Books and reading book series in reading order

by Jasper Fforde

by Chris Grabenstein

by Chris Colfer

by Jane O’Connor

by Jon Scieszka

by Bill Cotter

by Lev Grossman

Nick Hornby

24 books• 1 series

Nick Hornby is an English writer of novels, memoir and criticism. Fever Pitch (1992) is the memoir that opens the catalogue; High Fidelity (1995) and About a Boy (1998) are the novels that followed, and all three were adapted as feature films. Music, sport and obsessive protagonists recur. Stuff I've Been Reading is his one named series, and books about reading run through the list, The Polysyllabic Spree (2004) among them. Hornby has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, for An Education (2009) and Brooklyn (2015). His 25 catalogued books reach Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius (2022), with Cash Out scheduled for 2027.

Chris Grabenstein

54 books• 14 series

Chris Grabenstein is an American author who writes for adults and for children, the children's books often with collaborator James Patterson. Grabenstein's first novel, Tilt-a-Whirl, appeared in 2005; the John Ceepak mysteries are the police-procedural strand, set in New Jersey. On the children's side sit Mr. Lemoncello's Library, Welcome to Wonderland, the Haunted Mystery books, Dog Squad and The Smartest Kid In The Universe. Fifty-seven books are catalogued through 2026, the newest being Mr. Lemoncello's Wondermous Christmas Gift.

Cornelia Funke

51 books• 9 series

Cornelia Funke (Cornelia Maria Funke, born 10 December 1958 in Dorsten) is a German author of children's fiction, called Germany's bestselling author for children. Funke worked as a social worker and then a book illustrator, began writing novels in the late 1980s and writes mostly fantasy about children facing adversity. The catalogue lists 51 books from Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost (1993) to The Green Kingdom (2025), including Dragon Rider (1997) and The Thief Lord (2000). Inkheart/Inkworld and MirrorWorld are series.

Heather Vogel Frederick is a children's author whose 24 books run from 2002 to 2023. The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed (2002) is her earliest title, and The Education of Patience Goodspeed followed in 2004. The Mother-Daughter Book Club appeared in 2007, with Much Ado About Anne and Dear Pen Pal after it. Frederick's series are Mother-Daughter Book Club, Spy Mice, Pumpkin Falls Mystery and Patience Goodspeed, and Truly, Madly, Sheeply (2023) is the newest title.

Jasper Fforde

19 books• 5 series

Thursday Next, a woman detective, heads Jasper Fforde's main series, where books and reading and the characters of literature supply the subject matter. The Eyre Affair (2001) opens a catalogue of 19 fantasy titles that reaches Dark Reading Matter (2025), with the Nursery Crime books, the Chronicles of Kazam and Shades of Grey beside the Next novels. Dragons, magic and time travel fill the subject tags.

Gary D. Schmidt

34 books• 1 series

Gary D. Schmidt writes fiction for children and young adults, and criticism about the field. Thirty-five books are catalogued between 1990 and 2025. Early titles carry the names of other writers - Robert McCloskey (1990), Hugh Lofting (1992), Katherine Paterson (1994), Robert Lawson (1997) - and books and reading, history and criticism, and criticism and interpretation sit among the subject headings, beside children's stories, family life and death. Schmidt, born in 1957, is a professor emeritus of English at Calvin University and lives in Alto, Michigan. A Day at the Beach (2025) is the newest title.

Cynthia Rylant, born Cynthia Smith on June 6, 1954, is an American author and librarian who has written more than 100 children's books across picture books, short stories, novels, nonfiction and poetry. Missing May took the 1993 Newbery Medal, A Fine White Dust was a 1987 Newbery Honor book, and two further titles are Caldecott Honor Books. The catalogue records 229 books from When I Was Young in the Mountains (1982) onward, with series including Henry and Mudge, Mr. Putter & Tabby, Poppleton and the Lighthouse Family.

Judy Moody, a series that has sold more than 30 million copies, is what Megan McDonald is best known for. McDonald, born Megan Jo McDonald on February 28, 1959, is an American children's author and a former librarian, and also wrote the Julie Albright books for American Girl as well as picture books. The catalogue lists 113 McDonald books, from Is This a House for Hermit Crab? (1990) to The Big Bad Badgers (2025). Other series include Stink, Judy Moody & Friends, Beezy and Sisters Club, and the subjects include school, family life and brothers and sisters.

Nancy Pearl

10 books• 2 series

Nancy Pearl, born 12 January 1945, is an American librarian, author and literary critic, and served as executive director of Seattle Public Library's Washington Center for the Book. Pearl became known locally in Seattle for recommending books on public radio, and reached a wider audience with Book Lust (2003), a guide to good reading. Library Journal named Pearl Librarian of the Year in 2011. The catalogue holds 10 books published between 1999 and 2017 across the Book Lust and Now Read This series, among them Now Read This (1999), Book Lust (2003), More Book Lust (2005), Book Crush (2007) and Book Lust to Go (2010). George and Lizzie (2017) closes the listing; Pearl has also written a novel and a memoir.

Django Wexler writes fantasy across age ranges. The Shadow Campaigns (2013–2018) is a flintlock fantasy built on soldiers and imaginary wars; the Forbidden Library is a middle-grade series set around a library; Dark Lord Davi runs a comic time loop. Wells of Sorcery, Burningblade & Silvereye, John Golden, Spelljammer and Ikoria fill out 31 catalogued titles, from Memories of Empire (2005) to The Only Way Out Is Up (2026). Wexler lives near Seattle, Washington.

Lauren Child

100 books• 4 series

Lauren Child is an English children's author and illustrator, born 29 November 1965. Child created Charlie and Lola, introduced in 2000, and won the Kate Greenaway Medal for the illustration in that book; a later anniversary panel named it one of the ten best winners of the Medal's first fifty years. Her other series are Clarice Bean, Ruby Redfort and Hubert Horatio. The catalogue holds 100 titles published between 1999 and 2022, most of them picture books at a median of 32 pages.

Katherine Paterson

70 books• 5 series

Katherine Paterson, born Katherine Womeldorf on 31 October 1932, is an American writer known chiefly for children's novels. Bridge to Terabithia (1977) won the 1978 Newbery Medal, and across four books published between 1975 and 1980 Paterson won two Newbery Medals and two National Book Awards. The catalogue lists 70 books from The Sign of the Chrysanthemum (1973) to Birdie's Bargain (2021), with The Master Puppeteer (1975), The Great Gilly Hopkins (1978) and Jacob Have I Loved (1980) among them. Marvin and Read For Your Life are listed series, and Japan, friendship and grief appear in the subjects.

Tim Parks

38 books• 4 series

Tim Parks, born 19 December 1954, is a British novelist who has lived in Italy since 1981. Parks also writes non-fiction, translates from Italian into English and teaches literature as a professor. The catalogue holds 38 books from Italian Neighbors (1985) to The Hero's Way (2021), with Italy, travel, Verona and books and reading among the subjects. Series include Italy and Italians, Writers and Literature and Deadly Mr Duckworth, and An Italian Education and Europa are among the titles.

Jodi Picoult

42 books• 7 series

Jodi Picoult is an American writer, born in 1966, whose fiction is described as family saga, often built around moral dilemmas or procedural dramas that set family members against one another. As of 2026 Picoult had published 30 novels and several short stories, and had written several issues of Wonder Woman. Around 40 million copies of Picoult's books are in print in 34 languages, and the New England Bookseller Award for fiction came in 2003. The catalogue holds 42 books, opening with Songs of the Humpback Whale (1992) and including Harvesting the Heart, The Pact, Plain Truth and Salem Falls, alongside plays and graphic novels.

Chris Colfer

20 books• 6 series

The Land of Stories is Chris Colfer's main series, with fairy tales, twins and the characters of literature among its subject tags. The Wishing Spell (2012) and Struck by Lightning (2012) are the earliest of 20 catalogued titles, which reach Roswell Johnson Saves the Galaxy! (2025). A Tale of Magic, the Land of Stories picture books and the graphic novels extend the work. Magic, fairies, secrets and books and reading recur.

James Riley

16 books• 4 series

James Riley, born in 1977, writes fantasy for readers in grades 3 to 5. Story Thieves is the best known series, opening in 2015 and continuing through The Stolen Chapters (2016), Secret Origins (2017) and Pick the Plot (2018). Half Upon a Time (2010) opens the catalogue and its own trilogy, and the Revenge of Magic, Once Upon Another Time and The Dragon's Apprentice follow. Sixteen books are catalogued through 2025, with fairy tales, magic, monsters and books about books as recurring subjects.

Alyssa Satin Capucilli and many others is a shared byline covering 120 early-reader books published between 2002 and 2026, from Whose Hat Is It? to Fox Catches a Wave. Volumes are very short, with a median of 32 pages, and are written for children learning to read alone. Biscuit the puppy and Mittens the cat anchor much of the list, and the stories turn on animals, friendship and small daily outings. New titles keep arriving.

Jo Walton

24 books• 3 series

Jo Walton, born 1964, is a Welsh-Canadian writer of fantasy and science fiction, and a poet. Among Others took both the Hugo and the Nebula in 2012, Tooth and Claw the World Fantasy Award in 2004, Lifelode the Mythopoeic Award in 2010 and My Real Children the Tiptree Award in 2015. The Small Change books, Farthing, Ha'penny and Half a Crown, set alternate history against the cozy mystery. Walton's catalogue holds 24 titles from The King's Peace (2000) to Everybody's Perfect, dated 2026, with Tir Tanagiri and Thessaly the recorded series.

Tiffany Schmidt writes the Bookish Boyfriends and Once Upon a Crime Family series. Catalogue subjects include high schools, dating, love, books and reading, sisters, family life, organized crime and organ transplantation. Send Me a Sign (2012) is the earliest title, followed by Bright Before Sunrise (2014) and Hold Me Like a Breath (2015). Later titles include A Date with Darcy (2018) and Talk Nerdy to Me (2020), and Once Bitten, Twice Dead (2024) is the newest.

Ann Patchett

21 books• 1 series

Ann Patchett, born 2 December 1963, is an American author whose novel Bel Canto won both the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2002. A later novel, The Dutch House, reached the finalist list for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The catalogue records 21 Patchett books, from The Patron Saint of Liars (1992) to Whistler (2026), including Taft, The Magician's Assistant, Run, State of Wonder and Truth and Beauty (2004).

Diana Gabaldon

33 books• 12 series

Diana Gabaldon is best known for the Outlander book series. Gabaldon, born January 11, 1952, is an American author and television writer whose novels mix historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure and science fiction or fantasy. Starz premiered a television adaptation of the Outlander novels in 2014. The catalogue lists 33 titles, from Outlander / Cross Stitch (1991) to Besieged (2022), with Dragonfly in Amber (1992) and Voyager (1993) early in the run. Lord John Grey is a second named series. Time travel, Scotland, Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall appear among the subject headings.

Larry McMurtry

48 books• 10 series

Larry McMurtry (Larry Jeff McMurtry, June 3, 1936 to March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist and screenwriter. Most of McMurtry's fiction takes place in the Old West or in contemporary Texas, and the early novels Horseman, Pass By (1961), The Last Picture Show (1966) and Terms of Endearment (1975) trace the decline of small-town Texas life. Screen adaptations of McMurtry's work received 34 Oscar nominations and 13 wins. The catalogue lists 48 books from 1961 to Thalia (2017), including the Lonesome Dove and Berrybender Narratives series and non-fiction.

Ursula K. Le Guin

121 books• 18 series

Ursula K. Le Guin (born Ursula Kroeber, 21 October 1929 to 22 January 2018) was an American writer of speculative fiction, including science fiction set in the Hainish universe and the Earthsea fantasy series. First published in 1959, Le Guin wrote for nearly sixty years, producing more than twenty novels and over a hundred short stories alongside poetry, criticism, translations and children's books. Catalogued titles include April in Paris (1962), Rocannon's World (1966), A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) and The Left Hand of Darkness (1969). Le Guin series include Hainish Cycle, Catwings, Orsinia and Annals of the Western Shore.

Mo Willems

89 books• 9 series

Mo Willems makes picture books and early readers, funny and animal-led: the Pigeon books, Elephant & Piggie, Knuffle Bunny, Cat the Cat, Unlimited Squirrels and Leonardo. Friendship and emotions are the recurring subjects, and the books are short, a median of 57 pages. Ninety catalogued titles run from 1994 through Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (2003) and Knuffle Bunny (2004) to The Pigeon WON'T Pick a Color!, with another title scheduled for 2027.