You Love a Series

It’s (the sequel to) sequel week

Hi friends,

I hope everyone who celebrated had a happy Easter, a joyous Passover and a generous Ramadan.

Thanks to everyone who helped me out last week by suggesting ways to break out of my reading slump. There were so many great suggestions — of books, methods and more.

Many of you suggested returning to a favorite series, which made me realize it’s been a while since I did a Series Week. Two of these are sequels to books I’ve previously highlighted and one is brand new.

And, now, what to read if …

You Have a Favorite Sherlock Holmes Story

The Lady Sherlock Series by Sherry Thomas

The latest book in this series, A Tempest at Sea, is one of the few that’s been able to hold my attention during my reading slump. I lay on my couch listening to it, completely entranced (it’s narrated by Julia Whelan, author of Thank You For Listening).

As I noted in my recommendation of the first book in the series, A Study in Scarlet Women, “opens with Lady Charlotte Holmes fleeing her family and London high society after she causes a scandal. To survive, Charlotte relies on her brilliant mind, a keen sense of observation and her new friend Mrs. John Watson, a wealthy widow.” Charlotte and Mrs. Watson establish a consulting detective agency, hiding behind a fake male investigator, obviously named Sherlock Holmes, who they claim is bed-bound to prospective clients. 

Over the seven books in the series, I’ve grown to love these characters so much. From the sweet-obsessed Charlotte to her childhood friend and love interest Lord Ingram, spending time with them in each book is a joy. Thomas excels at putting a feminist spin on the classic Holmes stories and other beloved mystery tropes, depicting heists, a country house murder and, in the most recent book, a locked room mystery. A Tempest at Sea might be my favorite one yet. A great read for Holmes fans and mystery readers alike.

You Love a Hyper Specific History

The Object Lessons Project from Bloomsbury Publishing and The Atlantic

Each book in The Object Lessons Project features a long essay from a top-notch writer on a single topic — magnets, political signs, burgers — showing how they’ve shaped our world. Some of my favorites in the series include Doll by Maria Teresa Hart, which examines the intersection between femininity and the toys, Summer Brennan’s High Heel, a volume that tackles foot binding and glam rock, and Bullet Proof Vest by Kenneth Rosen.

Things I love about this series:

• Each essay takes a different tack — some have a personal lens, others historical or literary — but they’re all fascinating and well-written.

• They clock in at roughly 160 pages and are beautifully designed.

• I learn something new every time I pick one up. 

As Steven Johnson, author of How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World put it, “The Object Lessons series achieves something very close to magic: the books take ordinary — even banal — objects and animate them with a rich history of invention, political struggle, science, and popular mythology. Filled with fascinating details and conveyed in sharp, accessible prose, the books make the everyday world come to life. Be warned: once you've read a few of these, you'll start walking around your house, picking up random objects, and musing aloud: 'I wonder what the story is behind this thing?'"

You’re Seeking the Royal Treatment

The Reluctant Royals Series by Alyssa Cole

If you’re searching for the literary equivalent of a glass of champagne — fizzy and fun — look no further than Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals books. Like the title suggests, each book in the series follows a royal disinclined to claim their title or a love interest unsure about marrying into a ruling family.

Over the course of three full-length books and two novellas, Cole delivers five swoon-worthy love stories. And while each installment focuses on one couple, characters from previous books pop up regularly, giving readers a chance to check in on them and see that their happy-ever-after has continued. And, as a bonus, some characters even appear in a spin-off series, The Runaway Royals.

Cole combines the absolutely bonkers plots of old school romance novels (think poisonings, lost heirs and murderous relatives) with a modern sensibility (this series features some of my favorite novelized text chains). I’ve lost track of the number of people I’ve pushed this series on over the years, but I’ve never had a disappointed reader.

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Thanks for reading. I’ll be back on Thursday with a Q&A featuring author Leigh Stein, who will demystify BookTok.

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