I truly love being a member of Writers Who Kill and having my name associated with the other talented writers who blog here. One of the proudest days in my writing life was the day I was asked to join this group as a blogger.
But in the midst of the many
positive benefits of being a Writers Who Kill blogger, there is one drawback—the
length of my “to be read” (“TBR”) list keeps growing exponentially. For example,
Elaine Douts did an interview with the author of the Haunting Danielle
series, so I gave the first book in the series a try. Within the next three
weeks, I had purchased and read the remaining 22 books in the series, and now I
wait impatiently for each additional book in the series.
I don’t remember which blog post
it was that encouraged me to try Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley series,
but I am grateful. It is the rare book that can present me with new vocabulary
words, but Elizabeth George throws out at least two or three per book while keeping
me enthralled with the pacing, suspense, and characters in the mystery. Since I
just discovered this series, I have only reached book four, but the rest of the
books are on my list.
I eagerly await each new release
in Debra H. Goldstein’s Sarah Blair mystery series and Allison Brooks’
(aka Marilyn Levinson’s) Haunted Library series. And many of the books on my
TBR list were written by my fellow bloggers here.
I am a little OCD with series,
which does not help shorten my list. Each time a new book comes out in one of
“my” series, I start with the beginning book and read through the newest book. For
example, in one of the few series on my list that didn’t show up through
Writers Who Kill, the Meg Langslow mystery series by Donna Andrews, the 30th book came out a couple of weeks ago. I am
on Book 14 in my mandatory re-read, so it will take me through the middle of
September before I get to book 30. If I’m lucky, I’ll take just long enough
that I won’t need to re-read books 1-30 when the 31st book, a
seasonal Christmas mystery, is released.
When I need to decide what I want
to write about, when my turn for blogging rolls around, I flip back through the
blogs we’ve posted in the last couple of weeks. In doing so for this blog,
another nine books (from Alyssa Maxwell’s The Gilded Newport mystery
series) popped onto my list. Doesn’t the idea of a mystery set in the world of
Newport society during the Gilded Age sound fascinating?
Whether you are visiting Writers
Who Kill for the first time, or have been a regular visitor for years, please
take a minute to click on each name in the yellow box towards the top of the
page and look at each individual author’s writing repertoire. I guarantee you
will find more than one book you need to add to your list.
Love it, Nancy. So happy to meet another OCD reader! Even if I come into a series late, it's back to book 1 for me! I'm working my way through Bosch now.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes. The TBR pile. Now, since I can put books on my Kindle and it doesn't have the visual impact of a teetering stack of books, it's even bigger
ReplyDeleteThe only comforting thought is that I will never run out of things to read.
Series are addictive and today, I'm getting my hands on the latest Martin Walker Bruno, Chief of Police book.
ReplyDeleteMy theory is I can't die if I have a unread book, so my TBR stack is substantial.
ReplyDeleteI could build a fortress out of my TBR piles - a fortress of reading solitude. Someday.
ReplyDeletemy tbr pile (bookcase and reader) is so long, I don't know where I'd find the time to go back and read everything in many of the series I follow. Whew!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have an amazing stack of books to read, Nancy!
ReplyDeleteHow amazing that you reread all the books in a series when a new one comes out! And thank you for including my Haunted Library series in you TBR blog. So glad you're enjoying it!
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