Order of Book Series
0

John Irving Books in Order

John Irving has written 20 books, published between 1968 and 2025. The first book is Setting Free the Bears (1968) and the newest is Queen Esther (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
20
Published
1968–2025
Pages on record
7,289 in 17 of 20 books
Reading time
121–182 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 7,289 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 17 of 20 titles with a page count on record.

See all 20 books in order Printable John Irving checklist
Photo of John Irving, author of the Cider House Rules series

John Irving is an American novelist whose 20 catalogued books begin with Setting Free the Bears (1968) and take in The World According to Garp (1978), The Hotel New Hampshire (1981), The Cider House Rules (1985) and A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989). Family life, fathers and sons, young men and physicians recur as subjects. Queen Esther is the most recent title, published in 2025.

How many John Irving books are there?

John Irving has 20 books, released between 1968 and 2025. 2 of them belong to the Cider House Rules series.

John Irving Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 20 John Irving 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 Setting Free the Bears by John Irving (1968)
  2. Cover of The Water-Method Man by John Irving (1972)
  3. Cover of The 158-Pound Marriage by John Irving (1974)
  4. Cover of The World According to Garp by John Irving (1978)
  5. Cover of The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving (1981)
  6. Cover of The Cider House Rules by John Irving, book 1 of the Cider House Rules series (1985)
  7. Cover of A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (1989)
  8. Cover of Trying to Save Piggy Sneed by John Irving (1993)
  9. Cover of A Son of the Circus by John Irving (1994)
  10. Cover of The Imaginary Girlfriend by John Irving (1996)
  11. Cover of A Widow for One Year by John Irving (1998)
  12. Cover of My Movie Business by John Irving (1999)
  13. Cover of The Fourth Hand by John Irving (2001)
  14. Cover of A Sound Like Someone Trying Not to Make a Sound by John Irving (2003)
  15. Cover of Until I Find You by John Irving (2005)
  16. Cover of Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving (2009)
  17. Cover of In One Person by John Irving (2012)
  18. Cover of Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving (2015)
  19. Cover of The Last Chairlift by John Irving (2022)
  1. 1
    Setting Free the Bears1968 · 280 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1968280
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Water-Method Man1972 · 384 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1972384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The 158-Pound Marriage1974 · 176 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1974176
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The World According to Garp1978 · 624 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1978624
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Hotel New Hampshire1981 · 432 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1981432
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Cider House RulesCider House Rules #11985 · confirmed 2/4
    1985–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    A Prayer for Owen Meany1989 · 617 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1989617
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Trying to Save Piggy Sneed1993 · 437 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1993437
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    A Son of the Circus1994 · 682 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1994682
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Imaginary Girlfriend1996 · 180 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1996180
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    A Widow for One Year1998 · 592 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1998592
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    My Movie Business1999 · 192 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1999192
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Fourth Hand2001 · 352 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2001352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    A Sound Like Someone Trying Not to Make a Sound2003 · 40 pages · confirmed 2/4
    200340
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Until I Find You2005 · 824 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2005824
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Last Night in Twisted River2009 · 592 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2009592
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    In One Person2012 · 425 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2012425
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Avenue of Mysteries2015 · 460 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2015460
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    The Last Chairlift2022 · confirmed 2/4
    2022–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Queen EstherCider House Rules #22025 · confirmed 2/4
    2025–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

John Irving 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.

Cider House Rules in order

2 books
  1. 1. The Cider House Rules
  2. 2. Queen Esther

Standalone books

18 books

18 John Irving titles here are not listed as part of any series.

John Irving Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the John Irving books run from Setting Free the Bears (1968) to Queen Esther (2025), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for John Irving in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read John Irving books in order?

You only need to read John Irving books in order within the Cider House Rules series, which holds 2 of the 20 John Irving books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with John Irving

Start with Setting Free the Bears (1968), the earliest published title.

What is the newest John Irving book?

Queen Esther (2025) is the newest John Irving book released so far.

Is there a new John Irving book coming?

No next John Irving 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 John Irving has won

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

  • Lambda Literary Award2013Won
  • O. Henry Award1981Won
  • National Book Award for Fiction1980Won

John Irving at a glance

Still publishing
John Irving published a book as recently as 2025.
Release pace
John Irving books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
7,289 pages across the 17 of 20 books with a recorded length, a median of 432 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most John Irving books, 5 of 20, were published in the 1990s.

What the John Irving books are about

19 of the 20 John Irving books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: family life is tagged on 3 of 19. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.