John Steinbeck Books in Order: The Complete Reading Guide
Updated October 2026
John Steinbeck Books in Order: The Short Answer
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) wrote fifteen novels and novellas, from Cup of Gold (1929) to The Winter of Our Discontent (1961), plus three books of linked or collected stories and an unfinished King Arthur retelling. None of them form a true series, so start with Of Mice and Men. Here are the John Steinbeck books in order of publication, fiction first:
- Cup of Gold (1929)
- The Pastures of Heaven (1932) — linked stories
- To a God Unknown (1933)
- Tortilla Flat (1935)
- In Dubious Battle (1936)
- Of Mice and Men (1937)
- The Red Pony (1937) — four linked stories
- The Long Valley (1938) — short stories
- The Grapes of Wrath (1939)
- The Moon Is Down (1942)
- Cannery Row (1945)
- The Wayward Bus (1947)
- The Pearl (1947)
- Burning Bright (1950)
- East of Eden (1952)
- Sweet Thursday (1954) — sequel to Cannery Row
- The Short Reign of Pippin IV (1957)
- The Winter of Our Discontent (1961)
- The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights (1976, unfinished, posthumous)
If you only read three, read Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden. The rest of this guide covers his nonfiction, which books connect to each other, where to start by age, and the film versions, including the new Netflix East of Eden.
In this guide:
- Steinbeck's Nonfiction, Travel and Posthumous Books
- Books That Belong Together: Monterey, Salinas and the Labor Novels
- Where to Start: Of Mice and Men First
- Steinbeck by Age: Content Notes for Families
- Steinbeck on Screen, Including Netflix's East of Eden
- Shop Used Steinbeck
- Frequently Asked Questions
Steinbeck's Nonfiction, Travel and Posthumous Books
Steinbeck was also a journalist, war correspondent and travel writer, and some of his best prose is here.
| Year | Title | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Their Blood Is Strong | His newspaper reports on California's migrant camps, the groundwork for Grapes |
| 1941 | Sea of Cortez | Scientific expedition narrative, co-written with marine biologist Ed Ricketts |
| 1942 | Bombs Away | Wartime book on training bomber crews |
| 1948 | A Russian Journal | Postwar trip to the Soviet Union with photographer Robert Capa |
| 1951 | The Log from the Sea of Cortez | The narrative half of Sea of Cortez, reissued alone |
| 1958 | Once There Was a War | His World War II dispatches |
| 1962 | Travels with Charley | Driving around America with his poodle |
| 1966 | America and Americans | Essays on the national character |
| 1969 | Journal of a Novel | Letters written while drafting East of Eden |
| 1975 | Steinbeck: A Life in Letters | Selected letters |
| 1989 | Working Days | His journal from writing The Grapes of Wrath |
He also wrote film scripts, including The Forgotten Village (1941) and Viva Zapata! (1952), and the story for Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944).
One book you will read about but cannot buy: Murder at Full Moon, a werewolf mystery he wrote under a pseudonym around 1930. His estate has so far declined to publish it, and the manuscript sits in the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas.
Books That Belong Together: Monterey, Salinas and the Labor Novels
Steinbeck did not write series, but a few books belong together:
- Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday. Doc, Mack and the boys, and the sardine-canning street in Monterey. Read them in that order. Doc is based on Ed Ricketts, Steinbeck's closest friend.
- Tortilla Flat is set on the hill above Monterey and has the same easygoing, comic spirit. It was his first big success.
- The Pastures of Heaven, The Red Pony and The Long Valley are all set in the farm valleys around Salinas, where he grew up. The first three Red Pony stories appeared in 1937; the fourth, "The Leader of the People," was in The Long Valley and joined later editions.
- In Dubious Battle, Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath are often called his "labor trilogy" — a strike, two ranch hands, and a migrant family, all among California's farm workers in the 1930s.
- East of Eden and Journal of a Novel. Read the journal after the novel to watch him build it, day by day.
Where to Start: Of Mice and Men First
Of Mice and Men is the right first book for almost everyone. It runs about a hundred pages, and he designed it to be staged almost as written, which is why it reads so quickly. If it grabs you, go straight to The Grapes of Wrath.
For a gentler start: The Red Pony or Cannery Row. The first is a boy growing up on a ranch; the second is Steinbeck at his warmest and funniest.
For the big one: East of Eden. Steinbeck considered it the book he had been practicing for. It is long, and it moves at its own pace, but readers who finish it often call it their favorite novel. Lee, the Trasks' cook, and his discussion of the Hebrew word "timshel" are the parts people quote.
For nonfiction readers: Travels with Charley. It is episodic and easy to pick up. Scholars have questioned how much of it happened exactly as described, so treat it as a travel book rather than a strict record.
Which to skip: Cup of Gold, a pirate novel about Henry Morgan, and Burning Bright, an experimental play-novel, are for completists.
Steinbeck by Age: Content Notes for Families
- The Pearl: commonly taught in middle school. It is short and written like a parable, but it includes violence and the death of a baby. For other brief novels that work well for a report, see our short books for eighth grade book reports.
- The Red Pony: good from about age 12. Animals die, realistically, and a boy learns about death.
- Of Mice and Men: usually ninth or tenth grade. There is profanity, racial slurs, the killing of a dog, and a violent ending. It is one of the most frequently challenged books in American schools. If your student is reading To Kill a Mockingbird the same year, our Harper Lee books in order guide explains how it relates to Go Set a Watchman.
- The Grapes of Wrath: eleventh grade and up. Profanity, poverty in hard detail, and a famous final scene some parents want to discuss first.
- East of Eden: older teens and adults. Cathy Ames is one of fiction's most frightening characters, and the book includes a brothel, sexual violence and murder.
- Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat: comic, but full of drinking and a brothel treated kindly. High school.
Study tips for homeschoolers
Pair The Grapes of Wrath with Dorothea Lange's Depression photographs and a unit on the Dust Bowl (our American history books for homeschool list is a good place to find background reading); read Their Blood Is Strong alongside it to see the journalism become fiction. Notice the short "intercalary" chapters that pull back from the Joads to show the whole migration, and discuss why Steinbeck built the book that way. For Of Mice and Men, track every bit of foreshadowing in the first chapter; students are usually surprised by how much the ending is signaled.
Steinbeck on Screen, Including Netflix's East of Eden
- Of Mice and Men — the 1939 film with Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr., and the 1992 film with Gary Sinise and John Malkovich.
- The Grapes of Wrath (1940) — directed by John Ford with Henry Fonda as Tom Joad. Ford won the Oscar for Best Director and Jane Darwell won Best Supporting Actress as Ma Joad.
- The Red Pony (1949) — with Robert Mitchum and a score by Aaron Copland.
- East of Eden (1955) — Elia Kazan's film, James Dean's first starring role. It covers only the last part of the novel.
- East of Eden (Netflix, 2026) — a seven-episode limited series created by Zoe Kazan, Elia Kazan's granddaughter, with Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames. It premiered on October 1, 2026, with all seven episodes released at once, and unlike the 1955 film it takes on the whole family saga.
Steinbeck won the Pulitzer Prize for The Grapes of Wrath in 1940 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962. Readers who want his great contemporary next can turn to our Ernest Hemingway books in order guide.
Shop Used Steinbeck
Steinbeck is one of the easiest classic authors to collect secondhand; the Penguin paperbacks turn up constantly, and older Viking hardcovers do too. Search our shelves for John Steinbeck, browse the classic literature collection, or pick up a companion from study guides and criticism. Shipping is free on orders over $15.
Frequently Asked Questions
What order should I read John Steinbeck's books in?
No reading order is required. Start with Of Mice and Men, then The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden. The only true sequence is Cannery Row before Sweet Thursday.
How many books did John Steinbeck write?
More than twenty-five were published in his lifetime: fifteen novels and novellas, story collections, travel books and war journalism. Several more, including letters and journals, came out after his death in 1968.
What was Steinbeck's last novel?
The Winter of Our Discontent (1961). His King Arthur retelling was left unfinished and published in 1976.
Is Sweet Thursday a sequel to Cannery Row?
Yes. Sweet Thursday (1954) returns to Doc and the residents of Cannery Row after World War II. Read Cannery Row first.
What age is Of Mice and Men appropriate for?
It is usually taught in ninth or tenth grade. It contains profanity, racial slurs and violence, including a tragic ending.
Is there a new East of Eden adaptation?
Yes. Netflix's seven-episode limited series, created by Zoe Kazan and starring Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames, premiered on October 1, 2026, with all seven episodes available at once.
Did Steinbeck win the Nobel Prize?
Yes, the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962. He had already won the Pulitzer Prize for The Grapes of Wrath in 1940.
