Read a good book lately?
If you know me at all you know that I’m a voracious reader. Seriously, it is probably a thing that borders on being unhealthy. Add to that, for a girl who studied literature in college and knows how to appreciate fine writing, I’m pretty indiscriminate in my reading choices. I’m a happy genre reader – give me a good cozy mystery series (the longer the better) and I’m perfectly happy. If the writer is a good one, so much the better but as long as the writing doesn’t get in the way of the story I’m good with just proficient. I mix it up with fantasy and science fiction and random non-fiction just to stretch my brain a bit, and try to toss in the occasional classic just to remind myself what really good writing feels like. Oh and don’t forget Young Adult stuff because I may look like the parent of a college student on the outside but on the inside I’m still that teenage girl who wants to save the world or at least slay a dragon.
Tom got me started on a mystery series by CS Harris (Sebastian St. Cyr) set in England during the Napoleonic War. I realized today that there is only one more left. I really like the characters in this series and I’m sad that I’m going to have to wait around to find out how their relationships progress. Isn’t that pitiful?? Another series that I have been listening to is the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. I have one and a half books left. And there won’t be anymore because Ms. Peters died last year. More sadness … Although sometimes series do go on beyond death. Dick Francis (whose books aren’t really series but are remarkably similar in style) lives on in the writing of his son Felix Francis (who did quite a lot of writing with his father in Dick’s later years). And I just found a book in Barnes and Noble that continues the Leaphorn/Chee series by Tony Hillerman (who died a few years ago). It was written by Mr. Hillerman’s daughter.
While series fiction can become formulaic to the point where there are no surprises, a good writer will create an overarching story that draws the reader back – enjoying the mystery or adventure or what have you – but also dying to know what is going on with those characters. I will always have a fond spot in my heart for Mrs. Pollifax, Amelia Peabody and family, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes (ala Laurie R. King), Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, Goldy Bear, Harry Potter and friends, Katniss, Anne of Green Gables, Father Tim and many others. While there are so many great books that have inspired me, these books have given me friends – people I have gotten to know and love while reading series.
