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Standalone Books in Order
Below you'll find the complete list of Standalone books in publication order. This is generally the recommended reading order for the series.
Reading order verified: April 2026
Quick Answer
What order should I read the Standalone series? Start with "The Comforters" (1957) and follow publication order through all 39 books.
The complete Standalone reading order is listed below in publication sequence.
Publication Order

The Comforters
1957

Memento Mori
1958

Robinson
1958

The Ballad of Peckham Rye
1960

The Bachelors
1960

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
1961

The Girls of Slender Means
1963

The Mandelbaum Gate
1965

The Public Image
1968

Very Fine Clock
1969

The Driver's Seat
1970

Not to Disturb
1971

The Hothouse by the East River
1973

The Abbess of Crewe
1974

The Takeover
1976

Territorial Rights
1979

Loitering with Intent
1981

The Only Problem
1984

A Far Cry from Kensington
1988

Symposium
1990

Reality and Dreams
1996

The Quest for Lavishes Ghast
1998

Aiding and Abetting
2000

The Finishing School
2004

Doctors of Philosophy
1963

All the Stories of Muriel Spark
1958

The Go-Away Bird and Other Stories
1958

All the Poems of Muriel Spark
1967

Collected Stories 1
1968

Bang-bang You're Dead and Other Stories
1981

Going Up To Sotheby's and Other Poems
1982

The Stories of Muriel Spark
1985

The Collected Stories of Muriel Spark
1994

The Portobello Road and Other Stories
1995

The Complete Short Stories
2001

Selected Stories
2001

The Young Man Who Discovered the Secret of Life & Other Stories
2001

The Ghost Stories of Muriel Spark
2003

Complete Poems
2015
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