Matt Haig Books in Order
(This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you)
Here are all of Matt Haig’s Books in order, separated by genre.
Photo by Pierre Bamin on Unsplash
An internationally bestselling author, Matt Haig has written over 20 books and has been translated into more than 50 languages around the world.
He’s known for writing deeply personal work, with many of his books inspired by his own struggles with depression and anxiety. Reasons to Stay Alive is Matt’s memoir, which stayed in the top ten of the British chart for 10 weeks. His fiction book, The Midnight Library, contains similar themes and has sold more than 10 million copies, winning a Goodreads Choice Award in 2020.
Haig is also known for his enchanting children’s books, which are also hugely popular. His 2015 title, A Boy Called Christmas, has been translated into more than 40 languages and was made into a popular film starring Maggie Smith in 2021.
Matt’s latest book, The Midnight Train, released in 2026 and is set in the same universe as his previous bestseller The Midnight Library.
The Midnight World Books
The Midnight Library
Synopsis:
“When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.
The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger.
Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?”
The Midnight Train
Synopsis:
“When your life flashes before your eyes, where would you stop?
No one can change the past, but the Midnight Train can take you there. The chance to re-live the moments that meant most. To see what kind of person you really were.
For Wilbur his best days were with Maggie, the love of his life. On his honeymoon in Venice.
Before he gave it all away.
He wishes he could go back and live differently. But to do so risks everything…”
“Meet the Hunter family: Adam, Kate, and their children Hal and Charlotte. And Prince, their Labrador.
Prince is an earnest young dog, striving hard to live up to the tenets of the Labrador Pact (Remain Loyal to Your Human Masters, Serve and Protect Your Family at Any Cost).
Other dogs, led by the Springer Spaniels, have revolted. As things in the Hunter family begin to go badly awry – marital breakdown, rowdy teenage parties, attempted suicide – Prince’s responsibilities threaten to overwhelm him and he is forced to break the Labrador Pact and take desperate action to save his Family.”
Synopsis:
“Philip Noble is an eleven-year-old in crisis. His pub landlord father has died in a road accident, and his mother is succumbing to the greasy charms of her dead husband's brother, Uncle Alan.
The remaining certainties of Philip's life crumble away when his father's ghost appears in the pub and declares Uncle Alan murdered him.
Arming himself with weapons from the school chemistry cupboard, Philip vows to carry out the ghost's relentless demands for revenge. But can the words of a ghost be trusted any more than the lies of the living?”
Synopsis:
“Terence Cave, owner of Cave Antiques, has already experienced the tragedies of his mother's suicide and his wife's murder when his teenage son, Reuben, is killed in a grotesque accident.
His remaining child, Bryony, has always been the family's golden girl and Terence comes to realise that his one duty in life is to protect her from the world's malign forces, whatever that may take.
But as he starts to follow his grieving daughter's movements and enforce a draconian set of rules, his love for Bryony becomes a possessive force that leads to destruction.”
Synopsis:
“Life with the Radleys: Radio 4, dinner parties with the Bishopthorpe neighbours and self-denial. Loads of self-denial. But all hell is about to break loose.
When teenage daughter Clara gets attacked on the way home from a party, she and her brother Rowan finally discover why they can't sleep, can't eat a Thai salad without fear of asphyxiation and can't go outside unless they're smothered in Factor 50.
With a visit from their lethally louche Uncle Will and an increasingly suspicious police force, life in Bishopthorpe is about to change. Drastically.”
The Humans
Synopsis:
“There’s no planet like home.
After an 'incident' one wet Friday night where he was found walking naked through the streets of Cambridge, Professor Andrew Martin is not feeling quite himself. Food sickens him. Clothes confound him. Even his loving wife and teenage son are repulsive to him.
He feels lost amongst an alien species and hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton, (and he's a dog).
Who is he really? And what could make someone change their mind about the human race?”
Synopsis:
“Audrey’s father taught her that to stay human in the modern world, she had to build a moat around herself; a moat of books and music, philosophy and dreams.
A moat that makes Audrey different from the echoes: sophisticated, emotionless machines, built to resemble humans and to work for human masters.
Daniel is an echo – but he’s not like the others. He feels a connection with Audrey; a feeling Daniel knows he was never designed to have, and cannot explain.
And when Audrey is placed in terrible danger, he’s determined to save her.”
Synopsis:
“Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret.
He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old history teacher, but he's been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen it all.
As long as he keeps changing his identity, he can stay one step ahead of his past - and stay alive. The only thing he must not do is fall in love.
But what if the one thing he can't have just happens to be the one thing that might save him?”
Synopsis:
“When retired Maths teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her.
She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan.
Among the rugged hills and golden beaches Grace searches for answers about her friend's life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed.
But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.”
“DO YOU
A) Know a human?
B) Love a human?
C) Have trouble dealing with humans?
IF YOU'VE ANSWERED YES TO ANY OF THE ABOVE, THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU!
Whether you are planning a high level of human interaction or just a casual visit to the planet, this user-guide to the human race will help you translate their sayings, understand exotic concepts such as 'democracy' and 'sofas', and make sense of their habits and bizarre customs.
A phrase book, a dictionary and a survival guide, this book unravels all the oddness, idiosyncrasies and wonder of the species, allowing everyone to make the most of their time on Earth.”
Synopsis:
“What does it mean to be truly alive?
Aged 24, Matt Haig's world caved in. He could see no way to go on living.
This is the true story of how he came through crisis, triumphed over an illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again. It has helped millions of people do the same.
Moving, funny and even joyous, these are the lessons Matt learned. His reasons to stay alive.”
Synopsis:
“The world is messing with our minds. What if there was something we could do about it?
Looking at sleep, news, social media, addiction, work and play, Matt Haig invites us to feel calmer, happier and to question the habits of the digital age.
This book might even change the way you spend your precious time on earth.”
Synopsis:
“The Comfort Book is a collection of consolations learned in hard times and suggestions for making the bad days better.
Drawing on maxims, memoir and the inspirational lives of others, these meditations offer new ways of seeing ourselves and the world.
This is the book to pick up when you need the wisdom of a friend, the comfort of a hug or a reminder that hope comes from unexpected places.
“Samuel's not allowed to enter Shadow Forest. But what's to stop the forest from coming to him?
There's one thing every troll child dreads more than anything - and that's the Betterer, the evil troll in Shadow Forest who loves to punish his fellow trolls for their grubby and stupid habits in lots of horrible ways.
When one troll boy escapes the forest to be with his favourite human, Samuel Blink, the Betterer isn't happy. Until he realizes that the most useful thing to have in his Bettering Tower would be a real life human child.
So he sets out on a quest into the human world to kidnap Samuel and the troll friend he's been hiding in his wardrobe.”
Shadow Forest (Shadow Forest 2)
Synopsis:
“Samuel Blink is the hero of this story, but he doesn't know it yet.
Right now, he and his sister Martha are in the back of his parents' car. He has no idea a giant log is about to fall from the sky and change his life forever. He doesn't know that he and Martha will be forced to move to Norway and eat their Aunt Eda's smelly brown cheese.
He hasn't the slightest clue Martha will disappear into the Shadow Forest - a forest full of one-eyed trolls, deadly Truth Pixies, a shadow-stealing witch and the evil Changemaker.
Samuel Blink doesn't know any of this. So don't tell him. It might ruin the book.”
Synopsis:
“Barney Willow's life couldn't get any worse. He's weedy, with sticky-out ears. Horrible Gavin Needle loves tormenting him. And evil headteacher Miss Whipmire seems determined to make Barney's existence a complete misery!
Worst of all, Dad has been missing for almost a year - and there's no sign of him ever coming home.
Barney just wants to escape. To find another life. To be a cat, for example. A quiet, lazy cat. Things would be so much easier - wouldn't they?"
Synopsis:
“Believe in the impossible.
You are about to read the TRUE STORY of FATHER CHRISTMAS.
If you are one of those people who believe that some things are impossible, you should put this book down right away.
(Because this book is FULL of impossible things.)
Are you still reading?
Good.
Then let us begin...”
Synopsis:
“What does it take to believe in magic?
It is Christmas Eve and all is not well. Amelia Wishart is trapped in Mr Creeper's workhouse and Christmas is in jeopardy. Magic is fading.
If Christmas is to happen, Father Christmas knows he must find her.
With the help of some elves, eight reindeer, the Queen and a man called Charles Dickens, the search for Amelia - and the secret of Christmas - begins.”
Synopsis:
“Let the battle for Christmas begin…
Amelia lives in the magical town of Elfhelm, newly adopted by Father Christmas and Mary Christmas.
When the very jealous Easter Bunny launches an attack to ruin Christmas, it's up to Amelia, her family and the elves to fight off the forces of evil.
But can they keep Christmas alive?”
Synopsis:
“Wherever she is, whatever the day,
She only has one kind of thing to say.
Just as cats go miaow and cows go moo,
The Truth Pixie can only say things that are true.
A very funny and lovable tale of how one special pixie learned to love herself. The Truth Pixie is an enchanting, rhyming story that will delight younger readers - with words by the bestselling mastermind Matt Haig and pictures by the inky genius Chris Mould.”
The Truth Pixie Goes to School
Synopsis:
“New school. New friends. Same old pixie.
Don't try to be something
You really are not.
Your one true self
Is the best thing you've got.
In this heartwarming adventure, the Truth Pixie and her human friend go to school, face a bully and learn the importance of friendship and being yourself. With words by the bestselling mastermind Matt Haig and pictures by the inky genius Chris Mould.”
Synopsis:
“When Evie talks to Animals… They talk back!”
Eleven-year-old Evie has a talent: a supertalent. She can HEAR what animals are thinking.
She promises to keep it top secret, but then an evil pet-thief strikes.
Every animal in town is in danger and only by DARING TO BE HERSELF can Evie save her furry and feathered friends.”
Evie in the Jungle
Synopsis:
“A truly wild adventure!
Twelve-year-old Evie has a talent. She can HEAR what animals are thinking and she can TALK to them with her mind. When Evie goes on a trip to the Amazon rainforest, her powers are put to the test.
She makes friends with pink river dolphins, must save an injured sloth, and discovers the secret life of a jaguar. Soon she sees that the jungle is in serious and deadly danger, and comes up with a rather risky plan to help save it…
A brilliant new story from bestselling author Matt Haig, featuring Evie from Evie and the Animals and with illustrations by the award-winning Emily Gravett.”
Synopsis:
“The epic adventure of a teeny-tiny hero!
Miika just wants to belong. Living with elves and trolls and pixies can make a mouse feel like the odd one out.
When he makes friends with a fellow mouse, Miika thinks he can relax. But really, his quest is just beginning…”