Susie Dent Books in Order

Susie Dent has written 20 books, published between 2001 and 2026. The first book is Key Skills Survival Guide (2001) and the newest is Death Writ Large (2026). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
20
Published
2001–2026
Pages on record
3,207 in 10 of 20 books
Reading time
53–80 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,207 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 10 of 20 titles with a page count on record.

Photo of Susie Dent, author
British Library / CC BY 3.0

Susie Dent is an English lexicographer and etymologist, born in 1964, who has appeared in Dictionary Corner on Channel 4's Countdown since 1992 and on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. The books take the English language as their subject, new words, slang, regional speech and usage, in titles such as The Language Report (2003), Larpers and Shroomers (2004), How to Talk Like a Local (2008) and Words of the Year (2008). Twenty are catalogued, from Key Skills Survival Guide (2001) to Death Writ Large (2026), at a median length of 170 pages.

Source: Wikidata

How many Susie Dent books are there?

Susie Dent has 20 books, released between 2001 and 2026. They include 2 series and 14 titles listed outside any series.

Susie Dent Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 20 Susie Dent 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 November 2026.

  1. 1
    Key Skills Survival Guide2001 · 80 pages · confirmed 1/4
    200180
  2. 2
    The Language ReportLanguage Report #12003 · 151 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2003151
  3. 3
    Larpers and ShroomersLanguage Report #22004 · 165 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2004165
  4. 4
    Treetops Non-Fiction: Winning Words2005 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    200532
  5. 5
    Fanboys and OverdogsLanguage Report #32005 · 163 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2005163
  6. 6
    The Language Report: English on the Move, 2000-2007Language Report #42007 · 176 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2007176
  7. 7
    Words of the Year2008 · confirmed 1/4
    2008–
  8. 8
    How to Talk Like a Local: From Cockney to Geordie2008 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2008224
  9. 9
    What Made The Crocodile Cry?2009 · confirmed 1/4
    2009–
  10. 10
    Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable2012 · 1480 pages · confirmed 1/4
    20121480
  11. 11
    Susie Dent's Weird Words2013 · confirmed 1/4
    2013–
  12. 122016–
  13. 132019336
  14. 14
    An Emotional Dictionary2022 · confirmed 1/4
    2022–
  15. 15
    Words to Live By2023 · confirmed 1/4
    2023–
  16. 16
    Roots of Happiness2023 · confirmed 1/4
    2023–
  17. 17
    Guilty By DefinitionClarendon Lexicographers #12024 · 400 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2024400
  18. 182024–
  19. 19
    The Roots We Share2025 · confirmed 1/4
    2025–
  20. 20
    Death Writ LargeClarendon Lexicographers #22026 · confirmed 1/4
    2026–

Susie Dent 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.

Language Report in order

4 books
  1. 1. The Language Report
  2. 2. Larpers and Shroomers
  3. 3. Fanboys and Overdogs
  4. 4. The Language Report: English on the Move, 2000-2007

Clarendon Lexicographers in order

2 books
  1. 1. Guilty By Definition
  2. 2. Death Writ Large

Standalone books

14 books

14 Susie Dent titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Susie Dent books in order?

You only need to read Susie Dent books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with Susie Dent

Start with Key Skills Survival Guide (2001), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Susie Dent book?

Death Writ Large (2026) is the newest Susie Dent book released so far.

Is there a new Susie Dent book coming?

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

Susie Dent at a glance

Still publishing
Susie Dent published a book as recently as 2026.
Release pace
Susie Dent books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
3,207 pages across the 10 of 20 books with a recorded length, a median of 170 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Susie Dent books, 9 of 20, were published in the 2000s.

When Susie Dent books were published

Publication distribution by decade, showing when Susie Dent titles appeared. 2000s was the most productive decade with 9 titles.

2000s
9
2010s
4
2020s
7

20 books total across 3 decades. Decade reflects the year each title was first catalogued.

What the Susie Dent books are about

12 of the 20 Susie Dent books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: english language is tagged on 9 of 12. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

  • English language 9 of 12 books
  • New words 4 of 12 books
  • Spoken English 4 of 12 books
  • Usage 3 of 12 books
  • Vocabulary 3 of 12 books
  • Written English 3 of 12 books
  • Dictionaries 2 of 12 books
  • English language, spoken english 2 of 12 books
  • English language, usage 2 of 12 books
  • Grammar 2 of 12 books
  • Juvenile literature 2 of 12 books
  • Slang 2 of 12 books