As someone that loves books and reading, I thought it was about time that I let you know some of my favourite novels and book series. In this particular post I’ll take you through 5 of my favourite book series of all time from newer releases that have been made into big Hollywood productions to books published back in the 70’s and 80’s that take in sci-fi, humour, spy fiction and family sagas I do think that there is something for everyone here. Let me know if you’ve read any of these and if you haven’t then maybe I can persuade you to check out one of these series.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Trilogy by John Le Carre
Books: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – The Honourable Man – Smiley’s People
This is probably my favourite book trilogy of the lot. Based on the life of George Smiley and his work as a spy coming back from retirement to find the mole that lurks within the British spying network. It’s a thrilling book full of twists and turns and great moments where you find out the in’s and out’s of the spying world and the relationship between the four major players – UK, America, Germany and Russia. The first novel was made into a great film a couple of years ago which I recommend you all watch as it has such a wonderful cast of the best of British actors. The next two novels are the aftermath, where after Smiley’s successful mission he is instated as Control, the head of the spying agency in Britain. These two novels talk further about the infamous Karla as Smiley once and for all tries to bring him to justice. As I said it’s gripping stuff and if you are a little obsessed with spy novels, like myself, then you can’t go wrong with a Le Carre book. To me, he is the master of the spy novel.
Read my review of the trilogy from a couple of years ago here.
Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Books: Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – Restaurant at the End of the Universe – Life, The Universe and Everything – So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish – Mostly Harmless – And Another Thing…
These books may be generally based around a sci-fi theme of space travel and slightly geeky words popping up every so often but at its essence this a novel which is about a bumbling man who doesn’t necessarily have the best luck and who somehow manages to survive the destruction of Earth and ends up travelling through space and time. It’s a series of misadventures from a man so typically English, which I think only adds to the humour, there is a bit of love thrown into the story as well with the meeting of Trillion [Trisha McMillan]. It’s a great story and through the first novel may be the most famous [having been made into a film helps] the rest of the series is well worth reading as it is just as good, if not better in some cases. I love the books, I laughed, teared up and just generally loved my time reading about Arthur Dent and his life. It’s a great read that I urge everyone to read as Douglas Adams really was a genius when it comes to writing.
source – pages.simonandschuster.com.au
The Cousin’s War Series by Philippa Gregory
Books: The White Queen – The Red Queen – The Lady of Rivers – The Kingmaker’s Daughter – The White Princess – The King’s Curse
I started reading these books after watching the TV series that aired on the BBC which is based on 3 of the novels in the trilogy – The White Queen, The Red Queen and The Kingmaker’s Daughter. To me the books were better, I loved the TV series a hell of a lot but the description levels in the books and the additional things you get that were cut from the series made the books a great read. Gregory has perfectly toed the line between historical fact and fiction and has made learning about historical figures of the past very interesting. For me, the best thing about the books is that they focus on the stories of the women, who were so under-represented in those times. I haven’t read The King’s Curse yet as it has only just been released but I am itching to get my hands on it and find out more and see where this trilogy ends up. Great reads for fans of history, scandal, love stories and people who want to find out more about the influence of the great women of England on past Kings.
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Books: The Hunger Games – Catching Fire – Mockingjay
Currently in the middle of releasing these to the big screen, these books have become a success story and fast like that to mirror the success of Twilight and Harry Potter. For me though, these are much better books than Twilight, an excellent story that is well written and features a great and strong heroine at its centre in Katniss Everdeen. Set in a dystopian world I already knew that we were in for a good read but as the story develops with Katniss going off to compete in the annual Hunger Games in the place of her sister, it is great to see the story of this young girl unfold. From her relationships to her growing strength to her struggles with leadership and the guilt she feels over needing to be there for her family since the death of her father, it is a great read with a flawed character at the centre that you can relate to most of the time. Though her life is completely different in circumstances to what I would experience there are the fundamental issues of love, family, growing up, finding your voice and discovering who you are that are mentioned, developed and play out beautifully throughout. It’s a great read and if you haven’t read it already, I urge you to read it now, you will not be able to put the books down let me assure you of that.
Read my review of the trilogy here.
Flowers in the Attic Series by Virginia Andrews
Books: Flowers In The Attic – Petals On The Wind -If There Be Thorns – Seeds of Yesterday – Garden of Shadows
Published in 1979, this series of books follows the Dollanganger family and follows the first person perspective of Cathy Dollanganger. I read these books a very long time ago now, I think they were the very first series of books I ever read [before Harry Potter even!]. They are quite dark books and at age 13 I probably shouldn’t have been reading them with some of the content in there but still they are a series of novels that I think are sometimes under represented in literature and should have the spotlight shone on them more. As children, these siblings are locked in the attic of their grand parents house after the death of their father, they are moved by their mother to her parents house where their happy lives fall apart drastically. It is a novel that comprises of scandal, family affairs and some scenes that can be quite difficult to read at times. That said the writing of Andrews is impeccable, making you want to read on regardless and find out just what happens to the Dollanganger children and what impact this experience has on their lives.
Mixtape Couture 