A Complete List of John Grisham Books

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, Grishams 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. Its a compelling body of literature and if youve missed one or two books, youll 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 Grishams 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 Grishams 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 Kill1991 - The Firm1992 - The Pelican Brief1993 - The Client1994 - The Chamber1995 - The Rainmaker1996 - The Runaway Jury1997 - The Partner1998 - The Street Lawyer1999 - The Testament2000 - 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 House2001 - Skipping Christmas2002 - The Summons2003 - The King of Torts2003 - Bleachers2004 - The Last Juror2005 - The Broker2006 - The Innocent Man2007 - Playing for Pizza2008 - The Appeal2009 - The Associate2009 - Ford County (short stories)2010 - Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer2010 - 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.   Grishams 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 Abduction2011 - The Litigators2012 - Theodore Boone: The Accused2012 - Calico Joe2012 - The Racketeer2013 - Theodore Boone: The Activist2013 - Sycamore Row2014 - Gray Mountain2015 - Theodore Boone: The Fugitive2015 - Rogue Lawyer2016 - Partners (a Rogue Lawyer short story)2016 - Theodore Boone: The Scandal2016 - Witness to a Trial (a digital short story)2016 - The Whistler2017 - Camino Island