Curiosities and wonders book series in reading order

Erich von Däniken

31 books• 1 series

Erich von Daniken was a Swiss author of pseudoscientific books arguing that extraterrestrials shaped early human culture. Chariots of The Gods (1968) opens the catalogue and became a bestseller; Return to the Stars (1970), Gods from Outer Space (1972), Miracles of the Gods (1975) and Signs of the Gods (1980) followed. Thirty-one titles are catalogued to 2022. Scientists and academics reject the claims and class the work as pseudohistory and pseudoarchaeology. Ancient civilisations, UFOs and human-alien encounters are the recorded subjects.

Matthew Reilly is an Australian action thriller writer, born 2 July 1974, whose books sell internationally. The catalogue lists 41 titles, from Contest (1996) and Ice Station (1998) to The Detective (2025). Reilly's series are Jack West Jr., Shane Schofield, Hover Car Racer, Troll Mountain and Tournament, plus a set of short stories. Subject tags include antiquities, automobile racing, action and adventure, and children's fiction.

Lauren Oliver

25 books• 5 series

Lauren Oliver, born Laura Suzanne Schechter on November 8, 1982, is an American novelist whose work includes numerous young adult novels. Before I Fall (2010) opens the catalogue and was filmed in 2017. The Delirium trilogy comprises Delirium, Pandemonium and Requiem. Amazon Studios made Panic into a series, with Oliver as creator, writer and showrunner. Liesl & Po, a middle-grade novel, was a 2012 E. B. White Read Aloud Award nominee. The catalogue lists 26 books through A Fatal Delivery (2026), with The Sleepwalker due in 2027.

Conn Iggulden writes historical fiction about empires and wars: the Emperor books on Rome, the Conqueror series around Genghis Khan, the Wars of the Roses, the Athenian novels and a Nero trilogy. The Gates of Rome (2002) opens a catalogue of 42 books reaching Inferno in 2026, and The Dangerous Book for Boys (2006) heads the non-fiction. The Empire of Salt fantasy appeared under the name C.F. Iggulden.

Chuck Palahniuk

28 books• 6 series

Fight Club (1996) was the first published novel by Chuck Palahniuk and became a film under the same title. Palahniuk, born Charles Michael Palahniuk on February 21, 1962, is an American novelist who calls the work transgressional fiction; the output spans 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, two adult coloring books and short stories. The catalogue lists 29 books, including Invisible Monsters (1999), Survivor (1999), Choke (2001), Lullaby (2002), Diary (2003), Haunted (2004) and Rant (2007), up to Shock Induction (2024), with Galleria due in 2027. Subject headings name satire, horror, humour and disfigured persons, and Fight Club Graphic Novels with Cameron Stewart is a listed series.

Dan Gutman

198 books• 23 series

Dan Gutman is an American writer of mainly children's fiction, born in 1955. The best-known lines are the My Weird School books, The Genius Files and the Baseball Card Adventures, which began with Honus & Me. The catalogue holds 198 books from It Ain't Cheating If You Don't Get Caught (1990) to Mrs. Towne Is a Clown! (2026), including early baseball titles such as Baseball Babylon (1992). Subjects include schools, teachers, baseball, time travel and humorous stories.

Who HQ is the credit on 429 children's nonfiction biographies in the catalogue, published from 2002 to 2026. The run opens with Who Was Albert Einstein?, Who Was Amelia Earhart? and Who Was Ben Franklin? (all 2002) and reaches Who Is Vera Wang (2026). Subjects include biography, history and juvenile nonfiction for readers aged 8 to 12. Other names credited on some of the books include Megan Stine (7), John Hinderliter (7) and Nico Medina (4).