Kristen Arnett Anthologies Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| We Are the Baby-Sitters Club: Essays and Artwork from Grown-Up Readers |
2021 |
Buy |
| I Know What’s Best for You |
2022 |
Buy |
| Retro Five: Selections from Joyland Magazine |
2016 |
Buy |
| Shorts, Volume One |
2019 |
Buy |
| Sex and the Single Woman |
2022 |
Buy |
Short Stories/Novellas#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Arachnophobia |
2018 |
Buy |
Short Story Collections#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Felt in the Jaw |
2017 |
Buy |
Standalone Novels#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Mostly Dead Things |
2019 |
Buy |
| With Teeth |
2021 |
Buy |
| Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One |
2025 |
Buy |
Kristen Arnett is an American author based in Florida whose fiction blends dark humor with emotional rawness. Her writing draws heavily on the landscape and culture of central Florida, using the state’s strip malls, theme parks, and swampy heat as backdrops for stories about family dysfunction, queer identity, and the messiness of love.
Her debut novel Mostly Dead Things (2019) became a New York Times bestseller and was praised for its original premise, following a woman who inherits her father’s taxidermy business after his suicide while dealing with her mother’s increasingly provocative art installations. Her second novel With Teeth (2021) examines a deteriorating marriage between two women raising a difficult son. Arnett also writes short fiction and essays, and her story collection Felt in the Jaw (2017) showcases the compressed, vivid style that carries through all her work.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many books has Kristen Arnett written?
Kristen Arnett has written ten books across four series.
What was Kristen Arnett's first book?
Kristen Arnett’s first book is Retro Five: Selections from Joyland Magazine, published in 2016.
What is Kristen Arnett best known for?
Arnett is best known for her debut novel Mostly Dead Things (2019), a darkly funny story about a queer woman who takes over her late father’s taxidermy shop in central Florida. The book was a New York Times bestseller and established Arnett as a distinctive voice in American fiction.