The Cat Who… Books in Order
Lilian Jackson Braun has written 32 The Cat Who… books, published between 1966 and 2007: 29 in the Cat Who... series and 3 related titles. The first book is The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (1966) and the newest main-line book is The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers (2007). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 32
- Published
- 1966–2007
- Confirmed
- 32 of 32 titles
- Pages on record
- 4,504 in 18 of 32 books
- Reading time
- 75–113 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,504 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 18 of 32 titles with a page count on record.
The Cat Who… is a mystery series by Lilian Jackson Braun built around Jim Qwilleran, a journalist, and his Siamese cats Koko and Yum Yum. Thirty-two books run from 1966 to The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers (2007), among them The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern (1967) and The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare (1988). Moose County and the town of Pickax, both imaginary, are the recurring setting. The median book runs 258 pages, and no new title has appeared since 2007.
How many The Cat Who… books are there?
The Cat Who… has 32 books, released between 1966 and 2007. 29 of them belong to the Cat Who... series, and 3 related titles sit outside it: short stories and novellas.
The Cat Who… Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 32 The Cat Who… 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.
- 11966–4/4
- 21967–4/4
- 31968–4/4
- 419862564/4
- 51987–4/4
- 619871864/4
- 719882433/4
- 819882014/4
- 91988–4/4
- 1019892014/4
- 111990–4/4
- 121990–4/4
- 131991–4/4
- 1419922614/4
- 1519922794/4
- 1619932764/4
- 171994–4/4
- 1819943114/4
- 191995–4/4
- 201997–4/4
- 211998–4/4
- 2219992944/4
- 231999–4/4
- 2420012934/4
- 25Short and Tall Tales / Qwilleran's Short and Tall TalesCat Who Short Story #22002 · 176 pages · confirmed 3/420021763/4
- 2620022914/4
- 2720031603/4
- 282003–4/4
- 2920042404/4
- 3020042924/4
- 3120063044/4
- 3220072404/4
The Cat Who… Books in Chronological Order
By publication date, the books of the Cat Who... series run from The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (1966) to The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers (2007), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for The Cat Who… in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.
Do you have to read The Cat Who… books in order?
You should read the Cat Who... series in publication order, the order of the numbered table above; the 3 related titles (short stories and novellas) sit outside that sequence. The catalogue does not record whether each The Cat Who… book also stands alone.
What order should you read The Cat Who… books in?
Read them in publication order, starting with The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (1966), the earliest published book in the Cat Who... series. After it come The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern (1967), The Cat Who Turned On And Off (1968), The Cat Who Saw Red (1986) and The Cat Who Played Brahms (1987); the numbered table above continues from there.
What is the newest The Cat Who… book?
The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers (2007) is the newest book in the Cat Who... series.
Is there a new The Cat Who… book coming?
No next The Cat Who… book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Printable The Cat Who… Books in Order Checklist
A printable checklist of all 32 books in publication order is on the The Cat Who… reading checklist, with a tick box beside each title.
The Cat Who… at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest main-line The Cat Who… title on record is The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers (2007), 19 years ago.
- Release pace
- The Cat Who… books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 4,504 pages across the 18 of 32 books with a recorded length, a median of 258 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most The Cat Who… books, 13 of 32, were published in the 1990s.
- Corroboration
- 29 of the 32 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.
What the The Cat Who… books are about
All 32 The Cat Who… books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: journalists is tagged on 27 of 32. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Journalists 27 of 32 books
- Jim Qwilleran (Fictitious character) 18 of 32 books
- Cat owners 16 of 32 books
- Koko (fictitious character) 14 of 32 books
- Mystery & detective 14 of 32 books
- Qwilleran, jim (fictitious character) 14 of 32 books
- Siamese cat 13 of 32 books
- Yum yum (fictitious character : braun) 13 of 32 books
- Cats 12 of 32 books
- Moose County (Imaginary place) 11 of 32 books
- Millionaires 8 of 32 books
- Pickax city (mich. : imaginary place) 8 of 32 books
More books by Lilian Jackson Braun
The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.
- Lilian Jackson Braun books in order 32 books
Series that include The Cat Who… books
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Cat Who... books in order 29 books