Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.
The rules are simple:
Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want.
Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists.
Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is Book Series I Want to Catch Up On. I have a rather chequered history when it comes to series, as my list will demonstrate. Links from each title will take you to my review.
Discovered part way through, earlier books not yet read:
Devotio by Gordon Doherty is book 10 (and also the final one) in the ‘Legionary’ series. I’ve read books 7 & 9 but none of the earlier ones plus I’ve no idea why I missed out book 8.
The Bookseller by Tim Sullivan is book 7 in the ‘DS George Cross’ crime series. I’ve read books 5 & 6 but none of the earlier ones, or book 8 that has been published recently.
Revenge of Rome by Simon Scarrow is book 23 in the ‘Eagles of the Empire’ series. This currently holds the record for latest discovery of a series. The only other books in the series I’ve read are books 21 & 22.
The Comfort of Ghosts by Jacqueline Winspear is book 18 (and also the final one) in the ‘Maisie Dobbs’ historical crime series. I’ve read books 15, 16 & 17 but none of the earlier ones.
The Shadow Network by Tony Kent is book 5 in the Dempsey & Devlin thriller series. I’ve read book 4 but not the first three.
Read in the wrong order:
A Shroud of Snowby Sarah Hawkswood is book 14 in the ‘Bradecote & Catchpole’ historical mystery series. I’ve read books 7, 8, 9 & 10 but not the ones in between or the earlier books
Bane of Bernicia by Matthew Harffy is book 11 in ‘The Bernicia Chronicles’ series. I’ve read books 1, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10 but not in that order.
Odin’s Game by Tim Hodkinson is book 1 in ‘The Whale Road Chronicles’ series. I’d read books 4, 7 & 8 before this one.
To Kill a King by David Gilman is book 8 in the ‘Master of War’ series. I’ve read book 1 but none of the books in between.
Started, haven’t finished:
The Night Raids by Jim Kelly is book 3 in the ‘Nighthawk’ historical crime series. I’ve read books 1 & 2 but haven’t yet read books 4 & 5 that have been published since.
In case this has given you the wrong idea, there are series where I’ve read all the books. There are even examples where I’ve read them in the right order!
What’s your record with series, especially long ones?
Wednesday – As always #WWW Wednesday is a weekly opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to take a peek at what others are reading.
Thursday – I shared my list for the latest Classics Club Spin. Check back next week to find out the book picked for me.
Friday – I published my review of historical mystery A Shroud of Snowby Sarah Hawkswood.
Saturday – I joined other gardeners for #SixonSaturday sharing six things from my garden this week.
Summer, 1923. Six-year-old Catherine Carolan grows restless on her parents’ farm. It’s already clear that her intellect will soon outgrow the two-room schoolhouse across the fields. But in post-Civil War Ireland, an education is not an easy thing for a girl to access, and young Catherine is not the only one in her family who will come to tire of rural life.
Summer, 1951. To ease him through his final days, Dr. Josef Alois calls for someone from his past. Enter Catherine Carolan, now an Oxford professor. As Alois’s mind and body falter, Catherine must decide how far she will follow this man that she loves.
May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry (Granta) Longlisted for the Booker Prize 2026
She is a curator, who spends her time dressing the rooms of historic buildings to bring them to life. But in the lush private quarters of a medieval palace, she finds herself so transfixed by the reign of an almost-forgotten King that the edges of her life begin to blur.
He is a reluctant ruler with no hunger for power, rushed to the throne after the untimely deaths of his older brothers. But it isn’t long before whispers begin to fly around the court. And with the growing belief that the King is not fit for the throne comes the idea that another might rule in his stead.
He spends his days teaching history to high schoolers, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three decades, makes small talk with neighbours, and, on weekends, takes his sailboat out on the beautiful Massachusetts Bay. He is, by all appearances, present and alive. But inside, Artie is plagued by feelings of isolation. He looks out at a world gone mad―at himself and the people around him―and turns a question over and over in his mind: how is it that we know so little about one another, even those closest to us?
And then, one day, Artie learns that life has been keeping a secret from him, one that threatens to upend his entire world. Once he learns it, he is forced to chart a new course, to reconsider the relationships he holds most dear―and to make peace with the mysteries at the heart of our existence.
Manchester 1849. Elizabeth Gaskell, newly famous author of Mary Barton, visits a young Irish prostitute in Manchester’s New Bailey prison. The girl is about to be discharged onto the Manchester streets, where her old life of poverty and violence await her. Elizabeth is determined to help her, but few people will employ an ex-prostitute from prison. In desperation, Elizabeth writes to Charles Dickens for advice.
Based on the real correspondence between Elizabeth Gaskell and Charles Dickens, Elizabeth and Ruth tells a story of hypocrisy and suppression, and how Elizabeth navigates the censorship and prejudice of the day to help the young girl and to write the novel about her that will ultimately be banned and burned after publication.
Worcestershire, 1577. Eliza Litton, a talented artist, is in love with childhood friend, Francis. But her tyrannical father, who rules the household with insults and fists, has other ideas. As summer comes to an end, Francis vanishes after a drunken night at the inn and Eliza’s father forces her to marry a gentleman, Edmund.
Thrown into a new, unfamiliar life with her husband who appears distant and cold, Eliza cannot tear herself from the memory of Francis. Yet her feelings for Edmund soften with time; he presents a life to her better than she ever dreamed. He provides her a safety she never had beneath her father’s roof and encourages her to paint, to pursue the things she loves.
As she begins to fall for Edmund, Francis is adrift on his own voyage, doing all he can to survive, fixated on returning to Eliza.
But as Eliza grows closer to Edmund, she uncovers a deceit she never imagined, causing her to question her own loyalties and commit her own betrayals. After everything, who will Eliza be? And what choices will she make?
March 1941. Joseph Gunner is back on the streets of Glasgow after being wounded on the front lines in France.
Keeping the pain in his leg at bay with the help of morphine, Gunner, a former detective, is hoping to lie low as the Luftwaffe begins bombing Glasgow.
But when he runs into his old boss Drummond, he is persuaded to help examine a body found in the wreckage. When it turns out to be that of a German, mutilated to disguise his identity, Gunner reluctantly agrees to investigate.
As he begins to hunt for the truth Gunner runs into old flames and bitter enemies, before finding himself embroiled in a high-level conspiracy that reaches far beyond his hometown of Glasgow.
What Cathy Read Next... 