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Home / Authors / Joan Didion Joan Didion American author Joan Didion is best known for her essay collections *Slouching Towards Bethlehem* and *The White Album*, and the memoir *The Year of Magical Thinking*, which won the National Book Award. Her incisive, personal journalism defined a generation. This page lists Joan Didion’s books in order, including both chronological publication order and series reading order.
All books · chronological
1963 Run River POoSN · 1 Buy ↗ 1968 Slouching Towards Bethlehem POoNB · 1 Buy ↗ 1970 Play It As It Lays POoSN · 2 Buy ↗ 1977 A Book of Common Prayer POoSN · 3 Buy ↗ 1979 The White Album POoNB · 2 Buy ↗ 1983 Salvador POoNB · 3 Buy ↗ 1984 Democracy POoSN · 4 Buy ↗ 1990 Some Women(With: Robert Mapplethorpe) POoNB · 5 Buy ↗ 1992 After Henry POoNB · 6 Buy ↗ 1993 Sentimental Journeys POoNB · 7 Buy ↗ 1996 The Last Thing He Wanted POoSN · 5 Buy ↗ 1998 Perspectives on the Individual POoNB · 8 Buy ↗ 2001 Political Fictions POoNB · 9 Buy ↗ 2003 Fixed Ideas POoNB · 10 Buy ↗ 2003 Where I Was From POoNB · 11 Buy ↗ 2004 Vintage Didion POoC · 1 Buy ↗ 2005 Live and Learn POoNB · 12 Buy ↗ 2005 The Year of Magical Thinking POoNB · 13 Buy ↗ 2006 We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live POoNB · 14 Buy ↗ 2011 Blue Nights POoNB · 15 Buy ↗ 2016 Insider Baseball POoNB · 16 Buy ↗ 2017 South and West POoNB · 17 Buy ↗ 2018 Collected Essays POoNB · 18 Buy ↗ 2019 The 1960s & 70s POoC · 2 Buy ↗ 2021 Let Me Tell You What I Mean POoNB · 19 Buy ↗ 2022 Bonds of War POoNB · 20 Buy ↗ 2022 What She Means POoNB · 21 Buy ↗ 2025 I Write to Find Out What I Am Thinking POoC · 3 Buy ↗ 2025 Notes to John POoNB · 22 Buy ↗ Book series · browse all →
Publication Order of Collections 3 books · 2004–2025
01 Vintage Didion 2004 Buy ↗ 02 The 1960s & 70s 2019 Buy ↗ 03 I Write to Find Out What I Am Thinking 2025 Buy ↗ Publication Order of Standalone Novels 5 books · 1963–1996
02 Play It As It Lays 1970 Buy ↗ 03 A Book of Common Prayer 1977 Buy ↗ 05 The Last Thing He Wanted 1996 Buy ↗ Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books 22 books · 1968–2025
01 Slouching Towards Bethlehem 1968 Buy ↗ 02 The White Album 1979 Buy ↗ 05 Some Women(With: Robert Mapplethorpe) 1990 Buy ↗ 07 Sentimental Journeys 1993 Buy ↗ 08 Perspectives on the Individual 1998 Buy ↗ 09 Political Fictions 2001 Buy ↗ 11 Where I Was From 2003 Buy ↗ 12 Live and Learn 2005 Buy ↗ 13 The Year of Magical Thinking 2005 Buy ↗ 14 We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live 2006 Buy ↗ 16 Insider Baseball 2016 Buy ↗ 17 South and West 2017 Buy ↗ 18 Collected Essays 2018 Buy ↗ 19 Let Me Tell You What I Mean 2021 Buy ↗ 21 What She Means 2022 Buy ↗