April SeriesCAT: No need to Read in Order/Read as One-Off

April SeriesCAT: No need to Read in Order/Read as One-Off


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In April, pick out a book in a series where it doesn’t matter if you read in order. Or, something you can read as a one-off, but it still part of a series.

I have to admit, I do tend to read series in order, but even so, sometimes I don’t want to start a new series so want to find something where it doesn’t matter. I looked online to help me with this, as well as looking through my own series. I found some I could say for sure, but often I just read in order, anyway, and can’t recall if it would be ok to read out of order! Additional suggestions are welcome.

Here is what I came up with:

Some Suggestions:
Discworkd / Terry Pratchett
Dublin Murder Squad / Tana French
Jackson Brodie / Kate Atkinson
Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple / Agatha Christie
Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms / Mercedes Lackey
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache / Louise Penney
Tudor Court or Plantagenets and Tudors / Philippa Gregory
Enchanted / Gail Carson Levine
Holt Cycle / Kent Haruf
Jake Brigance / John Grisham
Newford Stories / Charles de Lint
Kate Waters / Fiona Barton

And a few really broad series:
Chicken Soup for the Soul
For Dummies
Very Short Introductions (looks like there is no series page for this)

Don’t forget to post to the wiki:
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2023_SeriesCAT#April:_A_series_that_you_...


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If anyone notices the first one I posted, I put in the wrong month. It appears I was not able to delete the entire thread, just my first post.

PLEASE IGNORE that one! Sorry about that!

I might read "Dog Rising" (no touchstone) from Neil Plakcy's Golden Retriever mysteries series. It's a novella which the author said when I asked him isn't anywhere in particular in the series timeline.

Another possibility is Missing Persons by Daniel and Sean Campbell, no. 4 in the DCI Morton series, which I got as a freebie. I naturally went back to the beginning and read the first one but didn't think much to it so I haven't read the others and will be reading this one out of order.

The Jack Reacher series by Lee Child doesn't need to be read in order since the publication order jumps around in Reacher's life. I'll be reading the next one in publication order for me which is Not a Drill one of those ".5" books/novellas.

>1 LibraryCin: I think Gamache needs to be read in order as some of the books build off a previous one or continue the story of the previous one. I'm especially thinking of the books three to six range somewhere in there. Even later, some of the things in a book might not make sense if you don't know what happened in the previous installment.

Oh, I'm rubbish at reading out of order. This will be a tough one!

I also normally read books in order, but I'm less careful when it comes to detective novels, usually because I start randomly when a book looks good, not even realizing it's a series. That's what I did with Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware novels, which I really enjoy, so I'll read one of those--Obsession is my plan :)

I only have one major series that I am reading out of order, which is Poirot, so I might read one of those - or one of the British Library Crime Classics. That publisher series includes many volumes that originally were part of a series, but it usually does not include all of that series, and often only one or two books.

I have the second in the Atlee Pine thriller series by David Baldacci on my shef. I haven't read the first yet so I'll just start with this one.

>8 MissBrangwen: you're a star, I've got a couple of ECR Lorac novels in the British Library Crime Classics series on the shelf. Phew, one of those will do the trick.

I have a note on my list of Ian Rankin books that Rankin said on his website that the Rebus books do not need to be read in order.

The 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain can be read out of order. I have three on my shelves that are as yet unread, so I'll add Kiss to the pile for this month.

Although I usually read series in order, I do find that many vintage mystery series don't need to be read in any particular order. I am going to be reading Death at the Opera by Gladys Mitchell and if I have time, I may add in an Agatha Christie as well.

>5 thornton37814: I have read a couple of them (the first one I read was book 6, I think... for my book club). I'm sure the person who nominated it for book club didn't think they needed to be read in order.

I wouldn't necessarily have added it here (the second book I read in the series, I backed up and read book 1!), but I found it on a website that listed some that the person posting didn't think they needed to be read in order.

So, I combined the two and added it here!

Sometimes it's hard to say, I suppose. Honestly, I like reading in order for the most part. I suppose the safest options are the really broad ones I listed at the end! :-)

ETA: I really need to think about what I'll be reading myself!

I might go with one of these:

A Time for Mercy / John Grisham
or
A Tangled Web / Mercedes Lackey

Oh, this is going to make my brain hurt! I always read in order. I will probably go for a fairy tale retelling, most likely one from the Disney's Twisted Tales series.

>10 Helenliz: I was quite happy with that idea myself, because I was a bit at a loss before! I'm glad you can use it, too!

It just occurred to me that Seishi Yokomizo's Kosuke Kindaichi series would work for this as they are not being translated in order so unless you can read Japanese, you can't read them in order

I generally don't bother about the order for most mysteries, especially older ones. I have some Baldaccis and Jeffery Deavers on my shelf. Will probably read one of those. Am travelling right now and will decide once I get back home.

>18 Robertgreaves: Thank you!

>16 JayneCM: You don't have to read out of order right? It just has to be a book that can be read out of order....

>21 bookworm3091: That's the way I looked at this challenge as well. :)

>22 DeltaQueen50: :)

Probably a Mrs Pollifax for me!

I'm reading a Carolus Deene mystery, Furious Old Women by Leo Bruce. You could definitely read it as a standalone because there's enough information to introduce existing characters, and the plot doesn't depend on anything that happened in previous books.

I remembered I had skipped a book in The Cat Who series because it wasn't in at the library when I was ready to read it so I've gone back and picked up The Cat Who Smelled a Rat. There isn't a big problem with reading this series out of order although the protagonist has two homes and moves between them depending on the season. New characters are sometimes introduced with a move.

I read Target by James Patterson. I haven't read most of the preceding Alex Cross novels, so reading totally out of order

I recently finished The Summer Bride by Anne Gracie. It's book #4 in a Regency romance series, but you could easily read it out of order. While characters from previous books do appear, they're identified and described enough that new readers won't be lost, and the plot definitely stands alone. I find most romance series can be read in any order, because each book features a different central couple.

>24 wandering_star: I read Mrs pollifax on the china station first and then devoured the rest of the series, not always in order. It was so good!

I finished Furious Old Women, a light-hearted and funny murder mystery.

I read Set in Darkness by Ian Rankin, 11th in the Inspector Rebus series. I probably would have started with the first, but the library didn't have it in so I just grabbed one. I'm not sure how spoilery this one was, but it certainly stood up on its own without having read any of the previous books.

I decided to read a few of the ".5" in-between books in the Jack Reacher series. I read Guy Walks into a Bar, James Penney's New Identity, Everyone Talks, and Not a Drill. All by Lee Child.

Finished Obsession by Jonathan Kellerman. As your average escape thriller goes, it was fine, though I don't think it lives up to the standard set by most of the books in the series. I did enjoy it...I just have higher expectations for the Alex Delaware series at this point.

Like >31 antqueen:, I chose a Rebus mystery, The Falls, which is the 12th book. I've been reading the series mostly in order, but I've read a couple out of order and skipped 3 of the first 11, mostly because my reading is based on library availability. While there are some continuing storylines, I find that the Rebus books work well as standalone novels.

I have finished a Poirot mystery, a late entry in the series: Third girl.

Me too: Elephants Can Remember

Blue Lightning / Ann Cleeves
3.5 stars

On the “Fair Isle”, a part of the Shetland Islands, there is an observatory with a group of bird watchers in attendance. Police detective Jimmy Perez is visiting home with his fiancee, Fran. Jane is the cook at the observatory, which is also the place where most people stay when they come to the Fair Isle. Angela and Marshall run the observatory, and Marshall’s teenage daughter is also visiting. Unfortunately with bad weather, everyone is stuck with no way on or off the island. Then, someone is found with a knife in her back.

This was good. It is quite atmospheric, but in all honesty, I tend to tune much of that out. I did have a bit of trouble figuring out all the characters at the start of the book; it didn’t help that at least one of the characters (though I did eventually figure it out) was sometimes called by his first name and sometimes by his last (Jimmy Perez). Overall, though, the story ended up being good, and I liked it as much as the first in the series and better than the other two.

I have completed Death at the Opera by Gladys Mitchell, which I really enjoyed.

I read Crook O'Lune. These are being published by British Library Crime Classics. They're not being published in series order, so reading them in series order is somewhat difficult!

I have finished Phoebe, Junior which is part of the Chronicles of Carlingford. It's easily my favourite in the series.

>31 antqueen:, >34 mathgirl40: I read a Rebus too - a later one, Rather be the Devil. I agree that they are good as standalones although some of the relationships develop a bit over the series.

I read Muzzled by David Rosenfelt. Excellent legal mysteries that can be read out of order. Grover Gardner's audiobook readings are highly recommended.

I read At Bertam's Hotel by Agatha Christie.

I have finished Royal Flash, a series which can be well read out of order, since the author didn't write it in chronological order.

I am too late, but still want to add my choice: I listened to The Sisters by Dervla McTiernan, which is a prequel to the Cormac Reilly series. It can definitely be listened to as a standalone, since it is only loosely connected to the main series. I listened to it after reading the first book.
Sadly, it is an Audible exclusive at the moment.

Finally read a book for this! I chose one of the Disney Twisted Tales series as they are all individual retellings. What Once Was Mine is a retelling of Rapunzel via the Disney Tangled movie version.