Susan Juby Books in Order (Updated March 5, 2026)

Susan Juby is a Canadian author whose work spans funny coming-of-age, adult literary humour, YA, memoir, and (more recently) cozy mystery. She does not write one single continuous universe, so the only time “order” really matters is when you’re inside one of her named series.

This guide is arranged by reading lane first (so you can pick your shelf), then by publication order inside each lane.

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Quick pick: which Susan Juby do you want?

• Classic teen voice, diary-style humour: start with Alice, I Think (2000).
• Adult comic literary fiction with a farm/community arc: start with The Woefield Poultry Collective (2011).
• Cozy mystery with an ongoing lead: start with Mindful of Murder (2022).
• Nonfiction memoir: read Nice Recovery (2010) anytime.

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Lane 1: Alice MacLeod (YA series) – read in order

1. Alice, I Think (2000): A teen in small-town British Columbia tries to reinvent herself with lists, stubborn optimism, and a running commentary that can’t help telling the truth.
2. Miss Smithers (2004): Alice collides with school politics and performance culture, where her attempts to “prove a point” keep multiplying the consequences.
   • Also commonly seen as I’m Alice (Beauty Queen?) in some markets/editions.
3. Alice MacLeod, Realist at Last (2005): The series closes with Alice forced to reconcile her self-image with the real world she’s stepping into, turning her humour into hard-earned clarity.

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Lane 2: YA standalones – read anytime

• Another Kind of Cowboy (2007): A horse-world coming-of-age story where attraction, identity, and social expectation collide until honesty becomes the only workable option.
• Getting the Girl: A Guide to Private Investigation, Surveillance and Cookery (2008): A sharp, high-concept YA set in an intense school culture, where status games turn predatory and the heroine has to learn how power really moves.
• Bright’s Light (2012): A dystopian-leaning YA built around rescue and survival, where the “mission” keeps becoming a moral test.

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Lane 3: Woefield (adult comic fiction) – best in publication order

1. The Woefield Poultry Collective (2011): A back-to-the-land dream turns into a practical comedy of mismatched people trying to make a farm work, with the community becoming the real main character.
   • Also published in the U.S. as Home to Woefield.
2. Republic of Dirt (2015): The farm world returns with bigger conflicts and sharper stakes, where ideals meet reality and everyone has to decide what they’ll actually defend.

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Lane 4: Standalone adult fiction – read by premise (listed by year)

• The Truth Commission (2015): A truth-telling project at an arts school escalates from “experiment” to social detonator, forcing the characters to confront what honesty costs.
• The Fashion Committee (2017): A teen at an arts-focused school uses style as both shield and identity, while friendships and ambition complicate who she’s trying to become.

(These are commonly treated as separate standalones rather than a numbered series.)

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Lane 5: Helen Thorpe Mysteries (adult cozy mystery) – read in order

1. Mindful of Murder (2022): Former Buddhist nun turned butler Helen Thorpe walks into a death with too many polite suspects, launching an ongoing series built on observation and calm competence.
2. A Meditation on Murder (2024): Helen returns to untangle a new case where appearances are curated and motives hide behind performance, deepening the cast around her.
3. Contemplation of a Crime (2025): The third case expands Helen’s world again, leaning into workplace and relationship dynamics while keeping the mystery engine front and center.

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Lane 6: Middle grade – separate shelf

• Me Three (2022): An 11-year-old trying to restart his life after a move gets pulled into a messy social reality, where “what happened” matters as much as what people choose to believe.

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Memoir – separate shelf

• Nice Recovery (2010): A recovery memoir tracing addiction and sobriety with directness and humour, best read whenever you want nonfiction rather than as part of any fictional lane.
  • Some listings show later dates by edition; the original publication is commonly given as 2010, with later reissues following.

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Recommended reading orders that don’t feel like homework

If you want one continuous “story of a life”

1. Alice, I Think → Miss Smithers / I’m Alice (Beauty Queen?) → Alice MacLeod, Realist at Last
2. Then choose Nice Recovery whenever you’re ready for memoir.

If you want adult comedy with a satisfying arc

1. The Woefield Poultry Collective / Home to Woefield → Republic of Dirt
2. Then try The Truth Commission or The Fashion Committee for a sharper, school-based ensemble.

If you want her most current lane

1. Mindful of Murder → A Meditation on Murder → Contemplation of a Crime

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FAQs

Are the Alice books the same as the Helen Thorpe mysteries?

No. Completely separate shelves: YA coming-of-age vs adult cozy mystery.

Is Home to Woefield a sequel?

No. It’s an alternate title for The Woefield Poultry Collective in the U.S.

What’s the safest single-book “try her” pick?

• For YA: Alice, I Think (2000)
• For adult humour: The Woefield Poultry Collective (2011)
• For mystery: Mindful of Murder (2022)

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Bottom line

Pick a lane first, then follow the order inside it: Alice MacLeod, Woefield, and Helen Thorpe are the only places where sequence really improves the experience. Everything else is built to stand on its own.