Play Book Tag discussion
May, 2016: Series
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Announcing the May Tag: Please Share Your Reading Plans and Suggestions
Anita- Maybe these are silly questions because I am new to the group however......... Can rereads be counted towards the monthly group's book tag? Also, for the May tag, does the book need to be #1 in the series or any book in a series? Thanks. :)
❁Lisa Ann❃ wrote: "Anita- Maybe these are silly questions because I am new to the group however......... Can rereads be counted towards the monthly group's book tag? Also, for the May tag, does the book need to be #1..."There are definitely no silly questions here!
Re-reads can absolutely be counted so long as you write a review and post it here!
And for the May tag, the book does not need to be #1 - - just part of a series.
I plan to get to the third book in Faulkner's Snopes Trilogy: The Mansion. For any of you who have perhaps been reluctant to try Faulkner, this series is one of his most accessible works that I have read. It starts with The Hamlet.If I find time, I'd also like to read the 2nd book in Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy. I read the first book several months ago. I have an ongoing interest in WWI literature.
This is perfect timing for "series" to be selected as the tag. My law school finals are over in a week and I will have a two week break before summer classes start. That should be enough time to fit in a tome!I will read either:
Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (book four in the Outlander series) or
A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin (book five in the A Song of Ice and Fire series)
Then, if I have time for one other quick read, it is probably time I actually followed through on reading Divided in Death by J.D. Robb (book eighteen in the In Death series).
Thank you Elizabeth for bringing up Pat Barker. Regeneration has been on my TBR for some time. I might also read Olmstead's Far Bright Star.And thank you Nicole. I hadn't thought about the Outlander series and have yet to try it. Outlander has been on my TBR about as long as I was on Shelfari.
The ones that came to mind when I voted for the tag were two sci-fi/fantasy - Red Rising by Pierce Brown (and a Daily Deal today!) and A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab who I thought about reading for female authors.
Looking forward to seeing more suggestions. I have lots of choices so will stick with these five unless someone mentions something better!
My Brilliant Friend, here I come!!! Jane Smiley also has a set of books that interest me starting with Some Luck. Is a trilogy considered a series?In terms of recommendations, I'm truly horrible when it comes to series. I never read series. If I try one, I usually get through one book and that's it.
Interesting that Elizabeth brings up Pat Barker. My Bookmarks magazine had a whole big article on her and mentioned the Regeneration trilogy which did sound quite interesting.
Anita wrote: "My Brilliant Friend, here I come!!!"I finished it yesterday. Hmmm, perhaps I'll go on to book 2!
Denizen wrote: "Anita wrote: "My Brilliant Friend, here I come!!!"I finished it yesterday. Hmmm, perhaps I'll go on to book 2!"
Not sure if "perhaps" is the rave I was hoping for, lol. What did you think? Did it live up to the hype?
Anita wrote: "My Brilliant Friend, here I come!!! Jane Smiley also has a set of books that interest me starting with Some Luck. Is a trilogy considered a series?"I hope so! That's what I'm planing to read. ;-)
And I've heard good things about that Jane Smiley series. I have liked what I've read by her, and hope one day to get to these.
Grrr....My Brilliant Friend has also been on my list forever. Darn it.
Denizen wrote: "I might also read Olmstead's Far Bright Star."Is that part of a series? It's not so designated on GR, but we can fix that if it is.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Anita wrote: "My Brilliant Friend, here I come!!! Jane Smiley also has a set of books that interest me starting with Some Luck. Is a trilogy considered..."The Smiley series sounds like it was written in a very interesting way. I think each chapter represents one year in a family saga. I saw her speak and was smitten. I've read her before and like her writing style a lot though it is generally not very plot driven.
Nicole wrote: "Grrr....My Brilliant Friend has also been on my list forever. Darn it."Read it with me, friend!
For people who like post-apocalyptic stories written for adults, I'll recommend Wool Omnibus. It was self-published in smaller sections initially, but this is the first full "book". It's a trilogy now. I thought the first one was great, the second on was pretty good, and I have the third left to go. It definitely gives you lots to think about!
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Denizen wrote: "I might also read Olmstead's Far Bright Star."Is that part of a series? It's not so designated on GR, but we can fix that if it is."
It was presented to me as a series in a Shelfari group. I remember asking if I had to read them in order. The answer was no. They were stand alones but perhaps they are about different generations in the same family? I've only read the last one where they mentioned the phrase "coal black horses" which is the title of the second one and I think about the grandfather character in the third book.
Anita wrote: "Not sure if "perhaps" is the rave I was hoping for, lol. What did you think? Did it live up to the hype? "It was a strong 4 star for me. I thought it started slow but the pace picked up in a reasonable amount of time. I would call it a cliff hanger ending. If the tag had been announced yesterday, I would be listening to it now. Today, I'm already listening to something else. It's in the queue for May.
I can't say I'm not a tad disappointed by the winner but I will try to keep an open mind and read at least one. I'll probably join Anita in the Ferrante book.I just started the Cronin final Passage book so I'll hold off on that until May then use that as another choice.
Denizen wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Denizen wrote: "I might also read Olmstead's Far Bright Star."Is that part of a series? It's not so designated on GR, but we can fix that if it is."
It was presented to me as a series in a Shelfari group. "
I looked at the author's website, and it is not indicated as a series there.
Anita wrote: "❁Lisa Ann❃ wrote: "Anita- Maybe these are silly questions because I am new to the group however......... Can rereads be counted towards the monthly group's book tag? Also, for the May tag, does the..."
Thanks so much, Anita. :) Off to do some May tag planning.....
Thanks so much, Anita. :) Off to do some May tag planning.....
Anita wrote: "And for the May tag, the book does not need to be #1 - - just part of a series. ..."I haven't read through the entire thread, yet, but I thought I'd add that if you are reading it for the baseball game (a steal), the book will have to already be tagged "series" for it to count.
And sigh... I was really hoping for graphic novels.
Anita wrote: "Anita Pomerantz | 1016 commentsMy Brilliant Friend, here I come!!! Jane Smiley also has a set of books that interest me starting with Some Luck. Is a trilogy considered a series?..."
I consider a trilogy a series.
I already have a few possibilities for other challenges that will fit: Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues / Dixie Hemingway
Snow White Must Die / Nele Neuhaus
On the Banks of Plum Creek / Laura Ingalls Wilder
About 30% of my reading tends to be from series. My prescribed vitamins and escape breaks of detective and science fiction accounts for most of that. But as people note there are wonderful historical fiction series.For 2016 so far four reads garnered 4-5 stars, including:
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (C.S. Forester, Hornblower Saga #1 of 11), which introduces this hero of a naval adventure series with the British Navy during the Napoleanic Wars. Still as rich, and moving, and thrilling as when they helped hook me on reading in my youth. When you run out of the best, Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin naval series, Forrester re-reads can ease the pain.
The Other Side of Silence (Phillip Kerr; Bernie Gunther #11), where Bernie hiding out from the Stasi in post-war France has an espionage adventure with Somerset Maugham.
Elkhorn Tavern (Doug C. Jones; #1 of trilogy), , in which a boy and his family survive by their wits and courage as the Civil War comes to their doorstep with the Battle of Pea Ridge in the Arkansas Ozarchs. A saga of coming of age in war time similar to Olmstead's series entry "Coal Black Horse" (others in his series jump generations).
House of the Rising Sun(James Lee Burke, Hackberry Holland #4), in which the grandfather of Burke's Sheriff Holland series sets down family patterns of violence with Hackberry on a tear in Mexico looking for his son fighting in Pershing's raid on Pancho Villa and more in San Antonio when as a legless war hero of the Somme gets kidnapped by an Austrian arms dealer. This series is good, but you would luck out more often with the Dave Robicheux series set in Cajun country Lousiana.
For certain detective series I am a completist, sustaining an addiction on one addiction a year or so. Of that set the last C.J. Box, Off The Grid (Joe :Pickett #16) proved this series to be quite reliable for fun and thrills, featuring family man Joe Pickett as a Wyoming game warden who finds trouble so easily, the Governor uses him as a sort of Judas goat.
Also, The Promise (Robert Crais; Elvis Cole #16), reveals his series still delivers on the long haul, here bringing L.A. private detective Elvis into a war with local terrorists in the desert and lots of dancing with the FBI with the help of buddy Joe Pike, of ex-Special Forces skills.
For history, it's a tall order, my read of Shelby Foote's The Civil War, Vol. 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville recently was immensely satisfying, so I will pursue the other two volumes.
For science fiction, Octavia Butler's Adulthood Rites was 5-star outstanding like the first in the trilogy, Dawn, due to its power over me showing humanity in the form of one particular woman and her hybrid constructed son trying to make a future of independent identify from all powerful and judging aliens.
Anne Leckie's end of her Radch Trilogy, Ancillary Mercy made a great finish of sorts to a fine trilogy of the developing humanity in a person captaining a space naval warship at a time of interstellar civil war brought on by clones of a multicolony emperor out of synch in its telepathic self. The hero Breq was once part of a hived-mine crew of a warship mediated by implants and begins to nuture concepts of liberating the AIs that run ships and an orbital colony.
Finally, Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen highlights the tail end of a wonderful series journey with the space opera of Lois McMaster Bujold, the Vorkosigian Saga, starring Miles. As this one is all about the colorful life of his mother Cordelia, now a viceroy for a remote colonized planet after her husband died, we can consider it Cordelia # 3 after long ago "Shards of Honor" and "Barryar". This is warm and often comic burgeoning of romance late in life, involving her husband's military leader and bisexual lover, Jole, all under a political and social spotlight.
LibraryCin wrote: "And sigh... I was really hoping for graphic novels."Me too Cindy. I read series all the time and was hoping for something different. Oh well, I have plenty to chose from for the official tag and I think I'll look up some of the graphic novels that were suggested in the May voting thread and read one of them for my own version on the May tag.
Nicole wrote: "This is perfect timing for "series" to be selected as the tag. My law school finals are over in a weekCongrats on finishing your finals. I graduated from Temple Law School in 2001. I actually crashed my car into a telephone pole after an exam. They are so grueling.
If I may recommend a series, Lois Lowry's The Giver is the first of a wonderful group of books. Also in the series are Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son. They don't necessarily need to be read in order, but they make better sense if you do.
Hm, no one seems to have brought out any crime/mystery series and the 2 series on the top of my head are these! Quincy & Rainie series of which I've had books 2-5 since 2009 and have dug out a few months ago with the intent on finishing them sometime this year.
And Singaporean Mystery series that I discovered late last year. I've books 2 & 3 sitting on my dresser.
I'd describe Aunty Lee as the modern Asian version of Miss Marple... food being the equivalent to tea in making things better ;)
Kathy wrote: "Nicole wrote: "This is perfect timing for "series" to be selected as the tag. My law school finals are over in a weekCongrats on finishing your finals. I graduated from Temple Law School in 2001...."
Thanks, Kathy!
Rachel wrote: "I think I'll look up some of the graphic novels that were suggested in the May voting thread and read one of them for my own version on the May tag. ..."That is a good idea! I have three books I'm considering reading for other challenges in May that would also work for series here, but I think I'll try to add in at least one graphic novel (likely the next in the Fables series... g'ah! Unless it's already packed! I'll plan for it after I'm moved in!).
So... with that decision made, as long as I can find which box it's in after I've moved, I'll also plan for:
Fables, Vol. 19: Snow White / Bill Willingham
I meant to also mention it before the voting was done, but I forgot. I believe "graphic novel" is also one of the Shelfagories categories, so for those doing that challenge, if you are still interested in trying a graphic novel, it would fit there, too.
By the way, I think someone in the voting thread mentioned Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1: Unmanned. It's a good series, and a graphic novel series. :-)Also, if you like the tv show Once Upon a Time, you might want to try the Fables graphic novel series, starting with:
Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile
I think I'll finish the third in Ferrante's series. I got part way through and was side-tracked. I'm considering reading the third in the Outlander series. Watching the second season in the tv series has reignited my interest.
I also have to third in the His Dark Materials series on my list.
I might read the 19th installment in the Inspector Lynley series.
My F2F book club has Margaret Atwood as our author for May if I read Oryx and Crake it fits this tag too!
I agree with Marti that The Giver series is great. I would also recommend Ian Rankin's Rebus series if you like crime fiction, along with Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley series. Harry Potter speaks for itself! My son and I are making our way through the Faraway Tree series and we are really enjoying it.
So disappointed... it sounded as if graphic novels would make it. A lot of the mysteries I read are part of a series. This will be easy. I also need to read a couple of GNs that are part of a series.
Oo, and I forgot my favourite crime series of all time! Peter Temple's Jack Irish series makes me heart sing. :-)
I'm surprised "series" won! All that talk of graphic novels had me a little excited to go that route, but hey there are ALWAYS series books in my tbr.
I recommend these:Jacqueline Winspear's World War I historical fiction, starting with Maisie Dobbs
Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series, beginning with The Black Echo or his The Lincoln Lawyer series
Jan Karon's Mitford series At Home in Mitford
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith
For fans of Harlan Coben, his Myron Bolitar series, starting with Deal Breaker
Oh my goodness, Margarette! I think we could be reading twins. I second all of your recommendations.
I have a lot more books in a series than I realized. LOL! Here are a few of my possibilities:Twenty Wishes
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Definitely Dead
Sugar Cookie Murder
Dying to Call You
Getting Old Is Murder
Awesome! I think this is what I voted for, but it's been so long I don't remember. I just know that I didn't vote for graphic novel. I have a number of series in progress, so this is great; it will force me to read another in each of them, or even more.
I'm with Michael. A great deal comes from series... fortunately where I'm able to read all of them in a binge. Usually it's trilogies. So I'll recommend 3...
For anyone who loves a good scifi.. especially like Robert Heinlein. May I recommend Ann Aguirre?
Her Sirantha Jax series is hands down one of the best series I've read in a long time. - 6 books.
I can not begin to emphasize how much like the best of Heinlein's books this was. And then some. Sirantha's tag line when things get too haywire: "Sirantha Jax, has had enough."
The Dred Chronicles which is very loosely connected by a common character is also very good though rather violent. - 3 books long here. It's reminiscent of Aliens 3 except it's a prison ship not a prison planet. Also it's pretty much all humans with a couple of exceptions.
Another BEST series I read a couple years ago and haven't actually finished because I don't it to be over... is the Jacky Faber series by L.A. Meyer.
They can be read by middle grades but have the quality and appeal to adult readers like Harry Potter does.
There's about... 13 books in the series? Jacky has many adventures, usually by falling into them and making the best of it.
If you love Pippi Longstocking and Lil Orphan Annie, their bold spirits, you'll love Jacky.
I tell people that she's my new childhood hero even though childhood ended many years ago.
The first Jacky book starts with
Oh... cause I can't stop... an excellent example of urban fantasy that isn't an excuse for romance. The trilogy by Greg van Eekhout that starts with
. Look at the synopsis to get the gist. All it took for me was "eats a kraken bone". Best part about all these? They are all finished series. No waiting for the followups. Which is both good and bad.
Oh shoot... for those who like YA urban fantasy.... do you ever wish there were ones with merpeople??here you go ->
, also a finished trilogy... Hmm... I think this book qualifies for the "written by someone under 30" in Shelfagories...
I read lots of series and plan to use the tag to catch up on some I need to finish. I'm planning to read:The Bastards of Pizzofalcone
Extreme Prey
Negative Image
Megalion, YA urban fantasy featuring merpeople?!?! I. Am. In. I hope there is a love triangle and lots of angst...
Lots of angst to be sure. Can't be sure about the triangle. Sadly I didn't get any reviews written back then. They're still waiting for them. Which means it'll be a crappy one. I'm on a review writing rampage right now as I have 7 from last couple days. Plus 3 from earlier this month. I've already thrown in a March read.
If I have anything left in me, I might as well try to bust out those three and the California Bones trilogy too.
Really trying to develop better habits about writing in a timely manner.
My Brilliant Friend is right up there for me too. Looks like there are a few of us :) A Darker Shade of Magic has been on my "to read" list since someone mentioned it for this month's tag, so I suspect my credit card will take a hit ... The Liaden Universe Constellation: Volume III was waiting for me when I got home from work on Friday - it's all short stories, but still part of the general series so I'm sure it counts and nothing is going to keep my paws off it anyhow! I am besotted with anything that Sharon Lee and Steve Miller write, but particularly their Liaden Universe books and characters. Unfortunately, the new full novel in the series, Alliance of Equals isn't due out for a couple of months. But I have got it on pre-order and perhaps it'll magically fit the monthly tag when it arrives!
Michael wrote: "About 30% of my reading tends to be from series. My prescribed vitamins and escape breaks of detective and science fiction accounts for most of that..."I'm also part way through a reacquaintance with the Hornblower series, which I love (I think I was four books in when I joined PBT and couldn't quite squeeze Napoleonic naval fiction into a "WWII" tag :D I like the sound of the latest Lois McMaster Bujold - I've only read Captain Vorpatril's Alliance but laughed my way through it, and I've been meaning to tackle some of the other Vorkosigan books.
I was also hoping for graphic novels. Oh well.It will be the the perfect time to read the last Fairyland book, The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home by Catheryne Valente. I will also be reading the latest Sigma Force novel, The Bone Labyrinth by James Rollins, which I have out from the library currently.
I love James Rollins. Always a good bet for action. When I hear Napoleon, I think about the dragon Temaire. Final book comes out in Aug I think.
If you like Peter Jackson's movie making skills... rejoice because his next big project is adapting those books to movies now that he's squeezed Tolkien for all he's worth.
Margarette wrote: "I recommend these:Jacqueline Winspear's World War I historical fiction, starting with Maisie Dobbs
Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series, beginning wit..."
I've been reading the Harry books, need to remember to go back. I think I'm somewhere around 6? Plenty more books to go.
Probably be a good idea for me to check all my series in progress and tag them for may so i remember!
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
My Brilliant Friend (other topics)Some Luck (other topics)
Some Luck (other topics)
My Brilliant Friend (other topics)
Beautiful Darkness (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Jane Smiley (other topics)Jane Smiley (other topics)
Jasper Fforde (other topics)
Michael Connelly (other topics)
Jacqueline Winspear (other topics)
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series
Please share your reading plans and recommendations below!
Remember, for the regular monthly reads, the book can be shelved as series on Goodreads, or be a book that is not yet shelved that way but you feel should be.
To find books to read for this tag, please visit:
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
I would also like to note that we had a record number of people participate in the vote this month - 60 total! One more vote than last time, lol! So thank you for participating!!!