Order of Book Series
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James McBride Books in Order

James McBride has written 9 books, published between 1996 and 2023. The first book is The Color of Water (1996) and the newest is The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
9
Published
1996–2023
Confirmed
8 of 9 titles
Pages on record
2,144 in 6 of 9 books
Reading time
36–54 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,144 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 6 of 9 titles with a page count on record.

See all 9 books in order Printable James McBride checklist
Photo of James McBride, author

James McBride, born September 11, 1957, is an American writer and musician. McBride's novel The Good Lord Bird received the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction. The catalogue lists 9 McBride books, starting with The Color of Water (1996) and continuing with Miracle at St. Anna (2001), Song Yet Sung (2008), The Good Lord Bird (2013), Kill 'em and Leave (2016), Five-Carat Soul (2017), Deacon King Kong (2020) and The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (2023). Subjects include race identity, African Americans, fugitive slaves and mothers.

James McBride is also a musician and screenwriter. His novel The Good Lord Bird won the National Book Award and was adapted into a television series.

How many James McBride books are there?

James McBride has 9 books, released between 1996 and 2023.

James McBride Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 9 James McBride 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 The Color of Water by James McBride (1996)
  2. Cover of Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride (2001)
  3. Cover of Song Yet Sung by James McBride (2008)
  4. Cover of Kill 'em and Leave by James McBride (2016)
  5. Cover of Deacon King Kong by James McBride (2020)
  6. Cover of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (2023)
  1. 1
    The Color of Water1996 · 328 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1996328
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Miracle at St. Anna2001 · 306 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2001306
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Song Yet Sung2008 · 369 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2008369
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Good Lord Bird2013 · 468 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2013468
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Kill 'em and Leave2016 · 256 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2016256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Buck Boy2017 · confirmed 3/4
    2017–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Five-Carat Soul2017 · 417 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2017417
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Deacon King Kong2020 · confirmed 3/4
    2020–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store2023 · confirmed 2/4
    2023–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

James McBride 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

9 books

9 James McBride titles here are not listed as part of any series.

James McBride Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the James McBride books run from The Color of Water (1996) to The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (2023), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for James McBride in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read James McBride books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 9 James McBride books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with James McBride

Start with The Color of Water (1996), the earliest published title.

What is the newest James McBride book?

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (2023) is the newest James McBride book released so far.

Is there a new James McBride book coming?

No next James McBride 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 James McBride has won

Wikidata records 3 awards for James McBride. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Sophie Brody Medal2024Won
  • National Book Award for Fiction2013Won
  • Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards1997Won

James McBride at a glance

Paused
No new James McBride title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
Release pace
James McBride books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
2,144 pages across the 6 of 9 books with a recorded length, a median of 348 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most James McBride books, 4 of 9, were published in the 2010s.

What the James McBride books are about

7 of the 9 James McBride books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: african americans is tagged on 2 of 7. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.