Sociology book series in reading order

by Anthony Giddens

by Edward Humes

Anthony Giddens writes sociology and social theory. The catalogue of 42 books opens with Capitalism and Modern Social Theory: An Analysis of the Writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber (1971) and closes with Key concepts of sociology (2018). Social structure, class, political sociology, globalization and capitalism are the standing subjects, and titles such as Central Problems in Social Theory (1979) and Modernity and Self-Identity (1991) sit in the middle of the run. A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism is a multi-volume project, its second part being The Nation-State and Violence (1987). Textbooks form a separate group within the catalogue.

Wensley Clarkson is an English true crime writer, biographer and television producer, born in 1956. The catalogue holds 74 books dated 1991 to 2021, from Dog eat dog (1991) to Serial Killers of Russia (2021). Murderers, organised crime, serial murder and female offenders are the standing subjects, with case studies of British crime running through the list. Clarkson also published a biography of Quentin Tarantino in 1995. Books average 288 pages, and the 2000s were the peak decade.

H.G. Wells

152 books• 8 series

H.G. Wells, born Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946), was an English writer of more than forty novels and dozens of short stories. Science fiction novels are the work Wells is most known for today, and Wells shares the title of father of science fiction with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback. The non-fiction covers social commentary, politics, history, popular science, satire, biography and autobiography. The catalogue opens with The Chronic Argonauts (1888) and includes The Time Machine (1895), The Wonderful Visit (1895) and The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896). Utopias, civilization and philosophy appear among the subjects.

Maggie Hartley writes non-fiction accounts of foster care in Britain. The catalogue holds 31 books, opening with Tiny Prisoners in 2016 and reaching Please Don't Hurt Me in 2026, with Please Don't Take Her scheduled for 2027. The Maggie Hartley Foster Carer Story series carries most of the run and draws on Hartley's own career in foster care, the children placed with her, and the teenage mothers and ex-foster children whose stories sit alongside theirs.

Cathy Pickens has 10 books in the catalogue, published between 2004 and 2022. Southern Fried Mystery is the series name, and Avery Andrews, women lawyers, Charleston, South Carolina, and haunted places are among the recorded subjects. Southern Fried (2004) is the first title, followed by Done Gone Wrong (2005), Hog Wild (2007), Hush My Mouth (2008) and Can't Never Tell (2009). Later titles include Charlotte True Crime Stories (2019), Triangle True Crime Stories (2021) and True Crime Stories of Upstate South Carolina (2022).

Lisa Wingate

32 books• 10 series

Lisa Wingate has 32 books in this catalogue, from Tending Roses (2001) to The Last Father-Daughter Dance (2026). Texas is among the subjects, and the Wingate series include Texas Hill Country, Moses Lake, Daily, Texas, Carolina Chronicles and Blue Sky Hill, alongside standalone novels and non-fiction. The subjects also cover Christian fiction, Christian romance, historical fiction, farm life, sisters and town life. Good Hope Road and Texas Cooking both appeared in 2003.

Graham Hancock

27 books• 1 series

Graham Hancock writes about ancient civilisations, lost continents and the record of early exploration. The catalogue starts in travel and reportage, with Africa Guide 1980 (1979), Journey Through Pakistan (1982), Ethiopia (1985), AIDS (1986) and Lords of Poverty (1989). 27 titles are catalogued in all, the last being Visionary: The Mysterious Origins of Human Consciousness in 2022.

Jilly Cooper

50 books• 5 series

Dame Jilly Cooper (1937-2025) was an English journalist who became a novelist. Cooper started in journalism and published non-fiction on class, animals and marriage before turning to fiction with the 1975 romance Emily. The Rutshire Chronicles are her longest and best known sequence. Humour, English social class, horsemanship and manners run through the work. Fifty catalogued books open with the collection Jolly Super (1970) and close with Tackle! (2023).

Noam Chomsky

134 books• 4 series

Noam Chomsky (Avram Noam Chomsky, born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, political activist and social critic, sometimes called the father of modern linguistics. Chomsky helped found cognitive science, is a major figure in analytic philosophy, and holds posts as laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and institute professor emeritus at MIT. The catalogue lists 134 books, starting with Syntactic Structures (1957) and reaching The Myth of American Idealism (2024). Subjects range from generative grammar to world politics and terrorism.

John Glatt is a British American writer of biographies and true crime, born in London, who moved to New York in 1981. The catalogue lists 31 books from Rage & Roll (1993) to Tangled Vines (2023). Biographies include River Phoenix: The Biography (1995), The Chieftains: The Authorized Biography (1997) and The Royal House of Monaco (1998). Other titles include For I Have Sinned (1998), Evil Twins (1999), Cradle of Death (2000) and Cries in the Desert (2002). Subjects include murder case studies, film actors, rock music, princes and family.

Allan Zullo, born on 23 November 1947, is an American non-fiction writer who has written or co-written more than 120 paperbacks for adults and younger readers. Zullo produced the Hall of Shame sports books with Bruce Nash, the Ten True Tales series for children and the Haunted Kids books, and he wrote A Boomer's Guide to Grandparenting with his wife Kathryn. He also created the newspaper comic strip The Ghost Story Club, which ran from 1995 to 1998. Raised in Rockford, Illinois, Zullo took a journalism degree from Northern Illinois University in 1969; the catalogue lists 104 titles between 1987 and 2019.

Edward Humes is an American journalist whose nonfiction spans 18 catalogued books from 1990 to 2022. The listing groups the work into four series: True Crime, Environmental, Medical and Food. Buried Secrets (1990) opens the list, a true account of serial murder, black magic and drug-running on the U.S. border. Other titles include Murderer with a Badge (1992), Mississippi Mud (1994), Mean Justice (1999), Baby ER (2000) and Monkey Girl (2007), and The Forever Witness (2022) is the newest.

Martine Agassi and Elizabeth Verdick share this catalogue entry, which holds 14 books for young children dated from 2002 to 2023. Hands Are Not for Hitting (2002) is the first title and Tears Are Not Forever (2023) the latest. Teeth Are Not for Biting (2003), Words Are Not for Hurting (2004), Pacifiers Are Not Forever (2007) and Voices Are Not for Yelling (2015) also appear. Recorded subjects include toddlers, behavior, emotions and etiquette for children, and the genre on record is Early Readers. The median book is 24 pages.