Order of Book Series
0

Amy Tan Books in Order

Amy Tan has written 14 books, published between 1989 and 2024. The first book is The Joy Luck Club (1989) and the newest is The Backyard Bird Chronicles (2024). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
14
Published
1989–2024
Confirmed
14 of 14 titles
Pages on record
3,363 in 10 of 14 books
Reading time
56–84 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,363 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 10 of 14 titles with a page count on record.

See all 14 books in order Printable Amy Tan checklist
Photo of Amy Tan, author

Chinese American families, and mothers and daughters in particular, are Amy Tan's subject. The Joy Luck Club (1989) opens a catalogue of 14 titles, followed by The Kitchen God's Wife (1991), The Hundred Secret Senses (1995) and The Bonesetter's Daughter (2001). Tan also writes for children, among them The Moon Lady (1992) and Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat (1994), alongside non-fiction and short stories. The Backyard Bird Chronicles is the newest title.

How many Amy Tan books are there?

Amy Tan has 14 books, released between 1989 and 2024. 2 of them belong to the Amy Tan Children's series.

Amy Tan Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 14 Amy Tan books in the order they were released, 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.

  1. Cover of The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, book 1 of the Amy Tan Standalone Novels series (1989)
  2. Cover of The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan, book 2 of the Amy Tan Standalone Novels series (1991)
  3. Cover of Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat by Amy Tan, book 2 of the Amy Tan Children's series (1994)
  4. Cover of The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan, book 3 of the Amy Tan Standalone Novels series (1995)
  5. Cover of The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan, book 4 of the Amy Tan Standalone Novels series (2001)
  6. Cover of The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings by Amy Tan, book 1 of the Amy Tan Non-Fiction series (2003)
  7. Cover of Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan, book 5 of the Amy Tan Standalone Novels series (2005)
  8. Cover of The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan, book 6 of the Amy Tan Standalone Novels series (2013)
  9. Cover of Where The Past Begins: A Writers Memoir by Amy Tan, book 3 of the Amy Tan Non-Fiction series (2017)
  10. Cover of The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan, book 4 of the Amy Tan Non-Fiction series (2024)
  1. 1
    The Joy Luck ClubAmy Tan Standalone Novels #11989 · 288 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1989288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Kitchen God's WifeAmy Tan Standalone Novels #21991 · 416 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1991416
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Moon LadyAmy Tan Children's #11992 · confirmed 3/4
    1992–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese CatAmy Tan Children's #21994 · 40 pages · confirmed 3/4
    199440
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Hundred Secret SensesAmy Tan Standalone Novels #31995 · 368 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1995368
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Bonesetter's DaughterAmy Tan Standalone Novels #42001 · confirmed 3/4
    2001–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Big City Cool: Short Stories About Urban YouthAmy Tan Short Story #12002 · confirmed 3/4
    2002–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Opposite of Fate: A Book of MusingsAmy Tan Non-Fiction #12003 · 416 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2003416
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Saving Fish from DrowningAmy Tan Standalone Novels #52005 · 496 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2005496
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Rules for VirginsAmy Tan Short Stories/Novellas #12012 · confirmed 3/4
    2012–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Valley of AmazementAmy Tan Standalone Novels #62013 · 589 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2013589
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Post Pregnancy DietAmy Tan Non-Fiction #22015 · 62 pages · confirmed 3/4
    201562
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Where The Past Begins: A Writers MemoirAmy Tan Non-Fiction #32017 · 368 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2017368
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Backyard Bird ChroniclesAmy Tan Non-Fiction #42024 · 320 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2024320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Amy Tan 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.

Amy Tan Standalone Novels

6 books

6 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Amy Tan Non-Fiction

4 books

4 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Amy Tan Children's in order

2 books
  1. 1. The Moon Lady
  2. 2. Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat

Amy Tan Short Story

1 book

1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Amy Tan Short Stories/Novellas

1 book

1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Amy Tan Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the Amy Tan books run from The Joy Luck Club (1989) to The Backyard Bird Chronicles (2024), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Amy Tan in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read Amy Tan books in order?

You only need to read Amy Tan books in order within the Amy Tan Children's series, which holds 2 of the 14 Amy Tan books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

What order should you read Amy Tan books in?

Read them in publication order, starting with The Joy Luck Club (1989), the earliest published title. After it come The Kitchen God's Wife (1991), The Moon Lady (1992), Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat (1994) and The Hundred Secret Senses (1995); the numbered table above continues from there.

What is the newest Amy Tan book?

The Backyard Bird Chronicles (2024) is the newest Amy Tan book released so far.

Is there a new Amy Tan book coming?

No next Amy Tan 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 Amy Tan has won

Wikidata records 1 award for Amy Tan. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature2006Won

Amy Tan at a glance

Still publishing
Amy Tan published a book as recently as 2024.
Release pace
Amy Tan books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
3,363 pages across the 10 of 14 books with a recorded length, a median of 368 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Amy Tan books, 4 of 14, were published in the 2010s.

What the Amy Tan books are about

11 of the 14 Amy Tan books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: china is tagged on 4 of 11. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.