Your Favorite Book Series

[rollhead]

I really don't have one. I am looking for one to lub.

A few years ago, a friend (A) told me about the Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey–Maturin series. I started reading "Master and Commander," and I told a friend (B) that our mutual friend A had read All of the books in the series and loved them. (This was in the early 90s, when the books numbered about 15. They eventually topped out at 21.)

So, friend B commenced to read them all and loved them. I barely made it through the first book -- I kept getting tangled up in all the rigging.

[Paul B]

I too had trouble maintaining interest in the first volume, and never finished it. It never really felt compelling. Perhaps I'll try again.

As for a great series, I'll take Balzac's La Comédie Humaine, though it probably doesn't quite fit the definition of the term...

[patricia]

Patricia Cornwell's series of novels featuring her character, Kay Scarpetta, a forensic pathologist.

[stonemonkts]

My personal favorites are:


John Updike - The Rabbit series (informally titled)
Rabbit, Run
Rabbit Redux
Rabbit is Rich
Rabbit at Rest

Anthony Trollope - The Barsetshire Novels
The Warden
Barchester Towers
The Small House at Allington
Family Parsonage
Doctor Thorne
The Last Chronicle of Barset


Robertson Davies - The Salterton Trilogy
Tempest-Tost
Leaven of Malice
A Mixture of Frailties

Robertson Davies - The Deptford Trilogy
Fifth Business
The Manticore
World of Wonders

[Paul B]

Good stuff, that Davies. It's been a long time since I read those.

[Cem]

Originally Posted by stonemonkts

Robertson Davies - The Deptford Trilogy
Fifth Business
The Manticore
World of Wonders

Seconded. Still haven't got to the Salterton Trilogy.

[Monte Smith]

When I was a kid, I was all about the series. Choose Your Own Adventures, Tom Swift, Black Stallion, Tarzan, Conan, Onan, Sherlock Holmes. And I guess I still do like to read novels in sequential order, if there is sequential order to be had. Like right now I'm reading the third Waverley novel by Scott. But this isn't a series, they are called Waverley novels because they were issued anonymously "By the Author of Waverley." Still, great books. Last year I read all the Shakespeare history plays in order. I like the Spenser books in mysteries, and Ross Macdonald, and van der Wetering.

[Gordon B]

1. The Tower Treasure
2. The House on the Cliff
3. The Secret of the Old Mill
4. The Missing Chums
5. Hunting for Hidden Gold
6. The Shore Road Mystery
7. The Secret of the Caves
8. The Mystery of Cabin Island
9. The Great Airport Mystery
10. What Happened at Midnight
11. While the Clock Ticked
12. Footprints under the Window
13. The Mark on the Door
14. The Hidden Harbor Mystery
15. The Sinister Sign Post
16. A Figure in Hiding
17. The Secret Warning
18. The Twisted Claw
19. The Disappearing Floor
20. Mystery of the Flying Express
21. The Clue of the Broken Blade
22. The Flickering Torch Mystery
23. The Melted Coins
24. The Short-Wave Mystery
25. The Secret Panel
26. The Phantom Freighter
27. The Secret of Skull Mountain
28. The Sign of the Crooked Arrow
29. The Secret of the Lost Tunnel
30. The Wailing Siren Mystery
31. The Secret of Wildcat Swamp
32. The Crisscross Shadow
33. The Yellow Feather Mystery
34. The Hooded Hawk Mystery
35. The Clue in the Embers
36. The Secret of Pirates' Hill
37. The Ghost at Skeleton Rock
38. Mystery at Devil's Paw
39. The Mystery of the Chinese Junk
40. Mystery of the Desert Giant
41. The Clue of the Screeching Owl
42. The Viking Symbol Mystery
43. The Mystery of the Aztec Warrior
44. The Haunted Fort
45. The Mystery of the Spiral Bridge
46. The Secret Agent on Flight 101
47. Mystery of the Whale Tattoo
48. The Arctic Patrol Mystery
49. The Bombay Boomerang
50. Danger on Vampire Trail
51. The Masked Monkey
52. The Shattered Helmet
53. The Clue of the Hissing Serpent
54. The Mysterious Caravan
55. The Witchmaster's Key
56. The Jungle Pyramid
57. The Firebird Rocket
58. The Sting of the Scorpion

[jesus marion joseph]

One of my childhood faves, the "great Brain" series.



The Doc Savage series was another.

[rollhead]

Originally Posted by stonemonkts

Robertson Davies - The Salterton Trilogy
Tempest-Tost
Leaven of Malice
A Mixture of Frailties

Robertson Davies - The Deptford Trilogy
Fifth Business
The Manticore
World of Wonders

Thirded -- (read some of those)

[rollhead]

Originally Posted by Gordon B

1. The Tower Treasure

My oldest daughter would always read EVERYONE of a series if she liked the first one. My younger two would often read all of a series, as well.

I found it to be an excellent way to keep a kid reading.

I think all three of them read most of the "Boxcar Children."

And my middle daughter (now 19) read almost all (25) of the Tarzan series.

They went through bunches of series -- Oz was one -- and of course, more recently, the Harry Potter series.

[gonzo]

asimovs' foundation series even the prequels with hari seldon.

[Gary Sisco]

Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy

[kenny weir]

I've enjoyed lot of series over the many years ... among them:

Ross McDonald - Lew Archer books. Been a while since I read them, though.

John Harvey - Charlie Resnick books. Fabulous - very cool cop, lots of food and a heap of jazz.

Mervyn Peake - Gormenghast

[walto]

I love both 6-novel Trollope series, the one about the Pallisers and the one about Barsetshire.

[Gary Sisco]

Not great lit but great fun, I've become addicted to Stephen Hunter's Swagger series, and Barry Eisler's John Rain series. Noir pulp fiction done very well.

[lazarus]

I love Naguib Mahfouz´s "Cairo-trilogy".

[patricia]

Nancy Drew Mysteries - Carolyn Keene.
Occasionally I see what looks like the whole series in hard-cover at a flea market or secondhand store and almost buy it. Then I remember that I gave my collection to my oldest daughter, who passed it on to her younger sister, who then took it to a used book store, quite recently.
Both my kids are in their twenties now, but enjoyed the mysteries as much as I did, as pre-adolescents.
These stories don't date as much as you'd would think they would.

[walto]

Originally Posted by patricia

Nancy Drew Mysteries - Carolyn Keene.
Occasionally I see what looks like the whole series in hard-cover at a flea market or secondhand store and almost buy it. Then I remember that I gave my collection to my oldest daughter, who passed it on to her younger sister, who then took it to a used book store, quite recently.
Both my kids are in their twenties now, but enjoyed the mysteries as much as I did, as pre-adolescents.
These stories don't date as much as you'd would think they would.

Surprising, patricia. I read the first one of those, and thought it was really awful, as did my daughter (11 at the time), who only occasionally shares my taste. Neither of us can imagine reading another one. Even the first Bobbsey Twins book (also awful) was better.

[stonemonkts]

Originally Posted by kenny weir

Mervyn Peake - Gormenghast

Wow, that brings back memories. Those books were so evocative, you could smell the mould, and decrepitude running through every scene. One of the great demon characters too. I read those books back in high school.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Henry IV, pt 1
Henry IV, pt 2
Henry V
Merry Wives of Windsor

[patricia]

Originally Posted by walto

Surprising, patricia. I read the first one of those, and thought it was really awful, as did my daughter (11 at the time), who only occasionally shares my taste. Neither of us can imagine reading another one. Even the first Bobbsey Twins book (also awful) was better.

I guess a young girl is either totally hooked on Nancy Drew books at that age, or they're not. No middle ground.
I had absolutely no interest in the Bobbsey Twins, which were huge at the time.
My oldest read those "Fear" books, which I thought were poorly written, but kids read what they read and at least they're reading something.

[jaka]

What else could it be?

Jim Qwilleran Feline Whodunnit
1. The Cat Who Could Read Backwards (1966)
2. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern (1967)
3. The Cat Who Turned on and Off (1968)
4. The Cat Who Saw Red (1986)
5. The Cat Who Played Brahms (1987)
6. The Cat Who Played Post Office (1987)
7. The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare (1988)
8. The Cat Who Sniffed Glue (1988)
9. The Cat Who Went Underground (1989)
10. The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts (1990)
11. The Cat Who Lived High (1990)
12. The Cat Who Knew A Cardinal (1991)
13. The Cat Who Moved A Mountain (1992)
14. The Cat Who Wasn't There (1992)
15. The Cat Who Went Into the Closet (1993)
16. The Cat Who Came to Breakfast (1994)
17. The Cat Who Blew the Whistle (1995)
18. The Cat Who Said Cheese (1996)
19. The Cat Who Tailed A Thief (1997)
20. The Cat Who Sang for the Birds (1998)
21. The Cat Who Saw Stars (1999)
22. The Cat Who Robbed A Bank (2000)
23. The Cat Who Smelled A Rat (2001)
24. The Cat Who Went Up The Creek (2002)
25. The Cat Who Brought Down The House (2003)
26. The Cat Who Talked Turkey (2004)
27. The Cat Who Went Bananas (2005)
28. The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell (2006)

[GoodSpeak]

Since Nancy Drew was mentioned I have to put in a plug for my guys [my childhood favorite]:

[patricia]

Originally Posted by GoodSpeak

Since Nancy Drew was mentioned I have to put in a plug for my guys [my childhood favorite]:

Wasn't Dixon related to Carolyn Keene [the Nancy Drew author]?
For some reason I seem to remember that he picked up the writing of the Drew mysteries after Ms. Keene died.
I'm too lazy to look it up and I might be wrong. But, I seem to remember that.'

[Robert de St. Loup]

I think you can guess.

Second favorite: A Dance to the Music of Time.

And props to Paul for mentioning Balzac, though I've only read 5 or 6 of those.

[Pete C]

Balzac, La Comedie Humaine (though it's a loose "series")
Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels
Janwillem van de Wetering's Dutch cops novels
Simenon's Maigret novels
Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse
John Mortimer's Rumpole

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Robert de St. Loup

Second favorite: A Dance to the Music of Time.

I loved them when I was in my twenties, but for some reason I was less enchanted when I reread a couple recently.

[Monte Smith]

Originally Posted by patricia

Wasn't Dixon related to Carolyn Keene [the Nancy Drew author]?

Very closely related, in that neither person actually existed. The Nancy Drew books, and the Hardy Boys, and Tom Swift, Bobbsey Twins, etc., were ghost-authored by many different writers but credited to one fictional author to maintain continuity. Continuity of profit.

[walto]

Huh. I supposed they were like the Wizard of Oz books, with the first handful written by one person before the franchise was turned over to a factory.

Edit: According to Wikipedia, someone named Mildred Wirt Benson wrote the first 22 Nancy Drew Books.