The Complete John Grisham Book List
By: Erin Collazo Miller
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The Complete John Grisham Book List
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John Grisham is a master of legal thrillers; his novels have captured the attention of millions of readers, from adults to teens. In three decades he has written nearly one book per year and a number of those have been adapted into popular movies.
From his debut novel " A Time to Kill " to the 2017 release of "Camino Island," Grisham's books are nothing short of captivating. Over the years, he branched out from legal stories as well. His complete list of published books includes stories about sports as well as non-fiction. It's a compelling body of literature and if you've missed one or two books, you'll definitely want to catch up.
Lawyer Turned Best-Selling Author
John Grisham was working as a criminal defense attorney in Southaven, Mississippi when he wrote his first novel. "A Time to Kill," based on an actual court case that dealt with racial issues in the South. It enjoyed modest success.
He entered politics, serving in the state legislature on the Democratic ticket and began writing his second novel. It was not Grisham's intent to leave law and politics to become a published author, but the runaway success of his second endeavor "The Firm" changed his mind.
Grisham quickly became a prolific best-selling author. In addition to novels, he has published short stories, nonfiction, and young adult books.
Grisham Captures Mainstream Readers From 1989-2000
Few new writers have exploded onto the literary scene like John Grisham. " The Firm " became the top-selling book of 1991 and was on The New York Times bestseller list for nearly 50 weeks. In 1993, it was made into the first of many movies based on Grisham's novels .
From "The Pelican Brief" through "The Brethren," Grisham continued to produce legal thrillers at the rate of about one per year. He tapped into his experience as a lawyer to create characters who faced moral dilemmas and dangerous situations.
During the first decade of his work, he produced several novels that were eventually made into major big-screen films. These include "Pelican Brief" in 1993; "The Client" in 1994; "A Time to Kill" in 1996; "The Chamber" in 1996; and "The Rainmaker" in 1997.
- 1989 - "A Time to Kill"
- 1991 - "The Firm"
- 1992 - "The Pelican Brief"
- 1993 - "The Client"
- 1994 - "The Chamber"
- 1995 - "The Rainmaker"
- 1996 - "The Runaway Jury"
- 1997 - "The Partner"
- 1998 - "The Street Lawyer"
- 1999 - "The Testament"
- 2000 - "The Brethren"
Grisham Branches Out From 2001-2010
As the best-selling author entered his second decade of writing, he stepped back from his legal thrillers to examine other genres.
"A Painted House" is a small town mystery. "Skipping Christmas" is about a family that decides to skip Christmas. He also examined his interest in sports with "Bleachers," which tells the story of a high school football star returning to his hometown after his coach dies. The theme continued in "Playing for Pizza," a story about an American playing football in Italy.
In 2010, Grisham introduced "Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer" to middle school readers. This book about a kid lawyer successfully launched an entire series centered around the main character. It introduced the author to younger readers who are likely to become lifelong fans.
Also in this decade, Grisham released "Ford County," his first collection of short stories and "The Innocent Man," his first nonfiction book about an innocent man on death row. Not to turn his back on his dedicated fans, he rounded out this time with several legal thrillers as well.
- 2001 - "A Painted House"
- 2001 - "Skipping Christmas"
- 2002 - "The Summons"
- 2003 - "The King of Torts"
- 2003 - "Bleachers"
- 2004 - "The Last Juror"
- 2005 - "The Broker"
- 2006 - "The Innocent Man"
- 2007 - " Playing for Pizza"
- 2008 - "The Appeal"
- 2009 - "The Associate"
- 2009 - "Ford County" (short stories)
- 2010 - "Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer"
- 2010 - "The Confession"
2011 to Present: Grisham Revisits Past Successes
Following the success of the first "Theodore Boone" book, Grisham followed up with five more books in the popular series.
In "Sycamore Row," a sequel to "A Time to Kill," Grisham brought back protagonist Jake Brigance and key supporting characters Lucien Wilbanks and Harry Rex Vonner. He continued his policy of writing one legal thriller a year and threw in a couple of short stories and a baseball novel called "Calico Joe" for good measure.
Grisham's 30th book was released in 2017 and titled "Camino Island." Another intriguing crime novel, the story centers around stolen F Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts. Between a young, enthusiastic writer, the FBI, and a secret agency, the investigation tries to track down these handwritten documents on the black market.
- 2011 - "Theodore Boone: The Abduction"
- 2011 - "The Litigators"
- 2012 - "Theodore Boone: The Accused"
- 2012 - "Calico Joe"
- 2012 - "The Racketeer"
- 2013 - "Theodore Boone: The Activist"
- 2013 - " Sycamore Row"
- 2014 - "Gray Mountain"
- 2015 - "Theodore Boone: The Fugitive"
- 2015 - "Rogue Lawyer"
- 2016 - "Partners" (a "Rogue Lawyer" short story)
- 2016 - "Theodore Boone: The Scandal"
- 2016 - "Witness to a Trial" (a digital short story)
- 2016 - "The Whistler"
- 2017 - "Camino Island"
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My favourite author, if for no other reason, because he writes about lawyers, my former profession, but his stories are so compelling one cannot wait to turn the page to see what's next.. I've read 29 of his novels and am in the process now of reading them a second time - presently I'm part way through "The Brethren" for a second time. A number of movies have been adapted from his novels, and I've seen A Time to Kill, The Pelican Brief, The Firm, The Client, and The Runaway Jury.
I wonder if anyone else is as enamoured with his works as I am? Or if anyone has at least read one of his novels.
By the way, it's quite coincidental that the Grisham novel I've been reading these days (The Brethren) is, among other things, about a congressman running for POTUS. It indicates that spending a LOT of money on a campaign can have a very beneficial effect.
Also:
The man is a machine but his quality remains high. My favorite author too.
I've not had access to so not been able to read anything he wrote after Sycamore Row.
Bummer. Grisham blocked in China??
That's not it. There are no bookstores anywhere near me. I've also used a website called DailyLit but it has no Grisham books. I think I'll ask my daughter in Toronto to seek out paperbacks of the ones I've not read and mail them to me - she has access to my Canadian bank account.
Can you download an electric version and read through Kindle?
That would require me to put banking/credit card info on the internet, which I will not do. Once in my life a stranger got into my bank account in some way, and it was a lesson I'll not ignore. My nephew gave me his internet library card info but I couldn't get it to work. I'll stick with my daughter sending me the books.
Anyway, I very much appreciate your care and suggestions.
Your daughter could buy you an Amazon gift card which you could then use to buy the Kindle version online. In fact, you might be able to go to a store and buy an Amazon gift card yourself. In the USA that is certainly possible to do. Amazon makes it easy for us to buy their stuff
.
Added bonus is that the Kindle version is cheaper than the physical book.
Thanks. I'll check that out.
Good. Hate to see a fellow Grisham fan miss out. 😉
Seems like you and I are the only ones on this site who are Grisham fans.
They are missing out on one of the greatest story tellers of our time.
I am a big Grisham fan.
I download his books from my local library onto my kindle.
Welcome to our very exclusive literary club. LOL
Emulating Yul Brynner in The Magnificent Seven, when Horst Buchalts castigated the Mexicans for hiding when their protectors showed up, Brynner said "Now we are seven", I say, "Now we are four". LOL
I've greatly enjoyed the Grisham books that I've read. They're the first six novels that you listed.
Read on, Jasper, read on.