Reading Roundup 2016: Fiction Series

Are you sick of books yet? (NEVER.) So far we’ve covered memoirs and nonfiction. I’m breaking out fiction series because fiction is by far my biggest category.

My BIL left behind Make Me after his visit here this spring. This was my first foray into the Jack Reacher saga. (I’ve never seen the movies (movie?) either.)

This book got DARK. (Do not pick this up if killing people in gross ways is a deal breaker. Hmmm.) But it definitely flows. A bit suspense. A bit mystery. I think this would be a good vacation read. Even though I liked it, I haven’t been seeking out any of the books. This is probably a one off.

Speaking of things that are not a one off . . . the Clancy continues. I’ve made it through Patriot Games, Hunt for Red October, The Cardinal of the Kremlin, and I’m stuck in the middle of Clear and Present Danger. I should probably let these go. But I probably won’t.

Tana French’s latest Dublin Murder Squad book came out this year. I liked The Trespasser far more than I liked her last two. Mysteries ForEVAH. This one has mysteries inside mysteries inside mysteries.

2016 will forever be known as the year I discovered Inspector Gamache. Louise Penny’s series is brilliant. Mysteries that aren’t super edgy. (No gross killing here. Generally.) The characters are fantastic. The descriptions of food make me hungry. The whole series makes me want to go live in a tiny town in Quebec.

I didn’t realize this was a series at first, and I accidentally started on the ninth book How the Light Gets In first. Then I went back and read it properly. So good. Penny does that thing you see with J. K. Rowling in Harry Potter where she starts laying some of the plot developments very early.

It is hard for me to pick a favorite of these. I’ll probably always be partial to How the Light Gets In because it was my first and this book is pretty powerful on the number of things that culminate there. I recommend them all really. Just be careful. This series can take over your life.