25.1 - Wendy MA's Task: And the Story Continues...

[Sue]

Candy Cane Murder is a collection of novellas. The other two authors are Laura Levine and Leslie Meier. I was debating using it for 10.1.

[Nicki]

Liz wrote: "Also, can someone tell me if the Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters can be read out of order?"

Actually, I started the Amelia Peabody series with some of the later books and I don't think it mattered much. The relationships do start from the beginning but I prefer the later books!

The Aunt Dimity mystery books are good if anyone likes cosy mysteries, and I don't think it matters if you don't read the first ones for these - they are very easy reads and the link between them is always explained in the first chapter.
9 - Aunt Dimity: Snowbound
10 - Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin
11 - Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea

And for anyone who likes a bit more action there is the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. Good reads - I started one out of desperation on a wet holiday once when I'd read all of my own books and had to work my way through all of them when we got home!

[Caity]

Here's a link to Jules Verne's books on Project Gutenberg:

http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/autho...

The Fur Country is the tenth book in his series and Around the World in Eighty Days is the eleventh book. I didn't see the ninth book on the list, though.

It's perfect for anybody who doesn't have the money (like myself) to buy a book or two for a task, or for those searching for a series that can be read in any order imaginable.

[Cait]

Liz wrote: "As far as I can tell, Agatha Christie's books fall in this order:

Poirot:
9 - Murder on the Orient Express
10 - Three Act Tragedy
11 - [book:Death in the Clouds|163..."

Thanks for the correct link Liz, that's what I get for using Wikipedia to determine the order of the books. I'm excited because I also own Murder on the Orient Express (I'm trying to fit more mystery/horror/gothic/victorian books into my fall and winter tbr - mood reading and all).

[Sandy, Moderator Emeritus]

Just stumbled across this website
http://www.fictiondb.com/author/book-...
Once you put in an author and pull up a list of books, you can sort by publication date.

This may not be completely helpful - I don't know, for instance, if you can separate out books by series. I didn't play with it long. But, at least it may help to get a list of all the books by an author and the publication dates

[Donna Jo]

Liz wrote: "ColleenPA wrote: "For seafarers, there are the Aubrey-Maturin books byPatrick O'Brian: , , and [bookcov..."

I think the Brother Cadfell books could easily be read in any order. The bits of English history that are thrown in are usually just background and needn't be bothersome unless you are reeealy obsessive.

[Leigh Ann]

Meghan, you've been working hard!! Thanks for the help!

[Wendy]

Meghan wrote: "Wendy wrote: "Meghan wrote: "OMG Wendy now I have to find a long series that I can tuck all the first 8 into other tasks and I already am tucking in about 4 other shorter series. (I am really OCD ..."

Evanovich is hilarious and easy to read. Let me know if you enjoy the series!

[Dee]

this is a pretty good website...fictfact.com is probably the best one at there, at least in my opinion...it even lists the 100 most popular series based on the website...and tells you how many books are in the series

Sandy wrote: "Just stumbled across this website
http://www.fictiondb.com/author/book-...
Once you put in an author and pull up a list of books, you can sort by publication date.

This may not be comp..."

[Wendy]

Liz wrote: "I'm getting more & more excited about this task b/c it's forcing me to read books I would never consider otherwise (which is part of the point of the challenges anyway)!"

That's the spirit!!

[Wendy]

Liz wrote: "ColleenPA wrote: "For seafarers, there are the Aubrey-Maturin books byPatrick O'Brian: , , and [bookcov..."

I don't know O'Brian, but I read the Peters book out of sequence for the summer challenge with no problem.

[Wendy]

Deedee wrote: "Joanne Fluke

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/F_A...

#9 Key Lime Pie Murder (2007)
?? Candy Cane Murder1 (2007) [novella:] ??
#10 Carrot Cake Murder (2008)
#11 Cream ..."

it's okay if it's the same characters. I also read these out of order and read two out of order for the summer challenge with no problem.

[Wendy]

Nicki (UK) wrote: "Liz wrote: "Also, can someone tell me if the Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters can be read out of order?"

Actually, I started the Amelia Peabody series with some of the later books and I do..."

I read Peters out of order with no problem in comprehension!

[Cindy AL]

Fictfact.com is the place that led me astray about the Terry Pratchetts, so be careful if the task must be sorted by publication date.

[Dee]

I think she said either...because you look at for example the chronicles of narnia...there are two ways they could be read (unfortunately not 9 books in the series)...publication date which was LWWW, PC etc...or chronological order...

but if you find issues with stuff on fictfact that are really quick about fixing it. they are over on the amazon boards all the time, and when people make suggestions they are quickly back with replied and to let us know stuff is fixed

Cindy AL wrote: "Fictfact.com is the place that led me astray about the Terry Pratchetts, so be careful if the task must be sorted by publication date."

[Cassandra]

Cindy AL wrote: "Fictfact.com is the place that led me astray about the Terry Pratchetts, so be careful if the task must be sorted by publication date."

I just checked out Fictfact and it's so much better than the spreadsheet I was using to keep track of everything.

It is pretty buggy though. It lists a couple of books that aren't released yet as released and it doesn't have a couple of the older series I'm reading. Several of my series are also in chronological order or have prequels listed as book #0 or #1. I think series should be read in order of publication, but that's just my opinion.

[Vicky]

The Redwall Series by Brian Jacques is another series that could be used for this task.

Publication Order:
#9 The Pearls of Lutra
#10 The Long Patrol
#11 Marlfox

Chronological Order:
#9 Mattimeo
#10 The Pearls of Lutra
#11 The Long Patrol

I haven't read far enough into the series to know whether you'd really be missing out by jumping in, but based on what I've read here, you wouldn't be missing any major plot points by skipping that far in.

[Wendy]

Cindy AL wrote: "Fictfact.com is the place that led me astray about the Terry Pratchetts, so be careful if the task must be sorted by publication date."

SERIES DATE IS FINE TOO!!

[Wendy]

Vicky wrote: "The Redwall Series by Brian Jacques is another series that could be used for this task.

Publication Order:
#9 The Pearls of Lutra
#10 [book:The Long Pat..."
I have also read some of these out of sequence without problems. (being senile helps though!!!LOL)

[JC]

I haven't seen anyone mention Sue Grafton's 'Kinsey Millhone' series. Here are numbers 9, 10, and 11:

I is for Innocent
J is for Judgment
K is for Killer

Murder mystery books that don't have to be read in order.

[Kristina Simon]

Some of the authors in the series I'm reading write short stories that go in between books in the series and often add to the story of the characters. J.D. Robb's In Death series does this. Charlaine Harris did this with the Sookie books, too (a fact I figured out after she announced the death of a character in one of the short story anthologies and then just picked up with the next book with the character dead. Huh? What happened? After digging around and finding A Touch of Dead it all became clear.)

Anyway -- Debbie Macomber also does this in her Cedar Cove series. I'm trying to fit the books in so I can get to book #9 for this task, but I'm not sure how to count the short stories. For example, the book Hearts Divided contains a story that GR classifies as Cedar Cove series #5.5 and FictFact classifies it as book #6. I read Hearts Divided for the summer challenge, but should I count the next book in the series as book #6 or book #7 (because to get to number 9, there's another book like that coming up, too -- A Cedar Cove Christmas which, depending on which site you use, is either book #7.5 or book #9.)

[Wendy]

JenC. wrote: "I haven't seen anyone mention Sue Grafton's 'Kinsey Millhone' series. Here are numbers 9, 10, and 11:

I is for Innocent
J is for Judgment
[book:K is for Killer|3809..."

They definitely don't need to be read in order!!

[Wendy]

Kristi (Passion for the Page) wrote: "Some of the authors in the series I'm reading write short stories that go in between books in the series and often add to the story of the characters. J.D. Robb's In Death series does this. Charlai..."
You can do them as a series and only count the books in the series or by publication date and then read the short story if it's the 9th, 10th or 11th book published.

[Dee]

For the JD Robb books I took them as were listed on her website in publishing order...she doesn't write the short ones until after even though they are numbered lik 7.5 etc (at least as far as I can tell)

Wendy wrote: "Kristi (Passion for the Page) wrote: "Some of the authors in the series I'm reading write short stories that go in between books in the series and often add to the story of the characters. J.D. Rob..."

[Wendy]

Kristi (Passion for the Page) wrote: "25.1 - Wendy MA's Task - And the Story Continues...
September, October, and November are the 9th, 10th and 11th months of the year. For this task, read two books (totaling to at least 400 pages) th..."

Please add the following clarification-which helps those who don't want to read out of order."Books may be read in series order or by publication date."

[Kristina Simon]

Wendy wrote: "You can do them as a series and only count the books in the series or by publication date and then read the short story if it's the 9th, 10th or 11th book published. "

Thanks for the clarification, Wendy.

[Kristina Simon]

Wendy wrote: "Please add the following clarification-which helps those who don't want to read out of order."Books may be read in series order or by publication date."

Done.

[Wendy]

Kristi (Passion for the Page) wrote: "Wendy wrote: "Please add the following clarification-which helps those who don't want to read out of order."Books may be read in series order or by publication date."

Done."

Thanks

[Lyn (Readinghearts)]

Wendy - I have to say, I panicked when I saw this task, lol. THANK YOU for accepting both Sherlock Holmes, whom I am currently reading, and Agatha Christie, who I love. But there are also a lot of good suggestions here, so I just may read something new.

[Lyn (Readinghearts)]

Wendy - I have to say, I panicked when I saw this task, lol. THANK YOU for accepting both Sherlock Holmes, whom I am currently reading, and Agatha Christie, who I love. But there are also a lot of good suggestions here, so I just may read something new.

One other questions, what about the Jessica Fletcher Murder she Wrote books?

[Nicki]

Just thought of the Jennifer Chiaverini books.

9 - Circle of Quilters
10 - The Quilter's Homecoming
11 - The New Year's Quilt

Excellent for anyone interested in quilting or just nice stories about people and relationships if you're not into quilting!

[Wendy]

Lyn M wrote: "Wendy - I have to say, I panicked when I saw this task, lol. THANK YOU for accepting both Sherlock Holmes, whom I am currently reading, and Agatha Christie, who I love. But there are also a lot o..."

Murder she wrote is okay, but why don't you try something new like Fluke who puts recipes in her mystery books!! or Evanovich who is very funny or McCall Smith who is often poignant.

[Caity]

I can't believe I forgot about the Redwall books! I feel so stupid now. I think I'll change to those, instead (I don't like eBooks very much). I read Pearls of Lutra ages ago and loved it, but I was a kid then. My mom has the first 13, I think. I'll have to do some digging to see if I can find any other series long enough that can be read out of order.

And I know Redwall books are fine out of order, since I made it through Pearls of Lutra without any confusion as a kid. They're fun, quick reads, too.

[Lyn (Readinghearts)]

Wendy wrote: "Lyn M wrote: "Wendy - I have to say, I panicked when I saw this task, lol. THANK YOU for accepting both Sherlock Holmes, whom I am currently reading, and Agatha Christie, who I love. But there ar..."

Thanks - Actually I did try something new, which is great, lol. I decided on Marlfox by Brian Jacques and Around the World in Eighty Days and 5 Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne. I think you had already okayed them, right? Let me know. I am excited to try something new! I love Janet Evanovich, but I am only on two and know I wouldn't make it to 9 in time.

[Bluemoon]

Rett MacPherson also has a cozy mystery series that can be read out of order. You really would not miss much and she has more than 11 books.

9 - Dead Man Running
10 - Died in the Wool
11 - The Blood Ballad

[★Meghan★]

Ok I have gotten most of the Stephanie Plum books to fit except for one with trying to read up to at least book 8 for this task. Now time to think of a clever way to fit in Hard Eight. Hmmmm....

[Bluemoon]

5.4 Glad my mother didn't name me LULA
5.10 Name of car - RANGER
15.9 Coin toss you could pair it with another book to make enough pages.
15.10 Second chances as it fits so many tasks
30.1 In the cards - It was published in an even year after 2001 by a woman author.

Hope this helps. You have to read this one it has a great scene in it. Not going to tell you which one.

[Wendy]

Meghan wrote: "Ok I have gotten most of the Stephanie Plum books to fit except for one with trying to read up to at least book 8 for this task. Now time to think of a clever way to fit in Hard Eight. Hmmmm...."
Maybe it's book nine if you go by publication dates!!

[Deedee]

Question: two different series, #9 book from each, is that OK? like: #9 book in the Carlotta Carlyle series The Big Dig by Linda Barnes and the #9 book in the Molly Murphy series The Last Illusion by Rhys Bowen .;.. or even the #9 book in the Lord Francis Powerscourt series Death of a Wine Merchant by David Dickinson

Or does it have to be #9 from one series and #10 or #11 from another series? Thanks!

[Wendy]

Deedee wrote: "Question: two different series, #9 book from each, is that OK? like: #9 book in the Carlotta Carlyle series The Big Dig by Linda Barnes and the #9 book in the Molly Mur..."
any nine ten or eleven from either series is okay, so two number 9's is fine.

[Leigh Ann]

Meghan wrote: "Ok I have gotten most of the Stephanie Plum books to fit except for one with trying to read up to at least book 8 for this task. Now time to think of a clever way to fit in Hard Eight. Hmmmm...."

I was able to fit it in on 30.1 with a 6/diamonds. It's on the NYT Bestsellers List.

[Stephanie]

Arrrggghhh! :) This would have been a great task for the winter challenge. Thanks everyone who has posted ideas...it helps a lot!

I cannot read a series out of order and will probably leave this task for the end if I think I can finish the challenge this fall. Otherwise, I will have to leave this one behind. :(

[Sara ♥]

Tanja wrote: "Nevermind. Nancy Drew books are too short to make the 400 page count. Hrm."

Not if we have ONE "legit" book and just need the other to push us over the 400 page limit! I'm thinking Undead and Unfinished by MaryJanice Davidson, which is #9. I haven't read #8 yet, but that will be easy enough to incorporate into the challenge. The series is HILARIOUS! It's only 296 pages though. A Nancy Drew book would work wonders in my case! :)

I also wouldn't mind a reread of Forever Princess (#10) or Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? (#10). I wish there were more than 8 Bridgerton siblings! Argh! On the Way to the Wedding was so good, but it's only #8...

[Lyn (Readinghearts)]

Stephanie wrote: "Arrrggghhh! :) This would have been a great task for the winter challenge. Thanks everyone who has posted ideas...it helps a lot!

I cannot read a series out of order and will probably leave this t..."

I am like you, in that I HAVE to read a series in order. In fact, I started reading a compilation of Sherlock Holmes stories and found that I HAD to go back and re-start from the beginning since Watson and Holmes kept referring to other cases that I hadn't read yet, lol. I have picked two books that are supposedly good as stand alones, but will probably be like you and save this one until last.

[Wendy]

Sara ♥ wrote: "Tanja wrote: "Nevermind. Nancy Drew books are too short to make the 400 page count. Hrm."

Not if we have ONE "legit" book and just need the other to push us over the 400 page limit! I'm thinking ..."

Undead and unfinished was fun to read.

[Christy]

Has anyone read any of the Gossip Girl series? If so, can they be read out of order?

Thanks!

[Wendy]

Christy wrote: "Has anyone read any of the Gossip Girl series? If so, can they be read out of order?

Thanks!"
Almost any formula mystery series can be read out of sequence.

[Amanda B.]

Can I read two #9 books? I was thinking about The Sign of the Twisted Candles and Tough Cookie Whould that be ok?

[Caity]

Amanda B. wrote: "Can I read two #9 books? I was thinking about The Sign of the Twisted Candles and Tough Cookie Whould that be ok?"

This was OK'd in message #140

[Leigh Ann]

Whoo Hoo!! I totally fit the WHOLE Stephanie Plum series in this challenge! When I first saw this task I groaned, but it forced me to read this series and I can't wait! Thanks Wendy!!