Railroads book series in reading order

by Andrew Martin

Paul Theroux

68 books• 1 series

Travel writing and fiction have occupied Paul Theroux since 1968. Born in 1941, the American writer is catalogued here with 68 books, from Fong and the Indians (1968) to True North: On the Road in Canada (2026). The Great Railway Bazaar (1975) is his best known travelogue. The Mosquito Coast took the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1981, was filmed in 1986 and became a television series in 2021. Railways, voyages and description of place recur throughout the catalogue, which is ongoing.

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.

Andrew Martin writes historical mysteries, and the Jim Stringer series features a railway policeman in England. Railway titles fill much of the list, including The Necropolis Railway (2002), The Blackpool Highflyer (2004), The Lost Luggage Porter (2006) and Murder at Deviation Junction (2007). The Somme Stations (2011) and The Baghdad Railway Club (2012) come later. Martin's 23 books run from Bilton (1998) to Powder Smoke (2021), and the catalogue is dormant.

Tim Dorsey

28 books• 2 series

Serge A. Storms, a Florida serial killer, runs through all of Tim Dorsey's novels, which are catalogued as humorous crime fiction. Florida Roadkill (1999) opens a 28-book run that ends with The Maltese Iguana in 2023. Florida itself is the constant setting, and the 2010s were the busiest decade. No new Tim Dorsey title has appeared since 2023.

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.

Adrian Tchaikovsky

83 books• 21 series

Adrian Tchaikovsky is the name under which British author Adrian Czajkowski, born in June 1972, publishes fantasy and science fiction. The natural world shapes the writing, which often treats artificial intelligence and alienness through non-human characters. Tchaikovsky is best known for Shadows of the Apt and for the Children of Time series, which won a Hugo Award; Children of Time also took the 30th Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2016. The catalogue holds 86 books, opening with Empire in Black and Gold (2008), and Last Song of Ash is due in 2027. Further series include Final Architecture, Tyrant Philosophers, Dogs of War and Echoes of the Fall.

Margaret Wise Brown (May 23, 1910 - November 13, 1952) was an American writer of children's books, among them The Runaway Bunny (1942) and Goodnight Moon (1947), both with illustrations by Clement Hurd. Brown has been called the laureate of the nursery. Brown also published as Golden MacDonald for Doubleday, as Timothy Hay for Harper & Brothers, and, with Edith Thacher Hurd, as Juniper Sage for William R. Scott. The catalogue lists 166 books, opening with When the Wind Blew (1937), then I Like Bugs and The Steam Roller (1938). Stories in rhyme, rabbits, bedtime and sound recur in the subjects.

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.

Gertrude Chandler Warner (April 16, 1890 to August 30, 1979) was an American author who wrote mostly for children. Warner wrote the original book of The Boxcar Children, published in 1942, and the next 18 books in the series. Earlier catalogued titles include The House of Delight (1916) and The World in a Barn (1927), and Surprise Island (1949) and The Yellow House Mystery (1952) came after The Boxcar Children. Orphans, brothers and sisters, and mystery stories are among the subjects. The catalogue also carries Boxcar Children lines such as Adventures of Benny and Watch and Boxcar Children Great Adventure under Warner's name.

Jonathan London has 141 catalogued books dating from 1992 to 2022, the Froggy series among them. Froggy Gets Dressed (1992) is the earliest title, alongside The Lion Who Had Asthma and Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back from the same year. Other series include Duck and Hippo, Aaron's Wilderness, Shawn and Keeper and Brown Bear. Subjects include picture books, stories in rhyme, children's poetry, animals, wolves and imagination. Here Comes Truck Driver Hippo (2022) is the most recent title.

Tish Rabe is a children's book author who has written or adapted more than 40 Dr. Seuss books since the death of Dr. Seuss. Rabe's series include Cat in the Hat's Learning Library and Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That, and the catalogue also groups titles under Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and Disney. The 102 catalogued books start with Sing with Me My Name is Ernie (1991) and My Name Is Grover (1992) and reach The Start of Something (2022). Stories in rhyme and animals are among the subjects. Rabe lives in New York City and Mystic, Connecticut.

Sherri Duskey Rinker

31 books• 3 series

Sherri Duskey Rinker is an American children's author from Illinois who writes picture books in rhyme about machines. Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site (2011) opens the catalogue and heads a series of its own, with Mighty, Mighty Construction Site (2017) and Construction Site on Christmas Night (2018) after it. Steam Train, Dream Train (2013) started a second run, extended into counting and colour books in 2016. The Revver the Speedway Squirrel novels move to middle grade. 31 titles are catalogued through A Thankful Night (2024).

Walter R. Borneman writes history and biography, with subject tags covering the Second World War, United States naval operations and American railroads. A Climbing Guide to Colorado's Fourteeners (1978) is the first of 15 catalogued books, and Guidebooks is among the subject tags, alongside Colorado's Other Mountains (1984) and 14,000 Feet (2005) in the list. Other titles include 1812 (2004), The French and Indian War (2006), Polk (2008) and Rival Rails (2010). Brothers Down (2019) is the newest.