BTT: Series

Series (from Booking Through Thursday)

1. Do you read books that are part of a series?
2. Do you collect all the books in the series before starting?
3. What if the series is brand new, and the only book that's been published so far is Book 1?
4. As subsequent books in the series are published, do you go back and re-read the preceding books?

The answer to the first question is a definitive 'yes'.  I particularly love reading series because you get a more in-depth view of the characters and their world.  I have repeatedly mentioned my love and adoration for Kerry Greenwood's Corinna Chapman series.  I am waiting with bated breath for the latest one to be announced; her website says it should be published this coming October.  I am also eagerly awaiting the third in Deborah Harkness' All  Souls Trilogy.  I just read the last book in Nicole Peeler's Jane True series.  I have read all three series by Robert J. Sawyer (Quintaglio Ascension; Neanderthal Parallax; and WWW).  I loved J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series.

I am generally a picky reader so I will get only one or two books in the series to read before I judge whether I like it or not.  I've read five of the nineteen books in Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher series.  They are cozy reads and I intend to read the rest eventually but I find the series formulaic and not nearly as good as her Corinna Chapman series.  I liked the first in the Rogue Angel series by Alex Archer [pseudonym] and intend to read more.

I have no qualms about reading a brand new series, even if only the first book has been published.  That's how I fell in love with Deborah Harkness' All Souls Trilogy.  The waiting/anticipation for the next books is good because it amps up your excitement but this can also have the disadvantage of amping it so high that the book doesn't meet your expectations.

I generally do not reread the preceding books in a series unless it has been so long that I vaguely remember what happened in the last one.  I reread Kerry Greenwood's Corinna Chapman series at least once a year, if not more.  I might reread "Cooking The Books" before the next one comes out.

The fourth in Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series, "Inferno" just came out in May.  I haven't read it yet but it's on my TBR.  Although the Robert Langdon books are a series, I have found that they are also standalones; you can read them out of order.

I've also read books in series by:
*Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
*V.C. Andrews (Landry, Casteel and Cutler series)
*Nick Bantock (Griffin & Sabine)
*Jack Canfield (Chicken soup for the soul)
*Laura Childs (Scrapbooking mysteries)
*John Dunning (Cliff Janeway)
*Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones...and I just discovered #3 comes out in October!!!)
*Molly Harper (Jane Jameson)
*Lucy and Stephen Hawking (George)
*Sable Hunter (Hell Yeah!)
*E.L. James (Fifty Shades)
*Susan Kaye (Frederick Wentworth, Captain)
*Sophie Kinsella (Shopaholic)
*Lissa Matthews (Simple Need)
*James McGee (Matthew Hawkwood)
*Stephenie Meyer (Twilight)
*Beth Pattillo (Jane Austen)
*Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate)
*Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)
*Nora Roberts (Key Trilogy)
*Alexander McCall Smith (44 Scotland Street)
*Jeff Smith (Bone graphic novels)
*Kevin Sylvester (Neil Flambé)
*J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings)
*Angela Verdenius (Big Girls Lovin' Trilogy and its spin-offs)
*Mélanie Watt (Scaredy Squirrel...and I just discovered the next one comes out in August!!!)
*Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Cemetery of Forgotten Books)
*Sevens series by seven different authors

Read on,
Paula

BTT: How many?

How many? (from Booking Through Thursday)

1. How many books do you read in a week? Month? Year?

2. What's the best book or series you've read so far this year?

3. What's the worst book you read this year? Did you finish it?

How many books I read fluctuates based on the length of the book I'm reading, how much I like it, and how much free time I have.  So far, last year was a record-breaking year for me.  According to Goodreads, I read 242 books last year.  Granted, last year I was reading a lot of ebooks, which tend to be more novellas and short stories than full-length novels and non-fiction books.  This year, I'm not reading as many ebooks and am trying to read from my own library.  So far, the latter is not working out well, unless you count reading books I've newly bought.  Goodreads has a reading challenge where you set your own goal for the year.  This year my goal is 150...not as high as last year but reasonably attainable (I read 124 in 2011).  It's fun to see the little gauge on the challenge creep closer to the end.  Whether I'm successful or not, I know that I won't do it again.  I find it too stressful, especially because Goodreads tells you if you are ahead or behind schedule.  I'm currently behind schedule even though I was ahead of schedule for most of the year.  Now I'm getting anxious.  And now that I'm working more hours at work, I have less free time than last year for reading.

I have a tie for the best (fiction) book I've read so far this year.  "Dust and Shadow" by Lyndsay Faye versus "Up and Down" by Terry Fallis.  I just can't make up my mind yet.  Both have their strong qualities that make it hard for me to pick just one.  But the best (non-fiction) book I've read this year is "The Unapologetic Fat Girl's Guide To Exercise and Other Incendiary Acts" by Hanne Blank.  I highly recommend it to anyone who is overweight, no matter how fit you already are.  (Yes,  you can be both fat and fit!)

I would have to say that "The Boy in the Dress" by David Walliams is the worst book I've read this year.  I did finish it but I was intensely disappointed.  You can read the un-review I wrote about it.  Basically, it was nothing like what I expected.

Read on,
Paula

"Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders" by Kevin Sylvester

Synopsis: Neil Flambé may be fourteen years old, but he’s also a world-renowned chef. Patrons pay top dollar and wait months for reservations at his tiny boutique restaurant. But Neil is more than a fantastic cook—he solves crime too. Ever since he used his kitchen know-how and keen sense of smell to acquit a man of murder, he’s been helping Police Inspector Sean Nakamura crack case after case.
But when some of the best chefs in town turn up dead, the crime scenes turn culinary. Police are stumped, and the only clues are the scents of mysterious spices and a journal that may have belonged to…Marco Polo? Neil must find a way to connect the past with the present and solve the murders—or he could end up as the prime suspect!

My review:
It was the illustrations and the 14-year-old chef main character that appealed to me.  Being a redhead, I enjoyed reading about a redhead, even if he is a pompous and arrogant teenager.  The only thing I didn't like about "Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders" is that I kept wondering if this were the first book in the series or not.  It is, but I kept doubting it.  The reason for this is that there were vague references to events that happened in the past as if this were not the first book in the series.  Eventually I clued in that the vague references would be fleshed out later in the book with more detail.
I like the historical aspects about Marco Polo, his journeys in Asia, and Kublai Kahn.  I don't know how much of it is fact or fiction but I enjoyed it anyway.  That might entice readers to seek out more information about the explorer and his travels.  This book was a quick read and I look forward to seeing how the series develops.  So far there are four books in the series and the third one (Neil Flambé and the Crusader's Curse) was nominated for this year's Forest of Reading Silver Birch Award.  That's how I found out about the series.

Read on,
Paula

"The Roots of Desire" by Marion Roach

Synopsis: Part history, part cultural commentary, part memoir, The Roots of Desire is a witty and entertaining investigation into what it means to be a redhead. 
A redhead rarely goes unnoticed in a crowded room. From Judas Iscariot to Botticelli's Venus to Julianne Moore, redheads have been worshipped, idealized, fetishized, feared, and condemned, leaving their mark on us and our culture. Such is the power of what is actually a genetic mutation, and in The Roots of Desire, Marion Roach takes a fascinating look at the science behind hair color and the roles redheads have played over time. She discovers that in Greek mythology, redheads become vampires after they die; Hitler banned intermarriage with redheads for fear of producing "deviant offspring"; women with red hair were burned as witches during the Inquisition; in Hollywood, female redheads are considered sexy while male redheads are considered a hard sell; and in the nineteenth century, it was popular belief that redheads were the strongest scented of all women, smelling of amber and violets. Redheads have been stereotyped, marginalized, sought after, and made to function as everything from a political statement to a symbol of human carnality. A redhead herself, Roach brings candor and brilliant insight to the complicated and revealing history of redheads, making this a stand-out narrative and an essential tool in understanding the mechanics and phenomenon of red hair.

My review:
As a natural redhead, I was drawn to a book about this rare trait.  Approximately 4% of the world's population are natural redheads.  I enjoyed learning about the cultural and historical ways that redhead has been viewed.  One of the interesting things I learned from this book is that there are a lot more historically prominent redheads like Cleopatra and Henry VIII.  And yet the media do not portray them as such.  The iconic image of Cleopatra is Elizabeth Taylor and her long black hair.  The modern version of King Henry VIII is Jonathan Rhys Meyers and his brown hair.

I also enjoyed reading the genetics of red hair so that I now understand how my two dark-haired parents had two red-haired children.  Growing up, people had a love-hate relationship with the colour of my hair: the adults loved it and the kids hated it.  Having been picked on in school because of my red hair (there were three of us out of 300 students), I knew why Anne of Green Gables would try to dye her hair.  This being my first encounter with the idea of changing my hair colour, I was just as traumatized when hers turned green.  Although I wanted to change my hair colour to fit in, I never tried because I was afraid it would turn green.  But now, red hair is so acceptable that it's the top colour of hair dye sold in North America.  As an adult, I love my hair colour and no longer want to dye it.

If you are a redhead or know and love a redhead, I would recommend this book.

And I'm adding "attend Redhead Day" to my bucket list.

Read on,
Paula