Poll

Members of Nothing but Reading Challenges, this is the poll for our second Series Group Read. Vote carefully because the series you vote for might just be the series we read for the next few months. The synopsis of the first book in each series is posted below.

The Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, Book 1: Moon Called Moon Called (Mercedes Thompson, #1) by Patricia Briggs Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson is a talented Volkswagen mechanic living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington. She also happens to be a walker, a magical being with the power to shift into a coyote at will. Mercy's next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she's fixing a bus for a vampire. This is the world of Mercy Thompson, one that looks a lot like ours but is populated by those things that go bump in the night. And Mercy's connection to those things is about to get her into some serious hot water...
 
  16 votes 16.7%

The Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands, Book 1: A Quick Bite A Quick Bite (Argeneau, #1) by Lynsay Sands That hot guy tied to Lissianna Argeneau's bed? He's not dessert—he's the main course!
Lissianna has been spending her centuries pining for Mr. Right, not just a quick snack, and this sexy guy she finds in her bed looks like he might be a candidate. But there's another, more pressing issue: her tendency to faint at the sight of blood . . . an especially annoying quirk for a vampire. Of course it doesn't hurt that this man has a delicious-looking neck. What kind of cold-blooded vampire woman could resist a bite of that?
Dr. Gregory Hewitt recovers from the shock of waking up in a stranger's bedroom pretty quickly—once he sees a gorgeous woman about to treat him to a wild night of passion. But is it possible for the good doctor to find true love with a vampire vixen, or will he be just a good meal? That's a question Dr. Greg might be willing to sink his teeth into . . . if he can just get Lissianna to bite.
 
  10 votes 10.4%

The Glass series by Maria V. Snyder, Book 1: Storm Glass Storm Glass (Glass, #1) by Maria V. Snyder As a glassmaker and a magician-in-training, Opal Cowen understands trial by fire. Now it's time to test her mettle. Someone has sabotaged the Stormdancer clan's glass orbs, killing their most powerful magicians. The Stormdancers—particularly the mysterious and mercurial Kade—require Opal's unique talents to prevent it happening again. But when the mission goes awry, Opal must tap in to a new kind of magic as stunningly potent as it is frightening. And the further she delves into the intrigue behind the glass and magic, the more distorted things appear. With lives hanging in the balance—including her own—Opal must control powers she hadn't known she possessed…powers that might lead to disaster beyond anything she's ever known.
 
  9 votes 9.4%

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Book 1: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide, #1) by Douglas Adams Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised Guide. Together they stick out their thumbs to the stars and begin a wild journey through time and space.
 
  7 votes 7.3%

Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, Book 1: Dead Until Dark Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1) by Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out....Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't such a bright idea.
 
  7 votes 7.3%

The Vampire Diaries series by L.J. Smith, Book 1: The Awakening The Awakening (The Vampire Diaries, #1) by L.J. Smith A deadly love triangle

Elena: beautiful and popular, the girl who can have any guy she wants.

Stefan: brooding and mysterious, desperately trying to resist his desire for Elena . . . for her own good.

Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him.

Elena finds herself drawn to both brothers . . . who will she choose?
 
  6 votes 6.3%

The Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini, Book 1: Eragon Eragon (Inheritance, #1) by Christopher Paolini Eragon, a young farm boy, finds a marvelous blue stone in a mystical mountain place. Before he can trade it for food to get his family through the hard winter, it hatches a beautiful sapphire-blue dragon, a race thought to be extinct. Eragon bonds with the dragon, and when his family is killed by the marauding Ra'zac, he discovers that he is the last of the Dragon Riders, fated to play a decisive part in the coming war between the human but hidden Varden, dwarves, elves, the diabolical Shades and their neanderthal Urgalls, all pitted against and allied with each other and the evil King Galbatorix. Eragon and his dragon Saphira set out to find their role, growing in magic power and understanding of the complex political situation as they endure perilous travels and sudden battles, dire wounds, capture and escape.
 
  6 votes 6.3%

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, Book 1: The Lightning Thief The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1) by Rick Riordan Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school...again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.
 
  5 votes 5.2%

His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman, Book 1: The Golden Compass The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1) by Philip Pullman The Golden Compass, a story ostensibly for children but one perhaps even better appreciated by adults. The protagonist of this complex fantasy is young Lyra Belacqua, a precocious orphan growing up within the precincts of Oxford University. But it quickly becomes clear that Lyra's Oxford is not precisely like our own--nor is her world. For one thing, people there each have a personal daemon, the manifestation of their souls in animal form. For another, hers is a universe in which science, theology, and magic are closely allied: As for what experimental theology was, Lyra had no more idea than the urchins. She had formed the notion that it was concerned with magic, with the movements of the stars and planets, with tiny particles of matter, but that was guesswork, really. Probably the stars had daemons just as humans did, and experimental theology involved talking to them. Not that Lyra spends much time worrying about it; what she likes best is "clambering over the College roofs with Roger the kitchen boy who was her particular friend, to spit plum stones on the heads of passing Scholars or to hoot like owls outside a window where a tutorial was going on, or racing through the narrow streets, or stealing apples from the market, or waging war." But Lyra's carefree existence changes forever when she and her daemon, Pantalaimon, first prevent an assassination attempt against her uncle, the powerful Lord Asriel, and then overhear a secret discussion about a mysterious entity known as Dust. Soon she and Pan are swept up in a dangerous game involving disappearing children, a beautiful woman with a golden monkey daemon, a trip to the far north, and a set of allies ranging from "gyptians" to witches to an armor-clad polar bear.
 
  5 votes 5.2%

The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, Book 1: His Majesty's Dragon His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire, #1) by Naomi Novik In this delightful first novel, the opening salvo of a trilogy, Novik seamlessly blends fantasy into the history of the Napoleonic wars. Here be dragons, beasts that can speak and reason, bred for strength and speed and used for aerial support in battle. Each nation has its own breeds, but none are so jealously guarded as the mysterious dragons of China. Veteran Capt. Will Laurence of the British Navy is therefore taken aback after his crew captures an egg from a French ship and it hatches a Chinese dragon, which Laurence names Temeraire. When Temeraire bonds with the captain, the two leave the navy to sign on with His Majesty's sadly understaffed Aerial Corps, which takes on the French in sprawling, detailed battles that Novik renders with admirable attention to 19th-century military tactics.
 
  4 votes 4.2%

The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin, Book 1: A Wizard of Earthsea A Wizard of Earthsea (The Earthsea Cycle, #1) by Ursula K. Le Guin Ged was the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, but once he was called Sparrowhawk, a reckless youth, hungry for power and knowledge, who tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance.
 
  4 votes 4.2%

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, Book 1: The Gunslinger The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1) by Stephen King . Roland is the last Gunslinger--replete with dusty Old West garb and a duo of six-shooters--and he is searching for the elusive man in black. A solitary traveler, Roland treks endlessly through desperate surroundings, passing derelict outposts, participating in violent showdowns. He finally arrives at a waystation in the middle of the desert where he meets a young boy named Jake. Together they will battle unspeakable enemies before facing a dreadful decision.
 
  4 votes 4.2%

The Scott Pilgrim series by Bryan Lee O'Malley, Book 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life (Scott Pilgrim, #1) by Bryan Lee O'Malley Scott Pilgrim is 23 years old, lives in a cold, unnamed Canadian town, plays bass in a band called Sex Bob-Omb and has a very cute 17-year-old Chinese-Canadian girlfriend, Knives Chau. His "precious little life" is amiably unstructured, and he drifts, happily unemployed, between band practice and time spent with Knives. His relationship with Knives is chaste—walks, chats and hugs—although Knives is getting bigger ideas. "We haven't even held hands," Scott explains. "It's just nice, you know." But then he starts having dreams about Ramona Flowers, a mysterious, equally cute and perfectly legal hipster chick on Rollerblades who delivers books for Amazon.com. Ramona is anything but simple, and O'Malley's tale of adorable slackers in love is transformed into a wildly magically manga–kung fu fantasy adventure. We meet the first of Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends, Matthew Patel, who challenges Scott and his band to a supernatural martial arts duel right out of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. O'Malley has crafted a delightfully hybrid comics love story.
 
  3 votes 3.1%

The Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton, Book 1: A is for Alibi A is for Alibi (Kinsey Millhone, #1) by Sue Grafton A tough-talking former cop, private investigator Kinsey Millhone has set up a modest detective agency in a quiet corner of Santa Teresa, California. A twice-divorced loner with few personal possessions and fewer personal attachments, she’s got a soft spot for underdogs and lost causes.

Eight years ago, Nikki Fife was convicted of killing her philandering husband. Now she’s out on parole and needs Kinsey’s help to find the real killer.

If there's one thing that makes Kinsey feel alive, it's playing on the edge. When her investigation turns up a second corpse, more suspects, and a new reason to kill, Kinsey discovers that the edge is closer—and sharper—than she imagined.
 
  2 votes 2.1%

The Worldwide Library Mysteries series by Peter E. Abresch, Book 1: Bloody Bonsai Bloody Bonsai (Worldwide Library Mysteries) by Peter E. Abresch Unable to generate enthusiasm for anything since his wife's death, retired physical therapist James P. Dandy has let his children cajole him into attending an Elderhostel at the Jersey shore. But the other participants seem indistinguishable except for their name tags and rsumsall but Dodee Swisher, a gallery owner determined to create her own laboratory component for their class in bonsai gardening. With Jim's uneasy cooperation, she talks unsavory busboy Billy Dack into loaning them a shovel so that they can go illegally excavating some trees from city property. But things rapidly get out of hand when the Bolder Harbor police catch these felons in the act. The two end up comforting each other between the sheets back at the Windswept Dunes Motel, and they rise next morning to find Billy Dack fatally speared with the demonstration bonsai plant. Preliminary snooping indicates that Billy was a two-bit blackmailer, so Jim and Dodee ignore Detective Belinda Smith's stern warnings to stay off the case and go after the blackmail tapes, with results about as surprising and dangerous as you'd expect for the Hardy Boys. A bonus in this winsome, if guileless, debut is a short course in how to style a bonsai plant and use it as a murder weapon.
 
  2 votes 2.1%

The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer, Book 1: Artemis Fowl Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, #1) by Eoin Colfer Artemis Fowl combines the astuteness of Sherlock Holmes with the sang-froid of James Bond and the attitude of Attila the Hun. But even Artemis doesnt know what hes taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit. These arent the fairies of bedtime stories. These fairies are armed, and theyre dangerous. Artemis thinks hes got them just where he wants them, but then they stop playing by the rules
 
  2 votes 2.1%

The Valdemar: Mage Wars series by Mercedes Lackey, Book 1: The Black Gryphon The Black Gryphon (Valdemar Mage Wars, #1) by Mercedes Lackey As the tyrant-sorcerer Kiyamvir Ma'ar's forces sweep across the land in a relentless war of conquest, one man--Urtho, the Mage of Silence--arises as the leader of the opposition. Set a thousand years before the founding of Valdemar and the rise of the Herald Mages, the latest novel by Lackey and Dixon relates the story of the legendary black gryphon Skandranon Rashkae, his healer-companion Amberdrake, and the war that changed the face of a world forever.
 
  1 vote 1.0%

The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey, Book 1: Dragonflight Dragonflight (Pern Dragonriders of Pern, #1) by Anne McCaffrey The planet Pern has been colonized for centuries by humans. When humans first settled on this world, they did not take notice of its sister planet, which had an indigenous life form that attempted to land on Pern when it came within reach. These silver "threads" fell in a destructive wave on the temperate lands of Pern once every 200 years, destroying all life they encountered. To combat this menace, the inhabitants of Pern developed a species of dragon that could burn these threads out of the sky before they touched down. Now, centuries have passed between threadfalls, and the danger of thread is considered a myth. However, a dragon rider named F'lar knows that the riders are once again needed.
 
  1 vote 1.0%

The War God series by David Weber, Book 1: Oath of Swords Oath of Swords (War God, #1) by David Weber The unlikely Paladin, Bahzell Bahnakson of the Horse Stealer Hradani. He’s no knight in shining armor. He’s a hradani, a race known for their uncontrollable rages, bloodthirsty tendencies, and inability to maintain civilized conduct. None of the other Five Races of man like the hradani. Besides his ethnic burden, Bahzell has problems of his own to deal with: a violated hostage bond, a vengeful prince, a price on his head. He doesn’t want to mess with anybody else’s problems, let alone a god’s. Let alone the War God’s! So how does he end up a thousand leagues from home, neck-deep in political intrigue, assassins, demons, psionicists, evil sorcery, white sorcery, dark gods, good gods, bad poets, greedy landlords, and most of Bortalik Bay? Well, it’s the entire War Gods fault. . . .
 
  1 vote 1.0%

Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery, Book 1: Anne of Green Gables Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1) by L.M. Montgomery When Marilla Cuthbert's brother, Matthew, returns home to Green Gables with a chatty redheaded orphan girl, Marilla exclaims, "But we asked for a boy. We have no use for a girl." It's not long, though, before the Cuthberts can't imagine how they could ever do without young Anne of Green Gables--but not for the original reasons they sought an orphan. Somewhere between the time Anne "confesses" to losing Marilla's amethyst pin (which she never took) in hopes of being allowed to go to a picnic, and when Anne accidentally dyes her hated carrot-red hair green, Marilla says to Matthew, "One thing's for certain, no house that Anne's in will ever be dull." And no book that she's in will be, either. This adapted version of the classic, Anne of Green Gables, introduces younger readers to the irrepressible heroine of L.M. Montgomery's many stories. Adapter M.C. Helldorfer includes only a few of Anne's mirthful and poignant adventures, yet manages to capture the freshness of one of children's literature's spunkiest, most beloved characters.
 
  1 vote 1.0%

96 total votes

Poll added by: Sashana



Comments Showing 1-8 of 8 (8 new)

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message 1: by Jennifer (new)

Jennifer Reeves I haven't decided if I wanted to vote or not. Too many to choose from that I really want to read! Do we get reminder e-mails about voting? I have to do some serious thinking on this one!


message 2: by Sashana (new)

Sashana Jennifer, I'll be sending out a newsletter either today or tomorrow. I don't usually send out reminders but I will personally send you one.


message 3: by Galla (new)

Galla This was a tough vote! I've followed some of those series very closely and am all caught up, so I decided to go with one I haven't read yet but am curious about (Mercedes Thompson). Nice variety in the nominations, too.


message 4: by Susan (new)

Susan Roebuck Galla, I agree, it's a great variety.


message 5: by Sashana (new)

Sashana All thanks to our members. They have the best taste :). I'm in the same boat, I want to read (almost) everything.


message 6: by Jennifer (new)

Jennifer Provost Oh, gosh. This was a tough choice!


message 7: by JoAnn (new)

JoAnn Hmmm, I see three that I would vote for.


message 8: by Christine (new)

Christine I would have to say that Moon Called is my Favorite on the list but I've read the Mercy Thompson Series several times as it is one of my top fave's. So if you haven’t read it please do. However I will have to choose something else so I'm going with A Quick Bite. I've heard it’s great, they are all great choices. I don't think I'll be disappointed with any of them.


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