Suggestions of a book series?

[yoshiblue]

This January, I finished the last of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels. I know they are not for everyone, but I really enjoyed returning back to the same characters in each book, it felt like returning to old friends each time.

Can anyone suggest any other good book series to start?

Bump

Watching with interest op as I felt the same about those books and could have happily read some more about those characters. I can't think of any other series, but agree that I'd also like to find one as well. I guess that's one of the reasons that children love Harry Potter so much! Ferrante's other books are also good and I especially loved The Days of Abandonment about a woman whose husband suddenly leaves her and the two children and dog for another woman.

Have you read the Poldark novels? I recently re-read them and really enjoyed them.

Isabel Allende:

Daughter of Fortune
Portrait in Sepia
The House of the Spirits

They weren’t written in that order, but that’s the chronological order.

I don't know what those books are like but if you like crime/thriller there are:

The Cormoran Strike books by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) - first one is The Cuckoo's Calling.

The Jackson Brodie books by Kate Atkinson - first one is Case Histories.

I am about to start the second one of the Mr Mercedes trilogy by Stephen King, I enjoyed the first one.

Seven Sisters? Seven books in total I think.....friends rave about them. I’ve started the first.

I second the Cormoran Strike books and when you finish each one you can watch the tv adaptation.

The Forsyte Saga and the Cazalet Chronicles - I go back to these again and again as old friends.

On the recommendation of someone on MN I’ve just blasted through Jodi Taylor’s Chronicles of St Mary’s, which are great fun!

Also I know technically a kids’ series but my comfort reading has always been the Anne of Green Gables set

Oooh thanks all, I'll take a look at these.

I like Ann Cleese's crime series. Easy reading detective novels in a lovely setting.

I’ve just started the Ruth Galloway books in the hope of finding another comfortable series! I’m two books done and I’m enjoying them, but they’re not super comforting!

I listen to both The Chronicles of St Mary’s and The Time police series by Jodi Taylor. They really are a romp.

I have also listened to about a million of the Matthew Bartholomew books by Somebody Gregory if a bit of medieval murder mystery takes your fancy.

Thursday Next
Rivers of London
(Less comfy but still good fun)

Oh and I also look forward to each new Strike or Brodie book as mentioned upthread.

@charley50

I like Ann Cleese's crime series. Easy reading detective novels in a lovely setting.

This sounds like what I’m after!

I’ve read most of Hamnet, but I’m having to take a break as I found the grief too heartbreaking for a moment.

@TopCatLuther

The Forsyte Saga and the Cazalet Chronicles - I go back to these again and again as old friends.

On the recommendation of someone on MN I’ve just blasted through Jodi Taylor’s Chronicles of St Mary’s, which are great fun!

Also I know technically a kids’ series but my comfort reading has always been the Anne of Green Gables set

I'll second the Cazalet Chronicles, I read them in the first lockdown and loved them.

The shardlake series - by CJ Sansom. A crime series set in Tudor times.

The regeneration series (Pat Barker) - follows men (including Siegfried sasoon and Wilfred Owen) who were sent to a hospital to recover from shell shock during the 1st world war.

Well lots of crime/detective novels are written in series. I enjoyed the Cormoran Strike ones as well. If you like crime or that sort of thing you can't pass the Kay Scarpetta series, even though it's years old they are still brilliant (in my opinion!)

I also really enjoyed Penny Vincenzi's trilogy about the Lytton publishing family I think the first one is called No Angel.

I second the Seven Sisters series - 6 books in total. Very readable.

Sorry it's Ann Cleeves..

Also it old now but Tales of the City by Armitstead Mauphin are absolutely brilliant.

Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths. Archaeology and crime in Norfolk, they’re marvellous. Interesting continuing characters.
Rivers of London - urban fantasy, lots of fun.
If you like history, Philipa Gregory’s Tudor novels.

Oh and in lockdown I finally tackled Olivia Manning’s Balkan Trilogy and now have The Levant Trilogy to read, about a young English couple in wartime Europe.

Not strictly a series, but I really enjoyed the novels of Nancy Mitford- really well written, witty and not too heavy, should the current world be getting you down.

Pretty much all of the above! I would also recommend the Outlander series and the Discovery of Witches trilogy. Both v good and clever as well as full of ALL THE EMOTIONS.