Booking Through Thursday: Serial

Today’s Booking Through Thursday question is:

Series? Or Stand-alone books?

Both. I’m guessing that anyone who likes series is going to say “both.” But I imagine that there will be people who won’t read series at all. That’s never been me. By fourth grade, I had read all of the Oz books (L. Frank Baum), all of the Boxcar Children (Gertrude Chandler Warner), and all of the Bobbsey Twins (Laura Lee Hope). Or, at least, all the ones that were available in either our school library or the public library. I only went to the public library in the summertime, so I spent the first part of the summer filling in any gaps in the series I was reading.

Fourth grade was the year of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books, because Mrs. Bridges read them aloud after noon recess and I couldn’t stand to have the story spin out that slowly. I had to read ahead.

When I moved into the adult room of the library, Elswyth Thane’s Williamsburg series provided several months of entertainment and a terrific background for our trip to Williamsburg when I was 14.

In high school, I read the Perry Mason books by Erle Stanley Gardner.

I didn’t read for pleasure in college (one of several mistakes I would correct if I could redo that time), but, right out of college, I read the three published books in the Earth’s Children series that began with The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel.

I do give up on series occasionally. In fact, I’m not sure whether I read any Jean Auel books after 1985 and probably won’t pick up the newer ones. I got stuck in book 4 of The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and never picked it up again. A few books into the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris and the Anita Blake series by Laurell Hamilton, I realized that I don’t like vampire books. As you will see from the list below, I do like werewolf (and other changeling) books. I really don’t think I want to examine my preference for werewolves over vampires too closely.

The series that I’m following right now (this list will help me keep track!):

Ghost Hunter mysteries by Victoria Laurie
Psychic Eye mysteries by Victoria Laurie
Psy-Changeling fantasy romances by Nalini Singh
Ghostwalkers fantasy romances by Christine Feehan
Women of the Otherworld urban fantasies by Kelley Armstrong
Kitty Norville urban fantasies by Carrie Vaughn
Rachel Morgan urban fantasies by Kim Harrison
In Death mysteries by J.D. Robb
Sisters of the Heart fantasy romances by Christine Feehan
Leopard People fantasy romances by Christine Feehan
Troubleshooters romances by Suzanne Brockmann
Dirk and Steele fantasy romances by Marjorie Liu
Mercy Thompson urban fantasies by Patricia Briggs
Alpha and Omega fantasies by Patricia Briggs
Temperance Brennan mysteries by Kathy Reichs
Temeraire fantasies by Naomi Novik
Malory-Anderson historical romances by Johanna Lindsey

That’s probably the best glimpse into my tastes in fiction that I’ve managed to display on this blog. Given that list, Dear Reader, what else should I be reading?

Comments

Booking Through Thursday: Serial — 12 Comments

mary Ann Langan on March 24, 2011 at 1:09 pm said:

I like both as long as it keeps you reading.

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Sally on March 24, 2011 at 1:39 pm said:

I am a full on English girl and grew up reading Enid Blyon. I had pretty much read everything she had ever written by the age of 10. I wanted to be a member of the Famous Five or the Secret Seven I used to dream of secret islands and hidden treasures – I was obsessed. So I think it’s a given that I would have no problems reading series.
Sally.
http://theelifylop.blogspot.com/2011/03/booking-through-thursday-10.html

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Karen on March 24, 2011 at 4:05 pm said:

I loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder books growing up. I remember reading the first one when I was home sick from school one week and not being able to wait to read the rest. I read a lot of series growing up to and I remember them more than I do the stand alones (although a firm favourite was Roald Dahl which would be stand alone). It wasn’t until I started reading science fiction I got into series again.

Incidentally which Thursday Next did you give up on? He has split the series into four. The first four is Thursday next and the following four (starting with First Amongst Equals) is set mainly in Fiction. His newest one is almost entirely in fiction and is slightly different from the rest. Feels like it has a new spark of life.

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- Joy Weese Moll on March 24, 2011 at 4:45 pm said:
  
  I think I got lost in the The Well of Lost Plots. I’m not sure whether I should start again from the beginning or pick up somewhere in the middle.
  
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  - Karen on March 25, 2011 at 6:45 am said:
    
    That’s the third book in the first quartet. I might read them all again at some point. Would be interesting to see what I think of the ones I was disappointed with now that I know how the author has split them.
    
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DaleRobertWeese on March 24, 2011 at 5:47 pm said:

My sister read more than I did when we were kids. But I read some of your Boxcar Children books, and had the same reaction to Mrs. Bridges. I read Tolkien in high school, and after that I preferred fantasy fiction in series, so I wouldn’t have to think about what to read next, but really preferred series that were finished before I discovered them! I’m about to finish the 4th JRR Martin novel and, 5th is due in July, and then it will be years of waiting.

Our Dad turned me on to SciFi beginning with the Asimov series, but I prefer Larry Niven and most of his stand alone, with a few broadly separated pairs. He also wrote one series of four books, over four decades, without ever promising the next book so I guess I should say “so far.” Interesting to see how changing real-world science changed this far-future series over the years.

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Shirley on March 24, 2011 at 7:16 pm said:

Do you like cozy mysteries? If so, try the culinary mysteries by Nancy Fairbanks or the Death on Demand series by Carolyn Hart, or Regan O’Reilly series by Carol Higgins Clark.

Here’s my answer.

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Kell @ Kincavel Krosses on March 24, 2011 at 7:25 pm said:

I loved the Little House books when I was a kid too. I’ve recently been thinking about getting hold of them again…

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Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness) on March 26, 2011 at 3:49 pm said:

I loved The Boxcar Children when I was a kid! I read almost all of their books.

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Erin on March 26, 2011 at 5:14 pm said:

I like both, though I tend to read standalone books more often. Also, as I was thinking about this question, I realized I do tend to prefer series that end: Harry Potter, for example. I like trilogies a lot too. Not sure if they count as series or not!

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