🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About John Darnielle
Author John Darnielle was born on March 16, 1967 in Bloomington, Indiana. He grew up in Southern California and had an abusive step dad that he lived with. He lived in Portland, Oregon after high school and he developed an addiction to hard drugs, one of which was methamphetamine. After that, he went back to California and worked as a psychiatric nurse in Norwalk, California at Metropolitan State Hospital. He lived on the grounds for awhile, playing guitar and composing songs when he was not working. Using a boombox, he recorded some of the songs. After he left the hospital he went to college from the years 1991 until 1995 at Pitzer College (later getting an English degree), all the while, still working on recording music.
All Book Series by John Darnielle
This Year: 365 Songs Annotated: A Book of Days
Single-title series · published 2025
The Smiths' Meat is Murder
Series opener · book 1 of 164 · published 2003 Anthology · Joe Pernice
The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society
Book 2 of 164 · published 2003 Anthology · Andy Miller
Dusty Springfield's Dusty in Memphis
Book 3 of 164 · published 2003 Anthology · Warren Zanes
Love's Forever Changes
Book 5 of 164 · published 2003 Anthology · Andrew Hultkrans
Abba's Abba Gold
Book 6 of 164 · published 2004 Anthology · Elisabeth Vincentelli
Prince's Sign 'O' the Times
Book 7 of 164 · published 2004 Anthology · Michaelangelo Matos
The Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground and Nico
Book 8 of 164 · published 2004 Anthology · Joe Harvard
Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland
Book 10 of 164 · published 2004 Anthology · John M. Perry
The Replacements' Let It Be
Book 11 of 164 · published 2004 Anthology · Colin Meloy
James Brown's Live at the Apollo
Book 12 of 164 · published 2004 Anthology · Douglas Wolk
Jethro Tull's Aqualung
Book 13 of 164 · published 2004 Anthology · Allan F. Moore
The Beatles' Let It Be
Book 14 of 164 · published 2004 Anthology · Steve Matteo
Radiohead's OK Computer
Book 15 of 164 · published 2004 Anthology · Dai Griffiths
The Ramones' Ramones
Book 17 of 164 · published 2005 Anthology · Nicholas Rombes
The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street
Book 19 of 164 · published 2005 Anthology · Bill Janovitz
Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA
Book 26 of 164 · published 2005 Anthology · Geoffrey Himes
The Band's Music From Big Pink
Book 27 of 164 · published 2005 Anthology · John Niven
Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Book 28 of 164 · published 2005 Anthology · Kim Cooper
The Stone Roses' The Stone Roses
Book 29 of 164 · published 2006 Anthology · Alex Green
Sly and the Family Stone's There's a Riot Goin' On
Book 30 of 164 · published 2006 Anthology · Miles Marshall Lewis
The Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique
Book 31 of 164 · published 2006 Anthology · Dan LeRoy
Highway 61 Revisited
Book 34 of 164 · published 2006 Anthology · Mark Polizzotti
33 1/3 Greatest Hits, Volume 1
Book 35 of 164 · published 2006 Anthology · DavidBarker
The Who's The Who Sell Out
Book 36 of 164 · published 2006 Anthology · John Dougan
Guided By Voices' Bee Thousand
Book 37 of 164 · published 2006 Anthology · Marc Woodworth
My Bloody Valentine's Loveless
Book 38 of 164 · published 2006 Anthology · Mike McGonigal
The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs
Book 39 of 164 · published 2006 Anthology · L.D. Beghtol
Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion I and II
Book 40 of 164 · published 2006 Anthology · Eric Weisbard
Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life
Book 41 of 164 · published 2006 Anthology · Zeth Lundy
Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark
Book 42 of 164 · published 2006 Anthology · SeanNelson
Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation
Book 43 of 164 · published 2007 Anthology · Matthew Stearns
The Byrds' The Notorious Byrd Brothers
Book 44 of 164 · published 2007 Anthology · Ric Menck
Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica
Book 45 of 164 · published 2007 Anthology · Kevin Courrier
The Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime
Book 46 of 164 · published 2007 Anthology · Michael T. Fournier
A Tribe Called Quest's People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
Book 47 of 164 · published 2007 Anthology · Shawn Taylor
Brian Eno's Another Green World
Book 48 of 164 · published 2007 Anthology · Geeta Dayal
PJ Harvey's Rid of Me: A Story
Book 51 of 164 · published 2007 Anthology · Kate Schatz
U2's Achtung Baby: Meditations on Love in the Shadow of the Fall
Book 52 of 164 · published 2007 Anthology · Stephen Catanzarite
Belle & Sebastian's If You're Feeling Sinister
Book 53 of 164 · published 2007 Anthology · Scott Plagenhoef
Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste
Book 55 of 164 · published 2007 Anthology · Carl Wilson
Throbbing Gristle's Twenty Jazz Funk Greats
Book 57 of 164 · published 2007 Anthology · Drew Daniel
Slayer's Reign in Blood
Book 60 of 164 · published 2008 Anthology · D.X. Ferris
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's Facing Future
Book 61 of 164 · published 2008 Anthology · Dan Kois
Richard and Linda Thompson's Shoot Out the Lights
Book 62 of 164 · published 2008 Anthology · Hayden Childs
The Afghan Whigs' Gentlemen
Book 63 of 164 · published 2008 Anthology · Bob Gendron
The Pogues' Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
Book 64 of 164 · published 2008 Anthology · Jeffrey T. Roesgen
Flying Burrito Brothers' The Gilded Palace of Sin
Book 65 of 164 · published 2008 Anthology · Bob Proehl
Madness' One Step Beyond...
Book 70 of 164 · published 2009 Anthology · Terry Edwards
Flaming Lips' Zaireeka
Book 71 of 164 · published 2009 Anthology · MarkRichardson
Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Book 74 of 164 · published 2010 Anthology · Christopher R. Weingarten
Pavement's Wowee Zowee
Book 75 of 164 · published 2010 Anthology · Bryan Charles
Johnny Cash's American Recordings
Book 78 of 164 · published 2011 Anthology · Tony Tost
Ween's Chocolate and Cheese
Book 79 of 164 · published 2011 Anthology · Hank Shteamer
The Rolling Stones' Some Girls
Book 80 of 164 · published 2011 Anthology · Cyrus R.K. Patell
Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine
Book 81 of 164 · published 2011 Anthology · Daphne Carr
Talking Heads' Fear of Music
Book 82 of 164 · published 2011 Anthology · Jonathan Lethem
Dinosaur Jr.'s You're Living All Over Me
Book 83 of 164 · published 2011 Anthology · Nick Attfield
Television's Marquee Moon
Book 84 of 164 · published 2011 Anthology · Bryan Waterman
Aretha Franklin's Amazing Grace
Book 86 of 164 · published 2011 Anthology · Aaron Cohen
Flood
Book 88 of 164 · published 2013 Anthology · Elizabeth Sandifer,S. Alexander Reed
Serge Gainsbourg's Histoire de Melody Nelson
Book 89 of 164 · published 2013 Anthology · Darran Anderson
Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Book 90 of 164 · published 2014 Anthology · Kirk Walker Graves
Andrew W.K.'s I Get Wet
Book 91 of 164 · published 2014 Anthology · Phillip Crandall
Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II
Book 93 of 164 · published 2014 Anthology · Marc Weidenbaum
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Book 102 of 164 · published 2015 Anthology · Michael Stewart Foley
Freedom of Choice
Book 103 of 164 · published 2015 Anthology · Fred Armisen,Evie Nagy
Donny Hathaway's Donny Hathaway Live
Book 113 of 164 · published 2016 Anthology · Emily J. Lordi
Angelo Badalamenti's Soundtrack from Twin Peaks
Book 114 of 164 · published 2017 Anthology · Clare Nina Norelli
Young Marble Giants' Colossal Youth
Book 115 of 164 · published 2017 Anthology · Michael Blair
Uptown Saturday Night
Book 116 of 164 · published 2017 Anthology · William Fulton,Patrick Rivers
Bob Mould's Workbook
Book 118 of 164 · published 2017 Anthology · Walter Biggins,Daniel Couch
Jawbreaker's 24 Hour Revenge Therapy
Book 121 of 164 · published 2018 Anthology · Ronen Givony
Fugazi's In on the Kill Taker
Book 122 of 164 · published 2018 Anthology · Joe Gross
Drive-By Truckers’ Southern Rock Opera
Book 123 of 164 · published 2018 Anthology · Rien Fertel
Siouxsie and the Banshees' Peepshow
Book 124 of 164 · published 2018 Anthology · Samantha Bennett
Tori Amos's Boys for Pele
Book 125 of 164 · published 2018 Anthology · Amy Gentry
dc Talk’s Jesus Freak
Book 126 of 164 · published 2018 Anthology · Will Stockton,D. Gilson
Odetta’s One Grain of Sand
Book 127 of 164 · published 2019 Anthology · Matthew Frye Jacobson
Tom Petty’s Southern Accents
Book 128 of 164 · published 2019 Anthology · Michael Washburn
The Shangri-Las’ Golden Hits of the Shangri-Las
Book 129 of 164 · published 2019 Anthology · Ada Wolin
Manic Street Preachers’ The Holy Bible
Book 130 of 164 · published 2019 Anthology · David Evans
Massive Attack’s Blue Lines
Book 131 of 164 · published 2019 Anthology · Ian Bourland
The Wild Tchoupitoulas’ The Wild Tchoupitoulas
Book 132 of 164 · published 2019 Anthology · Bryan Wagner
Wendy Carlos's Switched-On Bach
Book 133 of 164 · published 2019 Anthology · Roshanak Kheshti
Murder Ballads
Book 134 of 164 · published 2020 Anthology · Santi Elijah Holley
David Bowie's Diamond Dogs
Book 136 of 164 · published 2020 Anthology · Glenn Hendler
Elton John's Blue Moves
Book 137 of 164 · published 2020 Anthology · Matthew Restall
Judy Garland's Judy at Carnegie Hall
Book 138 of 164 · published 2020 Anthology · Manuel Betancourt
Various Artists' I'm Your Fan: The Songs of Leonard Cohen
Book 140 of 164 · published 2020 Anthology · Ray Padgett
Janet Jackson's The Velvet Rope
Book 141 of 164 · published 2020 Anthology · Ayanna Dozier
Elvis Presley's From Elvis in Memphis
Book 142 of 164 · published 2020 Anthology · Eric Wolfson
24-Carat Black's Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth
Book 143 of 164 · published 2020 Anthology · Zach Schonfeld
Carole King's Tapestry
Book 144 of 164 · published 2021 Anthology · Loren Glass
Donna Summer's Once Upon a Time
Book 146 of 164 · published 2021 Anthology · Alex Jeffery
Roxy Music's Avalon
Book 148 of 164 · published 2021 Anthology · Simon A. Morrison
Sam Cooke’s Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963
Book 149 of 164 · published 2021 Anthology · Colin Fleming
Janelle Monáe’s The ArchAndroid
Book 150 of 164 · published 2021 Anthology · Alyssa Favreau
Lyric and Coloratura Arias
Book 151 of 164 · published 2021 Anthology · Ginger Dellenbaugh
Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly
Book 152 of 164 · published 2022 Anthology · Sequoia Maner
Britney Spears's Blackout
Book 153 of 164 · published 2022 Anthology · Natasha Lasky
Earth, Wind & Fire's That's the Way of the World
Book 154 of 164 · published 2022 Anthology · Dwight E. Brooks
Minnie Riperton’s Come to My Garden
Book 155 of 164 · published 2022 Anthology · Brittnay L. Proctor
Babes in Toyland’s Fontanelle
Book 156 of 164 · published 2023 Anthology · Selena Chambers
Madvillain's Madvillainy
Book 157 of 164 · published 2023 Anthology · Will Hagle
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Book 158 of 164 · published 2023 Anthology · William L. Weir
Kate Bush's Hounds Of Love
Book 161 of 164 · published 2024 Anthology · Leah Kardos
John Cale's Paris 1919
Book 162 of 164 · published 2025 Anthology · Mark Doyle
Cocteau Twins' Blue Bell Knoll
Book 163 of 164 · published 2025 Anthology · Chris Tapley
The B-52s' Cosmic Thing
Latest in the series · book 164 of 164 · published 2025 Anthology · Pete Crighton
Topograph: New Writing from the Carolinas and the Landscape Beyond
Series opener · book 1 of 2 · published 2010
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is John Darnielle?
Author John Darnielle was born on March 16, 1967 in Bloomington, Indiana. He grew up in Southern California and had an abusive step dad that he lived with. He lived in Portland, Oregon after high school and he developed an addiction to hard drugs, one of which was methamphetamine.
Which John Darnielle series should I start with?
The best place to start is the 33⅓ series, the earliest of John Darnielle's multi-book series: it opens with The Smiths' Meat is Murder (2003) and runs to 164 books across 2003–2025, ending with The B-52s' Cosmic Thing (2025).
How many books has John Darnielle written?
John Darnielle has 170 books catalogued in this guide, published between 2003 and 2025. 164 of them belong to 1 named series — the largest being the 33⅓ series with 164 books — and 6 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.
In what order should John Darnielle's series be read?
Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. John Darnielle's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are 33⅓ (2003–2025, 164 books).
How are John Darnielle's books organised into series?
This guide splits John Darnielle's 170 books into 1 named series and 6 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: 33⅓ (164 books, 2003–2025).