I am smack dab in the middle of an epic book series – Game of Thrones. I’m currently reading book four, A Feast for Crows and can’t put it down. I’ve already downloaded book five and I know I will look like some kind of strung out addict when I finish that book because I’m pretty sure George R.R. Martin hasn’t written a sixth book yet. As I contemplated this world I’d been sucked into and the rich characters I’ve come to know, love and hate, it made me think of other book series’ I loved.
As a kid the Mary Poppins and Peter Pan series’ were an escape for me. Maybe you didn’t even realize there were more than one of these children’s books, but it’s true. And I’m not talking the Disney versions of these books, but the original, wonderful tales of fantasy and make-believe by P.L. Travers and J.M. Barrie.
My favorite show as a child was Little House on the Prairie so it is no surprise that Laura Ingalls Wilder’s set of Little House books makes my list of favorite series. Ingalls Wilder painted a picture of her youth that was rich in history (I love historical novels) and charm. I came to love Ma and Pa like they were my own parents. And I’d like to think that my Pa would blow up a pig bladder for me to play with like a balloon if I’d lived in the 1800′s.
I knew many girls in school who loved and adored the Babysitter Club series by Ann M. Martin or the Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascal and lived vicariously through the exciting lives of the tweens and teens in those series. I know I read some of those books too, truth be told.
I asked my 12-year-old son which book series is his favorite and he said he’s been enjoying, The Infinity Ring, written by various authors. My nine-year-old daughter enjoys Geronimo Stilton, by Geronimo Stilton (we laugh at this). Geronimo seems to be the Ralph S. Mouse of this generation.
I went through a long spell of not reading any fiction in my teens and early twenties. I read many self-help kinds of books or fiction for my classes, but not for pleasure. My mom introduced me to her favorite series, Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins and I became engrossed in that time of tribulation after the Rapture. Mom says this is still her favorite series.
As an older adult, I’ve read several series. Some are dark and delicious like the Dexter novels by Jeff Lindsay or the Heartsick series by Chelsea Cain with it’s disturbing tale of a serial killer and the broken detective determined to catch the killer. Some series’ like the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris are kooky and fun with a dash of darkness, but not much.
One of my all time favorite series is The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It can be argued that Katniss Everdeen is the heroine to this generation as Scout Finch has been to those generations before. Like any good series, The Hunger Games transends time and it’s a series my son loved just as much as I did.
So what is your favorite series and why?
Not your typical romance by any stretch of the imagination, however, Linda Howard comes through again.
I first learned of this
And… the movie. The movie! As I sat staring at all of the people much more beautiful than those in my high school (Seriously – how did Emma Watson EVER get bullied?) I was drawn into the drama – the real drama that enveloped the lives of the main characters. And each time I thought I could not possibly feel worse for Charlie, there was another pitfall, waiting to take him down. Far be it from me to ruin this brilliant film for you, but rest assured that while tragedy and trauma are constant themes throughout, so are love, friendship, hope and the resilience of the human spirit. , pulls you back to high school like you never left.
I recently took a course on
So why wouldn’t we use literature as a therapeutic tool? I admit, when I’m in a dark place, I reach for 