Ben H. Winters

A journalist, author, playwright, and teacher, Ben H. Winters is the mind behind great books such as “Sense and Sensibility, and Sea Monsters” and “The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman.” Ben H. Winters’ books mainly focus on fiction, but he is also a well-known poet credited with writing poems such as “Literally Disturbed: Tales to Keep You Awake at Night” and “Romantically Disturbed: Love Poems to Rip Your Heart Out.” He also has a long history as a playwright that dates back to his time in school.

The best place to start is The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbooks series, the earliest of Ben H. Winters's multi-book series: it opens with The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook (1999) and runs to 18 books across 1999–2023, ending with Apocalypse (2023). Ben H. Winters's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Ben H. Winters has 53 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1999 and 2026. 25 of them belong to 4 named series — the largest being The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbooks series with 18 books — and 28 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Ben H. Winters's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbooks (1999–2023, 18 books), The Last Policeman (2012–2014, 3 books) and Literally Disturbed (2013–2014, 3 books), plus 1 more.

This guide splits Ben H. Winters's 53 books into 4 named series and 28 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbooks (18 books, 1999–2023); The Last Policeman (3 books, 2012–2014); Literally Disturbed (3 books, 2013–2014); Ben H. Winters Audiobooks (1 book, 2025).