Neighbors book series in reading order

by Cynthia Rylant

by Annie Barrows

by Leslie Meier

by Alexander McCall Smith

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.

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

131 books• 11 series

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, born in 1933, wrote 131 catalogued books for children and young adults across half a century. Shiloh, a quartet of children's novels, won the Newbery Medal in 1992, and the Alice McKinley series became one of the most frequently challenged sets of books of the early 21st century. The Boy/Girl Battle, Bessledorf Mysteries, Witch Saga, Cat Pack and Roxie and the Hooligans fill out the list, which runs from To Make a Wee Moon (1969) to Roxie and the Hooligans at Buzzard's Roost (2018). Family life, schools, friendship and siblings are the constant subjects, at a median of 154 pages.

Annie Barrows

27 books• 4 series

Annie Barrows writes children's books and is best known for Ivy & Bean, a series about two best friends that began with Ivy and Bean in 2006. Barrows was born in San Diego, California, in 1962 and has worked as an editor. Her other series include Iggy Frangi, Miri and Molly and Ghost Guild, and she has also written for adult readers. With her aunt, Mary Ann Shaffer, Barrows co-wrote The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a novel later made into a film. The catalogue lists 27 books from 2006 to 2026, with The Lost Three as the newest.

Nora Roberts

279 books• 37 series

Nora Roberts, born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950, is an American writer of romance under that name. As J. D. Robb, Roberts writes police procedurals with science-fiction elements, and has also published as Jill March and, in the UK, as Sarah Hardesty. This listing carries 280 Roberts books, opening with Irish Thoroughbred (1981); The Missing is scheduled for 2027. Series on the page include the In Death Universe, the MacGregors, Night Tales, the Calhoun Women, the Chesapeake Bay Saga, Irish Hearts and the O'Hurleys.

Debbie Macomber

245 books• 35 series

Debbie Macomber, born October 22, 1948, is an American author of romance novels and contemporary women's fiction. Six Macomber novels became made-for-TV movies, and the Cedar Cove novels became a television series of the same name, with Macomber serving as executive producer on the adaptations. Macomber won the first fan-voted Quill Award for romance in 2005 and holds a RITA Award and a lifetime achievement award from the Romance Writers of America. The catalogue counts 245 books between Starlight (1983) and A Date with Santa (2026). Series include Heart of Texas, Midnight Sons, Navy, Those Manning Men, Orchard Valley and Angels Everywhere.

Alexander McCall Smith

165 books• 25 series

Sir Alexander McCall Smith, born 24 August 1948, is a Scottish legal scholar and novelist who created The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Born and raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), McCall Smith was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and worked on medical law and bioethics committees. English-language sales passed 40 million by 2010, with translations into 46 languages. The catalogue lists 165 books from White Hippo (1980) to 2026, including 44 Scotland Street, Isabel Dalhousie, Detective Varg and children's titles.

Victoria Hamilton writes cozy mysteries around collectors, bakers and old houses. Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark (2009) opens the catalogue, A Deadly Grind (2012) begins the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, and Bran New Death starts the Merry Muffin books. Puns carry the titles: Bowled Over, Freezer I'll Shoot, Muffin But Murder and No Mallets Intended. Twenty-eight titles run to Masher of Ceremonies in 2026.

Neta Jackson has 101 books in the catalogue, published between 1974 and 2021. Living Together in a World Falling Apart (1974) is the earliest, and Hero Tales, Vol. IV (2021) is the newest. The Yada Yada Prayer Group is among the character entries, and series include Yada Yada House of Hope, Trailblazer, Hero Tales, SouledOut Sisters, Windy City Neighbors, Pet Parables and Secret Adventures. Subjects include Christian life, Christian women, missionaries, prayer groups, female friendship, orphans, biography and children's fiction.

Kyla May writes children's fiction for grades 1 to 3, with 20 books from 2013 to 2026. Four My titles came first in 2013: My Delicious Life, My Glamorous Life, My New Life and My Stylish Life, and diaries appear among the subjects. A run of Pug books followed from 2019, including Pug Blasts Off, Pug's Snow Day, Scaredy Pug and Pug's Road Trip. Subjects also include friendship, school, neighbors and dogs. Pug's Cupcake (2026) is the latest title.

Shari Lapena

12 books• 1 series

Psychological thrillers about married couples and family secrets make up most of Shari Lapena's work. Lapena published Things Go Flying (2007) and Happiness Economics (2011) before The Couple Next Door (2016) turned the catalogue toward suspense. All 12 catalogued books stand alone, so reading order follows publication date and nothing else. Getting Away with Murder is the newest, and Lapena has titles catalogued through 2026.

Fredrik Backman

13 books• 5 series

Swedish author Fredrik Backman, born in 1981, also works as a blogger and columnist. A Man Called Ove (2012) opens his catalogue of 13 books, which runs to My Friends (2025). Other titles include My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, Britt-Marie Was Here, Beartown, Us Against You, Anxious People and The Winners. His books were number one bestsellers in Sweden and have been published in more than twenty-five languages. Subjects include hockey teams, neighbours, friendship, and fathers and sons.

Leslie Meier's listed books run from 1991 to 2026, opening with Mistletoe Murder / Mail Order Murder and reaching Countdown to Christmas Murder. Meier's series are Lucy Stone and Carole and Poopsie Mystery. Lucy Stone appears in the subjects alongside women sleuths, reporters, librarians and Maine. Other titles include Tippy Toe Murder (1994), Trick or Treat Murder (1996), Back to School Murder (1997) and Turkey Day Murder (2000). Meier is still publishing.

William Wallace Johnstone, October 28, 1938 to February 8, 2004, was an American author of westerns, horror and survivalist fiction. The Devil's Kiss opened the run in 1981, followed by The Last of the Dog Team (1981), Out of the Ashes (1983) and Anarchy in the Ashes (1984). Series filed under the name include Ashes, First Mountain Man, Smoke Jensen, Last Gunfighter, Blood Bond and Duff MacCallister, and subjects include outlaws, frontier and pioneer life, revenge and Texas. The catalogue carries 544 titles under the Johnstone name dated 1981 to 2026, well past the 2004 death date, and 400 of them carry a William W. Johnstone credit.

Lori Copeland, born June 12, 1941, is an American novelist with more than 95 books, who wrote romance before moving to Christian fiction. The catalogue records 101 books from 1983, the year of A Tempting Stranger and Playing for Keeps, to Barefoot Hearts (2020). Series include Heavenly Daze, Men of the Saddle, Amish of Apple Grove, Sisters of Mercy Flats, Morning Shade Mysteries and Belles of Timber Creek. Westerns, historical romance, widows and Texas appear in the subjects.

Marie Harte's catalogue holds 136 books, from Lurin's Surrender (2004) to Between Bloode and Gods (2026). Subject headings cover contemporary romance, fantasy romance and erotica, with recurring subjects such as mechanics, contractors, veterans, neighbours, brothers and family life. Series include Cougar Falls, PowerUp!, Between the Shadows, Storm Lords, Talson Temptations, Wicked Warrens, Dawn Endeavor, Ethereal Foes and Circe's Recruits. Titles from 2005 include Engaging Gren, Master of Seduction and Thief of Mardu.

Ann M. Martin

446 books• 24 series

Ann Matthews Martin, born August 12, 1955, is an American writer of children's and young adult fiction and a Smith College graduate. The Baby-Sitters Club, first published in 1986, is the series Martin is known best for, and Martin remains involved with the series and its spin-offs. The catalogue lists 446 books, beginning with Inside Out and Bummer Summer in 1983. Related lines include Baby-Sitters Club Mysteries, California Diaries, Kids in Ms. Colman's Class, Main Street and Doll People. Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter: A Graphic Novel (2025) is the newest listed title.

Alyssa Satin Capucilli

142 books• 11 series

Alyssa Satin Capucilli, born November 2, 1957, is an American children's author whose most notable work is the Biscuit series. Biscuit, the opening book, appeared in 1996, and the series had sold more than 21 million copies worldwide by 2016. Biscuit books belong to HarperCollins' I Can Read! line. The catalogue lists 142 books from Peekaboo Bunny (1994) to Biscuit's Puppy Sleepover (2025), and other series include Katy Duck, Tulip and Rex, This Bear and Library Fish.

Ron Roy, born 1940, is an American children's writer working mostly in mystery. Three series carry the name: A to Z Mysteries from 1997, Capital Mysteries from 2001 and Calendar Mysteries from 2009, with A to Z Animal Mysteries and an A to Z Super Edition line alongside. Roy taught fourth grade in Connecticut for ten years, sold a first book in 1978 and wrote full time after that. The catalogue holds 90 titles dated 1978 to 2024, short at a median 84 pages, and reaches Dolphin Detectives (2024).

Sarah Mayberry is an Australian author of contemporary romance and a television screenwriter. Mayberry has written novels for Harlequin Mills and Boon and scripts for the soap opera Neighbours, worked as a storyliner on the New Zealand medical drama Shortland Street, and co-created the teen series Karaoke High with Kirsty McKenzie. In 2015 Mayberry won Favourite Erotic Romance at the Australian Romance Readers Awards. The 48 catalogued books run from Can't Get Enough (2005) to Sweetheart (2021), and Neighbours Novellas and Carmody Brothers are among the series.

Karina Yan Glaser, born in 1979 or 1980, is an American author. Glaser is known for The Vanderbeekers, a seven-volume children's series about a family with five children and several pets in Harlem. By the final book's release in 2023, the Vanderbeekers titles had sold more than half a million copies and appeared in 13 languages. The New York Times Book Review listed the first volume among its notable children's books for 2017, and the second reached that paper's bestseller list for middle-grade children's books. Nine books are catalogued in all, adding A Duet For Home (2022) and The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli (2025).