Every year I think I’m going to focus on the series I’m in the middle of, rather than starting up new ones. And every year that doesn’t happen. In 2021 I did make a strong effort to continue series. Some favorites were the Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal, the League of Extraordinary Women series by Evie Dunmore, The Expanse by James S.A. Corey, and the Kopp Sisters by Amy Stewart.
In this post I wanted to share some of the series I started in 2021, beginning with the ones I’ll certainly read more of. I tend not to review series books, so here’s a quick look:
Between Earth and Sky by Rebecca Roanhorse. Black Sun is the first book in this series, and it was fantastic. It’s a difficult book to describe, a mix of science fiction, fantasy and mythology revolving around three characters: Naranpa is a Sun Priest, Xiala is a sea captain, and Serapio is a blind man who’s life has been dedicated to carrying out a prophecy. The next book comes out around April 2022, and I can’t wait. This was an excellent audiobook, one of the three narrators is Cara Gee (Drummer in the Expanse series).
Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers. The first book, A Psalm for the Wild-Built, is more of a novella and I loved everything about it. Sibling Dex is a traveling tea monk who meets his first ever robot, Mosscap, and together they explore what humanity means. The next book (which I hope will be longer) comes out in summer 2022.
The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams. This funny and clever (and occasionally cheesy) romance series is about a group of guys who help each other with their relationship problems by using romance novels to help them figure out what the women in their lives need. It’s kind of brilliant, really. In this first book, the relationship and characters were complicated and felt pretty realistic. It’s pretty rare to see a romance novel about a long-term relationship gone sour, rather than the usual tropes (friends, enemies, second chances, etc.). I also loved the tongue-in-cheek look at regency romances. And it was fairly steamy.
The Moomins by Tove Janssen. I got intrigued by The Moomins when I was reading One by One by Ruth Ware and one of the characters uses “Little My” as a login name and explains where it comes from. Then it seemed like I was hearing about The Moomins everywhere. And the book I read, Comet in Moominland, was adorable. A whole new children’s series about mythical creatures for me to explore!
Some other series I started this year:
Mystery:
Anne Perry’s Elena Standish series opener, Death in Focus, was entertaining but I’m still partial to the Monk series.
I kept seeing Elly Griffith’s Ruth Galloway series, and I liked the focus on archaelogy. The book was entertaining but I hated the ending so I won’t continue the series.
Romance:
Keys to Love by Priscilla Oliveras. This “second chance” romance didn’t rock my world, but it had a good story about a couple in Key West and I enjoyed the focus on Cuban-American history and culture. Reading this reminded me of listening to In the Heights, just without the music. I’ll probably read the next one.
The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon. This book fell flat for me. It’s difficult to say why, except that it didn’t feel romantic, and I find it hard to get really invested in a story where one character is keeping a big secret from the other character.
Fantasy:
Fractured Fable series by Alix E. Harrow. The first in this series is A Spindle Splintered, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I don’t love fairy tale retellings, but Harrow’s a great writer, and anyone who could make Sleeping Beauty this entertaining deserves another read.
Green Creek series by T. J. Klune. I’ll read pretty much anything by Klune, but this book was not for me. It’s clearly aimed at YA readers and I found it too emotional – though if you loved Twilight you might like this one. Also there’s an age difference that felt more creepy than romantic.
That’s a few of my highs and lows in new series last year. What new series did you discover?
