BookRank

Reading order

House of Earth reading order

Pearl S. Buck

  1. The Good Earth1931
  2. Sons1932
  3. A House Divided1935
7.97.9 / 10
305 ratings
Score
3 volumes
Volumes
1931–1935
Published
about 21 h
Reading time
Completed
Status
Historical fiction
Genre

Quick answer

The Good Earth
Start withThe Good Earth1931 · Volume 1 of 3
Open the volume →Buy the first volumeListen to the audiobook

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Publication order

3 volumes1931–1935Completed

  • The Good Earth follows Wang Lung, a poor farmer in pre-revolutionary China, through famine, sudden wealth and the slow loss of his bond with the land; it won the Pulitzer Prize, and Pearl S. Buck later received the Nobel Prize.
  • It stands perfectly well alone and is by far the most read.
  • Sons and A House Divided continue with his sons and grandson.

A plan for the whole series

3 volumes, 1,140 pages, about 21 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 4 weeks.

Stages

2 stages, with 1 short book from outside the series between them. You finish around November 30, 2026, 4 days later than in one go.

  1. Stage 114 h18 daysby November 16, 2026
  2. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by November 20, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
  3. Stage 27 h10 daysby November 30, 2026
    • 3. A House Divided1935 · 394 pages · 7 h
  4. The end of the series
    November 30, 2026
In one goNovember 26, 2026about 4 weeks
In stages, with breaksNovember 30, 2026about 5 weeks · +2 h of other books

We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.

How this plan is calculated

The plan comes from the pages and ratings of each volume: we split the series into stages of about three weeks’ reading, size each break to the stage before it, and read the chance of finishing from how many readers rate the last volume compared with the first. How we work out the plan →

Every volume in order

Read: 0 of 3
  1. The Good Earth
    The Good Earth1931 · 305 ratingsStart here
    7.97.9 / 10
  2. Sons
    Sons1932 · 8 ratings · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet
  3. A House Divided
    A House Divided1935 · Not ranked yetBuy
    –Not ranked yet

Order checked by hand · Order and years: Wikidata (CC0). Spotted an error? Tell us. · Data updated October 29, 2026

Frequently asked questions

Which House of Earth book is the longest?

“Sons” is the longest at 430 pages; the shortest is “The Good Earth” with 316 pages.