While I was away I was able to read a whole bunch of books for fun, including THE NIGHT GARDNER by George Pelecanos, WHAT THE DEAD KNOW by Laura Lippman, EAT PRAY LOVE by Elizabeth Gilbert, and HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON by Naomi Novik, all of which I enjoyed.
That last one was especially interesting for me because while I really liked reading series when I was younger, these days I find myself spreading out and picking a book by an author I haven’t previously read to expand my familiarity with different styles and success stories. So I really want to know what’s going to happen in the next book of the Termeraire series, but I’m just so curious to read THEN WE CAME TO THE END and THE LAST LECTURE and and and…
But now I’m wondering: what’s your favorite series?
Anonymous says
Definitely Twilight, Uglies, and Daughters of the Moon from when I was a young teen.
stepping over the junk says
Little House on the Prairie. I read it when I was a kid and now I am reading it to my own children.
jbrian says
Favorite series? Well, not in any particular order are the ones that have held my interest:
Anita Blake Series by Laurell K. Hamilton
Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn series by Tony Hillerman
and the Sevenwaters Trilogy and Bridei Chronicles by Juliet Marillier
I guess those appease my cravings for the fright/flatfoot/fantasy genres.
zakstar says
Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels are great.
Paullina Simons has a trilogy that was like Gone with the Wind meets Communist Russia: The Bronze Horseman, The Bridge to Holycross, The Summer Garden
Anonymous says
Not sure that this counts as it is really just one long masterpiece (the critic Walter Benjamin compared it Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel in terms of magnitude and magnificence) but Marcel Proust’s IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME.
Reading just the first volume is like reading just the first part of ANNA KARENNINA. Reading just one of the middle volumes is even worse. So do yourself a favor and take as long as you need and read it all. (Then reread it, as you’ll probably want to.)
And, though this goes against the foul current of our Self-help culture, do NOT read some book like HOW PROUST CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE in order to find out how it can change your life! A book like that is so radically opposed to one of the integral themes (of subjectivity) that Proust insists upon throughout his great work that to write a book like that is to demonstrate beyond doubt that you have not understood a word of Proust.
(Proust consistently mocks characters who found their own experiences upon the experience of others.)
Trust yourself and dive in!
Sherry G says
This is a great question. My favorite series of all time, I can’t think of any other series in its genre that even holds a candle to it would be Frank Herbert’s Dune series. My second favorite series is Anna Rice’s Lives of the Mayfair Witches, only she can make incest sexy. My third favorite series is Sue Harrison’s Ivory Carver Trilogy with a girl named Kiin that means “who”, there’s nothing sadder than being named who. My fourth series is Jean Auel’s Clan of the Cave Bears, don’t watch the movie by the same name—ever, you’ll end up missing out on the books.