Louisa May Alcott Reading Order

4 books (1969–2023)

This four-book anthology series spans from 1969 to 2023 and should be read in publication order. The collection includes A St. Nicholas Anthology, The Wimbourne Book of Victorian Ghost Stories: Volume 2, Women Who Wrote, and The Dover Anthology of Classic Christmas Stories. The series appears to be complete, featuring curated selections across various genres and themes relevant to Louisa May Alcott's literary traditions and interests.

Start with A St. Nicholas Anthology, the first of 4 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	A St. Nicholas Anthology 1969Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Wimbourne Book of Victorian Ghost Stories: Volume 2 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Women Who Wrote 2020Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Dover Anthology of Classic Christmas Stories 2023Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

6 books (1872–1882)

Aunt Jo's Scrap Bag is a complete six-book series by Louisa May Alcott published between 1872 and 1882. The series consists of Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag, Shawl-Straps, Cupid and Chow Chow, My Girls, Jimmy's Cruise in the Pinafore Etc., and An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving. These books should be read in publication order to fully experience the collection. The series blends young adult and non-fiction elements in Alcott's characteristic style.

Start with Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag, the first of 6 books in the Aunt Jo's Scrap Bag series.

#	Title
1	Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag 1872Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Shawl-Straps 1872Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Cupid and Chow Chow 1873Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	My Girls 1877Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Jimmy's Cruise in the Pinafore Etc. 1879Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving 1882Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

6 books (1873–2010)

The Chapbooks series is a collection of six complete stories by Louisa May Alcott, spanning from 1873 to 2010. These young adult and non-fiction chapbooks should be read in publication order, beginning with Transcendental Wild Oats and continuing through Marjorie's Three Gifts, Diana & Persis, Kate's Choice, Debby's Debut, and concluding with Love and Self Love.

Start with Transcendental Wild Oats, the first of 6 books in the Chapbooks series.

#	Title
1	Transcendental Wild Oats 1873Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Marjorie's Three Gifts 1899Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Diana & Persis 1978Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Kate's Choice 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Debby's Debut 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Love and Self Love 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

37 books (1854–2019)

This complete series comprises 37 collections of short stories and selections by Louisa May Alcott, spanning from 1854 to 2019. The collections include works such as Flower Fables, A Modern Cinderella, Behind a Mask, and Spinning-Wheel Stories, offering a comprehensive view of Alcott's shorter fiction across her career. These should be read in publication order to experience how her writing evolved over time. The series serves as an excellent introduction to Alcott's lesser-known works beyond her famous novels.

Start with Flower Fables, the first of 37 books in the Collections series.

#	Title
1	Flower Fables 1854Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	A Modern Cinderella 1860Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	On Picket Duty, and Other Tales 1864Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	A Marble Woman 1865Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Behind a Mask 1867Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Kitty's Class Day and Other Stories 1882Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Proverb Stories 1882Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Spinning-Wheel Stories 1884Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	A Garland for Girls 1887Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	A Whisper in the Dark 1889Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	The Louisa Alcott Reader 1908Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Glimpses of Louisa 1968Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Short Stories 1968Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	Plots and Counterplots 1976Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	An Intimate Anthology 1980Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Selected Fiction 1980Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Hidden Louisa May Alcott 1984Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	Works of Louisa May Alcott 1986Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	A Double Life 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Freaks of Genius: Unknown Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott(With: Daniel Shealy) 1991Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	Louisa May Alcott's Fairy Tales and Fantasy Stories(With: Daniel Shealy) 1992Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	The Lost Stories of Louisa May Alcott 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	Louisa May Alcott Unmasked 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	Modern Magic 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	The Quiet Little Woman 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	The Early Stories of Louisa May Alcott, 1852-1860 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	The Poems of Louisa May Alcott 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	Louisa May Alcott's Christmas Treasury 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
29	The Brownie and the PrincessOther Stories 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
30	Doctor Dorn's Revenge and A Strange Island 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
31	The Candy Country and How They Ran Away 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
32	Morning-Glories 2009Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
33	The Poetry of Louisa May Alcott 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
34	Sisters 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
35	A Vintage Christmas 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
36	A Merry Christmas and Other Christmas Stories 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
37	May Flowers 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

2 books (1875–1876)

Louisa May Alcott's Eight Cousins series consists of two complete books published in the 1870s that should be read in publication order. Eight Cousins or The Aunt-Hill was released in 1875, followed by Rose in Bloom in 1876. This young adult series follows the interconnected stories of its characters across the two volumes.

Start with Eight Cousins or The Aunt-Hill and read in order.

#	Title
1	Eight Cousins or The Aunt-Hill 1875Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Rose in Bloom 1876Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

4 books (1868–1886)

Louisa May Alcott's Little Women series consists of four complete books published between 1868 and 1886, which should be read in publication order. The series begins with Little Women, or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, followed by Good Wives, Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys, and concluding with Jo's Boys and How They Turned Out. This enduring young adult classic follows the lives and coming-of-age journeys of its central characters across multiple generations and time periods.

Start with Little Women, or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, the first of 4 books in the Little Women series.

#	Title
1	Little Women, or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy 1868Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Good Wives 1869Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys 1871Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Jo's Boys and How They Turned Out 1886Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

11 books (1863–2008)

This complete non-fiction series comprises eleven books about Louisa May Alcott's life, writings, and historical context, published between 1863 and 2008. The collection includes her firsthand accounts of Civil War hospital experiences, collections of her letters and journals, biographical works, and explorations of her views on race, sex, and slavery. These books should be read in publication order to follow the chronological development of Alcott scholarship and the release of her personal documents. Begin with Civil War Hospital Sketches, her earliest firsthand account, to experience how her life and work have been documented and studied over more than a century.

Start with Civil War Hospital Sketches, the first of 11 books in the Non-Fiction series.

#	Title
1	Civil War Hospital Sketches 1863Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Hospital Sketches 1863Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Behind a Mask, or a Woman's Power 1866Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Louisa May Alcott: Her Life, Letters and Journals 1889Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Selected Letters of Louisa May Alcott 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Journals of Louisa May Alcott(With: Daniel Shealy) 1989Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	The Girlhood Diary of Louisa May Alcott, 1843-1846 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Louisa May Alcott On Race, Sex, And Slavery 1997Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Sketches of Louisa May Alcott 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Louisa May Alcott's Civil War 2006Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Little Women Abroad: The Alcott Sisters' Letters from Europe, 1870-1871(With: Daniel Shealy,May Alcott Nieriker) 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

29 books (1862–2019)

This collection comprises 29 short stories and novellas by Louisa May Alcott, originally published between 1862 and 2019. The series should be read in publication order, beginning with Pauline's Passion and Punishment and continuing through works like The Abbot's Ghost, Perilous Play, and Lost in a Pyramid or the Mummy's Curse. The complete series spans Alcott's career as a writer of short fiction across various genres and themes. These stories showcase the versatility of the acclaimed author beyond her well-known novels.

Start with Pauline's Passion and Punishment, the first of 29 books in the Short Stories/Novellas series.

#	Title
1	Pauline's Passion and Punishment 1862Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Abbot's Ghost, Or Maurice Treheme's Temptation 1867Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Perilous Play, And, Lost in a Pyramid or the Mummy's Curse 1869Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	A Country Christmas 1882Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Mountain-Laurel and Maidenhair 1887Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Poppies and Wheat 1900Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Trudel's Siege 1976Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Scarlet Stockings 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Baron's Gloves 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Silver Pitchers and Independence 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Little Button Rose 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Mysterious Key and What It Opened 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The Cross on the Old Church Tower 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	The Death of John 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	The King of Clubs and the Queen of Hearts 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	On Picket Duty 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Doctor Dorn's Revenge 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	Effie's Christmas Dream 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	The Dolls' Journey 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	Comic Tragedies 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	How They Ran Away 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	Lilybell and Thistledown 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	Sophie's Secret 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	The Blind Lark 2016Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	The Brownie and the Princess 2017Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	Kitty's Class Day 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	Pansies and Water-Lilies 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	Lost in a Pyramid 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
29	The Mysterious Key 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

9 books (1849–1995)

Louisa May Alcott wrote nine standalone novels between 1849 and 1995, each presenting independent stories rather than connected narratives. The series spans The Inheritance through A Long Fatal Love Chase and should be read in publication order to follow the author's literary development across the decades. Though complete, this collection showcases Alcott's versatility across young adult and non-fiction genres in separate, self-contained works.

Start with The Inheritance, the first of 9 books in the Standalone Novels series.

#	Title
1	The Inheritance 1849Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Moods 1864Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	An Old-Fashioned Girl 1869Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Work 1873Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	A Modern Mephistopheles 1877Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Under the Lilacs 1878Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Jack & Jill 1880Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Lulu's Library 1886Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	A Long Fatal Love Chase 1995Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible