Barbara Kingsolver Reading Order

12 books (1994–2017)

This complete anthology series edited by Barbara Kingsolver spans twelve volumes published between 1994 and 2017, encompassing collections of literary fiction, essays, creative nonfiction, and thematic compilations. The series should be read in publication order, beginning with Mid-life Confidential and concluding with Letters to a Young Farmer. These anthologies feature contributions from various writers and explore diverse topics including motherhood, agriculture, spirituality, and contemporary literature. The series represents Kingsolver's work as an editor curating voices across multiple genres and perspectives.

Start with Mid-life Confidential, the first of 12 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	Mid-life Confidential 1994Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Eloquent Essay 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Best American Short Stories 2001 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Writers on Writing 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Maternal Is Political 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Sisters 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Hope Beneath Our Feet 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	To Eat with Grace 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Plough Quarterly No. 4: Earth 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Way More than Luck 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Letters to a Young Farmer 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (2023–2023)

#	Title
1	Coyote's Wild Home 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

28 books (1955–2019)

Faber Stories is a complete anthology series of 28 literary fiction collections and stories published between 1955 and 2019. The series features work by renowned authors including Flannery O'Connor, Robert Aickman, Julia O'Faolain, Vikram Chandra, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Sally Rooney, among many others. These collections should be read in publication order, beginning with Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man Is Hard To Find. Each volume stands independently, making the series accessible for readers interested in particular authors or exploring diverse voices in contemporary and classic literary fiction.

Start with A Good Man Is Hard To Find(By: Flannery O'Connor), the first of 28 books in the Faber Stories series.

#	Title
1	A Good Man Is Hard To Find(By: Flannery O'Connor) 1955Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Inner Room(By: Robert Aickman) 1968Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Daughters of Passion(By: Julia O'Faolain) 1982Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Giacomo Joyce(By: Richard Ellmann) 1983Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Homeland 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Shanti(By: Vikram Chandra) 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine(By: Thom Jones) 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	An Elegy for Easterly(By: Petina Gappah) 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Shielding of Mrs Forbes(By: Alan Bennett) 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	The Cheater's Guide to Love(By: Junot Díaz) 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Mostly Hero(By: Anna Burns) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Mrs Fox(By: Sarah Hall) 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Mr Salary(By: Sally Rooney) 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	A River in Egypt(By: David Means) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Come Rain or Come Shine(By: Kazuo Ishiguro) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Cosmopolitan(By: Akhil Sharma) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Dante and the Lobster(By: Samuel Beckett) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	Fairy Tales(By: Marianne Moore) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Ghostly Stories(By: Celia Fremlin) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Intruders(By: Adrian Tomine) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	Mary Ventura and The Ninth Kingdom(By: Sylvia Plath) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	Paradise(By: Edna O'Brien) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	Terrific Mother(By: Lorrie Moore) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	The Country Funeral(By: John McGahern) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	The Forester's Daughter(By: Claire Keegan) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	The Lydia Steptoe Stories(By: Djuna Barnes) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	The Victim(By: P.D. James) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	Three Types of Solitude(By: Brian W. Aldiss) 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

2 books (1988–1993)

Barbara Kingsolver's Greer Family series consists of two literary fiction novels published between 1988 and 1993. The complete series should be read in publication order, beginning with The Bean Trees followed by Pigs in Heaven. These interconnected standalone novels can be enjoyed individually but reveal deeper resonance when experienced sequentially.

Start with The Bean Trees and read in order.

#	Title
1	The Bean Trees 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Pigs in Heaven 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

5 books (1995–2007)

Barbara Kingsolver's complete non-fiction series comprises five books published between 1995 and 2007, best read in publication order. The collection includes High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never, Holding the Line: Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike of 1983, Last Stand: America's Virgin Lands, Small Wonder: Essays, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: Our Year of Seasonal Eating, spanning essays, historical accounts, and narrative non-fiction on topics ranging from environmental conservation to labor activism and sustainable living.

Start with High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never, the first of 5 books in the Non-Fiction series.

#	Title
1	High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Holding the Line: Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike of 1983 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Last Stand: America's Virgin Lands 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Small Wonder: Essays 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: Our Year of Season Eating 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

2 books (1992–2020)

Barbara Kingsolver's two short story collections span nearly three decades, beginning with Another America/Otra America in 1992 and concluding with How to Fly in 2020. This complete series should be read in publication order to experience the evolution of Kingsolver's literary voice across the decades. These collections showcase the author's range within the short story form, complementing her acclaimed novels with concentrated narratives that highlight her distinctive storytelling style.

Start with Another America/Otra America and read in order.

#	Title
1	Another America/Otra America 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	How to Fly 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

8 books (1990–2026)

Barbara Kingsolver has written eight standalone novels since 1990, with the most recent published in 2026. While each novel functions independently, readers typically approach them in the order they were published, beginning with Animal Dreams. The series remains ongoing, and her literary fiction works span themes relevant to both adult and young adult audiences, with her novels frequently blending narrative storytelling with deeper social and environmental concerns.

Start with Animal Dreams, the first of 8 books in the Standalone Novels series.

#	Title
1	Animal Dreams 1990Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Poisonwood Bible 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Prodigal Summer 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Lacuna 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Flight Behavior 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Unsheltered 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Demon Copperhead 2022Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Partita 2026Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible