When I first became a school librarian, I had to play catch up. And fast.
So I read the first book of every series. I wanted to be able to familiarize myself with the books my students were reading.
This has become a way of reading for me. I read book one. I don't read on.
The truth is that book two is a disappointment. The author carefully worked out book one. Perhaps she never even planned to write book two. Or she wrote book two as a bridge to the far-better book three.
But now I see that I've missed a lot of great books. I'm starting a list of book series I might like to read.
What would you recommend to me?
Here are a few that have been suggested so far:
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.
I read a lot of Piers Anthony as a teenager, but I think the misogyny would get to me now ... are you looking for fantasy series or only science fiction? I don't have much to recommend of the latter except everything by Ursula K. Le Guin, which you probably know already.
ReplyDeleteFantasy would be great, too.
DeleteIn that case, I recommend - The Winternight trilogy, Katherine Arden (even though I haven't read the third book yet!); Temeraire series, Naomi Novik; The Queen's Thief series, Megan Whalen Turner; the Annals of the Western Shore, UK Le Guin; the Darkangel Trilogy, Meredith Ann Pierce; the Graceling series, Kristen Cashore. I think I have a few to catch up on there as well. I've fallen away from fantasy lately, but these were some of my favorites back in the day.
DeleteFirst two series look like fantasy which seem popular. Myself I read on Kindle where you can purchase a series very cheaply and tend to read self publishing authors on there like Christopher Nuttall who writes both fantasy and SiFi.
ReplyDeleteOther authors are John Walker and joshua dalzelle are very goo but there are so many other authors who are less famous that are good and worth reading
That's a very interesting list. I hope you have a lovely week ahead, dear friend.
ReplyDeleteSorry, can’t help you here.
ReplyDeleteI love the Empyrean series but I’m not sure you would if I’m honest, I do think you might enjoy Children of Time from what I know of it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your #TTT
I have read Fourth Wing and Iron Flame and really enjoyed them! Tried reading Onyx Storm but couldn't get into it... might try it on audio :) Happy reading if you start any of these!
ReplyDeleteHere's the link to my TTT if you'd like to check it out - https://bookishlyjessie.blog/2026/08/18/top-ten-tuesday-𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤-𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬-𝐈-𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭/
I've been curious about Tchaikovsky's Children of Time series. I've read one book by the author and I remember being surprised by how much I enjoyed it despite it being outside of my comfort zone. I hope you enjoy these series whenever you read them :)
ReplyDeleteI read a number of books in the Piers Anthony series many, many years ago. My husband was the one that recommended those to me. He has been a fantasy book lover since the time he read Tolkien when he was a kid. I will say that I love series because that means the story goes on and on. I also have found that sometimes the first book is slower or longer or whatever due to the fact that we are getting introduced to the characters, etc. Anyway, if you decide to try more series reads, I wish you luck! :-)
ReplyDeleteI still need to read Fourth Wing as well.
ReplyDeleteHere is our Top Ten Tuesday.
That’s a good ideas as a librarian to read the first in a series! You have too many books to read all of them! ~Carol @ ReadingLadies
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of these series. I like that you read the first one in each series. Sometimes it's too hard to keep up with all the books in a series.
ReplyDeleteI am currently reading the Bobiverse series and really loving it! I'd also highly recommend the Rook & Rose series by M.A. Carrick - the worldbuilding and magic system is incredible, I also really love the characters and the found family aspect of it.
ReplyDeleteI did read the Fourth Wing series. Really liked the first one, not so keen on the next two and the next one is taking so long I am kind of going off them.
ReplyDeleteI also read the first in many MG and YA series when I was a teacher librarian. I seldom read the rest of them.
ReplyDeleteThis is the second TTT I've seen today with The Three-Body Problem listed, so now I feel like I have to check it out. If you're looking for another sci-fi fantasy series, I read book 1 of the Suneater series titled The Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio and I thought it was absolutely fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI did the exact same thing when I became a high school librarian I read only the first book of series unless I got hooked and had to read on...had to! I loved me some series that I got lost in. I wonder now that I am out of that YA world if those series would still hold the magic for me?
ReplyDeleteNo recommendatons from me -- it's not my genre but the titles look good!
ReplyDelete"he author carefully worked out book one" How often have I thought about that fact! A book sells like wildfire and the publisher expects the same again but this time overnight!
ReplyDeleteI've not read any of these series, so I can't help you decide.
ReplyDeleteHere's my TTT for the week: https://readbakecreate.com/ten-series-i-hope-to-catch-up-on-in-2026/
I hope some of the recommendations turn out to be books you like.
ReplyDeleteI read several series as a youngster, but these days I don’t start them because I know with my lack of time, they won’t get finished.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting collection of titles, some of which are on my list of books I want to read.
ReplyDeleteYou might enjoy Octavia Butler. Her style is kind of a science fiction - fantasy fusion.
ReplyDeleteI loved the Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony when I was a kid, but I haven't read much sci fi since then. I hope you enjoy these series!
ReplyDeleteHappy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
I agree with you, in a lot of series book two is a disappointment, and book three is really good. If you don't mind have faith elements in your stories, I highly recommend C.C. Warrens Holly series. They do not have romance in them, and they are pretty gritty, but SO good. Have you tried the Emma M Lion series? Those are really good as well (if you don't mind epistolatory). If you are interested in Forensic Artists the Gwen Marcy series by Carrie Stuart Parks, I thought the second book (and 3,4) were better than the first. The Kaely Quinn Profiler series by Nancy Mehl is also fantastic.
ReplyDelete