The Year of the Series - Year Recap

 After the calamity that was 2020 I didn't want to give myself serious reading goals but I did want to do something to help my book stacks get a little more under control.  I've tried getting rid of the ones I want to read but unfortunately I want to read all the books I own.  So I decided to focus on series.  There are so many I have that I abandoned halfway through or came in halfway and never read the first few.  I made a list of ten series and the next book I had to read in them and rolled in new books and series as I go along and catch up.  

My Grand Total For the Year - 18 Series!

1.  The Bakeshop Mysteries by Ellie Alexander - Caught Up.  The most recent book was released this week and I'm hoping that it will be going strong for quite some time.

2.  Keepsake Cove by Mary Ellen Hughes - Finished.  Unfortunately, this series was published by the now defunct Midnight Ink and I definitely feel like this is a series gone to soon.

3.  Vintage Magic by Annette Blair - Finished - I love the idea of this series involving a vintage dress shop and ghosts but the plots were more then a bit crazy and I don't love a love triangle.

4.  Merry Ghost Inn by Kate Kingsbury - Finished.  This was a fun 3 book series about a haunted bed and breakfast.  It wasn't the most memorable series but I did enjoy the books.

5.  Material Witness by Diane Vallere - Finished.  This is another short lived series but I always enjoy Vallere's quirky fresh writing style.

6.  Verity Kent by Anna Lee Huber - Caught up and I think the most recent one was the best one yet so I'm really looking forward to the next book.

7.  Library Lovers by Jenn McKinlay - Caught up.  This is a favorite bookish series and I'm already looking forward to the next book even though the most recent one just came out.

8.  Veronica Speedwell by Deanna Raybourn - Caught up.  Love this series and am excited to already have a review copy of the next book due out in early 2022.

9.  Victorian Village by Sheila Connolly - Finished.  This wasn't the strongest series but it was interesting I was hooked by the idea of the mansion left like a time capsule.

10. Ethnic Eats by Kylie Logan - Finished.  Even though the main character frequently annoyed me I always ended up really enjoying the books.

11. Second Chance Cat Mystery by Sofie Ryan - Caught up.  This is another favorite series full of characters I always enjoy spending time with.

12. Mainely Needlepointers by Lea Waite - I was sad to see this series finish.  It wasn't the most consistent series in terms of mystery but I got quite attached to the characters.

13.  Writer's Apprentice by Julia Buckley - Finished?  I think.  It's been over a year since the previous book came out and Buckley is writing at least 2 new series.  I liked a lot about this series but didn't love that the relationship between the main character and her significant other often took center stage.

14. County Cork Mysteries by Shelia Connolly - Kind of finished.  I read the first 5 books but really struggled with the last few and when I didn't own the next book and my library didn't have it either I decided to call it done on this one.

15. Family History Mysteries by Brynn Bonner - Finished.  I'm so sad to see this series done as I absolutely loved it.  Sadly the author doesn't seem to be writing under either of the names I've found for her anymore.  

16.  The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley - Caught up?  There's supposed to be one more but tragically Lucinda Riley died earlier this year.  I've had heard that her estate has sanctioned another author and I'm really hoping we don't have to wait too long.

17. Cajun Country Mysteries by Ellen Byron - Finished.  This is another series I'm sad to see go as I've really enjoyed the characters, the setting, and the mysteries themselves.

18.  The Silver Six Mysteries by Nancy Haddock - Finished.  This was a fun series with a multigenerational cast.  It's not a favorite but I did enjoy it.

And I've made lots of progress on:

A Book Collector Mysteries by Victoria Abbott

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes by Laurie R. King

I'm really enjoying both of these and will finish them in 2022.

Sum Up:  This project was a lot of fun!  I got a pretty good number of books off my shelf and really learned how much more enjoyable a series is when read in order.  I've never been particularly fanatical about reading every series in order but I was really surprised by how much reading in order built up my enjoyment of my series even if there aren't that many continuing plots.

The only negative is that the overwhelming bulk of what I read was in the cozy mystery genre.  Cozy mysteries are my favorite and that isn't going to change but in 2022 I want to try to get a bit more variety in my reading.  I am planning on continuing with this project in 2022 and have several series are earmarked to be rolled in but I will also be reading off a few other lists to get a little more variety.