Ten Book Series I Have Enjoyed Throughout The Years:
- His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman - A young girl bridges several alternate earths (including ours) and combats a bureaucratic government with the help of a Texas hot air ballon pilot, a talking polar bear, gypsies, witches and a boy from America. Sounds hokey, but it isn't. In Lyra's world, the soul manifests itself as an animal which is always by your side. Unless someone tries to seperate them....
- Harry Potter - The first book was a joy to read, as a young orphan finally found a home at a school of magic. The fourth book was a classic middle of the journey story (think "Empire Strikes Back"). As the books have become longer, the story has become darker, richer and more involved.
- The Great Brain - Fun vignettes about a boy in turn of the century Utah who schemes his way through life. Ferris Bueller as a Mormon.
- Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - If Monty Python had written books about science fiction/fantasy...
- Ramona/Henry Huggins - Sister Juanita would read these to us in the fourth grade. Beverly Cleary rocked.
- Macdonald Hall - Two Ferris Bueller-y types play pranks in a Canadian boarding school. Written by a then-juvenile Gordon Korman.
- The Three Investigators - Three Hardy Boy-esque archetypes (fat kid, jock kid, non-descript kid) solve local mysteries. Bonus points for having a secret, airstream trailer base in a junk yard.
- Lonesome Dove - The original is a classic, the sequel - a dark, dark wrap-up and the prequels were fair to middling. Catch the miniseries, all of which are pretty decent. The last book released (number 2 in chronological order) is supposed to be televised this year on CBS. With Val Kilmer no less!
- Xanth - Piers Anthony's characters were based on mythological creatures and magicians who live in a land not unlike Florida. Several generations of characters are covered in these books. A lot of winking references to modern conveyances.
- Uncle John's Bathroom Reader - Perfect for long or short hauls on the porcelain throne.
Three series I should read:
- The Lord of The Rings - I still haven't made it through "The Two Towers" yet. I think I was spoiled by the movies.
- The Chronicles of Narnia - Sounds cool enough.
- The Dark Tower - I have a copy of the first trade paperback of the first book on my night stand. Trying hard to get through it. I need to just plow through the damn thing until I'm hooked.
5 comments:
I haven't read The Chronicles of Narnia for at least 15 years. I should re-read them because I loved the series.
Have you ever read Gordon Korman's books that have a teenage boy as the protagonist? Hysterical! I recommend "A Semester In The Life of a Garbage Bag," "Son of Interflux," and "Don't Care High." Some of the references are dated since they came out in the late 80's/early 90s (I think), but still great.
And THANK YOU for mentioning The Three Investigators! I read one of those books as a kid but could never remember the name of the book or author. I loved the secret hang-out in the junkyard.
I've never read any of the Tolkien or C.S. Lewis books and have no plans to. I'm "old and set in my ways."
what about Anne Rice? didn't you go through the whole Vampire phase?
I loved them!!
Also for me was the Sweet Valley High books from when I was a gawky pre-teen (as opposed to a geeky teen, pretentious 20 year old, and soccor mom 30 something).
A good series that is not over yet, and is 10 books into is a fantasy series called "The Sword of Truth" series written by Terry Goodkind. He was only going to write 12 books in the series but now has a promise to write some more.
Janet Evanovich...while you can pick up the Plum series and start anywhere and know what is going on they are still a great series of books. Written about a New Jersey Bounty hunter they are worth many laughs. Especially grandma....
I loved the Xanth stories with their puns like the Prints of Wails.
I also was hooked on Encyclopedia Brown. I loved it when I solved a case before he did in the story.
And the Choose Your Own Adventure books rocked too.
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