Order of Book Series
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Erma Bombeck Books in Order

22 books are credited to Erma Bombeck, published between 1977 and 2013; 4 of them appeared after Erma Bombeck's death in 1996. The first book is Erma Bombeck, Her Funniest Moments From "At Wit's End" (1977) and the newest is The Erma Bombeck Collection (2013). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
22
Published
1977–2013
Pages on record
3,215 in 12 of 22 books
Reading time
54–80 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,215 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 12 of 22 titles with a page count on record.

See all 22 books in order Printable Erma Bombeck checklist

Erma Bombeck (February 21, 1927 – April 22, 1996), born Erma Louise Fiste, was an American humorist whose newspaper column on suburban home life was syndicated from 1965 to 1996. Bombeck filed more than four thousand columns, the last on April 17, 1996, and by the 1970s the column reached 30 million readers in nine hundred newspapers across the United States and Canada. Fifteen humor books were published, most of them bestsellers. The catalogue lists 22 titles, among them If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries What Am I Doing in the Pits? (1978), The Grass Is Always Greener Over The Septic Tank (1981) and Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession (1983).

How many Erma Bombeck books are there?

Erma Bombeck has 22 books, released between 1977 and 2013. 4 of them were published after Erma Bombeck's death in 1996.

Erma Bombeck Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 22 Erma Bombeck 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.

  1. Cover of Erma Bombeck, Her Funniest Moments From "At Wit's End" by Erma Bombeck (1977)
  2. Cover of If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries What Am I Doing in the Pits? by Erma Bombeck (1978)
  3. Cover of The Grass Is Always Greener Over The Septic Tank by Erma Bombeck (1981)
  4. Cover of Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession by Erma Bombeck (1983)
  5. Cover of Four of a Kind: A Suburban Field Guide by Erma Bombeck (1985)
  6. Cover of I Want to Grow Hair, I Want to Grow Up, I Want to Go to Boise by Erma Bombeck (1990)
  7. Cover of The Best of Bombeck by Erma Bombeck (1993)
  8. Cover of A Marriage Made in Heaven or Too Tired for an Affair by Erma Bombeck (1993)
  9. Cover of Forever, Erma by Erma Bombeck (1996)
  10. Cover of All I Know About Animal Behavior I Learned In Loehmann's Dressing Room by Erma Bombeck (1996)
  11. Cover of When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time to Go Home by Erma Bombeck (1997)
  12. Cover of Eat Less Cottage Cheese and More Ice Cream by Erma Bombeck (2003)
  13. Cover of When God Created Mothers by Erma Bombeck (2005)
  1. 1
    Erma Bombeck, Her Funniest Moments From "At Wit's End"1977 · 45 pages · confirmed 2/4
    197745
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries What Am I Doing in the Pits?1978 · confirmed 2/4
    1978–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Aunt Erma's Cope Book - How to Get From Monday to Friday in 12 Days1979 · confirmed 2/4
    1979–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Just Wait Till You Have Children of Your Own!1979 · confirmed 2/4
    1979–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Grass Is Always Greener Over The Septic Tank1981 · 255 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1981255
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession1983 · 177 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1983177
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression1984 · 252 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1984252
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Mud Pies and Silver Spoons1985 · 338 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1985338
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Seven1985 · confirmed 2/4
    1985–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Four of a Kind: A Suburban Field Guide1985 · 624 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1985624
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    At Wit's End1986 · confirmed 2/4
    1986–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Laugh along with Bombeck1986 · confirmed 2/4
    1986–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Ties That Bind and Gag1990 · confirmed 2/4
    1990–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    I Want to Grow Hair, I Want to Grow Up, I Want to Go to Boise1990 · 174 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1990174
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Best of Bombeck1993 · 535 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1993535
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    A Marriage Made in Heaven or Too Tired for an Affair1993 · 297 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1993297
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Forever, Erma1996 · 273 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1996273
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    All I Know About Animal Behavior I Learned In Loehmann's Dressing Room1996 · 197 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1996197
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time to Go Home1997 · confirmed 2/4
    1997–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Eat Less Cottage Cheese and More Ice Cream2003 · confirmed 2/4
    2003–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    When God Created Mothers2005 · 48 pages · confirmed 2/4
    200548
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    The Erma Bombeck Collection2013 · confirmed 2/4
    2013–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Erma Bombeck 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.

Standalone books

22 books

22 Erma Bombeck titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Erma Bombeck books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 22 Erma Bombeck books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Erma Bombeck

Start with Erma Bombeck, Her Funniest Moments From "At Wit's End" (1977), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Erma Bombeck book?

The Erma Bombeck Collection (2013) is the newest Erma Bombeck book released so far.

Is there a new Erma Bombeck book coming?

No next Erma Bombeck book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Erma Bombeck at a glance

Died
Erma Bombeck died in 1996, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to Erma Bombeck are still being published after Erma Bombeck's death in 1996; the newest appeared in 2013.
Release pace
Erma Bombeck books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
3,215 pages across the 12 of 22 books with a recorded length, a median of 254 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Erma Bombeck books, 8 of 22, were published in the 1980s.

What the Erma Bombeck books are about

12 of the 22 Erma Bombeck books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: humor is tagged on 10 of 12. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.