I received an email from Audible with a great offer for ‘Book One’s’ of a bunch of series’ and it got me thinking about the ones I haven’t read yet…and also the ones I’d love to re-read, if time were available. There are just so many!

First, Anne Rice has a new book due out next week (which I will be reading ASAP), but in the news yesterday was the possibility of Tale of the Body Thief being made into a film. This would mean casting a new Lestat, which is an exciting prospect, I think. This got me thinking about how much and why I loved the Lestat books, fueling my desire to experience them again. Anne Rice was probably the first (and perhaps the best) author that worked history into her stories in such a convincing way. From working on a master piece in Italy, to a monk’s walls covered in mosaic art, to a boy’s experiences in the Opera houses of Europe, Rice has stories that truly keep you enthralled.

Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force–a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses. It is a novel only Anne Rice could write.

In other book to movie news (though I’m not sure how new this “news” is), I’ve seen people throwing in their suggestions about who would fit the role of Jamie Fraser best in a film version of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander. (I can hear the collective sigh from here 🙂 ) About ten years ago, I read through the first four books of this series like there was no tomorrow and have been trying to find the opportunity to get into them again since last year. The lives of Jamie and Clare, et al, are definitely in need of a revisit soon!

In 1945, Claire is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon in Scotland. Innocently, she walks through a stone circle in the Highlands, and finds herself in a violent skirmish taking place in 1743. Suddenly she is a Sassenach, an outlander, in a country torn by war and by clan feuds.

A wartime nurse, Claire can deal with the bloody wounds that face her. But it is harder to deal with the knowledge that she is in Jacobite Scotland and the carnage of Culloden is looming. Marooned amid the passion and violence, the superstition, the shifting allegiances and the fervent loyalties, Claire is in danger from Jacobites and Redcoats – and from the shock of her own desire for James Fraser, a gallant and courageous young Scots warrior. Jamie shows her a passion so fierce and a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire, and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

(I used the British cover there because I love the image with the standing stones 🙂 )

Before I got into book blogging/reviewing, I didn’t always have access to all the great recommendations that I now get on a daily basis. To this end, it was not unusual for me to re-read some of my faves. One such series is The Belgariad. In fact, I’ve probably read the ten books (collective total of  The Belgariad and The Mallorean) four or five times now, and I really want to read them again now. For some reason, though they are more YA in feel to me, these books make me feel like I’m coming home to something. Crazy, I know, but I just love ’em!

WHILE THE DARK GOD SLEPT

Long ago, so the Storyteller claimed, the evil God Torak sought dominion and drove men and Gods to war. But Belgarath the Sorcerer led men to reclaim the Orb that protected men of the West. So long as it lay at Riva, the prophecy went, men would be safe.

But that was only a story, and Garion did not believe in magic dooms, even though the dark man without a shadow had haunted him for years. Brought up on a quiet farm by his Aunt Pol, how could he know that the Apostate planned to wake dread Torak, or that he would be led on a quest of unparalleled magic and danger by those he loved–but did not know?

For a while, his dreams of innocence were safe, untroubled by knowledge of his strange heritage. For a little while . . .

Thus begins the first book of The Belgariad, a magnificent epic of immense scope, set against a history of seven thousand years, of the struggles of Gods and Kings and men–of strange lands and events–of fate and a prophecy that must be fulfilled!

A series that I’ve not quite made the middle of yet but love to death, is the books of the Harry Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. The lovely Caro put me on to these stories and boy, do I wish I had my own Harry Dresden! They are dark, funny, gory…what more could you ask for? I’ve been listening to these on audio and the voice of James Masters just adds to the overall effect (though I wholeheartedly admit to NOT liking his performance in the first book.) When he gets to a dreamy, sexy part in one of the books, it just takes you to a whole other place. Phew!

I’ve gotten as far as Death Masks, so Blood Rites is next up on the list.

For Harry Dresden, there have been worse assignments than going undercover on the set of an adult film. Still, there’s something more troubling than usual about his newest case. The film’s producer believes he’s the target of a sinister curse-but it’s the women around him who are dying.

Harry’s even more frustrated because he only got involved with this bizarre mystery as a favor to Thomas-his flirtatious, self-absorbed vampire acquaintance of dubious integrity. Thomas has a personal stake in the case Harry can’t quite figure out. But Harry is about to discover that Thomas’ family tree has been hiding a shocking revelation that will change his life forever…

The last series I wanted to talk about is one I haven’t read any of the books in and feel a serious lack when everyone else around me is chatting about them. I am very curious about Tohr, Phury, Rhage, Wrath, and all the rest in the Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward.

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

There are so many more series’ out there, it’s so hard to know which ones to start with. What do you all think of my list? Are there others that you absolutely love that I should be adding to my TBR? I swear, one day, I will get to them all! 😉

About Jackie

Jackie is a quirky mom, living in Ontario, Canada. She's a bookkeeper by day and a book lover by night. She also blogs at The Novel Nation and writes occasionally for Heroes and Heartbreakers.

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