Kate Ardis Oden
@odenka.bsky.social
Brief book reviews and book-related posts. I’m reading and reflecting instead of pursuing a formal MFA.
https://substack.com/@kateardis?r=dvz41&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=profile
https://substack.com/@kateardis?r=dvz41&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=profile
I began and ended the day with reading (and the middle wasn’t so bad, either). Both these stories are deliciously vivid and strange, comical and tragic.
December 17, 2025 at 1:13 AM
I began and ended the day with reading (and the middle wasn’t so bad, either). Both these stories are deliciously vivid and strange, comical and tragic.
For many reasons, I didn’t read much between about 2002 and 2022. Now I always have a book (or five) going.
Today I counted my library of fiction and short stories: 462 volumes. Here’s to reading 400 of them before the next 20 years go by.
Today I counted my library of fiction and short stories: 462 volumes. Here’s to reading 400 of them before the next 20 years go by.
December 15, 2025 at 7:50 PM
For many reasons, I didn’t read much between about 2002 and 2022. Now I always have a book (or five) going.
Today I counted my library of fiction and short stories: 462 volumes. Here’s to reading 400 of them before the next 20 years go by.
Today I counted my library of fiction and short stories: 462 volumes. Here’s to reading 400 of them before the next 20 years go by.
This Richard Krawiec poem absolutely shells me. It’s in this amazing anthology I just got. Thom Schramm is the bomb.
December 14, 2025 at 4:47 PM
This Richard Krawiec poem absolutely shells me. It’s in this amazing anthology I just got. Thom Schramm is the bomb.
Free and fifty-cent finds. I’m skewing more non-fiction today. I’d like to know more about the history that informed some of my favorite authors’ lives, hence the Tuchman. SPQR is about the Roman Empire. The Mary Oliver is an essay collection. All real lookers.
December 13, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Free and fifty-cent finds. I’m skewing more non-fiction today. I’d like to know more about the history that informed some of my favorite authors’ lives, hence the Tuchman. SPQR is about the Roman Empire. The Mary Oliver is an essay collection. All real lookers.
Bookclubs.com and search for The Canonball…
December 13, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Bookclubs.com and search for The Canonball…
The “short list,” alphabetical A-M, also known as “armchair candy for the next 2-3 years.”
December 12, 2025 at 3:11 PM
The “short list,” alphabetical A-M, also known as “armchair candy for the next 2-3 years.”
I bought some hot tickets this evening before the thrift store closed. Don’t tell my former supervisor.
December 12, 2025 at 12:03 AM
I bought some hot tickets this evening before the thrift store closed. Don’t tell my former supervisor.
“Agnus Dei” just back from Puerto Rico, here to redeem men of sin…
December 10, 2025 at 12:00 AM
“Agnus Dei” just back from Puerto Rico, here to redeem men of sin…
Too cold outside. Taking refuge with Gaddis for the moment in chapter 4, on a banana plantation. It’s the end of the rainy season and Otto, a benign outgrowth of a playwright, is searching for his “playa.”
December 9, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Too cold outside. Taking refuge with Gaddis for the moment in chapter 4, on a banana plantation. It’s the end of the rainy season and Otto, a benign outgrowth of a playwright, is searching for his “playa.”
When I saw it had been published by the Seminary Co-Op, where I worked sophomore year, I had to have it. And it looks outstanding.
December 8, 2025 at 8:40 PM
When I saw it had been published by the Seminary Co-Op, where I worked sophomore year, I had to have it. And it looks outstanding.
I like seeing Benjamin and Bukowski in a stack.
December 6, 2025 at 8:58 PM
I like seeing Benjamin and Bukowski in a stack.
I’ve heard negative things about the Pope translation of The Odyssey, but it’s a lovely tome to flip through.
December 6, 2025 at 3:15 PM
I’ve heard negative things about the Pope translation of The Odyssey, but it’s a lovely tome to flip through.
Can’t believe I’m starting a new book, but I just finished Lockwood, it’s Friday night, and these two are beating their drums.
December 6, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Can’t believe I’m starting a new book, but I just finished Lockwood, it’s Friday night, and these two are beating their drums.
A roaring fire in the fireplace, lentil soup on the stove, and more books in the hopper: Here are a couple VT thrift-store finds from a friend (who is Susan Hill?) and a tidy Robert Graves I picked up today.
December 4, 2025 at 11:12 PM
A roaring fire in the fireplace, lentil soup on the stove, and more books in the hopper: Here are a couple VT thrift-store finds from a friend (who is Susan Hill?) and a tidy Robert Graves I picked up today.
Patricia Lockwood an absolute peep-show read
December 3, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Patricia Lockwood an absolute peep-show read
Patricia Lockwood is from the future.
November 30, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Patricia Lockwood is from the future.
When free libraries are good, they’re great: The Frazier is an advance reader’s copy to be released next year. The DFW I first read in the local bookstore—leaning against the shelves, tearing up—20 years ago.
November 29, 2025 at 11:35 PM
When free libraries are good, they’re great: The Frazier is an advance reader’s copy to be released next year. The DFW I first read in the local bookstore—leaning against the shelves, tearing up—20 years ago.
Notes on Gaddis’s The Recognitions. My teenager encouraged me to take them in a notebook, instead of my phone.
November 28, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Notes on Gaddis’s The Recognitions. My teenager encouraged me to take them in a notebook, instead of my phone.
Welp, my pies aren’t ever pretty, but this one’s made from garden-grown Hubbard squash (a behemoth of 15 pounds, maybe). I’m already planning to bake another and eat nothing but, all weekend.
November 27, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Welp, my pies aren’t ever pretty, but this one’s made from garden-grown Hubbard squash (a behemoth of 15 pounds, maybe). I’m already planning to bake another and eat nothing but, all weekend.
This morning I’m wrangling submissions to Mande, my art/literary journal for bipolar talent.
I haven’t decided on a visual theme for the next “episode” — contrasting colors? Windows and doors?
mandeliterary.com
I haven’t decided on a visual theme for the next “episode” — contrasting colors? Windows and doors?
mandeliterary.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:48 PM
This morning I’m wrangling submissions to Mande, my art/literary journal for bipolar talent.
I haven’t decided on a visual theme for the next “episode” — contrasting colors? Windows and doors?
mandeliterary.com
I haven’t decided on a visual theme for the next “episode” — contrasting colors? Windows and doors?
mandeliterary.com
I’m just past page 100 in both and they’re dueling for my time.
November 25, 2025 at 1:00 PM
I’m just past page 100 in both and they’re dueling for my time.
The Nabokov has seen better days, but what a reading experience…
November 24, 2025 at 8:01 PM
The Nabokov has seen better days, but what a reading experience…