Keep Up with Book Series (Part 4)

How many series of books am I more or less following? After you see the final total, you'll never accuse me of slacking off just because my book reviews didn't keep up with your pet series. So far, my alphabetical review of authors' last names has turned up approximately 140 series that have moved on since the last installment that I read. And that only took me through the letter I on the list. To continue:

| J |

Brian Jacques

• Redwall series: Lord, deliver me. I read 14 of these books about cute furry people living in a castle and fending off one vermin invasion after another. I got to the point where I couldn't read the next book, Triss, though it is still on my shelf. And now there are a total of 22 of them!
• Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series: I read the original book, but not its two sequels: The Angel's Command and Voyage of Slaves.

Tove Jansson

• Moomintroll series: I only missed the first book of the nine, clearly because it was the hardest to get. Its title is The Moomins and the Great Flood.

K.W. Jeter

• Infernal Devices has a relatively recent sequel, Fiendish Schemes.

Catherine Jinks

• Actually, I'm all caught up on the series by this author that I had been following, but I've noticed at least one other that I would like to try: a trilogy (I think) whose numbers are How to Catch a Bogle, A Plague of Bogles, and The Last Bogler.

Jane Johson

• Eidolon series: I missed the third installment, Dragon's Fire.

| K |

Karen Karbo

• Minerva Clark trilogy: I have yet to read Book 3, Minerva Clark Gives Up the Ghost.

Carol Kendall

• Minnipins series: The prequel to The Gammage Cup and The Whisper of Glocken, which I think I own but haven't read, is The Firelings.

Alexander Kent

• Bolitho series: There are 29 volumes in this series of naval adventures! Unlike the Redwall series, this is fine with me. When I'm in the mood for historical fiction with a scent of salt air, I just can't get enough. Seriously. I've only read through No. 5 on this list. I would have read more, but I couldn't find them anywhere. I've got a couple of the volumes much farther down the list, but I really want to read them in order. Command a King's Ship is the next installment for me.

P.B. Kerr

• Children of the Lamp series: I thought it ended after the fifth book, but I was wrong. Books 6 and 7 are The Five Fakirs of Faizabad and The Grave Robbers of Genghis Khan.

Kaza Kingsley

• Erec Rex series: I have read only two of the six. I think I have Book 3 on my shelf, titled The Search for Truth.

Dean Koontz

• Odd Thomas series: I missed not only the last book in this oddly-numbered series (Saint Odd), but also a prequel novella, You Are Destined to Be Together Forever.

Caleb Krisp

• Ivy Pocket trilogy: Book 2 is Somebody Stop Ivy Pocket.

Robert Kroese

• Mercury series: In spite of being an Facebook follower of this guy, I've only finished reading one of his books so far. It was a lot of fun. Meantime, he has written six more books in this series, including Mercury Falls, Mercury Rises, Mercury Rests, Mercury Revolts, Mercury Shrugs, and prequels Mercury Swings and Mercury Begins. In other titles, I have The Force Is Middling in This One somewhere in my Kindle, mostly finished. My long-term reading list also includes a bunch of his other books, including the Land of Dis, Rex Nihil, and Big Sheep series.

| L |

R.L. LaFevers

• Theodosia series: I have enjoyed the first two books in this series, but there are two more already: Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus and Theodosia and the Last Pharaoh. I am also interested in trying the "Nathan Fludd, Beastologist" series, starting with The Flight of the Phoenix.

Selma Lagerlöf

• Nils series: The sequel to The Wonderful Adventures of Nils is, duh, The Further Adventures of Nils. I'm pretty sure I own a copy of it.

A.J. Lake

• Darkest Age series: I have yet to read Book 3, The Circle of Stone.

Katherine Langrish

• Troll trilogy: I have yet to read Book 3, Troll Blood.

Justine Larbalestier

• Magic or Madness trilogy: I think I own, but haven't yet read, Book 3: Magic's Child.

M.A. Larson

• Pennyroyal Academy series: I have only read the first book. Book 2 is The Shadow Cadets of Pennyroyal Academy.

Stieg Larsson

• Millennium trilogy: I only read the first book. Books 2 and 3 are The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest.

Ingrid Law

• Savvy trilogy: Book 3 is Switch.

Michael Lawrence

• Withern Rise trilogy, a.k.a. Aldous Lexicon: I've read the first two books and have owned the third for some time. It's just a matter of getting around to reading The Underwood See. When I'm up for some magical, juvenile fun, I might go in for the 13- (or 15-) book Jiggy McCue series by the same author, with titles such as The Poltergoose, The Toilet of Doom, and The Iron, the Switch, and the Broom Cupboard.

Madeleine L'Engle

• Time quintet: This series grew from a trilogy to a quartet, and ended up with five books, of which Book 5, An Acceptable Time, has been on my shelf for a while. I may need a little liquid courage to tackle it. My enthusiasm for L'Engle's books cooled a bit after I emerged from puberty. But if it ever comes back, I know she wrote several other interconnected series of books.

Harper Lee

• Go Set a Watchman, the prequel to To Kill a Mockingbird, came out with more of a whimper than a bang last year. It was actually written (mostly) before the masterpiece across which it cast such a disappointing shadow. I may need to read it in spite of the bad buzz, just to satisfy myself. Still, it leaves me curious what Harper Lee did during her 55-year career as a celebrated author, between writing her second book and belatedly publishing the first. I guess it's an example of the saying that everyone has one great book in them.

Ursula K. Le Guin

• Hainish series: It's tricky to number these books, but I think I'm four books short of being caught up with this cycle. The next book for me should be The Dispossessed.
• Earthsea series: Again, I'm not sure, but I think I have yet to read four of these books, starting with Book 5: The Other Wind.

Jason Lethcoe

• Bartholmew Piff series: I've only read one of the four books, leaving Wishful Thinking, Wishing Well, and Wish You Were Here. I may also be interested in trying his "Mysterious Mr. Spines" and "No Place Like Holmes" series.

Gail Carson Levine

• Enchanted series: I've only read Ella Enchanted and one of its companion books, but the series continues with Fairest and Ever and goes onto include a prequel, The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre. Then there are still more fairy-tale-based books by the same author, filled with princesses and castles. I don't know how many more of them I can take. But I seem to recall enjoying the ones I read, while I was reading them.

C.S. Lewis

• Space trilogy: While it would not be true to say I never finished reading concluding installment That Hideous Strength, the fact is, I was re-reading it to prepare for a book review when life as a parish pastor finally became impossible, and I resigned. The whole episode was so painful that it left a bad taste in my mouth for everything I was doing at the time, including reading this book. I've never felt like continuing it since then. Besides which, I wasn't liking it much at the time.

Josh Lieb

• No particular series: I liked I'm a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President. So far, the only other book by this author is Ratscalibur, but it looks promising.

Robert Liparulo

• Dreamhouse Kings series: I only read the first book of this now six-book series. Book 2 is Watcher in the Woods.

Sam Llewellyn

• Darlings series: I have not yet read Book 3, Desperado Darlings. I also wish there would be more Lyonesse books!

Hugh Lofting

• Doctor Dolittle series: I have only read the first two of the 14 books in this series. If I were to continue reading them, my next installment would be Doctor Dolittle's Post Office. I believe I own a copy of the eighth book in the set, but it would take some collecting to reach the point where I would want to read it.

Lois Lowry

• Giver quartet: I only read the original book, and I have a copy of Books 2 and 3, Gathering Blue and Messenger, somewhere in my library. Book 4 is Son. That must be a pain to look up in a web search.

David Lubar

• Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie series: For some reason, I own Books 2 and 3, Dead Spy Guy and Goop Soup, but I have never yet wrapped my grubby fingers around Book 1, My Rotten Life. Typical. There are five books in all, but I won't read any of them until I can get hold of Book 1.

| M |

Jonathan Maberry

• Benny Imura series: After Rot & Ruin come four more novels and two novellas. The next one for me is Dust & Decay.

D.J. MacHale

• Pendragon series: I stalled in the middle of reading Book 7, The Quillan Games, and there are now three more after it. It isn't quite as dire a situation as with Triss by Brian Jacques or even That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis. More of a case of just not being in the mood. For like, 10 years.

Patricia MacLachlan

• Sarah, Plain and Tall series: I read the first book because it was an award-winner. I cannot guarantee that I will ever read the other four, starting with Skylark.

Marianne Malone

• Sixty-Eight Rooms series: I read only the first book of the four. Next in line is Stealing Magic.

Melina Marchetta

• Lumatere trilogy: Book 3 is Quintana of Charyn.

Ari Marmell

• Mick Oberon series: Books 2 and 3 of this series of hard-boiled faerie stories are Hallow Point and Dead to Rites.

Melissa Marr

• Wicked Lovely series: I only read the first book of this six(ish)-book series. Book 2 is Ink Exchange.

Amanda Marrone

• Magic Repair Shop trilogy: I only read the first book. Books 2 and 3 are The Shape Shifter's Curse and The Master of Mirrors.

Katherine Marsh

• Night Tourist series: Book 2 is The Twilight Prisoner.

Adrian McKinty

• Lighthouse trilogy: Book 2, The Lighthouse War, has been on my bookshelf for quite a while.

Scott Mebus

• Gods of Manhattan trilogy: Book 3 is The Sorcerer's Secret.

O.R. Melling

• Chronicles of Faerie: I think I have a copy of Book 2 of this quartet, The Summer King.

Colin Meloy

• Wildwood series: I have yet to read books 2 and 3, Under Wildwood and Wildwood Imperium.

Stephenie Meyer

• Twilight series: No.

L.M. Montgomery

• Anne Shirley series: I read five of the eight books. Next up is Anne of Ingleside, which I might have somewhere at home. Again, be careful what you type into a web search. On Fantastic Fiction, clicking on the author page for "M.L. Montgomery" leads to an erotic book titled Hot Pink Passion. Probably unrelated to Anne of Green Gables.

Christopher Moore

• Grim Reaper series: The sequel to Dirty Jobs turns out to be Secondhand Souls.
• Love Story series: Typical of the public library, the one book in this series I was able to read was Book 3, Bite Me. The first two are Bloodsucking Fiends and You Suck.
• Pine Cove series: Again, thanks to the public library, I only managed to read Book 2 of this trilogy, The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove. The two that I missed are Practical Demonkeeping and The Stupidest Angel.

John Morressy

• Kedrigern Chronicles: Since I read The Domesticated Wizard, I so wanted to get Book 2, Dudgeon and Dragons, but I've never been able to find a copy that wasn't priced out of my range.

Gerald Morris

• Squire's Tales: I've read the first five of the 10 books in this series. I'm pretty sure I own Book 6, The Princess, the Crone, and the Dung-Cart Knight, but I can never seem to lay hands on it when I'm thinking about it.

Brandon Mull

• Beyonders trilogy: Book 3, Chasing the Prophecy, is somewhere on my Kindle. I paid good money for it (unlike most of the stuff on my Kindle). Remind me to read it one of these days.
• Candy Shop War series: Book 2 is Arcade Catastrophe.
• Five Kingdoms series: I have only read Book 1, but there are now four of them in this set. Book 2 is The Rogue Knight.

Matt Myklusch

• Jack Blank trilogy: Book 3 is The End of Infinity. Myklusch has also started a new series called Seaborne, whose first title is The Lost Prince.

| N |

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

• Witch series: I haven't even read one book of it yet. This is what ticks me off: I went to a lot of trouble collecting second-hand copies of this entire six-book series. And now that I've had to pack, move, and unpack, guess which book I'm unable to find? Yup. Book 1, Witch's Sister.
• Shiloh trilogy: There are two sequels to Shiloh that I have never read: Shiloh Season and Saving Shiloh.

Henry H. Neff

• Tapestry series: I've read only two of these five books. Book 3 is The Fiend and the Forge.

Anne Nesbet

• I already read A Box of Gargoyles, though it was the sequel to The Cabinet of Earths, which I have yet to read.

Jennifer A. Nielsen

• Ascendance trilogy: Book 3 is The Shadow Throne.

Jenny Nimmo

• Children of the Red King series: I have read six out of eight. That leaves Charlie Bone and the Shadow, which I think I have at home, and Charlie Bone and the Red Knight.

Garth Nix

• Old Kingdom series: I read three books and thought I was done, but now there are more, including Clariel and Goldenhand, plus a novella, The Creature in the Case.
• Keys to the Kingdom series: I read five books, and two more remain: Superior Saturday, which I might already own, and Lord Sunday.
• Troubletwisters series (co-authored by Sean Williams): Book 4 is The Missing.

Mary Norton

• Borrowers series: It now looks as though I missed Book 5 of this six-book set, Poor Stainless. How did I manage that?

The only surprise here is that "J" wasn't such a big letter, when it comes to series of books I haven't finished reading. I guess it was just the looong list of titles by Diana Wynne Jones that made me think there would be more authors under that initial.