Today I’ll be heading back to Wilson High School in Long Beach, Calif. with teacher Erin Gruwell as she starts her third year of teaching a room of “unteachable, at-risk” students (The Freedom Writers Diary) and soon I look forward to returning to the Empire State Building with two young comic-book artists (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay).
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Today’s questions: Series. Do you collect any series? Do you read series books? Fantasy? Mystery? Science fiction? Religious? Other genre? Do you use the series feature in LT to help you find new books or figure out what you might be missing from a series?
Do I collect series? Do I read series books? Are you kidding me? Are these really the questions this week? Abso-freaking-lutely, I do– like a fiend. I grew up on series, from Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys to (who didn’t?) The Lord of The Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. I also remember a biography series that was in orange hardcover at our elementary school. It focused historical figures like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington Carver, Abraham Lincoln, et cetera. That possibly was my favorite series, but I haven’t had much look finding them since.
Then when I was in junior high and high school, I continued reading series, but ones to which my mother introduced me in mysteries and thriller. Promiment among them were Hercules Poirot mysteries and the Jason Bourne series.
In high school and even into college, I also developed a love for Louis L’Amour, especially his Sackett series, all of which I now own. I even own a few in a hardcover collection I picked up at a library sale for a pittance one summer. It was like striking the motherlode.
Late in high school, I, being the geek I am and hanging out with the geeks I did, read The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy series, which I recently learned is being continued even though Douglas Adams has since died?!? (Talk about WTF. I learned this from Stefanie at So Many Books, where you can read more about the horrifying details.)
Since college, I have delved into all kinds of mystery series, from Agatha Raisin by M.C. Beaton to Inspector Montalbano by Andrea Camilleri, and from Magadalena Yoder by Tamar Myers (Pennsylvania Dutch mysteries) to one of my favorites with Gordianus the Finder (Roma Sub Rosa) by Steven Saylor.
Besides Hitchhikers, I would be remiss in not mentioning Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, which still is one of the most brilliant science fiction series ever, in my estimation.
While speaking of science fiction, I also enjoyed the Otherland series by Tad Williams, which crossed both science fiction and fantasy lines.
These are just off the top of my head, and I know later, I’ll probably think of others that I should have included. Don’t be surprised if I post a Part Two to this post later today, tomorrow or this week (yes, I know Harry Potter, but I haven’t read them all yet, and Geez, Louise– which can anyone tell me who Louise was anyway?– everyone and their brother is going to mention them, so I thought it would be OK not to mention them for once– oh, wait, I just did. Dang.).
Actually, I never knew anything about those features on LT, but I’ll be sure to look into them. Thanks, Marie, for letting me know.
