So, now that all ten episodes of Prime’s mini-series “Daisy Jones & the Six” have been released, you may be looking for what to do with your life now that you’ve finished them. And while this may be the most obvious choice, I fully recommend hitting the books! I for one am an avid fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid. She’s absolutely my favorite author of all time and I have loved everything that I’ve read from her. But, I acknowledge that it may be difficult to navigate her many books and the order in which to read them, so here’s my personal guide to making your way through them all.
For the purpose of this guide, we’re going to be breaking down her bibliography into two parts. The first, I will refer to as her “Back-List,” includes her first four novels. The second, we’ll call her “New Releases,” referencing her newest four novels. Contrary to tradition, we’re going to work backward and recommend beginning with the New Releases
New Releases
If you haven’t already, start with Daisy Jones & the Six while you’re still running on the high from the show. But of course, this is the obvious place to start. The real question is, what’s next? I’d recommend turning to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Of all of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books, this is probably her most possible so you’ve likely seen it around the internet, especially if you’re on BookTok. Now, the connections between “Daisy Jones” and “Evelyn Hugo” are limited, but they are connected, and “Evelyn Hugo” in my opinion, best sets up the connections between all four of these books. You see, the cool thing about TJR’s New Releases is that they’re all set in the same universe and, as such, are intertwined, with characters from each popping up in the others. The one character that appears in all four is Mick Riva. Mick is a background character at Daisy’s infamous party one of Evelyn’s husbands, so that makes The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo a good second book in your marathon.
From there, I would recommend Malibu Rising. This one follows Mick Riva’s four children, adding a new layer to the character introduced in “Evelyn Hugo” and now progressing chronologically in the timeline of these books. And finally, I would say to pick up Carrie Soto is Back. Now, this is the only one of TJR’s New Releases that I haven’t read, but as I understand it, our (not so) beloved Mick Riva does make and appearance, and our new leading lady, Carrie Soto was referenced in Malibu Rising, which makes these two flow together perfectly.
However, while all of these books are connected, they aren’t quite a series, so it doesn’t truly matter what order you read them in. But overall, I recommend you read these four somewhat together to get the full effect of the connections between the timelines, plots, and characters.
Back-List
If at this point, you still can’t get enough of Taylor Jenkins Reid, the good news is that she has four more books for you to read. Now, these four are not connected to her New Releases nor to each other, but they’re still fantastic. These four include Maybe In Another Life, After I Do, One True Loves, and Forever, Interrupted. And while it doesn’t matter what order you read them in at all, I did list them in this order for a reason, as this is roughly in order from least to most heartbreaking. That’s the thing about these books (really about all of TJR’s books, but these four in particular). They walk a fine line between devastating and hopeful. With this in mind, I’d say the order of these four is completely up to you depending on how sad you want to feel while reading.
Just remember, the ending is always somewhat hopeful and incredibly beautiful. So overall, my top recommendation is that, at some point, you read them all.