Book series I love and read

I am a great fan of book series!

 

Once I really get into the story the thing I start to care about are characters. Sometimes it is the likable villain or sometimes it is a quirky comic relief. And then I want to know more about those characters. So much more that sometimes I make up stories and situations for them to go trough. I never write them down but I admit to have this weird habit.

So without further ado here are some of the book series that grace my shelves. These are the book series I love and buy to own in case somewhere down in the future I manage to find the time to read them again again! On this list there are ten of them and these are just those with most books in a series.

First let start with the proverbial Guilty pleasures…

Anita Blake Vampire Hunter book series

by Laurell K. Hamilton.

I have already made few post on this series. I put it here since it is the longest book series I own. I own 23 books of this series ( buying new ones when they come out as paperback editions) and have read some of them repeatedly. This series came to my attention over a decade ago while I was reading other book series by this author. I bought the box set of first four books in the middle of my college exam season and paused all studying to read them. I read all four books in four days! This series has had a few e-book only novellas and a graphic novel edition by Marvel for first three books.

The Hollows book series

by Kim Harrison

This is one of my favorite urban fantasy book series. It is also finished and counts altogether thirteen books. I have ten of them and I am currently reading tenth one. This book series has all kinds of supernatural creatures: witches, elves, vampires, shifters, pixies and some really weird ones. Even though it has dystopian elements I will always see it as urban fantasy. It makes for perfect Halloween reading material! Also there is graphic novel version, few novellas and a book series guide.

 

Immortals After Dark book series

by Kresley Cole

This is a perfect book series for mature readers. It is mostly paranormal romance and erotic themed series of books with abundance of back up characters. Every book is about two different characters and underneath it all is one long story about a really rich world. Personally I find the romantic element inspiring since in every book two characters are destined for each other and are put trough some crazy and soul searching trials. The message of this series is that there is someone for everyone, no matter how weird or strange they may be. I found the first book to be the weakest and I’m glad to say that this book series keeps getting better for me. I’m missing the last two books that came out but have read all that I could put my hands on!

Mercy Thompson book series

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Alpha and Omega book series

by Patricia Briggs

What I really love about this one is that the author has all her covers made by the same artist Daniel Dos Santos. It gives the whole series some kind of glow and I hope they keep their cooperation. I wish more authors would do this. The series is rich urban fantasy with plenty of characters to love and hate. The major characters simply shine trough the series with how well written they are. I love characters that work their flaws to their advantage. This is a book series that makes you grow with their characters. Mercy Thompson was the book series that came first but since the author has created so many strong characters what started as a short story about one of the back up characters soon turned into a book series on its own. Both book series keep expanding the world that the author created and it is amazing to read how one book series reflects and changes the other.

Kushiel’s Legacy book series

by Jacqueline Carey

This book series is made of three trilogies. Each trilogy has a different main character. This is quite serious book series with lots of epic elements concerning religion, philosophy and matters of personal belief. It is a fantasy afterall, but lots of elements from these books bugged me. All the books are in the chubby category and are 500+ pages. Content is mostly adult and it requires a certain perspective from the reader. I’ve read first two trilogies and own all of them. Yes it annoys me that the first two trilogies I have are American paperback editions and the last on is British paperback edition that is also larger in size.

Vorkosigan Saga book series

by Lois McMaster Bujold

This is the only truly science fiction book series I have on my bookshelf. It is a favorite book series for my boyfriend witch just gave me an excuse to buy it. We own the Croatian translation and all covers were made by Esad. T. Ribić. All other book cover editions look really colorful and shiny.  I read only few books out of sixteen we have. I never thought I would like it since I’m not really a fan of space opera genre. Strangely I loved it. What it makes it different from most books of the genre is how well the characters are made. Even though the futuristic and technology filled world they live in characters are surprisingly human and easy to relate to. I never expected to find so much emotions in space action book series. I thought all the technology and aliens would somehow clog the elements I usually love in books. I’m glad I was wrong.

Vampire Chronicles book series

by Anne Rice

This is one of the book series I started collecting since I wanted to read it all one day. I’m never really sure how many book there are in this series since I started collecting all things Anne Rice including some of her more exotic work. She actually has more than one pseudonym as a writer. I don’t have all the books in this series and I know I’m missing the third one Queen of the Damned. This book series is what I think to be mandatory reading for everyone who considers themselves reader of vampire fiction. This is the author that wrote about vampires for a living when they were not mainstream cultural quirk. I started reading the first book in the series but could not concentrate enough to separate it from the movie I watched many times. I postponed it for reading when the movie gets a bit less fresh in my mind. What I read was nothing like the movie and I think I know why the whole fiasco with the author complaining about movie versions of her books was about. I hope I get started on this series soon!

Angélique book series

by Anne and Serge Golon

This book series I inherited from my family. It is the only other on this list that I have in Croatian translation. It is a romantic adventure with historic elements. It has had a movie adaptation in the seventies and one last year. I have read the first book when I was in high school. It is one of the trashy romantic books that generations have read and now I think it is a classic. Some might even consider it to be porn for women all around the globe. I’m also scared of finding out how many of the historical and political elements were real and how many were just adapted to the books.

Southern Vampire Mysteries book series

by Charlaine Harris

 

This is one of the book series I started reading long before the TV show based on it became a fad. Tru Blood had its perks but I really loved the books. Some characters were better adapted to the TV version but the main characters were better in the books for me. When I first heard about the title Southern Vampire Mysteries and it kept coming up in my Amazon account as a recommendation I was not interested or impressed. After I started reading I got hooked. When the TV show was in full swing I kinda started losing interested. What really annoyed me is that I started buying the British edition and the publisher decided to change book cover style in the middle of it due to popularity of the TV show. I read all but last two books in the series. I still need to buy the last two and I plan to finish this book series some day.

Iron Druid Chronicles book series

by Kevin Hearne

This is one of the last book series I started collecting. It is a book series I read with my boyfriend. One of the rare we can both enjoy reading. The best parts about this book series are mythology and comedy. Entertaining read! I read all but last two books and I still need to buy the last one that comes out next year!