Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
Weekly Topics 2022
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33. The next book in a series
I read a lot of series. Here are a few of my favorites. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache by Louise Penny.
Joe Pickett by C.J. Box.
Masie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear.
Lady Sherlock by Sherry Thomas.
Maggie Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal.
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
Walt Longmire by Craig Johnson
Ice Knights by Avery Flynn.
Virgin River by Robyn Carr
Mrs. Murphy by Rita Mae Brown
Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams.
A Noodle Shop Mystery by Vivian Chien.
The Broken Earth by N. K. Jemisin.
There is a little bit of everything in that list.
I was going to read the new Armond Gamache book for this prompt -The Madness of Crowds, but I couldn't wait. I read it last week. Same with the Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman. Other favorites are Maisie Dobbs and Perveen Mistry, by Sujata Massey. The Widows of Malabar Hill.
I have a challenge with a different group in November to read books that are 1st in a series, so I'll have some new choices by January for this prompt. I want to start the Murderbot series, the Maddaddam series (Margaret Atwood), and the Craft Sequence (by Max Gladstone coauthor of This is How you Lose the Time War).
I have two books left in the Flavia de Luce series and plan to read both next year so will use one of them for this prompt.
I read a lot of mystery series. My favorites:Annie Fuller by M. Louisa Locke (historical)
Lord Peter Wimsey by Dorothy L. Sayers (classic)
Roderick Alleyn by Ngaio Marsh (classic)
Brother Cadfael by Ellis Peters (historical)
Aunt Dimity by Nancy Atherton (cozy)
Miss Marple by Agatha Christie (classic)
Peter Shandy by Charlotte MacLeod (cozy)
Madoc Rhys by Alisa Craig, a pseudonym of Charlotte MacLeod (police)
Gideon Oliver by Aaron Elkins (forensic anthropologist)
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson (YA)
John the Eunuch by Mary Reed (historical)
I live in the Land of Unfinished Series. But I might do Small Favor since I own a copy of it. It's the next in the Dresden Files series.
I plan to read Death of Achilles (Erast Fandorin series #4). I read the first 3 in the series this year.
I have so many unfinished series that I'm doing my best to not read a new one until I finish some of the ones I have going. Which is really hard because there are so many great series!
D.L. wrote: "dalex wrote: "Angie wrote: "I live in the Land of Unfinished Series."
What a coincidence to meet so many fellow Unfinished-ers. Who would ever have thought that in a book club there would be others from my homeland...
What a coincidence to meet so many fellow Unfinished-ers. Who would ever have thought that in a book club there would be others from my homeland...
My reading habits are pretty notorious for starting series and never finishing them, so I have plenty of options for this one! My first choice is The Ship of the Dead to finish off the Magnus Chase series, but I might also go with A Gathering of Shadows, The Last Battle, The Tyrant’s Tomb, or The Darkest Legacy if I don't read them by the end of this year or use them for other prompts.
My first choice is The Long Way Home (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #10) by Louise Penny. Other choices:
Axeman's Jazz(Skip Langdon #2) - Julie Smith
Moonflower Murders (Susan Ryeland #2) - Anthony Horowitz
I've read quite a few of the series that Laurel mentions in message 5, above, especially Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, both by Agatha Christie.
Others I recommend:
Perveen Mistry mysteries by Sujata Massey (historical mystery)
Tea Shop Mysteries by Laura Childs (cozy mystery)
Dublin Murder Squad by Tana French (police)
Next book by author:Louise Penny - Armand Gamache series book #18 (not announced yet)
Sujata Massey - Perveen Mistry series -The Bombay Prince
Jacqueline Winspear - Maisie Dobbs Series
Margaret Atwood - Maddadam series - The Year of the Flood
Max Gladstone - Craft series
Murderbot series
Kopp Sisters series
ETA I'm Reading The Year of Flood which follows Oryx and Crake. I recommend reading these books close together as the two books seem to run concurrently. I noticed a few spots where characters from book 1 appeared briefly in book 2, but I may have missed many more.
I don’t read a lot of series but am planning my first book of 2022 to be The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper, which is a buddy read in a classics group. I just finished the first book in the series - Over Sea, Under Stone.
I am reading 'Long Acre' by Claire Rayner in 'The Performers' series.I can recommend the Dynasty series by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles,
I have an entire section of my reading challenge tracker devoted to cataloguing series I'm reading/working through and my progress 💗 I also have a personal goal of making headway on at least 3 series this year, but I'll probably start more because #life haha.Ideally I'd like to read free or already-owned books, so I'm considering:
~ Ash and Quill Book #3 in Rachel Caine's series The Great Library
~ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince the next in the Harry Potter series for me
~ Dragonfly in Amber as I'm currently reading Outlander
Currently working on An Echo in the Bone, since I've been reading the Outlander series for the past year-ish. Seems like it will never, ever end. I do enjoy many of the characters and just sinking into the details of their day to day lives ( in between all of the pirates and wars and other drama that pops up) Man these are so long though!!! This one is only a little over 800 pages, so that seems like a short gift...
I read The Mystery of the Sorrowful Maiden by Kate Saunders. It is the third in the series. I read quite a few series but besides this one, my favorites are Maisie Dobbs, Armand Gamache, the Josephine Tey series by Nicola Upson, and Isabel Dalhousie.
I plan on reading The Land of Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel for this prompt. I have read the other five books, but I just keep not getting around to reading this one. This year is the year. :)
I reread The Giver by Lois Lowry last month, so I decided to read the sequel/companion novel Gathering Blue for this one! Of course, I started a new series instead of completing one I have yet to finish, so I might come back around to this prompt to tie up any loose ends.
Last year I finished the Virgin River series and the Longmire series. And this year I decided to finally attack the Temperance Brennan series that I have been meaning to get to for like...ever! However, I managed to read When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton after reading Next Year in Havana back in January before anything else.
I hardly ever read series. For this prompt, I read Home & loved it. Can't wait to read the next one.My recommendation list is small & basic: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Insurgent.
For this prompt, I read book #3 in the Neapolitan series:Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante - My Review
I wish I could have gone back to the next in the series Outlander (Diana Gabaldon), but it has been SO many years since I had to put them aside, and they are SO full of characters, that I wouldn't have been able to manage. They are my favorite, and remind me of my sons. I managed night feedings for my first son by reading the first Outlander while I nursed him. And my second son was named for one of the main characters, Jamie.So, instead, I read the next in a more recent series for me, No Time Like the Past by Jodi Taylor, #5 in the series. Time travel, history, and a bit of 'snarky getting into trouble without really trying too hard'. Always fun!
I picked up the second book in Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan series, The Story of a New Name. It's only been about 2 years since I read the first one! I tend to read the first books of series and then take too long to circle back around to the next one. Luckily, this book has a decent summary at the beginning so I'm not completely lost.
I have read Big Mushy Happy Lump by Sarah Andersen, the second book in the Sarah's Scribbles series.
For his prompt, I read A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn. It's the third in the Veronica Speedwell series about a female lepidopterist (butterfly scientist) sleuth who investigates crimes in Victorian London. It's a really fun, well-written series that I HIGHLY recommend. I've read three so far and used them for the following other prompts, as well:A woman in stem.
A book where the main character is a female detective/private eye/police officer.
After reading the first book for #31, for this prompt I picked the second book in the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, Days of Blood & Starlight and it was even better than the first book! I'm super excited to read the conclusion to this trilogy (which I'll be using for #25)!!!
What are you reading for this prompt?A Man's Head by Georges Simenon
I have really got into this author's books. He was so good at setting an atmosphere.
I was holding on to The Last Graduate for this prompt so was excited to finally get a chance to read it. I didn't love it as much as the first but it was still an overall enjoyable read.
I read London Bridge Is Falling Down by Christopher Fowler, probably the last (sniff) in the Bryant & May series of detective stories involving the Peculiar Crime Unit. I love the humour in these books and the little snippets of information about London.Recommendations: The Thursday Murder Club; The Dark Flood Rises; A Man Called Ove.
I could have read a lot for this prompt since I'm in the middle of a few series. I wanted to fit this Stephen King book in If It Bleeds. It is a short story book and it contains a novella that was a continuation of The Outsider. I felt like it was a weird place to put it but it counts toward the prompt. Both of the books were good. I recommend reading them both. It has been a long time since I read Stephen King and I have been enjoying getting back into his books.
I read Mrs. Stein Solves a Crime by M. Louisa Locke. This was just published this week, and is the latest book in a historical mystery series I love.It's hard to recommend for this prompt as it is so dependent on what you have already read.
Over the past few years, I've been loving Ali Smith's seasonal series and just finished book #3, Spring for the challenge. If the seasonal multi-week challenge proposed for 2023 gets chosen, this would be the perfect series for it. A few other series I'd recommend: Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan quartet and the Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer, although truth be told, I never read the final novel in the trilogy. For something a bit different, I love the heartwarming and insightful Anna Wang children's series.
I went with one I've had kicking around on my "up-next" shelf the longest: Wicked Need by Sawyer Bennett
Books mentioned in this topic
Rule of Wolves (other topics)The Atonement (other topics)
The Dragon Reborn (other topics)
A Moment's Rest (other topics)
Where the Light Enters (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Leigh Bardugo (other topics)Kiersten Modglin (other topics)
Sara Donati (other topics)
Sawyer Bennett (other topics)
Carina Rissi (other topics)
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What are you reading for this prompt, and do you have any recommendations?