Order of Book Series
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Yiyun Li Books in Order

Yiyun Li has written 16 books, published between 2005 and 2026. The first book is A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2005) and the newest is Music Against the Night (2026). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
16
Published
2005–2026
Pages on record
2,452 in 10 of 16 books
Reading time
41–61 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,452 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 10 of 16 titles with a page count on record.

See all 16 books in order Printable Yiyun Li checklist
Photo of Yiyun Li, author

Yiyun Li, born November 4, 1972, is a writer born in China who writes only in English. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2005) won the PEN/Hemingway Award and the Guardian First Book Award. Where Reasons End took the 2020 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and The Book of Goose won the 2023 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Wednesday's Child, a story collection, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Li is an editor of A Public Space, a literary magazine based in Brooklyn. The catalogue records 16 books, among them The Vagrants (2009), Kinder Than Solitude (2013) and Music Against the Night (2026).

How many Yiyun Li books are there?

Yiyun Li has 16 books, released between 2005 and 2026.

Yiyun Li Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 16 Yiyun Li 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 A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Yiyun Li (2005)
  2. Cover of The Vagrants by Yiyun Li (2009)
  3. Cover of Gold Boy, Emerald Girl by Yiyun Li (2010)
  4. Cover of The Story of Gilgamesh by Yiyun Li (2011)
  5. Cover of Kinder Than Solitude by Yiyun Li (2013)
  6. Cover of A Sheltered Woman by Yiyun Li (2014)
  7. Cover of Where Reasons End by Yiyun Li (2019)
  8. Cover of The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li (2022)
  9. Cover of Wednesday's Child by Yiyun Li (2023)
  1. 1
    A Thousand Years of Good Prayers2005 · 219 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2005219
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Real Story of Ah-Q and Other Tales of China: The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun2009 · confirmed 1/4
    2009–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Vagrants2009 · 337 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2009337
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Gold Boy, Emerald Girl2010 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2010240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Story of Gilgamesh2011 · confirmed 1/4
    2011–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Kinder Than Solitude2013 · 312 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2013312
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    A Sheltered Woman2014 · 64 pages · confirmed 1/4
    201464
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life2017 · 208 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2017208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Where Reasons End2019 · 192 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2019192
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Must I Go2020 · 320 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2020320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Tolstoy Together: 85 Days of War and Peace with Yiyun Li2021 · confirmed 1/4
    2021–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    If You Are Lonely and You Know ItCurrency #82021 · confirmed 2/4
    2021–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Book of Goose2022 · 368 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2022368
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Wednesday's Child2023 · confirmed 1/4
    2023–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Things in Nature Merely Grow2025 · 192 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2025192
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Music Against the Night2026 · confirmed 1/4
    2026–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Yiyun Li 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.

Currency in order

1 book
  1. 8. If You Are Lonely and You Know It

Standalone books

15 books

15 Yiyun Li titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Yiyun Li books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 16 Yiyun Li books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Yiyun Li

Start with A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2005), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Yiyun Li book?

Music Against the Night (2026) is the newest Yiyun Li book released so far.

Is there a new Yiyun Li book coming?

No next Yiyun Li 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 Yiyun Li has won

Wikidata records 5 awards for Yiyun Li. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • O. Henry Award2012Won
  • Asian American Literary Awards2011Won
  • Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award2006Won
  • Guardian First Book Award2006Won
  • Plimpton Prize2003Won

Yiyun Li at a glance

Still publishing
Yiyun Li published a book as recently as 2026.
Release pace
Yiyun Li books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
2,452 pages across the 10 of 16 books with a recorded length, a median of 230 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Yiyun Li books, 7 of 16, were published in the 2020s.

What the Yiyun Li books are about

11 of the 16 Yiyun Li books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: american literature is tagged on 2 of 11. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.