Curiosities and wonders book series in reading order

by Terry Deary

by Adam Frost

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.

Terry Deary

340 books• 41 series

Terry Deary is a British children's author, born in 1946, best known as the writer of the Horrible Histories series. Deary has written 351 books, which have sold more than 38 million copies in over 45 languages, and has ranked among Britain's best-selling authors since 1994. In 2012 Deary was the tenth most-borrowed author in British libraries, and Books for Keeps magazine named Deary the Outstanding Children's Non-Fiction Author of the 20th Century. The catalogue lists 340 titles from Teaching Through Theatre (1977) onward, including the True Stories and Tudor Terror series.

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.

Tracey West, born October 1, 1965, is a children's author who writes for licensed series such as Pokémon and SpongeBob SquarePants. The catalogue lists 356 titles from 1988 to 2027, reaching Heart of the Ruby Dragon (2026), with Claw of the Diamond Dragon due in 2027. Named series include Pokémon chapter books, novelizations and readers, Naruto Chapter Books, LEGO Ninjago Reader, Bakugan Chapter Books, Pixie Tricks, Pet Vet Club and Scream Shop Pick Your Path. Dragon Masters and Heroes in Training appear as recurring lines. Ninja, dragons and plot-your-own stories appear among the subject headings.

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.

Donald J. Sobol (1924-2012) was an American author known for children's books, above all the Encyclopedia Brown mysteries. Each Encyclopedia Brown volume gathers short cases for the reader to solve alongside the boy detective, starting with Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective (1963). Sobol's 55 catalogued titles run from The Wright Brothers At Kitty Hawk (1961) to a 2013 collection, peak in the 1980s, and hold a median length of 110 pages.

Adam Frost is a British children's author, born in 1972, whose 26 catalogued books span 2007 to 2024. Ralph the Magic Rabbit (2007) reached the Waterstones Children's Book Prize shortlist. The Epic Book of Epicness took the Blue Peter Book Award, and The Awesome Book of Space won BookTrust's Sainsbury's prize. Frost's series include Fox Investigates, Zoo Stories and Danny Danger. Frost also produces information graphics for The Guardian and teaches the subject.

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).

Trivia and general-knowledge books make up the Bill O'Neill catalogue. The Big Book of Random Facts ran to five volumes in 2016 alone, alongside The Big Book of American Facts and two volumes of Trivia Madness. 89 titles have appeared between 2016 and 2024, the most recent being The World's Greatest Mysteries (2024). Curiosities, education and games are the recorded subjects, and books run to a median 218 pages.