Dysfunctional families book series in reading order

by Jennifer L. Holm

by Gerard Way

by Ellen Hopkins

V.C. Andrews was the name used by Cleo Virginia Andrews (June 6, 1923 to December 19, 1986), an American novelist best known for Flowers in the Attic (1979). That novel led to four sequels and two film adaptations. The publisher never classed the books as Young Adult, yet their young protagonists have drawn teenage readers for decades. After Andrews died in 1986, a ghostwriter first hired to finish two incomplete manuscripts went on publishing new books under the V.C. Andrews name. The catalogue carries 108 books under that name from 1979 to 2025, across series such as Dollanganger, Casteel, Cutler, Landry, Logan and De Beers.

Jennifer L. Holm

66 books• 13 series

Jennifer L. Holm, born in 1968, writes for children in both prose and comics, and holds three Newbery Honors and an Eisner Award. Babymouse, an imaginative mouse at school, recurs across the Babymouse and BIG Adventures of Babymouse books, with Squish, Sunny, My First Comics and Evil Princess vs. the Brave Knight as the other graphic series. May Amelia, Boston Jane, Turtle in Paradise and The Fourteenth Goldfish sit alongside them in prose. Holm's 66 catalogued books run from Our Only May Amelia (1999) to Sunny Figures It Out (2025), at a median of 126 pages.

James Patterson

510 books• 73 series

James Patterson, born on March 22, 1947, is an American writer whose catalogue here holds 514 books published from 1976 to 2027. The run opens with The Thomas Berryman Number (1976), and Along Came a Spider (1992) and Kiss the Girls (1995) follow later. Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, Witch & Wizard, NYPD Red, Private, Middle School and the Women's Murder Club are among the Patterson series, alongside standalone thrillers, non-fiction and romance. Marshall Karp shares the credit on 5 of the books. Patterson's sales exceed 425 million copies, and Patterson was the first person to sell one million e-books. Forbes ranked Patterson the highest-paid author in 2016, for a third year running, and the National Book Foundation gave Patterson the Literarian Award in November 2015. 27 Stars is scheduled for 2027.

Lisa Lutz

13 books• 3 series

Izzy Spellman investigates for a family-run detective agency in Lisa Lutz's comic mysteries. The Spellman Files (2007) opens that series, and 13 catalogued books reach The Accomplice in 2022, with standalone novels and non-fiction beside them. Dysfunctional families, women detectives and humour run through the subjects.

Josephine Cox (1938-2020), also published as Jo Cox, was an English novelist of family saga and romance. Her books were frequent bestsellers, and UK Public Lending Right figures often placed her among the three most borrowed authors in the country. Dysfunctional families, domestic life and English social custom run through the work. Sixty-four catalogued titles open with Her Father's Sins (1988), include the Emma Grady Trilogy, and reach The Winter Secret (2026).

Elin Hilderbrand is an American novelist, born July 17, 1969, who writes mystery and romance. Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket, and the novels are typically set on and around the island. The 39 catalogued books start with The Beach Club (2000) and reach The Thoroughbreds (2026). Named series include Nantucket, Paradise and 28 Summers. Subject headings return to family secrets, female friendship, summer resorts and love stories. In 2019 New York magazine called Hilderbrand "the queen of beach reads".

Susan Mallery is an American romance novelist born in 1970, whose books are set in small, tight-knit communities and give pets a prominent role. The catalogue counts 201 books from Tender Loving Care (1991) onward, including early titles published as Susan Macias. Series include Fool's Gold, Desert Rogues, Hometown Heartbreakers, Happily Inc., Marcelli, Buchanans, Blackberry Island and Mischief Bay. The Bookstore Diaries (2026) is the newest release, and Friend Request is due in 2027.

Ellen Hopkins

44 books• 7 series

Ellen Hopkins, born March 26, 1955, is a novelist with several New York Times bestselling titles, read largely by a teenage and young adult audience. Novels in verse are a recorded form in the catalogue, which takes in family problems, emotional problems and interpersonal relations. Hopkins also has a nonfiction strand for younger readers, and the earliest catalogued titles include Air Devils (2000), Orcas: High Seas Supermen (2000), Freshwater Fishing (2001) and The Thunderbirds (2001). The 44 catalogued books span 2000 to 2024 and take in the Crank, Burned and Tricks series.

Sophie Kinsella

37 books• 4 series

Sophie Kinsella was the pen name of Madeleine Sophie Wickham (12 December 1969 to 10 December 2025), an English author best known for the Shopaholic series. The Kinsella catalogue holds 37 books from 1995 to 2024; early titles such as 40 Love / The Tennis Party (1995) and Cocktails for Three (2000) appeared under the name Madeleine Wickham. The first two Shopaholic books became the 2009 film Confessions of a Shopaholic, and Can You Keep a Secret? (2003) was filmed in 2019. Kinsella's books sold more than 50 million copies in over 60 countries. Shopping, weddings and Becky Bloomwood appear among the subjects.

Philip Pullman

51 books• 10 series

Philip Pullman's catalogue covers fantasy and children's adventure, with detective stories, fairy tales and graphic novels alongside. His Dark Materials and The Book of Dust are the sequences it is built around, joined by the Sally Lockhart mysteries, the New Cut Gang, the Canongate Myths and The Adventures of John Blake. Sixty-five catalogued titles run from The Haunted Storm (1972) through The Ruby in the Smoke (1985) to The Rose Field in 2025.

London's gangster underworld is Martina Cole's territory. The British crime writer has 29 catalogued books published between 1992 and 2025, from Dangerous Lady (1992) to No Regret (2025). Dangerous Lady, The Jump, The Take and The Runaway were adapted as television dramas, and UK sales pass fourteen million. Two named series sit in the catalogue, DI Kate Burrows and Maura Ryan, alongside standalone novels and non-fiction. Criminals, families and crime in London are the standing subjects. Cole is actively publishing.

T. Greenwood writes psychological fiction about families under strain, mothers and daughters, dysfunction, Munchausen syndrome by proxy, the moment a life changes. Sixteen books span 1999 to 2026, from Breathing Water through Undressing the Moon, Two Rivers, Grace, Bodies of Water and Where I Lost Her to Everything Has Happened (2026).

Kimberley Chambers, born 13 June 1967 and living in Hornchurch, Greater London, is an English novelist of crime family sagas, set for the most part in Essex or East London and told largely from the villain's point of view, with a streak of humour. Payback, Tainted Love and Life of Crime each reached number one on the Sunday Times list. The catalogue holds 20 books, from Billie Jo (2008) to The Brothers (2024), with Born Evil (2009), The Feud (2010) and The Traitor (2010) early in the run. Butlers and Mitchells & O'Haras are the two series credited to Chambers. Gangsters, criminals, adultery and mothers and daughters appear in the subject records.

Gennifer Choldenko

19 books• 1 series

Gennifer Choldenko, born in 1957, is an American author of books for children and teenagers. Al Capone Does My Shirts reached the finalist lists for both the Carnegie Medal in Britain and the Newbery Medal in the United States. Choldenko's series is Tales from Alcatraz, and recorded subjects include Alcatraz Island, autism, siblings and family life. The 19 listed books begin with Moonstruck (1997) and reach The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman (2024).

Gerard Way

18 books• 7 series

Gerard Arthur Way, born April 9, 1977, is an American singer, songwriter and comic book writer who co-founded the rock band My Chemical Romance and sang lead for it. Way released a solo album, Hesitant Alien, in 2014. In comics, Way co-created and wrote The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys and The Umbrella Academy, the second of which Netflix adapted into a four-season series. The catalogue lists 19 titles from Apocalypse Suite (2007) onward, with subjects covering superhero and science fiction comics, robots, siblings and dysfunctional families. The Umbrella Academy: Plan B is dated 2027.

A.S. King

12 books• 1 series

A.S. King, born Amy Sarig King on March 10, 1970, is an American writer of short fiction and young adult fiction. King received the 2022 Margaret Edwards Award and is the only author to win the Michael L. Printz Award twice, for Dig (2019) and for editing and contributing to The Collectors: Stories (2023). The catalogue lists 12 books from The Dust of 100 Dogs (2009) to Pick the Lock (2024), including Please Ignore Vera Dietz (2010) and Ask the Passengers (2012).

Sara Zarr

11 books

Sara Zarr is an American writer, born October 3, 1970, who grew up in San Francisco and lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Story of a Girl (2007), Zarr's first novel, was a National Book Award finalist, and nine more novels followed. The catalogue lists 11 titles, including Sweethearts (2008), How to Save a Life (2011), The Lucy Variations (2013), Gem & Dixie (2017) and A Song Called Home (2022). Subjects include family problems, friendship, forgiveness and self-esteem.