From Pirates to Poodles: Reading Steinbeck in Two Years

What this project is about

Hi, my name is Faye, and I am madly in love with John Steinbeck.

Yes, I understand that he’s dead. But his words live on. (And so do many photographs. The man was a looker, okay?)

I’ve read quite a few of his books already, but I thought I would dedicate the next 2 years to reading all of his works chronologically. Hence the title of this project, From Pirates to Poodles: his first published novel was about pirates, and his last major work was a personal account of his road trip with a standard poodle named Charley. I don’t know how deeply I’ll analyze each one, but I think it will be fun to track his evolution as a writer.

In compiling my list of his works, I came across a couple of more obscure works that have either gone out of print entirely or were incorporated into later collections. There were also a few works published after his death that I’m not sure about including. All told, there are 24 books on this list, so I plan to read one per month, starting with Cup of Gold in May 2026. Feel free to read along with me! I’ll be posting my thoughts on each work to my blog as I go along, but I would love the company if you’d like to discuss them either here or on my Goodreads.

The List

Cup of Gold (May ’26)
The Pastures of Heaven (June ’26)
The Red Pony (July ’26)
To a God Unknown (August ’26)
Tortilla Flat (September ’26)
In Dubious Battle (October ’26)
Of Mice and Men (November ’26)
The Long Valley (December ’26)
The Grapes of Wrath (January ’27)
The Moon Is Down (February ’27)
Bombs Away (March ’27)
Cannery Row (April ’27)
The Pearl (May ’27)
The Wayward Bus (June ’27)
A Russian Journal (July ’27)
Burning Bright (August ’27)
Log from the Sea of Cortez (September ’27)
East of Eden (October ’27)
Sweet Thursday (November ’27)
The Short Reign of Pippin IV (December ’27)
Once There Was a War (January ’28)
The Winter of Our Discontent (February ’28)
Travels with Charley (March ’28)
America and Americans (April ’28)