Nicholas Sparks Books in Order: Complete List + Where to Start

Looking for the Nicholas Sparks books in order? Most of his novels are standalones, so you don’t have to read everything in publication order unless you want the full Nicholas Sparks experience from the beginning.

There are a couple of exceptions, though. The Wedding follows The Notebook, and At First Sight follows True Believer. Beyond that, you can usually start with the Sparks book that sounds most interesting to you.

Jump to:

• Where Should You Start with Nicholas Sparks?
• Nicholas Sparks Books in Publication Order
• Nicholas Sparks Books by Series
• Nicholas Sparks Standalone Novels
• Nicholas Sparks Non-Fiction Books
• Nicholas Sparks Movies and Adaptations
• Who Is Nicholas Sparks?

Where Should You Start with Nicholas Sparks?

For the classic Sparks experience, start with The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, or Message in a Bottle. Those are the books most tied to his early reputation for emotional romance, heartbreak, and big life-changing choices.

If you want one of his newer novels, Counting Miracles is a good modern Sparks pick, while Remain is a little different because it adds a supernatural edge and was created with M. Night Shyamalan.

If you want to read everything, use publication order. If you only care about connected books, read The Notebook before The Wedding, and True Believer before At First Sight.

Nicholas Sparks Books in Publication Order

This is the full Nicholas Sparks publication order, including his novels, coauthored books, and non-fiction. If you’re doing a complete read-through, this is the simplest list to follow.

1. Wokini with Billy Mills (1990)
2. The Notebook (1996)
3. Message in a Bottle (1998)
4. A Walk to Remember (1999)
5. The Rescue (2000)
6. A Bend in the Road (2001)
7. Nights in Rodanthe (2002)
8. The Guardian (2003)
9. The Wedding (2003)
10. Three Weeks With My Brother with Micah Sparks (2004)
11. True Believer (2005)
12. At First Sight (2005)
13. Dear John (2006)
14. The Choice (2007)
15. The Lucky One (2008)
16. The Last Song (2009)
17. Safe Haven (2010)
18. The Best of Me (2011)
19. The Longest Ride (2013)
20. See Me (2015)
21. Two by Two (2016)
22. Every Breath (2018)
23. The Return (2020)
24. The Wish (2021)
25. Dreamland (2022)
26. Counting Miracles (2024)
27. Remain: A Supernatural Love Story with M. Night Shyamalan (2025)

Nicholas Sparks Books by Series

Most Nicholas Sparks books are standalones, but there are two small connected sets. These are the only places where reading order really matters.

Calhoun Family / Notebook Books

The Notebook introduces Noah and Allie, while The Wedding follows their daughter Jane and son-in-law Wilson years later. You can read The Wedding on its own, but it works better after The Notebook because it leans on the emotional history of the Calhoun family.

1. The Notebook (1996)
2. The Wedding (2003)

Jeremy Marsh and Lexie Darnell Books

True Believer and At First Sight follow Jeremy Marsh and Lexie Darnell. This is Sparks’s clearest two-book sequence, so read these in order.

1. True Believer (2005)
2. At First Sight (2005)

Nicholas Sparks Standalone Novels

These Nicholas Sparks novels stand on their own. You can read them in any order, though publication order is still helpful if you want to watch his style change over time.

1. Message in a Bottle (1998)
2. A Walk to Remember (1999)
3. The Rescue (2000)
4. A Bend in the Road (2001)
5. Nights in Rodanthe (2002)
6. The Guardian (2003)
7. Dear John (2006)
8. The Choice (2007)
9. The Lucky One (2008)
10. The Last Song (2009)
11. Safe Haven (2010)
12. The Best of Me (2011)
13. The Longest Ride (2013)
14. See Me (2015)
15. Two by Two (2016)
16. Every Breath (2018)
17. The Return (2020)
18. The Wish (2021)
19. Dreamland (2022)
20. Counting Miracles (2024)
21. Remain: A Supernatural Love Story with M. Night Shyamalan (2025)

Nicholas Sparks Non-Fiction Books

Sparks has also written two non-fiction books. Wokini was co-written with Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills, while Three Weeks With My Brother is a memoir Sparks wrote with his brother, Micah.

1. Wokini with Billy Mills (1990)
2. Three Weeks With My Brother with Micah Sparks (2004)

Nicholas Sparks Movies and Adaptations

Nicholas Sparks is almost as famous for movie adaptations as he is for the books themselves. Eleven of his novels have been turned into feature films, starting with Message in a Bottle in 1999 and running through The Choice in 2016.

Year	Movie	Based on	Director	Notable cast
1999	Message in a Bottle	Message in a Bottle	Luis Mandoki	Kevin Costner, Robin Wright, Paul Newman
2002	A Walk to Remember	A Walk to Remember	Adam Shankman	Shane West, Mandy Moore
2004	The Notebook	The Notebook	Nick Cassavetes	Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams
2008	Nights in Rodanthe	Nights in Rodanthe	George C. Wolfe	Richard Gere, Diane Lane
2010	Dear John	Dear John	Lasse Hallström	Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried
2010	The Last Song	The Last Song	Julie Anne Robinson	Miley Cyrus, Liam Hemsworth
2012	The Lucky One	The Lucky One	Scott Hicks	Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling
2013	Safe Haven	Safe Haven	Lasse Hallström	Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel
2014	The Best of Me	The Best of Me	Michael Hoffman	James Marsden, Michelle Monaghan
2015	The Longest Ride	The Longest Ride	George Tillman Jr.	Scott Eastwood, Britt Robertson, Alan Alda
2016	The Choice	The Choice	Ross Katz	Benjamin Walker, Teresa Palmer

The Notebook has also been adapted as a stage musical, with music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson. It is a separate adaptation from the Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams movie.

On the development side, Remain is also planned as a film from M. Night Shyamalan. Since unfinished projects can shift, I’d keep it separate from the finished movie list until it actually reaches theaters.

Who Is Nicholas Sparks?

Nicholas Sparks is one of the best-known romance and drama novelists in modern popular fiction. His books have all been New York Times bestsellers, with more than 130 million copies sold worldwide.

Sparks graduated from the University of Notre Dame and worked several jobs before becoming a full-time writer. His breakout novel was The Notebook, which he wrote in his twenties and published in 1996.

He is especially known for emotional love stories, family drama, grief, second chances, and romances that often carry a bittersweet edge. That mix is why his books have crossed over so strongly into film, especially for readers who discovered him through The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, or Dear John.

Looking for more books in order?

If you want more romance authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Romance Books in Order index.

• Books in Order (Full Index)
• Jojo Moyes Books in Order
• Danielle Steel Books in Order
• Kristin Hannah Books in Order