Monday, November 07, 2022

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I'd Like to Catch Up On

 
 
 
I love a good series! So much so that I've often said my epitaph should read "I've started reading 857 series. I finished 71 of them." When I saw that this week's topic at the home of Top Ten Tuesday, That Artsy Reader Girl, was "Series I'd Like to Start/Catch Up On/Finish", I knew I'd have plenty to choose from.
 
So... I took a stroll down my TBR shelves (I have five six-foot-tall bookcases dedicated to my TBR stash), and these are the ones I chose for my list. It may surprise you that-- although my blog primarily focuses on crime fiction-- not all the series I want to catch up on are mysteries. Shocker, eh? 
 
My top ten is listed in alphabetical order by the author's last name. Let's see which ones made the cut.
 
 
I really enjoy Rhys Bowen's lighthearted historical series, Her Royal Spyness, in which Lady Georgiana Rannoch (34th in line to the throne) travels all over 1930s Europe, usually on an errand for the Queen. I'm listening to Naughty in Nice now, and it does keep a smile on my face.

 
I was very impressed with the first book of Rebecca Cantrell's series set in 1930s Germany featuring crime reporter Hannah Vogel. It's just a four-book series, and the other three are sitting on the shelf staring at me. Must. Read. Faster.

 
Margaret Coel's Wind River mystery series featuring Jesuit priest Father John O'Malley and Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden is another favorite. Coel did for the Arapaho what Hillerman did for the Navajo in her long-running series.

 
Rachel Howzell Hall's four-book series about Black LA homicide detective Elouise "Lou" Norton (known as "Lockjaw") is one I definitely need to get back to!

 
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' Morland Dynasty series is not only not a mystery series, it's one I've been following since the 1980s! The series follows one family living outside York, England from the time of Richard III to the 1930s. The author shows how the manor house changes over the centuries as well as the rise and fall of the Morland family fortunes. Quite a feat of storytelling!

 
I love Kava's Ryder Creed series for the fast-paced stories but mostly for Creed and his top notch pack of search-and-rescue dogs that he trained from the strays abandoned at the end of his driveway.
 
 
Val McDermid's Karen Pirie police procedural series set in Scotland is another favorite, and it's now been turned into a TV series.

 
I love the wit and humor of Stuart Pawson's top cop, Charlie Priest.

 
The first book in Nancy E. Turner's Sarah Agnes Prine series, These Is My Words, is a book I loved so much that it's still one that I recommend most often. I've put off reading the other books in the series because I'm afraid they won't live up to the first-- even though I've been told by several other readers that they do. Silly me, eh?


Anne Zouroudi's series featuring the mysterious investigator Hermes Diaktoros travels throughout rural Greece, and I've enjoyed it so much that I really should buckle down and finish it!


I do have to admit that I think the main reason why I haven't caught up with these series is that I know how good they are, so I'm putting them in reserve for when I need a guaranteed Good Read. Do any of you do the same thing? I hope I'm not alone!

24 comments:

  1. You've made some great choices here, Cathy! I find that there's so much good reading out there that it's impossible to catch up with everything I want to read. Like you, I want to catch up with the Coel series, the Zouroudi series, and the Cantrell series. I might try the Howzell Hall series, too. So much to like here!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm very happy for anyone who can actually keep up with all their favorite series.

      Delete
  2. You're absolutely right, we do share reading DNA! I love the Kava series and those dogs! I also enjoy Val McDermid which means I need to check out your other series - a couple sound quite intriguing.
    Thanks for the visit.
    Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, Terrie. Now that I've seen that we share reading DNA, I'll be stopping by your blog regularly!

      Delete
  3. They look good. I want to read Val Mcdermid.

    Have a great week!

    Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
    My post:
    https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2022/11/08/top-ten-tuesday-series-id-like-to-start-catch-up-on-finish/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for reminding me of Margaret Coel's series. I read one (maybe two?) of them and then she sort of got lost in the shuffle. I'm putting her back on my TBR list.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've read other non-series entires from McDermid. I may have to give the series a try.

    https://nashvillebookworm.wordpress.com/2022/11/08/top-ten-tuesday-series-i-want-to-catch-up-on/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Several of her standalones are excellent-- A Place of Execution being the first to spring to mind. I've never cared for McDermid's Tony Hill series, but Karen Pirie is a completely different story. Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
    2. A Place of Execution is one I recommend every chance I get. I still need to start the Pirie series.

      Delete
    3. We really ought to make lists of the books we recommend all the time.

      Delete
    4. Love Karen Pirie, too. Nix on the Tony Hill series. 1979 was OK, and I have hopes for 1989.

      Delete
    5. I really enjoyed one of her standalones, too-- the one with the Mutiny on the Bounty angle (I can't remember the title), although a lot of other readers didn't seem to care for it.

      Delete
  6. I've only read one book in the Rhys Bowen series. I enjoyed it, but just haven't been tempted to pick up another one. Maybe I should give her another go.

    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
    https://readbakecreate.com/series-i-need-to-catch-up-on-or-finish/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perhaps not. If you haven't been tempted to pick up another one, I would say that you should move on to something else. So many books, too little time, eh? :-)

      Delete
  7. I completely understand saving reads you know will be good for just the right time! Her Royal Spyness is one I need to get to soon and the Cynthia Herrod-Eagles series sounds fascinating.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The H-E series is fascinating, and I really need to get started on the series again. I'm on WWI, for crying out loud, so I'm not that far behind!

      Delete
  8. Your "epitaph" totally made me laugh! :D I put Alex Kava's Ryder Creed series on my own TTT list this week. I love those books.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do, too. I'm torn between catching up and saving them so they'll last. Decisions, decisions!

      Delete
  9. I read enough series at this point that it would be a project to figure out which ones need catching up. I rely on Goodreads, and reviews in places like thi to jog my memory for some that start to slip by.

    And I'm also in the habit of saving newer entries in some series to have when I need the comfort of a sure thing to read.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm waiting for Michael Connelly's Desert Star from the library and 1989 and if I can survive the anxiety of waiting, the next Ruth Galloway book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've got Desert Star waiting for me on audiobook, and I'm going to make myself finish listening to the book I'm in the middle of now before I begin Connelly's.

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to make a comment. I really appreciate it!