By: Ian Rankin) 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
31	Hoodoo Harry(By: Joe R. Lansdale) 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
32	Seven Years(By: Peter Robinson) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
33	The Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository(By: John Connolly) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
34	The Hemingway Valise(By: Robert Olen Butler) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
35	The Last Honest Horse Thief(By: Michael Koryta) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
36	The Pretty Little Box(By: Charles Todd) 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
37	The Girl Who Did Say No(By: David Handler) 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
38	The Dark Door(By: Lisa Unger) 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
39	The Honeymoon Trap(By: Peter Swanson) 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
40	The Traitor(By: Martin Edwards) 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

7 books (2018–2018)

Dark Corners is a complete seven-book series published in 2018 that should be read in publication order. Edited by Joyce Carol Oates, this collection brings together mystery, thriller, and horror stories from various authors including Jennifer McMahon, Lisa Unger, Emily Raboteau, and Edgar Cantero. Begin with Hannah-Beast and proceed through all seven entries to experience the full anthology.

Start with Hannah-Beast(By: Jennifer McMahon), the first of 7 books in the Dark Corners series.

2 books (2010–2011)

This complete two-book series by Joyce Carol Oates consists of mystery and thriller stories set in Los Angeles, published between 2010 and 2011. The books should be read in publication order, beginning with L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories followed by Black Dahlia, White Rose. The series combines Oates's signature literary approach with noir crime fiction elements.

Start with L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories and read in order.

#	Title
1	L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Black DahliaWhite Rose 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

97 books (1969–2023)

The Literary Conversations series comprises 97 nonfiction volumes collecting interviews and discussions with major literary figures, published between 1969 and 2023. These books should be read in publication order, beginning with Conversations with Jorge Luis Borges and progressing through talks with celebrated authors including Eudora Welty, Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O'Connor, and many others. The series appears to be complete as of 2023. Each volume captures the thoughts and insights of influential writers across multiple genres and eras.

Start with Conversations with Jorge Luis Borges, the first of 97 books in the Literary Conversations series.

#	Title
1	Conversations with Jorge Luis Borges 1969Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Conversations with Czeslaw Milosz 1981Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Conversations with Graham Greene 1983Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Conversations With Isaac Bashevis Singer 1985Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Conversations with Eudora Welty 1985Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Conversations with Walker Percy 1985Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Conversations with William Styron 1985Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Conversations with Ernest Hemingway 1986Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Conversations with Lillian Hellman 1986Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Conversations with Malcolm Cowley 1986Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Conversations with Tennessee Williams 1986Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Conversations with Arthur Miller 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Conversations with Flannery O'Connor 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Conversations with Katherine Anne Porter 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Conversations with Peter Taylor 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Truman Capote: Conversations 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Conversations with Edward Albee 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	Conversations with Erskine Caldwell 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Conversations with Kurt Vonnegut 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Conversations with Norman Mailer 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	Conversations with James Baldwin 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	Conversations with Joyce Carol Oates 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	Conversations with Robert Graves 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	Conversations with Robertson Davies 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	Conversations with Shelby Foote 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	Conversations with Eugene O'Neill 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	Conversations with John Gardner 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	Conversations with Raymond Carver 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
29	Conversations with Richard Wilbur 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
30	Conversations with Tom Wolfe 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
31	Conversations with Bernard Malamud 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
32	Conversations with Elizabeth Spencer 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
33	Conversations with Reynolds Price 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
34	Conversations With Thornton Wilder 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
35	Conversations with M. F. K. Fisher 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
36	Conversations with Nikki Giovanni 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
37	Conversations with Robert Coles 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
38	Conversations with Paul Bowles 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
39	Conversations with Richard Wright 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
40	More Conversations with Walker Percy 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
41	Conversations with Amiri Baraka 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
42	Conversations with Henry Miller 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
43	Conversations with Louise Erdrich and Michael Dorris 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
44	Conversations with Saul Bellow 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
45	Conversations with Toni Morrison 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
46	Conversations With S.J. Perelman 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
47	Conversations with Chester Himes 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
48	Conversations with Ernest Gaines 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
49	Conversations with Ishmael Reed 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
50	Conversations with Ralph Ellison 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
51	Conversations with Susan Sontag 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
52	Conversations with Derek Walcott 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
53	Conversations with Elizabeth Bishop 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
54	Conversations with Pauline Kael 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
55	More Conversations with Eudora Welty 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
56	Conversations with Chinua Achebe 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
57	Conversations with N. Scott Momaday 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
58	Conversations with V. S. Naipaul 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
59	Conversations with Denise Levertov 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
60	Conversations with Maxine Hong Kingston 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
61	Conversations With John Fowles 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
62	Conversations With William Faulkner 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
63	Conversations with E. L. Doctorow 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
64	Conversations with Leslie Marmon Silko 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
65	Conversations with Salman Rushdie 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
66	Conversations with William S. Burroughs 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
67	Conversations with Chaim Potok 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
68	Conversations with Christopher Isherwood 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
69	Conversations with Richard Ford 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
70	Conversations with Clarence Major 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
71	Conversations with Erica Jong 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
72	Conversations with Jim Harrison 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
73	Conversations with Margaret Walker 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
74	Conversations with Mary Gordon 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
75	Elie Wiesel: Conversations 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
76	Conversations with F. Scott Fitzgerald 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
77	Conversations with Gwendolyn Brooks 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
78	Conversations with Rita Dove 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
79	Conversations with Stanley Kaufmann 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
80	Joseph Brodsky: Conversations 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
81	Conversations With John le Carré 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
82	Conversations with Audre Lorde 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
83	Conversations with Gloria Naylor 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
84	Conversations with Ray Bradbury 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
85	Conversations with Don DeLillo 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
86	Conversations with Gabriel García Márquez 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
87	Conversations with Gore Vidal 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
88	Conversations with Isaac Asimov 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
89	Conversations with Jack Kerouac 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
90	Conversations with Robert Penn Warren 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
91	Conversations with Thomas McGuane 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
92	Conversations with Larry Brown 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
93	Conversations with Leon Forrest 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
94	Conversations with Sonia Sanchez 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
95	Conversations with Wendell Berry 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
96	Conversations with Kazuo Ishiguro 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
97	Conversations with Jimmy Carter 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

20 books (1972–2024)

Joyce Carol Oates has published 20 nonfiction works between 1972 and 2024, with the series still ongoing. These books should be read in publication order, beginning with The Edge Of Impossibility. The collection spans essays, memoirs, and critical studies, reflecting the author's wide-ranging interests from literary criticism and boxing to personal narrative and the writing life itself.

Start with The Edge Of Impossibility, the first of 20 books in the Non-Fiction series.

#	Title
1	The Edge Of Impossibility 1972Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Hostile Sun 1973Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	New Heaven New Earth 1974Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Contraries 1981Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	First Person Singular 1984Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Profane Art 1985Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	On Boxing 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Woman Writer 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Life of the Writer, the Life of the Career 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Muhammad Ali: Ringside(With: Norman Mailer,Alex Haley) 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	George Bellows: American Artist 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The Faith of a Writer 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Uncensored 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	A Widow's Story 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	In Rough Country 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Gerald Slota: Story 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	The Lost Landscape 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Soul at the White Heat 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Joyce Carol Oates: Letters to a Biographer(With: Greg Johnson) 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

4 books (1998–2019)

Joyce Carol Oates' Picture series consists of four complete books published between 1998 and 2019, with the first three entries illustrated by Mark Graham. The series should be read in publication order, beginning with Come Meet Muffin! and continuing through Where is Little Reynard?, Naughty Chérie!, and concluding with The New Kitten. These illustrated works represent a distinct departure from Oates' primary body of mystery, thriller, and literary fiction writing.

Start with Come Meet Muffin!, the first of 4 books in the Picture series.

#	Title
1	Come Meet Muffin! 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Where is Little Reynard?(With: Mark Graham) 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Naughty Chérie!(With: Mark Graham) 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The New Kitten 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

3 books (1974–1991)

Joyce Carol Oates' plays collection spans three volumes published between 1974 and 1991, representing her explorations across mystery, thriller, and literary drama. The series is complete and should be read in publication order, beginning with Miracle Play, followed by I Stand Before You Naked, and concluding with The Key & Tone Clusters: Two Short Plays. These works showcase Oates' versatility as a dramatist alongside her acclaimed career in fiction and non-fiction.

Start with Miracle Play and read in order.

#	Title
1	Miracle Play 1974Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	I Stand Before You Naked 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Key & Tone Clusters: Two Short Plays 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

17 books (1993–2012)

Joyce Carol Oates's Selected Shorts series comprises 17 complete volumes published between 1993 and 2012, each organized around thematic collections rather than a continuing narrative. These anthologies, including titles such as For Better and for Worse, Family Matters, Food Fictions, and Whodunit?, gather short fiction selections curated by the author. The series should be read in publication order, beginning with For Better and for Worse, though individual volumes can be enjoyed independently based on reader interest in particular themes.

Start with For Better and for Worse, the first of 17 books in the Selected Shorts series.

#	Title
1	For Better and for Worse 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Even More Laughs 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Timeless Classics 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Edith Wharton 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Falling in Love 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Family Matters 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Food Fictions 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Pets! 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Tales of Betrayal 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Travel Tales 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Are We There Yet? 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	A Touch of Magic 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The William Hurt Collection 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Whodunit? 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	American Classics 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	New American Stories 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Poe! 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

27 books (1969–2022)

Joyce Carol Oates' Short Stories and Novellas collection spans 19 works published from 1976 to 2022, presenting a diverse array of pieces across mystery, thriller, horror, and literary fiction. The series should be read in publication order, beginning with The Triumph of the Spider Monkey and continuing through works like Black Water, I Lock My Door Upon Myself, and The Rise of Life on Earth. This collection likely represents the author's complete output in this format, offering readers a comprehensive view of her shorter fiction across nearly five decades.

Start with The Triumph of the Spider Monkey, the first of 19 books in the Short Stories/Novellas series.

#	Title
1	How I Contemplated the World from the Detroit House of Correction and Began My Life Over Again 1969Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Triumph of the Spider Monkey 1976Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Virgin in the Rose Bower 1984Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	I Lock My Door Upon Myself 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Rise of Life on Earth 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Black Water 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Accursed Inhabitants of the House of Bly 1994
8	First Love 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	In Shock 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Beasts 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Rape 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Haunting 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Three Girls 2004
14	Fossil-Fiigures 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Spotted Hyenas 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	The Truth Teller 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Patricide 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	The Rescuer 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Mastiff 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Mystery, Inc. 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	Big Momma 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	Gun Accident 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	The Crawl Space 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	The Sign of the Beast 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God 2019
26	The Surviving Child 2019
27	33 Clues Into the Disappearance of My Sister 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

65 books (1963–2026)

Joyce Carol Oates has published 63 short story collections since 1963, with new volumes continuing to appear through 2024. These collections showcase her versatility across mystery, thriller, horror, and literary fiction, beginning with By the North Gate and progressing through landmark works like Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? and Night-Side. Readers should follow the publication order to experience the evolution of Oates's distinctive voice and thematic concerns across six decades of writing. The series remains ongoing, making it an ever-expanding resource for experiencing one of contemporary literature's most prolific authors.

Start with By the North Gate, the first of 63 books in the Short Story Collections series.

#	Title
1	By the North Gate 1963Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Goddess and Other Women 1966Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Upon the Sweeping Flood, and Other Stories 1966Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? 1966Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Anonymous Sins and Other Poems 1969Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Cupid & Psyche 1970Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	The Wheel of Love and Other Stories 1970Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Angel Fire: Poems 1973Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Love and Its Derangements and Other Poems 1974Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	The Hungry Ghosts 1974Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	The Fabulous Beasts 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Poisoned Kiss and Other Stories from the Portuguese 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The Seduction and Other Stories 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Crossing the Border 1976Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Night-Side 1977Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Marriages and Infidelities 1978Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Women Whose Lives Are Food, Men Whose Lives Are Money 1978Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	All the Good People I've Left Behind 1979Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	A Sentimental Education 1980Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Three Plays 1980Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	The Perfectionist and Other Plays 1981Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	Invisible Woman 1982Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	Last Days 1984Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	Wild Saturday, and Other Stories 1984Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	Raven's Wing 1986Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	The Assignation 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	Time Traveler 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	Heat and Other Stories 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
29	Oates in Exile 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
30	Twelve Plays 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
31	Where is Here? 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
32	Haunted 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
33	Demon and Other Tales 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
34	Tenderness 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
35	Will You Always Love Me? and Other Stories 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
36	New Plays 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
37	The Collector of Hearts 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
38	Where I've Been, and Where I'm Going 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
39	Faithless 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
40	Small Avalanches and Other Stories 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
41	I Am No One You Know 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
42	The Female of the Species 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
43	High Lonesome 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
44	The Museum of Dr. Moses 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
45	Wild Nights! 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
46	Dear Husband 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
47	Give Me Your Heart 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
48	Sourland 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
49	The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
50	Evil Eye 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
51	High Crime Area 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
52	Lovely, Dark, Deep 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
53	The Doll-Master and Other Tales of Terror 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
54	Beautiful Days 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
55	Dis Mem Ber and Other Stories of Mystery and Suspense 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
56	Night-Gaunts and Other Tales of Suspense 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
57	Cardiff, by the Sea 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
58	American Melancholy: Poems 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
59	Night, Neon 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
60	The (Other) You: Stories 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
61	Extenuating Circumstances 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
62	Zero Sum 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
63	Flint Kill Creek 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
64	The Massacre at Mount Pitcairn: Stories 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
65	The Frenzy: Stories 2026Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

65 books (1964–2025)

Joyce Carol Oates has published 62 standalone novels since 1964, with the most recent releases continuing through 2025. These works span mystery, thriller, horror, and literary fiction, and should be read in publication order beginning with With Shuddering Fall. The series remains ongoing, offering readers decades of varied narratives independent from one another, though each reflects Oates's distinctive literary voice and thematic concerns.

Start with With Shuddering Fall, the first of 62 books in the Standalone Novels series.

#	Title
1	With Shuddering Fall 1964Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Do With Me What You Will 1973Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Assassins: A Book of Hours 1975Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Childwold 1976Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Cybele 1978Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Son of the Morning 1978Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Unholy Loves 1979Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Angel of Light 1981Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	A Bloodsmoor Romance 1982Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Luxury of Sin 1984Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Mysteries of Winterthurn 1984Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Solstice 1985Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Marya: A Life 1986Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Lives of the Twins / Kindred Passions(As: Rosamond Smith) 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	You Must Remember This 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	American Appetites 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	Nemesis(As:Rosamond Smith) 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Soul/Mate(As: Rosamond Smith) 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Snake Eyes(As:Rosamond Smith) 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	What I Lived For 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	You Can't Catch Me(As:Rosamond Smith) 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	Zombie 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	We Were the Mulvaneys 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	Double Delight(As:Rosamond Smith) 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	Man Crazy 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	Broke Heart Blues 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
29	Starr Bright Will Be With You Soon(As:Rosamond Smith) 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
30	Blonde 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
31	Middle-Age: A Romance 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
32	The Barrens(As:Rosamond Smith) 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
33	Big Mouth and Ugly Girl 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
34	I'll Take You There 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
35	Freaky Green Eyes 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
36	The Tattooed Girl 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
37	Take Me, Take Me With You(As: Lauren Kelly) 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
38	The Falls 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
39	Missing Mom / Mother, Missing 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
40	Sexy 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
41	The Stolen Heart(As: Lauren Kelly) 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
42	After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings, and Flew Away 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
43	Black Girl/White Girl 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
44	Blood Mask(As: Lauren Kelly) 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
45	Little Bird of Heaven 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
46	The Gravedigger's Daughter 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
47	My Sister, My Love 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
48	A Fair Maiden 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
49	Mudwoman 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
50	Two or Three Things I Forgot to Tell You 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
51	Daddy Love 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
52	Carthage 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
53	Jack of Spades 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
54	The Sacrifice 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
55	The Man Without a Shadow 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
56	A Book of American Martyrs 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
57	Hazards of Time Travel 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
58	My Life as a Rat 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
59	The Pursuit 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
60	Night Sleep Death The Stars 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
61	Breathe 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
62	Babysitter 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
63	48 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
64	Butcher 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
65	Fox 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible