Amy Tan Reading Order

18 books (1992–2014)

Amy Tan edited or contributed to 18 anthology collections published between 1992 and 2014, covering genres including young adult fiction, short stories, essays, and creative nonfiction. These anthologies showcase work by multiple authors and span themes from contemporary Asian American fiction to urban youth narratives and California literature. The series is complete and should be read in publication order, beginning with American Voices. Readers interested in diverse contemporary writing across multiple genres will find these collections valuable for exploring different authorial voices and perspectives.

Start with American Voices, the first of 18 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	American Voices 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Short Story: 30 Masterpieces 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Charlie Chan is Dead: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Growing Up Female: Stories By Women Writers From the American Mosaic 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Mid-life Confidential 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Out of the Mold 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	The Best American Short Stories 1999 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	40 Short Stories: A Portable Anthology 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	The Eloquent Essay 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Big City Cool: Short Stories About Urban Youth 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	40 Model Essays 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The Little Big Book of California 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Rotten English 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	First Words: Earliest Writing from Favorite Contemporary Authors 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Hard Listening: The Greatest Rock Band Ever (of Authors) Tells All 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	The Boomer List 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

2 books (1992–1994)

Amy Tan's Children's series comprises two complete works published between 1992 and 1994. The Moon Lady and Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat should be read in publication order. Both titles blend Tan's storytelling with themes drawn from Chinese culture and tradition, offering young readers accessible narratives grounded in her distinctive voice.

Start with The Moon Lady and read in order.

#	Title
1	The Moon Lady 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

4 books (2003–2024)

Amy Tan's Non-Fiction series comprises four books published between 2003 and 2024, with the collection still ongoing. These works should be read in publication order, beginning with The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings. The series includes The Opposite of Fate, Post Pregnancy Diet, Where The Past Begins: A Writers Memoir, and The Backyard Bird Chronicles, offering insights across memoir, wellness, and nature writing.

Start with The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings, the first of 4 books in the Non-Fiction series.

#	Title
1	The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Post Pregnancy Diet 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Where The Past Begins: A Writers Memoir 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Backyard Bird Chronicles 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

17 books (1993–2012)

Amy Tan's Selected Shorts series comprises 17 complete collections published between 1993 and 2012, organized thematically around topics like family, travel, food, mystery, and betrayal. Each standalone volume gathers short stories selected by the author, making them accessible entry points for readers interested in specific themes rather than a continuous narrative. The series should be read in publication order beginning with For Better and for Worse to experience Tan's curation evolving across nearly two decades.

Start with For Better and for Worse, the first of 17 books in the Selected Shorts series.

#	Title
1	For Better and for Worse 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Even More Laughs 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Timeless Classics 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Edith Wharton 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Falling in Love 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Family Matters 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Food Fictions 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Pets! 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Tales of Betrayal 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Travel Tales 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Are We There Yet? 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	A Touch of Magic 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The William Hurt Collection 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Whodunit? 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	American Classics 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	New American Stories 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Poe! 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (2012–2012)

1 book (2002–2002)

#	Title
1	Big City Cool: Short Stories About Urban Youth(With: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.,Walter Dean Myers,Judith Cofer,Neal Shusterman,Cherylene Lee,M. Jerry Weiss,Helen S. Weiss,Elennora Tate,Eugenia Collier,Paul Many,Michael Rosovsky) 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

6 books (1989–2013)

Amy Tan's six standalone novels, published between 1989 and 2013, should be read in publication order beginning with The Joy Luck Club. Each book stands alone as a complete work, though all are informed by Tan's distinctive voice and thematic interests. The series is now complete and encompasses the full range of her novel-length fiction across the young adult and literary fiction genres.

Start with The Joy Luck Club, the first of 6 books in the Standalone Novels series.

#	Title
1	The Joy Luck Club 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Kitchen God's Wife 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Hundred Secret Senses 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Bonesetter's Daughter 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Saving Fish from Drowning 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Valley of Amazement 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible