Favorite Five - Book Series

If you’re waiting for “favorite books” or “favorite authors”, don’t worry… I’ll get there eventually. Today, though, I want to focus on book series. I read so many series, this one is especially hard for me to narrow down! I’ll try to limit my runners up to just a few.

1. The Marcus Didius Falco novels by Lindsey Davis. – Based in Rome during the reign of Vespasian, I started this series when the first one came out about 20 years ago. The author intersperses plenty of humor with the action which makes the central characters all the more fun.

2. The China Bayles herbal mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert – Another series I began reading at their onset, these books not only provide a good mystery with well developed characters, but they also include lots of herbal lore and recipes. I tend to kill plants in real life, so I garden vicariously through these books. Each book has one particular herb which plays into the storyline.

3. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith – I bought the first one through QPBC and it sat on my shelf, unread, until several more had been published. Once I finally picked up the first one, I was hooked!! I haven’t seen the HBO series based on the books, but I’ve heard it’s very good.

4. Tales from Grace Chapel Inn published by Guideposts – This is one of those kinds of series you sign up for by mail and receive a new book approximately every six weeks. The first in the series explains the overall situation of how three sisters open a Bed & Breakfast together in a small town in Pennsylvania. The remaining books are “stand alone” stories that revolve around the sisters and the guests that visit their B&B. Written by a variety of authors, they are light, easy reading that I always enjoy. I haven’t received one in quite awhile, so I’m afraid I’ve reached the end of the series. I still have one on my shelf with a Christmas theme that I’ve saved for the upcoming holidays.

5. The Richard Jury novels by Martha Grimes – The main character of this series is an Inspector with New Scotland Yard. Although the author is American, I think she does an excellent job writing a British detective series. Each of the book titles is the name of a Pub found in the story.

Any of the runners up listed below could just as easily have been one of my top five picks.

Roma Sub Rosa (Gordianus the Finder) series by Steven Saylor, Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters, Adam Dalgliesh novels by P.D. James, Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, Kinsey Milhone (Alphabet) series by Sue Grafton, Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich, Matthew Shardlake mysteries by C.J. Sansom, Yada Yada Prayer Group novels by Neta Jackson, The Mitford series by Jan Karon.

There are more that I enjoy, but I had to stop somewhere!! With the exception of #4 on my list, I would recommend reading any of these series in the order in which they were written.