John Grisham has a new book in stores — a statement that’s true at least once annually.

There are presumably few-to-no readers of American popular fiction who have not come across Grisham’s work. Ever since the 1991 runaway success of his second novel “The Firm,” his titles have consistently held court on bestseller lists. Grisham’s home turf is the legal thriller based in a southern state, although he’s no stranger to dabbling in other genres.

He’s published 61 solo-authored titles over 35 years, and his newest, co-authored with Jim McCloskey, is the nonfiction “Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions” that released Oct. 15.

I’ve read all of Grisham’s previous 61 books in the last six months. What follows is my crash course.

The usual

Your protagonist is a young-to-middle-aged white male lawyer, currently or soon-to-be disillusioned, who is inevitably aware of some big conspiracy. There’s a liberal cause to fight for, and likely a beautiful woman to win. The novel will be heavy on plot, light on character, and is what folks call a “page-turner.” So goes the Grisham reading experience.

“The Rainmaker” is a fine example of all of this from Grisham’s early days. The lead is a young blank slate surrounded by colorful supports. His purpose is to rage against an evil insurance company while getting a hot older woman away from an abusive husband. The righteous anger pulses you through the chapters and in the end, you feel you’ve learned something, probably.

Have I mentioned the death penalty yet? Because it’s Grisham’s favorite subject. More than a quarter of his works focus on capital murder and/or death row cases. By “The Guardians,” Grisham has his (well-founded) arguments and plot points condemning capital punishment down to such a science that the story clips along as essentially a (decent) remix of his dozen others centering the same issues.

The worst

With such a long career, it was inevitable Grisham would’ve published some lesser entries — but they didn’t need to be offensive. From the outset of “A Time to Kill,” Grisham has shown his willingness to tackle touchy subjects and he usually handles himself well. However, he fumbled with “The Brethren” and “The Associate,” and fumbled hard.

“The Brethren” could have focused on its fun premise of incarcerated former judges holding court in prison, weighing on matters as grave as stolen cigarettes, but instead it becomes consumed with the blackmailing of gay men as a clever scheme. Grisham evidently assumes we’ll get as much out of exploiting a presidential candidate’s queerness for money as the judges do — he’s wrong.

As for “The Associate,” there’s not much distinguishing this legal espionage piece from any of Grisham’s others, except for 1) our protagonist is heroically trying to dodge legitimate allegations of sexual assault, and 2) Grisham’s routine, omniscient use of cliché, misogynistic victim-blaming language. The most galling part is the earnest attempt at a happy ending when everything gets swept under the rug.

The odd

Every now and then, Grisham will deviate from his usual realm of the law and dedicate a book to his other passion: sports.

“Playing for Pizza” is not Grisham’s best effort at dramatizing the lives of ball players, but it does employ his travelogue approach, another frequent narrative device. The reader is whisked away to Italy to enjoy its cuisine, architecture, art culture and atmosphere — add in a predictable, admittedly satisfying underdog tale of football players striving for glory, and it’s difficult not to have a little fun.

Also present as an outlier in Grisham’s catalog is the “Camino Island” series. While each entry does feature some element of crime and/or courtroom justice, the heart of the stories is the world of book writing, publishing and selling. Grisham has here finally taken the opportunity to get meta and comment on his own experience as a writer who faces criticism from readers and unwanted advice from publishers. For those in the know of Grisham’s own literary trajectory, it makes for amusing reading.

The best

For my money, Grisham has never topped his seventh outing, “The Runaway Jury.” Highlighting its ensemble cast as much as his trademark lone gunslingers, this pulpy thrill ride blends Grisham’s legal framework, his cloak-and-dagger shenanigans, and his noble indignation against “The Man” splendidly.

But before we go, we need to recognize our writer’s most ambitious project. Over 15 titles and counting, Grisham has created, cemented and detailed the legend of northern Mississippi’s fictional Ford County.

Chronicling nearly a century of history, his tales range from the comic short story to the spectacle-laden epic, and are filled with characters Grisham continues to develop across decades.

My two favorite visits to Ford County are found in “The Last Juror,” which observes the whole of the 1970s through the eyes of the local paper’s editor, and “Funny Boy,” a brief, tender and tragic window into queer friendship.

Want more?

Head online for a ranking of all 61 of Grisham’s titles at goeasternoregon.com/from_the_shelf.

Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association bestseller lists

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. “Intermezzo” by Sally Rooney

2. “Somewhere Beyond the Sea,” by TJ Klune

3. “The Mighty Red” by Louise Erdrich

4. “Playground” by Richard Powers

5. “Tell Me Everything” by Elizabeth Strout

6. “The Women” by Kristin Hannah

7. “James” by Percival Everett

8. “All Fours” by Miranda July

9. “We Solve Murders” by Richard Osman

10. “The Empusium” by Olga Tokarczuk

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. “The Message” by Ta-Nehisi Coates

2. “Be Ready When the Luck Happens” by Ina Garten

3. “Revenge of the Tipping Point,” by Malcolm Gladwell

4. “Nexus” by Yuval Noah Harari

5. “Something Lost, Something Gained” by Hillary Rodham Clinton

6. “The Creative Act” by Rick Rubin

7. “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt

8. “Good Energy” by Casey Means, MD

9. “What If We Get It Right?” by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

10. “Want” by Gillian Anderson