Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
Weekly Topics 2020
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05. The first book in a series that you have not started


I will continue reading a series if I enjoy the first book, so I do have a number out there that I am interested in continuing.
Dreams of Joy is the 2nd book in the series, so if I enjoy the first as much as I have enjoyed her other books, then I will go ahead and read it as well.


I love series so I will most likely continue the series.

2) I read mostly fantasy with long series, so yeah I read a lot of series haha. I start way too many of them without finishing them though, so it's a bit of a problem...
3) I do plan on reading more in the series. I love Sullivan's writing style in his other works, so I doubt I won't like this series too.
I'm really good at starting series, but I'm so bad at finishing them (especially if they haven't finished being written yet lol). Johanna, I didn't realize that some of Lisa See's books were series books... I've been wanting to read her work, so this may be a good time to slot it in.

I love series, but generally I’m bad at keeping up with them. In theory, it’s a personal goal to work through Christie’s Poirot, Lousie Penny and Discworld right now, but I’m terrible at it and keep being tempted by other things.
I’m best with a trilogy, those I can get through.


Emily, have you ever read Laurie Halse Anderson's "Seeds of America" series? The first one is Chains. I think you might like that one. It's YA following a young black servant girl in the time of the American Revolution. I taught it a few summers ago to 5th/6th graders in my gifted summer program Heroes and Villains class and they loved it.

I just listened to the audiobook of The Cold Dish a few weeks back - and it was really enjoyable. Definitely planning to continue the series. :-) Hope you enjoy it, Dana!
Steve, I have had Chains on my shelf for ages and did not realize it was a series! I may just use it for this prompt!


I read Chains with my son this year and forgot that is the first of series. I love historical fiction, so this may be a good one to continue reading. Thanks for the reminder!
So I went through my TBR, and in addition to Chains, I have.. a lot of options..
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Love, in English by Karina Halle
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
In the Woods by Tana French
The Lost Queen by Signe Pike
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
I, Claudius by Robert Graves
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker
How the heck will I narrow this down?
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Love, in English by Karina Halle
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
In the Woods by Tana French
The Lost Queen by Signe Pike
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
I, Claudius by Robert Graves
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker
How the heck will I narrow this down?

Emily wrote: "So I went through my TBR, and in addition to Chains, I have.. a lot of options..
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams
[book..."
I would definitely recommend [book:Illuminae|23395680]. It's so fun and unique. A ton of pages but the format is so quick that you really could probably finish the whole series in the time it takes for a regular novel.
The Alienist by Caleb Carr
The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams
[book..."
I would definitely recommend [book:Illuminae|23395680]. It's so fun and unique. A ton of pages but the format is so quick that you really could probably finish the whole series in the time it takes for a regular novel.
Holy moly, I have a ton of options. Which I was honestly surprised about because I just cleaned out my TBR earlier this week. A lot of the books I didn't even realize were part of the series.
Blackout by Connie Willis
Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
The Craftsman by Sharon J. Bolton
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine
Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear
The Talisman by Stephen King
The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
*Triptych by Karin Slaughter
*The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
*The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
*Unwind by Neal Shusterman
#Murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
*The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
*The Black Witch by Laurie Forest
I starred my likely reads and the list is still long!
Blackout by Connie Willis
Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
The Craftsman by Sharon J. Bolton
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine
Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear
The Talisman by Stephen King
The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
*Triptych by Karin Slaughter
*The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
*The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
*Unwind by Neal Shusterman
#Murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
*The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
*The Black Witch by Laurie Forest
I starred my likely reads and the list is still long!
Laura, Illuminae fits so many of my categories this year! I was thinking of slotting it in for the Maximilian Hell category.
I really, HIGHLY recommend The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry for this prompt! I read the second one this year (after reading Harold Fry two or three times), and I really enjoyed it. If you wanted to read The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy (the second in the series), it could totally fit for a book you read in a day. It added a whole new dimension to Harold's story, and both were so poignant and... sigh. I just really loved them.
I really, HIGHLY recommend The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry for this prompt! I read the second one this year (after reading Harold Fry two or three times), and I really enjoyed it. If you wanted to read The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy (the second in the series), it could totally fit for a book you read in a day. It added a whole new dimension to Harold's story, and both were so poignant and... sigh. I just really loved them.

A few of the front runners:
Wizard's First Rule
The Name of the Wind
Ship of Magic
And Then There Were Crumbs
The Cuckoo's Calling
Split Second
A Morbid Taste for Bones
The Blessing Way
Old Man's War
The Gunslinger
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Just One Damned Thing After Another
City of the Lost
The Calculating Stars
Ancillary Justice

I read a LOT of series and generally collect all of them before I start reading them. I have read a few of her other non-mystery books but don't know whether I will continue reading this series � there are a LOT of books to buy for the series. I special ordered this book because it was her first.

This is what I found on my tbr:














2. Do you often read books in a series?
Not as often as I used to. This year I read entire Witcher series (and stuffed it in my ATY plan), read 2 books of Metro, but I got so annoyed at how bad the second one was that it will take some time to pick up the third one. I tried some other series, but I only plan to follow up on one of them.
3. Are you planning on reading the next books in this series? Why or Why not?
It all depends how much I will like the book I will read for this prompt.

44
American Gods
Beartown
From the Chrysalis
Ladders to Fire
Night
Noughts & Crosses
The Obituary Society

The Alan Bradley series about Flavia are cute and fun.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie = First in Series.
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag = Mystery
A Red Herring Without Mustard = "ing" in title
You could also stick the next one in for the Horsemen for Death. I was trying to figure out how to make them all work but I keep getting logged out.
For this prompt I'll be reading Well Met, which is the first book in the Well Met series. I really want to read this one and it's going to be hard to save it till January, lol.

I do often read series so I am looking forward to starting this one



The Game of Kings is superb - so much so, that I've already begun the next volume,

On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle
2. Do you often read books in a series?
Yes, I like having a few series in progress as I find reading a book that’s somewhat familiar to me is a good way of breaking out of a reading slump.
3. Are you planning on reading the next books in this series? Why or Why not?
I haven’t finished this yet but I’d probably read more in the series. Unfortunately I don’t think my library has any more in this series so I might have to wait for them to be on sale sometime as they seem to be quite expensive to buy.


On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle
"
My library did not have the first 2 books in the series so I had to buy them used. I have read the first 6 books; they are fast reads. I buy most of my used books online from better world books. They are usually library books that have been pulled even though I live in the US sometime I get books from UK libraries which I think is cool.

I've read all the Gregory books but have not heard of these - might have to give them a try, thanks!


Cinder by Marissa Meyer
I gave it 4 stars. Here's my review.
2. Do you often read books in a series?
Yup.
3. Are you planning on reading the next books in this series? Why or Why not?
Yes because the first book was really good and I heard that it gets even better.
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My 2020 list.

I've just finished the second book in the series - it's even better than the first. The style is very different from Gregory's - much denser. It took a chapter or two to get used to it.

I have read Hag's Nook by John Dickson Carr
Do you often read books in a series?
Yes. I have lots of series I am working my way through
Are you planning on reading the next books in this series? Why or Why not?
Yes. Definitely.

"From the publisher: "Detective Esa Khattak is in the midst of his evening prayers when he receives a phone call asking that he and his partner Detective Rachel Getty look into the death of a local man who has fallen off a cliff. At first Christopher Drayton's death - which looks like an accident - doesn't seem to warrant a police investigation, especially not from Khattak and Rachel's team, which handles minority-sensitive cases. But it soon comes to light that Drayton might have been living under an assumed name, and he may not have been the upstanding Canadian citizen he appeared to be. In fact, he may have been a Bosnian war criminal with ties to the Srebrenica massacre of 1995. And if that's true, any number of people could have had reason to help him to his death. As Rachel and Khattak dig deeper into the life and death of Christopher Drayton, every question seems to lead only to more questions, and there are no easy answers."

I read 600 Hours of Edward by Craig Lancaster
2. Do you often read books in a series?
Definitely, but I'm bad about reading a book in a series, then waiting so long to read the next one that I can no longer remember what happened in the first one.
3. Are you planning on reading the next books in this series? Why or Why not?
Yes, I really liked this book and will have to seek out the next books. Unfortunately they're not sold on the Kobo website.

"From the publishe..."
This is a really good series, and I highly recommend it.

I don't usually choose a book because it is a series, but I choose it because of the author. A lot of the crime/mystery books I read are part of a series.
I do plan to read more in this series, as I'm very interested in where the story will lead.

I don't usually choose a book because it is a series, but I choose it because of the author. A lot of the crim..."
Donna,
I'm interested to know what you think of this when you finish. I would enjoy sharing thoughts with you :)

I am reading The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz
2. Do you often read books in a series?
I do, yes. Not intentionally, but it seems like not many books I read are standalone books
3. Are you planning on reading the next books in this series? Why or Why not?
So far yes I am, but I'm only 60% of the way through the book so that can change, depending on how it ends



The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCallSmith
Will you read the next book in the series?
I didn't love it, to be honest


As a child, I loved to read books in a series so I hope the first volume in this series will take me down the same joyful path
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Authors mentioned in this topic
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Suggestions:
Fantasy Series for Adults
Listopia: Best Series
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Optional Questions
1. What are you reading for this category?
2. Do you often read books in a series?
3. Are you planning on reading the next books in this series? Why or Why not?