Thursday 10 January 2013

My series update

I was thinking the other day that the various series that I read these days are mostly new ones with a few odd old ones that I still wish to read interspersed. I am a bit fickle with series though. Sometimes I read so far into them and then lose interest. I've no idea why this is - I'm sure it's my fault but there's little I can do about it and at my age I don't really feel like forcing myself to read books in a series I'm no longer rivetted by. Because of that it's time to update and repost my series post from two and half years ago. As always this is just for my own reference as I find it very useful, but any recs are most welcome.

Crime - modern and historical:

Charlie Parker - John Connolly - (read 9... up to book 10)
Matthew Shardlake – C.J. Sansom (read 3)
Flavia de Luce - Alan Bradley (read 6)
Daisy Dalrymple - Carola Dunn (read 20)
Rizzoli and Isles - Tess Gerritsen (read 8)
Ruth Galloway series - Elly Griffiths (read 6)
Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes – Laurie R. King (read 4)
The Lewis trilogy - Peter May (read 1)
Lord Peter Wimsey - (read 5)
Alan Grant - Josephine Tey - (read 2)
Gordianus the Finder - Steven Saylor (read 1)
Kate Burkholder - Linda Castillo (read 2)
Reverand Clare Fergusson - Julia Spenser Fleming (read 3)
Josephine Tey - Nicola Upson - (read 1)


Sci Fi, Fantasy and horror - both adult and young adult:

Mercy Thompson - Patricia Briggs (read 5)
Jackelian - Stephen Hunt (read 1)
Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch (read 4
Liveship Trader - Robin Hobb (read 1)
Astreiant - Melissa Scott - (read 2 1/2)


Sundry:

Barsetshire - Angela Thirkell - (read 3)
The Little House series – Laura Ingalls Wilder (read 5 up to book 6)
The Barchester Chronicles - Anthony Trollope (read 2)


Series I want to read: (mainly fantasy)

The Kingkiller chronicles - Patrick Rothfuss
The Wit’ch series – James Clemens
Alpha and Omega - Patricia Briggs
Starborn - Lucy Hounsom
The Priestess of the White trilogy – Trudi Canavan




The Tawny Man trilogy – Robin Hobb



The Coldfire trilogy – Celia Friedman
The Fionavar Tapestry trilogy – Guy Gavriel Kay
The Gardella Vampire Chronicles – Colleen Gleason
Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner

I think what this post underlines more than anything is how much my reading tastes have switched from fantasy/horror to crime. I still read the former but am much more into crime stories these days, especially vintage and historical it would seem. And that's fine. Things change and I always believe in going with the flow.


~~~oOo~~~

13 comments:

DesLily said...

goodness gracious but you have a lot of series going!! I find my problem is that if I get away from one for too long then I never go back. I think I read all but the last book with Septimus Heap and I thought they were quite enjoyable! I discovered the book I am reading now is a series... *grumble* I am enjoying it but I hope I can cut it off with just the one book.. too many other books to get to and once I am in a series I stay with them book after book and my pile would not go down! I do have 2 or three trilogies (all 3 books) in my tbr pile.. hopefully I will get to at least one of them this year... my shelves are overloaded with non fiction at the moment!

Literary Feline said...

It's been years since I updated my lists. I really should try to find the time.

I enjoyed reading through your lists, Cath! We share some of the same series. :-)

Trying to catch up in all the series I read will be my downfall, I think. LOL

Jo said...

Catching up with series is something I have set myself as a challenge again this year, nearly worked last year! Just three books for each of the series reads that I am into at the moment. Lets see what happens this year. Good luck, you have a lot there!

Kailana said...

My series update would scare me...

Cath said...

Pat: I wouldn't describe all of these series as 'active'. Some of them I haven't read a book from for several years. And it's like you said, I sometimes never go back. I took quite a few series off the list that are like that. I can also never decide what causes me to not go back. My shelves too are overloaded with non-fiction at the moment. LOL!

Literary Feline: It is actually quite a fun thing to do... if a little scary. Catching up could be my downfall too! I don't really want to be in a position where that's all I can read all year.

Jo: I also didn't do too badly catching up a bit last year. Of course, it doesn't really help when I decide, in the middle of the year, to reread an entire series (didn't quite get to the end), in this case Terry Pratchett's Sam Vimes books. On the other hand, I really enjoyed them and, if anything, probably love them even more now. Good luck to you too!

Kailana: LOL. I know exactly what you mean.

Gavin said...

Like Kailana, a series update would scare me, but this is inspiring! I may just have to attempt it. It will let me know how many holes I have yet to fill.

Your list has me thinking I need to add some series to mine!

Nikki - Notes of Life said...

There's a few of those series I need to get on with myself! Flavia de Luce is one... I've read book 2, but not the others.

Bryant & May is an excellent series which I'm sure you'll enjoy.

Have you read any of The Dresden Files? That's definitely a series I'd recommend.

Cath said...

Gavin: It is a bit scary but also a lot of fun to do. But most of all, really useful in that I refer to the list a lot to remind me where I am in each series.

Nicki-ann: The last two Flavia books are huge fun, I loved them all and there's a new one out this year I think.

Yes, I plan to start Bryant and May this year as I know I will like it.

Yes, I read book one of The Dresden File several years ago but never got any further. I really need to pick those up again too.

Nan said...

Do you read the Bess Crawford series by Charles Todd - a nurse in WW I. I'm on the third and really liking the books. And of course there is the Hercule Poirot series, which I sadly fear I am coming to an end of.

Cath said...

Nan: How lovely to see you here!

No, I have heard of the Bess Crawford series, I'll look those up. Here's an embarrassing thing... I've not read one Hercule Poirot book. Seen all of the TV dramas, but not one book.

Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews said...

Hi Cath,

Wow! Until I saw it written down, I never realised what an avid 'list reader' you were!

Just picking up on Nan's comment, I am sure that the 'Hercule Poirot' series would be another obsessive addition to your list, once you had read one of them!

I tend to dip in and out of series, without ever really keeping track of them and I very rarely read a series in any kind of logical order, which is very strange, as in everyday life, I survive on task lists, all neatly prioritised!

Yvonne

Susan said...

Cath, I've been meaning to do this for ages, to see where I am in the series I read. Except there would be so many more mystery series for me! lol and so many to catch up on or start,but I think it's fun to do and see what I've done. Did you find this, doing this?

I have the Scott Lynch book one to read, and need to get the Rothfuss book 2 - hopefully out in small paperback this year sometime. I won't go into the mysteries here except to say that you and I share so many of them, and they are all so good, aren't they?

I get distracted by shiny new series too :-) I think it's a common failing among bookaholics.

Cath said...

Yvonne: Oh yes, I'm a very much an avid series reader. Of course it doesn't help that an awful lot of the kind of books I read seem to come in series form rather than as standalones. LOL.

I tend to be really anal when it comes to any series, I really do like to start at the beginning.

Susan: I'm not sure I could cope without this list. I first did it several years ago and have updated it a couple of times. Every time I read a book from any series I mark it off on this list so that I know precisely how many I've read and where I am.

Oh yes, it was huge fun to create and I go and look at it often to see if I fancy a certain series again or if it's high time I got on with one.

I might try to read the Scott Lynch and the Rothfuss for OUaT. Although they're both quite long. We'll see.

I'm glad it's not just me that gets distracted. Also... I find I start a book thinking it's a standalone and it turns out it's not. LOL. It's happening to me right now. I'm halfway through Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke's classic sci fi yarn. When I went to look on Fantastic Fiction... uh-oh... there are two more books!!! Noooooooo........