Kent Haruf Books in Order
6 books are credited to Kent Haruf, published between 1984 and 2015; 1 of them appeared after Kent Haruf's death in 2014. The first book is The Tie That Binds (1984) and the newest is Our Souls at Night (2015). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 6
- Published
- 1984–2015
- Total pages
- 1,486 across 6 books
- Reading time
- 25–37 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,486 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute.
Kent Haruf wrote quiet domestic fiction set in small-town Colorado. The Tie That Binds (1984) is the earliest of six catalogued books, followed by Where You Once Belonged, Plainsong (1999), Eventide, Benediction and Our Souls at Night (2015). The Plainsong novels are the best known of the six, and the catalogue is listed as complete.
How many Kent Haruf books are there?
Kent Haruf has 6 books, released between 1984 and 2015. 1 of them were published after Kent Haruf's death in 2014. 3 of them belong to the Plainsong series.
Kent Haruf Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 6 Kent Haruf books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1The Tie That Binds1984 · 246 pages · confirmed 2/419842462/4
- 2Where You Once Belonged1990 · 176 pages · confirmed 2/419901762/4
- 319993012/4
- 420042992/4
- 520132722/4
- 6Our Souls at Night2015 · 192 pages · confirmed 2/420151922/4
Kent Haruf books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Plainsong in order
3 books- 1. Plainsong
- 2. Eventide
- 3. Benediction
Standalone books
3 books3 Kent Haruf titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Kent Haruf books in order?
You only need to read Kent Haruf books in order within the Plainsong series, which holds 3 of the 6 Kent Haruf books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.
Where to start with Kent Haruf
Start with The Tie That Binds (1984), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Kent Haruf book?
Our Souls at Night (2015) is the newest Kent Haruf book released so far.
Is there a new Kent Haruf book coming?
No next Kent Haruf book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Kent Haruf has won
Wikidata records 2 awards for Kent Haruf. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Dos Passos Prize2006Won
- Whiting Awards1986Won
Kent Haruf at a glance
- Died
- Kent Haruf died in 2014, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Kent Haruf are still being published after Kent Haruf's death in 2014; the newest appeared in 2015.
- Release pace
- Kent Haruf books have appeared about one every 6 years on average.
- Length
- 1,486 pages across all 6 books with a recorded length, a median of 259 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Kent Haruf books, 2 of 6, were published in the 2010s.
What the Kent Haruf books are about
All 6 Kent Haruf books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: city and town life is tagged on 2 of 6. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- City and town life 2 of 6 books
- Colorado 2 of 6 books
- Domestic fiction 2 of 6 books