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When Sex and the City began in 1998, it focused on the life of sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw and her pals. Across six seasons, fans watched the women work, play, and love in New York City. They also watched them evolve. Carrie Bradshaw’s career started with a sex column and ended with her as the author of several books. Do you remember how many books Carrie penned? 

‘Sex and the City’ was the first book Carrie Bradshaw authored 

In season 5 of Sex and the City, Carrie goes from columnist to author when a publishing house turns her sex columns into a book. Seasons 5 and 6 touched on the publishing process from time to time. 

Carrie Bradshaw in season 6 of 'Sex and the City'
Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw | Mark Mainz/Getty Images

The collection of columns was more successful than anyone imagined it would be. The book was so popular that French fans recognized the infamous writer during her short stay in Paris. The book’s success netted Carrie a big advance and catapulted her career. The publishing of Sex and the City, her first book, propelled her from columnist to official non-fiction author. More books were to come. 

‘Menhattan’ and ‘A Single Life’ were written between the original series and ‘Sex and the City: The Movie’ 

After her first collection of columns, Carrie didn’t just go back to writing articles for Vogue and The New York Star. Between the end of the original series and the beginning of the first flick, Sex and the City: The Movie, Carrie Bradshaw penned two more books. 

In the film’s opening sequence, Carrie is seen holding her books, noting that her friends were not just her emotional support but her “meal ticket.” The books she wrote in the four-year gap between the end of Sex and the City and the start of Sex and the City: The Movie seem to be Menhatten and A Single Life. The fictional columnist never mentions exactly when she wrote them, though. 

‘Love Letters’ and ‘I Do! Do I?’ was written during the first and second film 

While Sex and the City: The Movie focused mostly on Carrie rebounding from being jilted at the altar, plenty of writing went on during that time, too. In an early scene of the movie, Carrie tells Mr. Big that she is doing “research” for her next book. The research came in the form of reading a book called Love Letters of Great Men: Volume 1

It can be assumed that she wrote Love Letters during the lead-up to her wedding and in the immediate aftermath of the jilting. I Do! Do I? is never spoken about at length. Still, we can ascertain that she wrote the book shortly after marrying John James Preston. During the second movie, Carrie and Mr. Big hit troubled waters when his preference for staying in interferes with her desire to go out. 

‘Loved and Lost’ was the title of the book Carrie Bradshaw penned in ‘And Just Like That…’ 

Carrie and Mr. Big were living a pretty charmed life when he suddenly died in the opening episode of And Just Like That…, the Sex and the City reboot. Mr. Big’s sudden death ushered in a new era for Carrie. She had to learn how to navigate her grief. She wasn’t alone, though. Her friends, sans Samantha Jones, were along for the ride. 

While grieving, Carrie also authored her fifth book. Loved and Lost is the book she wrote in the year following Mr. Big’s death. It dealt with how she walked through her grief and returned to the dating world. The reboot referenced the book several times, most notably by Carrie’s renewed love, Aidan Shaw, and his ex-wife, Kathy. 

Anthony Marantino and Carrie Bradshaw sit together in her living area in front of a bookcase in season 1 of 'And Just Like That...'
Anthony Marantino and Carrie Bradshaw | Craig Blankenhorn/Max
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And Just Like That… was greenlit for a third season in August. Based on how season 2 ended, Carrie has plenty of material for a sixth book. With Aidan out of the picture for at least five years, she’ll surely have plenty of time to write all about the unprecedented changes in her life.