Setting up some more Series-ous Reading for 2018

In winding down from my year of Series-ous Reading, I have come to realize that it's more about the journey than the destination. The final book on my list, Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind, is not going to be finished by the end of 2017.

That doesn't mean I won't still be reading it, for the writing is amazingly good and the characters are incredible ones, especially our leading man Kvothe, a semi-retired wizard whose quiet life as a country innkeeper is disrupted by the threat of supernatural invaders and a chronicler of tales eager to get his life story.

I've read over a hundred pages so far but with holiday distractions(plus, taking out four library books that are due by the end of this month) and not wanting to simply gobble up such a good story, it's clear to me that this book needs more time for me to fully appreciate it. Pacing is a personal thing and having heard such wonderful things about this book, I want to consume it properly in my own time:

 That's not a bad thing since the main goal of Series-ous Reading for me was to catch up on a couple of genre series that have been gathering dust on my shelves and in that, I succeeded.

 Now, I can safely say that I've caught up well with both Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen Mysteries and Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation tales. There are still several books in both series that I will find and read but the first five of each are completed. Not to mention trying out new books from other series such as the classic Anne of Green Gables and The Rook by Daniel O'Malley. So, I've more than earned the right to take my time with The Name of the Wind there.

For next year,however, I've decided to kick this concept up a notch and read one whole series and yes, it's The Dark Tower saga by Stephen King. The seven main titles are the ones that I will be reading and reviewing, starting with The Gunslinger and The Drawing of the Three as rereads.

I know there is an eighth book(The Wind Through the Keyhole) but since that's more of a prequel that stands alone, I'll tackle that at another time. Yes, I did see the Dark Tower movie that came out this summer and while the casting was quite good, the overall story felt condensed and I highly doubt that anything I saw in that film would spoil me for the books.

Don't get me wrong, I am glad that there is some sort of cinematic version of this particular King tale out in the world, it just would have been better to get a more fully fleshed out adaptation for audiences old and new. It is considered one of King's best creative works and deserved a stronger film to support that status. Then again, to paraphrase James M. Cain, the books are not ruined, they're still on the shelves,waiting to be discovered yet again:

 In between the Dark Tower books, I'll also be catching up on some of the entries in the Poldark saga by Winston Graham. As a fan of the current BBC/PBS series,which just completed their third season, I am far behind on the books especially since the show uses two at a time for their story lines.

The ones that I plan on getting to include Warleggan, as in George Warleggan, the main villain of the piece. He's one of those guys you love to hate as his snobbery,greed and ruthless ambition make him hard to stand.

However, the show does give him small glimpses of humanity from time to time and it will be interesting to see if that is reflected in the books as well:

Speaking of TV adaptations, my summer reading for this challenge will be Voyager, the third book in Diana Gabaldon's epic series that was just made into season three of the Starz show Outlander.

With this being a good long read(Gabaldon doesn't do short for this series), spending July and August with this book feels like a great vacation to me. Also, it will relieve some of the Droughtlander angst that many of us fans feel in waiting for the next season,which will be in America!

"But don't you know what happens already,since you watched the show?" Not necessarily, as there are plenty of changes from book to screen and to me, it's a great way to get one great story in two different formats. Double your pleasure,indeed!:

Do wish me luck with this 2.0 version of Series-ous Reading or as I like to call it, Series-ous Reading 2: Electric Book-a-loo. As we go forward into more of the unknown in 2018, I find that it helps to have something solid on hand for stress relief and a good book is the perfect port in any storm.

If I can finish The Dark Tower titles, then my ultimate goal will be complete. At least it'll spare me from going back to the previous books before taking up another one,which can be fun but a little time consuming as well. We shall see as we read and hope to find other worlds than this: