Bill Bryson Books in Order
Bill Bryson has written 28 books, published between 1984 and 2025. The first book is Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (1984) and the newest is A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0 (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.
Bill Bryson is the pen name of William McGuire Bryson.
- Books
- 28
- Published
- 1984–2025
- Confirmed
- 28 of 28 titles
- Pages on record
- 6,508 in 19 of 28 books
- Reading time
- 108–163 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 6,508 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 19 of 28 titles with a page count on record.
Bill Bryson (William McGuire Bryson, born 8 December 1951) is an American journalist and author who became a British citizen in 2014. Bryson writes nonfiction about travel, the English language and science. The site lists 28 books from Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (1984) through A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0 (2025). Notes from a Small Island (1995) explores Britain, and A Walk in the Woods (1997) and The Mother Tongue (1990) are also listed. Bryson served as chancellor of Durham University from 2005 to 2011.
How many Bill Bryson books are there?
Bill Bryson has 28 books, released between 1984 and 2025. They include 3 separate series.
Bill Bryson Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 28 Bill Bryson 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.
- 119842413/4
- 21985–3/4
- 319893203/4
- 41990–3/4
- 519922543/4
- 619944173/4
- 719953243/4
- 819974163/4
- 9I'm a Stranger Here Myself / Notes from a Big CountryBill Bryson Travel Books #61998 · 304 pages · confirmed 3/419983043/4
- 10The Best American Travel Writing 2000Best American: Travel Writing #12000 · 307 pages · confirmed 3/420003073/4
- 11The English Landscape: Its Character and DiversityMarina Warner Travel #72000 · 460 pages · confirmed 3/420004603/4
- 1220003353/4
- 132002493/4
- 1420035443/4
- 1520041763/4
- 16The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A MemoirBill Bryson Non-Fiction #22006 · 288 pages · confirmed 3/420062883/4
- 1720071993/4
- 1820083673/4
- 192008–3/4
- 2020104973/4
- 2120105013/4
- 2220135093/4
- 232015–3/4
- 242016–3/4
- 252019–3/4
- 262022–3/4
- 272023–3/4
- 282025–3/4
Bill Bryson 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.
Bill Bryson Travel Books in order
9 booksScience in order
5 booksLanguage in order
4 booksHistory in order
3 booksBest American: Travel Writing in order
2 booksBill Bryson Non-Fiction
2 books2 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Bill Bryson Short Story
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Marina Warner Travel in order
1 bookEminent Lives in order
1 book- 11. Shakespeare
Bill Bryson Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the Bill Bryson books run from Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (1984) to A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0 (2025), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Bill Bryson in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read Bill Bryson books in order?
You only need to read Bill Bryson books in order within each series: the books listed here span 3 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Bill Bryson
Start with Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (1984), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Bill Bryson book?
A Short History of Nearly Everything 2.0 (2025) is the newest Bill Bryson book released so far.
Is there a new Bill Bryson book coming?
No next Bill Bryson 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 Bill Bryson has won
Wikidata records 1 award for Bill Bryson. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Zilveren Griffel2009Won
Bill Bryson at a glance
- Still publishing
- Bill Bryson published a book as recently as 2025.
- Release pace
- Bill Bryson books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 6,508 pages across the 19 of 28 books with a recorded length, a median of 324 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Bill Bryson books, 10 of 28, were published in the 2000s.
What the Bill Bryson books are about
23 of the 28 Bill Bryson books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: travel is tagged on 10 of 23. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.