Books and authors I keep track of
editAnd don't laugh. I have my reasons, however varied they may be, for following of all of these. The table that follows includes both books I have, and some that I don't, but would like to get. It is not a complete list of either category (I have to keep SOME things to myself), though I will most likely add more authors into it at some point. For now, it has been divided into seven tables, each sorted alphabetically by author's last name, or by series name if multiple authors are involved: "Adult's fiction/nonfiction" (23 authors), "Cozy Mysteries" (23 series), "Cozy Mysteries (Kensington)" (10 series), "Kid's fiction" (16 sections), "Kid's spooky series" (6 sections), Media Tie-ins (6 sections), and "Manga" (30 sections, alphabetically by series title).
For the record, back in the summer of 2014, I integrated multiple lists into a single, cohesive unit, with between 2100 and 2200 regular books (and 800+ manga volumes, which have their own table). About a year (and at least four or five shopping trips) later, I did a major revamp, cutting about 34 authors/sections (and about two to three hundred books) from the main list for assorted reasons, leaving it with approximately 180 authors/franchises (and between 1800 and 1900 books; it's since gone up to between 2500 and 2600 with the addition of multiple new series). My hope is to find as many of these works as possible and, with time, reduce the "What I Don't Own" sections below to completely empty. I also maintain a "Gap Box" (or boxes) for series where I own later volumes but am missing some earlier ones, and am holding off on reading these later volumes until I fill in the earlier gaps and thus can read the books in their proper order.
My main genres are horror, science fiction/fantasy, teen/young adult, mystery (I especially enjoy cozy mysteries), media tie-ins, manga (yes, I know it's not technically a genre, but it's a major category), and "kids". Minor genres include the "travel" section (because of the "Weird U.S." series - see below), and a few more.
Adult's fiction/nonfiction
edit| Author: Douglas Adams | Title: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | |||||||||
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| What I own: The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (omnibus of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, Mostly Harmless and the short story Young Zaphod Plays It Safe); The Salmon of Doubt (Adams' posthumous collection); And Another Thing... (authorized sixth novel by Eoin Colfer). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I think I got interested in these back in the late '90s, when I first discovered the books. I have since acquired the aforementioned volumes, and DVDs of the 1981 TV series and the 2005 movie. | ||||||||||
| Author: Steve Alten | ||||||||||
What I own:
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What I don't own: At least 12 released or announced books.
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| Notes: Discovered his work via Amazon when he only had four books out, and started buying them. I've enjoyed them ever since. I've also read Vostok and Meg: Night Stalkers, but don't own them yet. | ||||||||||
| Author: Piers Anthony | Title: Xanth; others | |||||||||
What I own:
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What I don't own:
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| Notes: I originally discovered the series via a fanfic crossover, and over about five or six years, acquired the first 32 books, reading all of them in order in the summer of 2011 (having read books 1-27 before this, some of them more than once), over the course of sixteen days. I later got Letters to Jenny in May 2013. And I've contemplated getting other, non-Xanth books by the same author as well, but they aren't on my wantlist as of yet. | ||||||||||
| Author: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes | Title: Den of Shadows universe, including the The Kiesha'ra Series and the Maeve'ra trilogy | |||||||||
| What I own: In the Forests of the Night, Demon in My View; Shattered Mirror; Midnight Predator; 666: The Number Of The Beast (anthology; contains a short story from this universe); The Shapeshifters: The Kiesha'ra of the Den of Shadows (omnibus edition, contains Hawksong, Snakecharm, Falcondance, Wolfcry and Wyvernhail). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: Persistence of Memory; Token of Darkness; All Just Glass; Poison Tree; Promises to Keep; the Maeve'ra trilogy (three books and three Kindle-exclusive short stories I hope will be included in the paperback editions or released in a full anthology). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I originally discovered a copy of Demon in My View back in high school, and eventually bought the first four books. Now I'd like to get the rest. | ||||||||||
| Author: Peter Benchley | ||||||||||
What I own:
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| Notes: Famed for his novel Jaws, which (along with its film adaptation) terrified readers away from the water, Benchley's works eventually wound up in my high school's library, where I read at least a few of them. I later managed to get all eight, plus two related books, for my own collection. | ||||||||||
| Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs | Title: Tarzan novel series | |||||||||
What I own (in print):
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What I don't own:
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| Notes: Yes, I know most of these are available for free online. I'd still prefer to get the printed editions. | ||||||||||
| Author: Jim Butcher | Title: The Dresden Files, Codex Alera | |||||||||
What I own:
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What I don't own:
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| Notes: I was introduced to The Dresden Files via fanfiction, and later read the first fifteen novels and Side Jobs in 2016 or thereabouts; the same year, on a whim, I read the complete Codex Alera series, and enjoyed both series enough to add them to my wantlist. I later added his one Spider-Man novel and The Cinder Spires to said wantlist. | ||||||||||
| Author: Orson Scott Card | Title: Ender Saga | |||||||||
What I own (in-universe chronological order):
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What I don't own:
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| Notes: Not quite sure when I got into this series (I think it was in high school), but I did, and I'm looking forward to getting the remaining novels. | ||||||||||
| Author: Joseph A. Citro | ||||||||||
| What I own: N/A | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: Shadow Child; Guardian Angels; The Gore; The Unseen; Lake Monsters; Deus-X; Not Yet Dead. | ||||||||||
| Notes: More noted for multiple works of non-fiction, I'm more interested in Citro's six novels, published between 1987 and 1994, and his 2012 collection of short stories, all of which I discovered via Amazon and have yet to read. | ||||||||||
| Author: Michael Crichton | ||||||||||
| What I own: Odds On (1966; as John Lange); Easy Go (1968; as John Lange); A Case of Need (1968; as Jeffrey Hudson); Zero Cool (1969; as John Lange); The Andromeda Strain (1969); Five Patients (1970; non-fiction); Grave Descend (1970; as John Lange); The Terminal Man (1972); Westworld (1973; novelization of the movie); The Great Train Robbery (1975); Eaters of the Dead (1976); Congo (1980); Sphere (1987); Travels (1988; non-fiction); Jurassic Park (1990); Rising Sun (1992); Disclosure (1994); The Lost World (1995); Airframe (1996); Timeline (1999); Prey (2002); State of Fear (2004); Next (2006); Pirate Latitudes (2009; published posthumously); Micro (2011; finished by Richard Preston). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: Scratch One (1967; as John Lange); The Venom Business (1969; as John Lange); Drug of Choice (1970; as John Lange); Dealing, or The Berkley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (1970; as Michael Douglas); Binary (1972; as John Lange); Dragon Teeth (2017; as Michael Crichton, published posthumously); Eruption 2024; finished by James Patterson). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I read a number of these books back when I was in high school, and eventually added his full works to my want-list. When given the opportunity in the fall of 2012, I bought one of his older books; as of June 2019, I own seventeen of eighteen novels (and one non-fiction work) originally published under his own name, and five out of the ten originally published under a pseudonym. I still want to find the remaining novels. (His eight "John Lange" novels have been reprinted between 2006 and 2013 - Zero Cool was updated with a new opening and closing chapter, which serve as a framing device to the original story - so they should be easier to find; Dealing has not been reprinted in recent years to my knowledge, though a Kindle release does exist.) | ||||||||||
| Author: Ian Fleming | Title: James Bond | |||||||||
What I own:
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What I don't own:
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| Notes: I originally began watching the film series in the spring of 2007, about a month before the 21st film, Casino Royale, was released on DVD, and managed to watch all 20 films within that time in preparation for the film's release. I later decided I wanted to read the original novels. This list initially included ONLY the fourteen written by Fleming, not any that followed him (though I made an exception for a couple of novelizations); I later changed my mind and started getting the later books as well). I've since acquired a hardcover omnibus of books 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7, and #3 and 8-14 on their own. | ||||||||||
| Author: David Lynn Golemon | Title: Event Group Adventures | |||||||||
What I own: #1 (Event), 2 (Legend), 3 (Ancients), 4 (Leviathan), 5 (Primeval), 6 (Legacy), 7 (Ripper), 10 (The Mountain).
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What I don't own: #8 (Carpathian), 9 (Overlord), 11 (The Traveler), 12 (Beyond the Sea), 13 (Empire of the Dragon - large PB), 14 (Season of the Witch - large PB).
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| Notes: I first saw book 4 in stores as a hardcover, thought it looked interesting, and added it to my wantlist. Years later, I finally found a paperback copy in a used bookstore, and learned it was part of a series. I've been looking for the rest ever since. | ||||||||||
| Author: Simon R. Green | Title: Nightside, other works. | |||||||||
What I own: 47 out of 54 books from the shared universe of the Deathstalker, Forest Kingdom / Hawk and Fisher, Ghost Finders, Nightside and Secret Histories series:
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What I don't own: 7 out of 54 books from the shared universe of the Deathstalker, Forest Kingdom / Hawk and Fisher, Ghost Finders, Nightside and Secret Histories series:
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Other works I don't own:
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| Notes: I discovered the Nightside series via fanfiction; later found the series entry on TV Tropes, and have since decided to get as many of his works as possible, since they're all in the same shared universe (except possibly the Ishmael Jones and Gideon Sable series; I still plan to get them, but they're lower priority than the others). A "Shadow trilogy" was also announced at some point, but it's uncertain what happened with that. | ||||||||||
| Author: C. J. Henderson | Title: Teddy London | |||||||||
| What I own: The Things That Are Not There; Some Things Never Die (original edition, not the reissue The Stench of Fresh Air), The Thing That Darkness Hides, All Things Under The Moon; The Only Thing To Fear; Some Things Come Back. (In short, the complete original series of six books.) | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: The Occult Detectives of C. J. Henderson (2002 collection), Lai Wan: Tales of the Dreamwalker (2007 collection), The Sleep That Rescues (new book, set between Some Things Never Die and The Thing That Darkness Hides), An Eternity of Self. | ||||||||||
| Notes: I got a copy of All Things Under the Moon due to a misunderstanding (the author was using a pen name, and was mistaken for another author whose books we were looking into). I enjoyed it, and have wanted to acquire the rest ever since. Due to Henderson's untimely death, the series is considered complete. | ||||||||||
| Author: Stephen King | Title: List of books | |||||||||
| What I own: Print editions of 47 novels (4 collected in the The Bachman Books omnibus) and 8 short story/novella collections (not including the aforementioned Bachman Books collection) and at least three non-fiction books released between 1974 and 2009; an unspecified number on Kindle (he's released 6 novels and 1 collection since then). | ||||||||||
| Status uncertain: His six novels and one collection released since 2009 (may have on Kindle), seven novellas (may have at least some on Kindle), the two most recent non-fiction, most of his "Other" category. | ||||||||||
| Notes: Notorious for publishing (as of this writing) 53 novels (under his own name and that of Richard Bachman), nine short story or novella collections, five works of non-fiction and multiple E-books, screenplays, teleplays and graphic novels, the Master of Horror's works started joining our collection in 2000 at the earliest (after The Green Mile was in theaters and before Black House was released) after my mother discovered and enjoyed the movie version of The Green Mile; I started reading them fall 2000, when I entered my freshman year of high school (also when I saw Stanley Kubrick's version of The Shining for the first time), at the earliest, and spring 2001 at the latest. To this day, Danse Macabre remains my favorite printed work of his, and Kingdom Hospital my favorite film/TV project of his. | ||||||||||
| Author: Anne McCaffrey | Title: Dragonriders of Pern | |||||||||
What I own: Dragonflight, Dragonquest (2 copies), Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums, The White Dragon, Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern, Nerilka's Story, Dragonsdawn, The Renegades of Pern, All the Weyrs of Pern, The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall, The Dolphins of Pern, Dragonseye, The Masterharper of Pern, The Skies of Pern, A Gift of Dragons.
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| What I don't own: The forthcoming After the Fall Is Over, and the Robert Silverberg anthology Legends II, which contains a short story not included in any of the other works. | ||||||||||
| Notes: I originally read Dragonsong in my Freshman year of high school, and eventually learned there was much more to the series. In recent years, I managed to acquire a copy for myself, along with sixteen others. I'm still hoping to get the climactic novel (whenever it's published) and the anthology containing the story Beyond Between; however, I'll skip Todd McCaffrey's eight Third Pass novels, for now at least. | ||||||||||
| Author: John Ringo | Title: Legacy of the Aldenata | |||||||||
| What I own: #1 (A Hymn Before Battle), 2 (Gust Front), 3 (When the Devil Dances) 4 (Hell's Faire), 5 (Watch on the Rhine), 6 (Yellow Eyes), 7 (The Tuloriad), 8 (Cally's War), 9 (Sister Time), 10 (Honor of the Clan), 11 (Eye of the Storm), 12 (The Hero). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Back when I did a review of my old book database, I found about a dozen or so lone books that had, unbeknownst to me when I first got them, been part of a series each. #2 of this series was one of those, so I added the rest to my wantlist and, eventually, picked up all of them. I'm still waiting for the author's two announced sequels. | ||||||||||
| Author: Sax Rohmer | Title: Fu Manchu | |||||||||
| What I own: #1 (The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu, 1913); 2 (The Return of Dr Fu-Manchu, 1916); 3 (The Hand of Fu-Manchu, 1917); 4 (Daughter of Fu Manchu, 1931); 5 (The Mask of Fu Manchu, 1932); 6 (The Bride of Fu Manchu / Fu Manchu's Bride, 1933); 7 (The Trail of Fu Manchu, 1934); 8 (President Fu Manchu, 1936); 9 (The Drums of Fu Manchu, 1939); 10 (The Island of Fu Manchu, 1941); 11 (Shadow of Fu Manchu, 1948); 12 (Re-Enter Fu Manchu, 1957); 13 (Emperor Fu Manchu, 1959); 14 (The Wrath of Fu Manchu, 1973); 15 (Ten Years Beyond Baker Street, 1984 - by Cay Van Ash); 16 (The Fires of Fu Manchu, 1987 - by Cay Van Ash). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #17 (The Terror of Fu Manchu, 2009 - by William Patrick Maynard); 18 (The Destiny of Fu Manchu, 2012 - by William Patrick Maynard). (Forthcoming: #19, The Triumph of Fu Manchu - by William Patrick Maynard.) | ||||||||||
| Notes: Having read some about this series (and realizing that we already had #5), I developed an interest in reading it. Books 15 and on are officially authorized continuations of the series. | ||||||||||
| Author: R. L. Stine | Title: Fear Street | |||||||||
| What I own: N/A (see Kid's section for Ghosts of Fear Street listings) | ||||||||||
What I don't own: Everything else in the series. This includes:
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| Notes: While I own some of the the Ghosts of Fear Street books, I'm currently passing on the rest of the series, which is aimed at a teen audience. However, I still keep track of them and may get them at some point. | ||||||||||
| Author: Peter Straub | ||||||||||
| What I own: Julia (1975); If You Could See Me Now (1977); Ghost Story (1979); Shadowland (1980); Floating Dragon (1983); The Talisman (1984, with Stephen King); Koko (1988); Mystery (1990); Houses Without Doors (1990, anthology); The Throat (1993); The Hellfire Club (1995); Mr. X (1999); Black House (2001, with Stephen King); Lost Boy, Lost Girl (2003); In the Night Room (2004); A Dark Matter (2010). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: Marriages (1973, non-horror); Under Venus (1974, non-horror); Mrs. God (1990; expanded from the novella in Houses Without Doors); Magic Terror (2000, anthology); 5 Stories (2007, anthology); The Juniper Tree and Other Blue Rose Stories (2010, anthology); Interior Darkness (2016, anthology); The Way It Went Down (announced; incomplete as of Straub's death). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Having first heard of Straub via his collaborations with Stephen King, and reading more about him in King's Danse Macabre, I eventually decided to acquire his other works. (Our copies of his two collaborations with King are technically my mom's, but I include them here for the sake of completion.) | ||||||||||
| Author: Charles Stross | Title: The Laundry Files | |||||||||
| What I own: #1 (The Atrocity Archives, contains The Atrocity Archive and The Concrete Jungle), 2 (The Jennifer Morgue, also contains Pimpf), 2.5 (Down on the Farm and Equoid, free online), 3 (The Fuller Memorandum), 3.5 (Overtime, free online), 4 (The Apocalypse Codex), 5 (The Rhesus Chart), 6 (The Annihilation Score). | ||||||||||
What I don't own:
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Notes: Discovering via TV Tropes, I decided to give it a look and found it interesting. Note that only books 1-6 are available in mass market paperback (my preferred format), so I'll have to get the rest as large paperbacks. Also, Stross has a deleted scene from #8, which has been published online as fanfiction.
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| Author: John Wyndham and Simon Clark | Title: Triffids duology | |||||||||
| What I own: Triffids #1 (The Day of the Triffids), 2 (The Night of the Triffids). / Other: The Kraken Wakes, The Midwich Cuckoos. | ||||||||||
| Notes: I've seen the original movie, and I've been interested in reading the two books for some time. | ||||||||||
| Author: Mark Moran, Mark Sceurman, others | Title: Weird U.S. | |||||||||
| What I own: Weird N.J.; Weird U.S.; Weird Florida; Weird Illinois; Weird Wisconsin; Weird Pennsylvania; Weird Texas; Weird New England; Weird New York; Weird Ohio; Weird California; Weird Georgia; Weird Maryland; Weird Michigan; Weird Minnesota; Weird N.J., Volume 2; Weird Hauntings; Weird Virginia; Weird Carolinas; Weird Las Vegas and Nevada; Weird Arizona; Weird England; Weird Indiana; Weird Kentucky; Weird Massachusetts; Weird Washington; Weird Missouri; Weird U.S.: The ODDyssey Continues, Weird Hollywood, Weird Civil War. | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: Eight of the ten most recent volumes: Weird Louisiana, Weird Colorado, Weird Encounters, Weird Oregon, Weird Oklahoma, Weird Tennessee, Weird U.S.: A Freaky Field Trip Through the 50 States, , and Weird Ghosts. | ||||||||||
| Notes: A travel guide series, I bought the original Weird N.J. back when the series began, not knowing how far it would go. I'm still enjoying it to this day. | ||||||||||
Cozy Mysteries
editWhile Cozies as a genre generally falls under the "Adult's fiction" category, I've read so many that I'm giving them their own section. I haven't read every series in here, but I intend to. And there's at least another dozen series on my "to read" list besides.
| Author: Lucy Arlington (pen name) | Title: Novel Idea Mysteries | |||||||||
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| Series summary: Lila Wilkins, a middle-aged mother and features journalist in North Carolina, loses her job when her employers are forced to downsize and finds a new one as an intern at the Novel Ideas literary agency. She soon finds herself stumbling across dead bodies and must solve the crimes. | ||||||||||
| Series status: On hiatus. The publisher has not requested any more since #5. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Buried in a Book), 2 (Every Trick in the Book), 3 (Books, Cooks, and Crooks), 4 (Played by the Book), 5 (Off the Books). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Books 1-3 were co-written by Jennifer Stanley and Sylvia May; books 4-5 were written by Susan Furlong. | ||||||||||
| Author: Laurien Berenson | Title: Melanie Travis Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
What I own: 14 out of 34.
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What I don't own: 20 out of 34.
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| Notes: Discovered via a friend on TV Tropes; have been collecting them at used book sales since. | ||||||||||
| Author: Juliet Blackwell | Title: Haunted Home Renovation Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Melanie "Mel" Turner specializes in remodeling historic houses in the San Francisco Bay Area. But one day, her life takes a turn for the unexpected when a coworker dies on the site of one of her remodeling projects and his ghost asks her to solve his murder. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (If Walls Could Talk), 2 (Dead Bolt), 3 (Murder on the House), 4 (Home for the Haunting), 4.5/Witchcraft Mysteries 6.5 ("A Haunting is Brewing"; e-book crossover), 5 (Keeper of the Castle), 6 (Give Up the Ghost), 7 (A Ghostly Light), 8 (The Last Curtain Call). | ||||||||||
| Notes: After having it on my wantlist for some time, discovered book 1 in a used bookstore and thought it was interesting. | ||||||||||
| Author: Juliet Blackwell | Title: Witchcraft Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Lily Ivory is a San Francisco vintage clothing store owner who also happens to be an undercover witch, and puts her powers to use solving murder mysteries. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Secondhand Spirits), 2 (A Cast-Off Coven), 3 (Hexes and Hemlines), 4 (In a Witch's Wardrobe), 5 (Tarnished and Torn), 5.5 ("Fool's Gold"; e-book free for download from author's website), 6.5/Haunted Home Renovation Mysteries 4.5 ("A Haunting is Brewing"; e-book crossover), 7 (Spellcasting in Silk), 9 (A Magical Match), 10 (Bewitched and Betrothed), 11 (Synchronized Sorcery). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #6 (A Vision in Velvet), 8 (A Toxic Trousseau). | ||||||||||
| Notes: After having it on my wantlist for some time due to it looking interesting, I began seriously searching for it after buying the first in the author's other series, which crossed over with this one. | ||||||||||
| Author: Lilian Jackson Braun (deceased) | Title: The Cat Who... Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Reporter James "Jim" Mackintosh Qwilleran and his two Siamese cats, Koko (adopted in book 1) and Yum-Yum (adopted in book 2), find themselves solving mysteries in an unidentified city, and from book #5 on, in the town of Pickax in Moose County, "400 miles north of everywhere". | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ended by author's death. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (The Cat Who Could Read Backwards), 2 (The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern), 3 (The Cat Who Turned On and Off), 4 (The Cat Who Saw Red), 5 (The Cat Who Played Brahms), 6 (The Cat Who Played Post Office), 7 (The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare), 8 (The Cat Who Sniffed Glue), 9 (The Cat Who Went Underground), 10 (The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts), 11 (The Cat Who Lived High), 12 (The Cat Who Knew a Cardinal), 13 (The Cat Who Moved a Mountain), 14 (The Cat Who Wasn't There), 15 (The Cat Who Went Into the Closet), 16 (The Cat Who Came to Breakfast), 17 (The Cat Who Blew the Whistle), 18 (The Cat Who Said Cheese), 19 (The Cat Who Tailed a Thief), 20 (The Cat Who Sang for the Birds), 21 (The Cat Who Saw Stars), 22 (The Cat Who Robbed a Bank), 23 (The Cat Who Smelled a Rat), 24 (The Cat Who Went Up the Creek), 25 (The Cat Who Brought Down the House), 26 (The Cat Who Talked Turkey), 27 (The Cat Who Went Bananas), 28 (The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell), 29 (The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers). Related: The Cat Who Had 14 Tales, Short and Tall Tales: Moose County Legends Collected by James Mackintosh Qwilleran, The Private Life of the Cat Who ...: Tales of Koko and Yum Yum (from the Journals of James Mackintosh Qwilleran). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Initially a more "hardboiled" mystery series in the late 1960s, it transitioned into a cozy series when the author resumed writing them almost 20 years later, with book #4 as the last "hardboiled" and #5 as the first "cozy". Consists of 29 published novels (the last of which is best skipped) and three short story collections. | ||||||||||
| Author: Lillian Jackson Braun (deceased) | Title: Mystery Cats | |||||||||
| Series summary: An anthology series for short mysteries featuring cats. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ended by author's death. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Mystery Cats), 2 (More Mystery Cats). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #3 (Mystery Cats 3). | ||||||||||
| Notes: | ||||||||||
| Author: JoAnna Carl (pen name of Eve K. Sandstrom) | Title: Chocoholic Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Lee McKinney abandons a marriage to a lousy man and moves to Warner Pier, Michigan, to work as the bookkeeper at her Aunt Nettie's chocolate shop, TenHuis Chocolade. However, she soon finds herself stumbling onto murder mysteries. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. (Initially concluded, after book 16 was released, but a new installment's since been announced.) | ||||||||||
| What I own: #0 ("The Chocolate Kidnapping Clue"; first collected in anthology And the Dying is Easy), 1 (The Chocolate Cat Caper), 2 (The Chocolate Bear Burglary), 3 (The Chocolate Frog Frame-Up), 4 (The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle), 5 (The Chocolate Mouse Trap), 6 (The Chocolate Bridal Bash), 7 (The Chocolate Jewel Case), 8 (The Chocolate Snowman Murders), 9 (The Chocolate Cupid Killings), 10 (The Chocolate Pirate Plot), 11 (The Chocolate Castle Clue), 12 (The Chocolate Moose Motive), 13 (The Chocolate Book Bandit), 14 (The Chocolate Clown Corpse). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #15 (The Chocolate Falcon Fraud), 16 (The Chocolate Bunny Brouhaha), 17 (The Chocolate Shark Shenanigans), 18 (The Chocolate Raccoon Rigmarole). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I found a copy of book #2 for free, and it looked interesting. So now I'm after the rest. (Books 10, 12 and 13 are all hardcovers; the rest are MMP.) | ||||||||||
| Author: Kate Carlisle | Title: Bibliophile Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Featuring San Fransisco-based book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Homicide in Hardcover), 2 (If Books Could Kill), 3 (The Lies that Bind), 4 (Murder Under Cover), 4.5 (Pages of Sin - e-book), 5 (One Book in the Grave), 6 (Peril in Paperback), 7 (A Cookbook Conspiracy), 8 (The Book Stops Here), 9 (Ripped from the Pages), 10 (Books of a Feather), 11 (Once Upon a Spine), 12 (Buried in Books), 13 (The Book Supremacy), 14 (The Grim Reader), 15 (Little Black Book). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #16 (The Paper Caper), 17 (The Twelve Books of Christmas - HC). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Discovered the first at a used bookstore; been looking for more since. | ||||||||||
| Author: Kate Carlisle | Title: Fixer-Upper Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Featuring Shannon Hammer, a home renovation and repair contractor in Seaside Town, Northern California. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (A High-End Finish), 2 (This Old Homicide), 3 (Crowned and Moldering), 4 (Deck the Hallways), 5 (Eaves of Destruction), 6 (A Wrench in the Works), 7 (Shot Through the Hearth), 8 (Premeditated Mortar), 9 (Absence of Mallets), 10 (Dressed to Drill). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #11 (The Knife Before Christmas - HC). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Discovered at a used bookstore after having previously read and enjoyed another book by the same author; been looking for more since. | ||||||||||
| Author: Laurie Cass | Title: Bookmobile Cat Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Librarian Minnie Hamilton, having recently moved to Michigan and become the owner of a stray cat named Eddie, is drawn into mysteries as she drives her library's new bookmobile around. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. Based on comments from the author's Facebook page, book #10 has been ordered and is in progress as of early 2021. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Lending A Paw), 2 (Tailing a Tabby), 3 (Borrowed Crime), 4 (Pouncing On Murder), 5 (Cat With a Clue), 6 (Wrong Side of the Paw), 7 (Booking the Crook), 8 (Gone with the Whisker), 9 (Checking Out Crime). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #10 (The Crime that Binds), 11 (A Troubling Tail), 12 (No Paw to Stand On). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I've read books 1-5, and really want to find all of the ones in this series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Eva Gates (pen name of Vicki Delany) | Title: Lighthouse Library Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Librarian Lucy Richardson has recently moved to the outer banks of North Carolina, and works in a library built into a lighthouse, where she stumbles across mysteries. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing (discontinued by original publisher but since continued with a new one). | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (By Book Or By Crook), 2 (Booked for Trouble), 3 (Reading Up a Storm), 4 (The Spook in the Stacks - trade PB), 5 (Something Read, Something Dead), 6 (Read and Buried). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #7 (A Death Long Overdue), 8 (Deadly Ever After - trade PB), 9 (Death By Beach Read - trade PB), 10 (Death Knells and Wedding Bells - HC). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I read books 1-3 long before I ever bought them, and enjoyed them quite a bit. | ||||||||||
| Author: Rebecca M. Hale | Title: Cats and Curios Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Having inherited her uncle's antique shop in San Francisco, accountant Rebecca Hale and her cats Rupert and Isabella find themselves caught up in various mysteries. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Discontinued by the original publisher, per a Facebook post by the author. Hale has the rights to the series and may well produce more in the future, but is working on other projects for now. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (How to Wash a Cat), 2 (Nine Lives Last Forever), 3 (How to Moon a Cat), 4 (How to Tail a Cat), 5 (How to Paint a Cat), 6 (How to Catch a Cat). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Found #4 in a library sale and books 1, 2, 3 and 6 in used bookstores; the last gap was filled in later. Hopefully the author can do more eventually. | ||||||||||
| Author: Delia James | Title: Witch's Cat Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Annabelle Britton makes a living as an artist, but on vacation to the seaside town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, she makes a startling discovery about her witchy heritage with the help of Alistair, a cat and familiar whose first owner has recently turned up dead. With his help, Annabelle accepts her role as a witch and begins solving mysteries involving magic, while working with other witches who've dedicated themselves to keeping Portsmouth and its people safe. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Discontinued by the original publisher, per a Facebook post by the author. Regrettably, going independent or to another publisher is not an option at this time. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (A Familiar Tail); 2 (By Familiar Means); 3 (Familiar Motives). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I obtained #3 for free at a library book sale and promptly started looking for the first two, which I eventually found. | ||||||||||
| Author: Miranda James (pen name of Dean James) | Title: The Cat in the Stacks Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Librarian Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat Diesel wind up solving mysteries in small-town Mississippi. In the spinoff series, elderly sisters Miss An'gel and Dickce Ducote (whom Charlie met through the Friends of the Library board) also find themselves solving mysteries, both in Athena and in places they travel to. | ||||||||||
| Series status: The parent series is ongoing, with books 14-17 ordered as of November 2019. The spinoff is on hiatus, but its characters continue to appear in the parent series. | ||||||||||
What I own:
| ||||||||||
What I don't own:
| ||||||||||
| Notes: I first read books 1-7 of the parent series back when #7 had just come out, and later the complete Southern Ladies Mysteries spinoff series. By internal timeline, #1 of the spinoff is set between #5 and 6 of the original; #2-4 of the spinoff are all set between #6 and 7 of the original. | ||||||||||
| Author: Sofie Kelly (pen name of Darlene Ryan) | Title: Magical Cats Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Librarian Kathleen Paulson moves to small-town Minnesota, where she winds up adopting Owen and Hercules, a pair of feral kittens who have unusual talents that prove to come in handy when Kathleen stumbles onto mysteries. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Curiosity Thrilled the Cat), 2 (Sleight of Paw), 3 (Copycat Killing), 4 (Cat Trick), 5 (Final Catcall), 6 (A Midwinter's Tail), 7 (Faux Paw), 8 (Paws and Effect), 8.5 (The Cat Burglar; 2016 e-book novella released in the Two Tall Tails collection), 9 (A Tale of Two Kitties), 10 (The Cats Came Back), 11 (A Night's Tail). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #12 (A Case of Cat and Mouse), 13 (Hooked on a Feline), 14 (Whiskers and Lies), 15 (Paws to Remember - HC). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Author also publishes as Sofie Ryan. | ||||||||||
| Author: Toni Kelner | Title: "Where Are They Now?" Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Matilda "Tilda" Harper is a celebrity reporter who has made a name for herself tracking down stars who've left the spotlight, and finds herself solving mysteries when some of them turn up either dead or targeted by killers. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Dormant. The author is currently focused on her Family Skeleton Mysteries series. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Curse of the Kissing Cousins), 2 (Who Killed The Pinup Queen?), 3 (Blast From the Past), 4 (The Adventure of the Six Sherlocks - e-book only). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Acquired the original three books the same day from a single used bookstore. (Author also publishes as Leigh Perry.) | ||||||||||
| Author: Mary Kennedy | Title: Dream Club Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Business consultant Taylor Blake returns to Georgia to help her sister with her new candy shop, and unwittingly becomes involved in both mystery and her sister’s Dream Interpretation Club. | ||||||||||
| Series status: On hiatus - no official cancellation or continuation as of 2019. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Nightmares Can Be Murder), 2 (Dream a Little Scream). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #3 (A Premonition of Murder). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I've read books 1-3. | ||||||||||
| Author: Joyce and Jim Lavene (both deceased) | Title: Retired Witches Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Three elderly witches in North Carolina, preparing to pass on their spell book to a new generation, find themselves solving mysteries when their book is stolen and their plans for retirement thus suffer a sudden setback. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ended by both authors' deaths, with #3 having been released posthumously. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Spell Booked), 2 (Looking for Mr. Good Witch), 3 (Putting on the Witch). | ||||||||||
| Notes: | ||||||||||
| Author: T. C. LoTempio (pen name of Toni LoTempio) | Title: Nick & Nora Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Nora Charles, an investigative journalist in Chicago, moves back to her small home town in California to run her late mother's sandwich shop, but finds herself again involved in mysteries after meeting Nick, a cat who belonged to a now-missing and possibly dead private investigator. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Discontinued by its original publisher; continued by a new one in 2021. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Meow if it's Murder), 2 (Claws For Alarm), 3 (Of Crime and Catnip). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #4 (Hiss H for Homicide - large PB), 5 (Murder Faux Paws - large PB). | ||||||||||
| Notes: | ||||||||||
| Author: T. C. LoTempio (pen name of Toni LoTempio) | Title: Cat Rescue Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Having left an advertising job in New York, Sydney McCall returns to Deer Park, North Carolina to help her sister Kat run the local animal shelter, and with the aid of an orange tabby cat named Toby, finds herself solving mysteries. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Discontinued by its original publisher; author is currently focused on another series, | ||||||||||
| What I own: N/A | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #1 (Purr M For Murder - large PB), 2 (Death By a Whisker - large PB). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Haven't read them, but since I liked the author's other series, I plan to check them out. | ||||||||||
| Author: Leigh Perry (pen name of Toni L. P. Kelner) | Title: Family Skeleton Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: English teacher Georgia Thackery and her teenage daughter move back into her family's home in Massachusetts... which is also the home of Sid, the living skeleton who saved Georgia as a child. Mysteries, including that of Sid's true identity, ensue. (Books 4 and beyond change the setting, as Georgia no longer has the job she held for the first three books.) | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing (discontinued by original publisher but since continued by a new one). | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (A Skeleton in the Family), 2 (The Skeleton Takes a Bow), 3 (The Skeleton Haunts a House). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #4 (The Skeleton Paints a Picture), 5 (The Skeleton Makes a Friend), 6 (The Skeleton Stuffs a Stocking), 7 (The Skeleton Rides a Horse - anthology). | ||||||||||
| Notes: One of the earliest Cozies in my personal collection (my mom and sister started our Braun collection, I started reading them later). | ||||||||||
| Author: Sofie Ryan (pen name of Darlene Ryan) | Title: Second Chance Cat Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Sarah Grayson runs a second-hand shop in Maine and is raising a rescue cat named Elvis. She also finds herself stumbling across mysteries, to the dismay of her boyfriend (a death examiner for the local medical office) who would prefer that she and four elderly friends of hers, who are also involved in her business, leave such things to the police. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (The Whole Cat and Caboodle), 2 (Buy a Whisker), 3 (A Whisker of Trouble), 3.5 (No More Pussyfooting Around; 2016 e-book novella released in the Two Tall Tails collection), 4 (Telling Tails), 5 (The Fast and the Furriest), 6 (No Escape Claws), 7 (Claw Enforcement), 8 (Undercover Kitty), 9 (Totally Pawstruck), 10 (Scaredy Cat). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #11 (Fur Love or Money). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Author also publishes as Sofie Kelly. | ||||||||||
| Author: Paige Shelton | Title: Scottish Bookshop Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Delaney Nichols, an archivist from Kansas, loses her museum job and moves to Edinburgh, Scotland, to work at a bookstore called "The Cracked Spine", which specializes in hard-to-find books and other items. There, she develops new friendships with her coworkers and others, but also begins stumbling onto murder mysteries. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (The Cracked Spine), 2 (Of Books and Bagpipes), 2.5 (A Christmas Tartan), 3 (Lost Books and Old Bones), 4 (The Loch Ness Papers), 5 (The Stolen Letter), 6 (Deadly Editions), 7 (The Burning Pages), 8 (Fateful Words). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #9 (The Poison Pen - MMP, 12/24/24). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I discovered this series via Amazon, when I spotted book 4's paperback edition (which had yet to release) while browsing through their Cozy Mystery listings. About ten months after it came out, I found paperbacks of all four (plus book 2.5, included as a bonus feature in book 3) that were available at the time in one of my favorite used stores, and bought them all. | ||||||||||
| Author: Elaine Viets | Title: Dead-End Job Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Living off the grid after a disastrous divorce and trying to avoid her deadbeat ex-husband and the courts that sided in his favor, Helen Hawthorne finds herself working a string of dead-end jobs in order to make ends meet, all while stumbling upon murders and trying to stay out of the spotlight. After book 9, her life takes a turn for the better, with a new husband and a full-time career as a private detective, but she still winds up having to go undercover at other jobs to solve her cases. | ||||||||||
| Series status: On hiatus; author is currently focused on the non-Cozy Angela Richman, Death Investigator series. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #01 (Shop Till You Drop), 02 (Murder Between the Covers), 03 (Dying to Call You), 04 (Just Murdered), 05 (Murder Unleashed), 06 (Murder with Reservations), 07 (Clubbed to Death), 08 (Killer Cuts), 09 (Half-Price Homicide), 11 (Final Sail), 12.5 ("Killer Blonde"; included in anthology Drop-Dead Blonde), 13 (Catnapped!), 14 (Checked Out), 15 (The Art of Murder). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #10 (Pumped for Murder), 12 (Board Stiff). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I originally found three of these at a library book sale, and they looked interesting, but turned out to be later volumes in the series when I got them home... naturally, I'm looking for the rest now. | ||||||||||
Cozy Mysteries (Kensington)
editThe Kensington Publishing Corp. publishes the "Kensington Cozies" line of mystery fiction. As of 2024, they have published a total of fifteen anthologies, with a sixteenth announced for December 2024, featuring novellas from fourteen book series by twelve authors; as of this edit (August 2024), all fourteen series are listed here, as is a fifteenth that had a crossover with one of the original fourteen.
| Author: Lynn Cahoon | Title: Kitchen Witch Mysteries | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series summary: | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: N/A. | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #0.5 ("Chili Cauldron Curse" - e-book), 1 (One Poison Pie), 1.5 ("Murder 101" - e-book), 2 (Two Wicked Desserts), 2.5 ("Have a Holly, Haunted Christmas" - e-book), 3 (Three Tainted Teas), 4 (Four Charming Spells), 4.5 ("Two Christmas Mittens", collected in the anthology Christmas Mittens Murder"), 5 (Five Furry Familiars), 6 (Six Stunning Sirens). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Its books came to be on my wantlist because of its part in Kensington Cozies' anthology series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Maddie Day (pen name of Edith Maxwell) | Title: Country Store Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Flipped for Murder), 2 (Grilled for Murder), 3 (When the Grits Hit the Fan), 4 (Biscuits and Slashed Browns), 5 (Death Over Easy), 6 (Strangled Eggs and Ham), 7 (Nacho Average Murder), 8 (Candy Slain Murder), 9 (No Grater Crime), 10 (Batter Off Dead), 11 (Four Leaf Cleaver), 12 (Deep Fried Death). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #6.5 ("Christmas Cocoa and a Corpse", collected in the anthology Christmas Cocoa Murder), 10.5 ("Scarfed Down", collected in the anthology Christmas Scarf Murder), 13 (Scone Cold Dead - MMP, 04/01/25). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Its books came to be on my wantlist because of its part in Kensington Cozies' anthology series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Maddie Day (pen name of Edith Maxwell) | Title: Cece Barton Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: N/A. | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #0.5 ("Murderous Mittens", collected in the anthology Christmas Mittens Murder), 1 (Murder Uncorked), 2 (Deadly Crush - HC). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Its books came to be on my wantlist because of its part in Kensington Cozies' anthology series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Peggy Ehrhart | Title: Knit & Nibble Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: With her daughter off at college, widowed mother Pamela Paterson keeps busy as associate editor of a craft magazine and founder of the Knit and Nibble knitting club in Arborville, New Jersey. But soon, she and her club members must begin a new type of project - solving murders. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: 1 (Murder, She Knit), 2 (Died in the Wool), 3 (Knit One, Die Two), 4 (Silent Knit, Deadly Knit), 6 (Knit of the Living Dead), 10 (Knitmare on Beech Street). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #5 (A Fatal Yarn), 6.5 ("Death of a Christmas Card Crafter", collected in the anthology Christmas Card Murder), 7 (Knitty Gritty Murder), 8 (Death of a Knit Wit), 08.5 ("Death by Christmas Scarf", collected in the anthology Christmas Scarf Murder), 9 (Irish Knit Murder), 10.5 ("Murder Most Irish", collected in the anthology Irish Milkshake Murder - MMP, 12/24/24), 11 (A Dark and Stormy Knit), 12 (Last Wool and Testament - MMP, 04/29/25). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Its books came to be on my wantlist because of its part in Kensington Cozies' anthology series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Alex Erickson | Title: Bookstore Café Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Death by Coffee), 2 (Death by Tea), 3 (Death by Pumpkin Spice), 4 (Death by Vanilla Latte), 6 (Death by Espresso), 7 (Death by Café Mocha), 8 (Death by French Roast), 9 (Death by Hot Apple Cider), 12 (Death by Peppermint Cappuccino). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #5 (Death by Eggnog), 7.5 ("Death by Hot Cocoa", collected in the anthology Christmas Cocoa Murder), 10 (Death by Spiced Chai), 11 (Death by Iced Coffee), 13 (Death by Caramel Macchiato). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Its books came to be on my wantlist because of its part in Kensington Cozies' anthology series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Joanne Fluke (pen name of Joanne Fischmann) | Title: Hannah Swensen Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: After returning to her hometown of Lake Eden, Minnesota, Hannah Swensen opens "The Cookie Jar", which becomes the town's most popular bakery. Unfortunately, her baked goods have a tendency to turn up around dead bodies, and she must solve the resulting mysteries. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder - 2001 edition), 1 (Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder - 2008 edition; includes 2008 novella "Candy For Christmas"), 2 (Strawberry Shortcake Murder), 3 (Blueberry Muffin Murder), 4 (Lemon Meringue Pie Murder), 5 (Fudge Cupcake Murder), 6 (Sugar Cookie Murder), 7 (Peach Cobbler Murder), 8 (Cherry Cheesecake Murder), 8.5 ("The Twelve Desserts of Christmas", collected in the anthology Christmas Sweets), 9 (Key Lime Pie Murder), 9.5 ("Candy Cane Murder", collected in the anthology Candy Cane Murder), 10 (Carrot Cake Murder), 11 (Cream Puff Murder), 12 (Plum Pudding Murder), 13 (Apple Turnover Murder), 13.5 ("Gingerbread Cookie Murder", collected in the anthology Gingerbread Cookie Murder), 14 (Devil's Food Cake Murder), 15 (Cinnamon Roll Murder), 15.5 (Joanne Fluke's Lake Eden Cookbook), 16 (Red Velvet Cupcake Murder), 17 (Blackberry Pie Murder), 18 (Double Fudge Brownie Murder), 19 (Wedding Cake Murder), 20 (Christmas Caramel Murder), 21 (Banana Cream Pie Murder), 22 (Raspberry Danish Murder), 23 (Christmas Cake Murder; prequel), 24 (Chocolate Cream Pie Murder), 25 (Coconut Layer Cake Murder), 26 (Christmas Cupcake Murder; prequel), 28 (Caramel Pecan Roll Murder), 29 (Pink Lemonade Cake Murder). | ||||||||||
What I don't own:
| ||||||||||
| Notes: Having skimmed the first chapter or so of one or two, I decided to check out the full series, buying #1 first. | ||||||||||
| Author: Lee Hollis (pen name of Rick Copp and his sister Holly Simason) | Title: Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Hayley Powell is a single mom and food writer for a Bar Harbor, Maine newspaper, who begins solving murders after she becomes the main suspect in one case. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Death of a Kitchen Diva), 4 (Death of a Chocoholic), 5 (Death of a Christmas Caterer), 7 (Death of a Bacon Heiress), 8.5 ("Death by Eggnog", collected in the anthology Eggnog Murder), 9 (Death of a Lobster Lover), 10 (Death of a Cookbook Author), 10.5 ("Death by Yule Log", collected in the anthology Yule Log Murder), 11 (Death of a Wedding Cake Baker), 11.5 ("Death By Haunted House", collected in the anthology Haunted House Murder), 12 (Death of a Blueberry Tart), 13 (Death of a Wicked Witch), 14 (Death of an Italian Chef), 14.5 ("Death of a Halloween Party Monster", collected in the anthology Halloween Party Murder), 15 (Death of an Ice Cream Scooper), 16 (Death of a Clam Digger). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #2 (Death of a Country Fried Redneck), 3 (Death of a Coupon Clipper), 6 (Death of a Cupcake Queen), 8 (Death of a Pumpkin Carver), 13.5 ("Death of a Christmas Carol", collected in the anthology Christmas Card Murder), 15.5 ("Death of an Irish Coffee Drinker", collected in the anthology Irish Coffee Murder), 16.5 ("Death of a Christmas Mitten Knitter", collected in the anthology Christmas Mittens Murder, 16.7? ("Death by Easter Egg", collected in the anthology Easter Basket Murder - MMP, 01/21/25). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Its books came to be on my wantlist because of its part in Kensington Cozies' anthology series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Lee Hollis (pen name of Rick Copp and his sister Holly Simason) | Title: Maya and Sandra Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Murder at the PTA), 2 (Murder at the Bake Sale), 3 (Murder on the Class Trip). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #4 (Murder at the Spelling Bee), 5 (Murder at the High School Reunion - MMP, 07/01/25). | ||||||||||
| Notes: The lead characters of this series make an appearance in Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mysteries #13 (Death of a Wicked Witch), hence its inclusion in this listing. | ||||||||||
| Author: Liz Ireland | Title: Mrs. Claus Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: N/A. | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #1 (Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings), 2 (Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide), 3 (Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves), 3.5 ("Mrs. Claus and the Candy Corn Caper", collected in the anthology Halloween Cupcake Murder), 4 (Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys), 4.5 ("Mrs. Claus and the Luckless Leprechaun", collected in the anthology Irish Milkshake Murder - MMP, 12/24/24), 5 (Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year's), 5.5 ("Mrs. Claus and the Sinister Soda Bread Man", collected in the anthology Irish Soda Bread Murder - HC, 12/24/24). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Its books came to be on my wantlist because of its part in Kensington Cozies' anthology series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Laura Levine | Title: Jaine Austen Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Living in Los Angeles, writer-for-hire Jaine Austen becomes embroiled in murder mysteries after one of her clients becomes a suspect. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Tentatively ended wth book 20. A novella may be forthcoming. (Source: Author's Facebook page.) | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (This Pen for Hire), 2 (Last Writes), 3 (Killer Blonde), 4 (Shoes to Die For), 5 (The PMS Murder), 6 (Death by Pantyhose), 6.5 ("The Dangers of Candy Canes", collected in the anthology Candy Cane Murder), 8 (Killer Cruise), 9 (Death of a Trophy Wife), 9.5 ("The Dangers of Gingerbread Cookies", collected in the anthology Gingerbread Cookie Murder), 10 (Pampered to Death), 11 (Death of A Neighborhood Witch), 11.5 ("Nightmare on Elf Street", collected in the anthology Christmas Sweets), 14 (Murder Has Nine Lives), 15 (Death of a Bachelorette), 16 (Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #7 (Killing Bridezilla), 12 (Killing Cupid), 13 (Death by Tiara), 17 (Death of a Gigolo), 18 (Murder Gets a Makeover - HC), 19 (Death by Smoothie - HC), 20 (Murder Buys a One-Way Ticket - HC). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Its books came to be on my wantlist because of its part in Kensington Cozies' anthology series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Leslie Meier | Title: Lucy Stone Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Lucy Stone is a newspaper reporter in Tinker's Cove, Maine, who gets embroiled in murder mysteries after she begins discovering dead bodies. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #00 ("Candy Canes of Christmas Past", collected in the anthology Candy Cane Murder), 1 (Mistletoe Murder), 2 (Tippy Toe Murder), 3 (Trick or Treat Murder), 4 (Back to School Murder), 5 (Valentine Murder), 6 (Christmas Cookie Murder), 7 (Turkey Day Murder), 8 (Wedding Day Murder), 9 (Birthday Party Murder), 10 (Father's Day Murder), 11 (Star Spangled Murder), 12 (New Year's Eve Murder), 14 (St. Patrick's Day Murder), 15 (Mother's Day Murder), 16 (Wicked Witch Murder), 16.5 ("Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots", collected in the anthology Gingerbread Cookie Murder), 17 (English Tea Murder), 18.5 ("The Christmas Thief", collected in the anthology Christmas Sweets), 18 (Chocolate Covered Murder), 19 (Easter Bunny Murder), 20 (Christmas Carol Murder), 21 (French Pastry Murder), 22 (Candy Corn Murder), 23 (British Manor Murder), 23.5 ("Eggnog Murder", collected in the anthology Eggnog Murder), 24 (Turkey Trot Murder), 25 (Silver Anniversary Murder), 25.5 ("Yule Log Murder", collected in the anthology Yule Log Murder), 25.7 ("Haunted House Murder", collected in the anthology Haunted House Murder), 27 (Irish Parade Murder), 27.5 ("Halloween Party Murder", collected in the anthology Halloween Party Murder). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #13 (Bake Sale Murder), 26 (Invitation Only Murder), 26.5 ("Christmas Card Murder", collected in the anthology Christmas Card Murder), 28 (Easter Bonnet Murder), 28.5 ("Irish Coffee Murder", collected in the anthology Irish Coffee Murder), 29 (Mother of the Bride Murder), 29.5 ("Easter Basket Murder", collected in the anthology Easter Basket Murder - MMP, 01/21/25), 30 (Patchwork Quilt Murder - MMP, 02/25/25), 31 (Bridal Shower Murder - HC, 03/25/25). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Its books came to be on my wantlist because of its part in Kensington Cozies' anthology series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Carlene O'Connor | Title: Irish Village Mysteries Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Murder in an Irish Village), 2 (Murder at an Irish Wedding), 3 (Murder in an Irish Churchyard), 4 (Murder in an Irish Pub), 5 (Murder in an Irish Cottage), 6 (Murder at an Irish Christmas), 7 (Murder in an Irish Bookshop), 9 (Murder at an Irish Bakery). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #2.5 ("Christmas Cocoa Murder", collected in the anthology Christmas Cocoa Murder), 8 (Murder on an Irish Farm), 8.5 ("Christmas Scarf Murder", collected in the anthology Christmas Scarf Murder), 10 (Murder at an Irish Chipper - MMP, 01/21/25), 11 (Murder in an Irish Garden - HC, 02/25/25). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Its books came to be on my wantlist because of its part in Kensington Cozies' anthology series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Carlene O'Connor | Title: Home To Ireland Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Murder in Galway), 2 (Murder in Connemara). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #3 ("Halloween Cupcake Murder", collected in the anthology Halloween Cupcake Murder), 4 ("Irish Milkshake Murder", collected in the anthology Irish Milkshake Murder - MMP, 12/24/24), 5 ("Irish Soda Bread Murder", collected in the anthology Irish Soda Bread Murder - HC, 12/24/24). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Its books came to be on my wantlist because of its part in Kensington Cozies' anthology series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Carol J. Perry | Title: Witch City Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #02 (Tails, You Lose), 03 (Look Both Ways). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #01 (Caught Dead Handed), 04 (Murder Go Round), 05 (Grave Errors), 06 (It Takes a Coven), 07 (Bells, Spells, and Murders), 08 (Final Exam), 09 (Late Checkout), 10 (Murder, Take Two), 11 (See Something), 12 ('Til Death), 12.5 ("A Triple Layer Halloween Murder", collected in the anthology Halloween Cupcake Murder), 13 (Now You See It), 14 (Death Scene). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Its books came to be on my wantlist because of its part in Kensington Cozies' anthology series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Barbara Ross | Title: Maine Clambake Mysteries | |||||||||
| Series summary: Julia Snowden returns to her hometown of Busman's Harbor, Maine, to rescue her family's struggling clambake business. Soon though, she must also begin solving murder mysteries. | ||||||||||
| Series status: Ongoing. | ||||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Clammed Up), 2 (Boiled Over), 3 (Musseled Out), 4 (Fogged Inn), 4.5 ("Nogged Off", collected in the anthology Eggnog Murder), 5 (Iced Under), 6 (Stowed Away), 6.5 ("Logged On", collected in the anthology Yule Log Murder), 7 (Steamed Open), 7.5 ("Hallowed Out", collected in the anthology Haunted House Murder), 8 (Sealed Off), 9 (Shucked Apart), 9.5 ("Scared Off", collected in the anthology Halloween Party Murder), 10 (Muddled Through), 11 (Hidden Beneath), 12 (Torn Asunder). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #10.5 ("Perked Up", collected in the anthology Irish Coffee Murder), 11.5 ("Hopped Along", collected in the anthology Easter Basket Murder - MMP, 01/21/25). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Its books came to be on my wantlist because of its part in Kensington Cozies' anthology series. | ||||||||||
Kid's fiction
editDespite my age, I still enjoy these books.
| Author: K. A. Applegate | Title: Animorphs | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What I own: Books 1-54, all four Megamorphs, all four "Chronicles" books, the Alternamorphs duology and Meet the Stars of Animorphs. (65 in total.) | ||||||||||
| Notes: I actually started reading this series back when it was just beginning; as of May 2019, I'd nearly completed my collection, and in May 2023, I picked up the TV tie-in book when I spotted it. | ||||||||||
| Author: Robert Arthur Jr.; others | Title: The Three Investigators | |||||||||
What I own:
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What I don't own:
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| Notes: The story is this: the original 30 books (published between 1964 and 1979) featured Alfred Hitchcock introducing the story, and occasionally playing a role in-universe (usually at the end, but sometimes appearing mid-story as well). After Hitchcock's death in 1980, they were revised to replace Hitchcock with new characters (book 1 featured a fictional film director by name of Reginald Clarke; the rest used his friend Hector Sebastian). After this, thirteen more books were published from 1981 to 1987 (and four Choose Your Own Adventure-style books between '85 and '87), also featuring Hector Sebastian. The series was ended and relaunched as the eleven-book Crimebusters series in 1989 and 1990, after which the American series ended for good (or at least, until Robert Arthur's heirs regain all the legal rights and can arrange for the series to be published again). (The series has continued in Germany; as of this writing, over 130 new volumes have been released there. Though I'm a little confused: 43 original books plus 11 Crimebusters books equal 54... yet the first book in the German listings is #56! Where's #55?)
A few years later, I acquired books 9 (revised) and 36; while I knew there were more in the series, it took me some time before I actually knew just how many more, and now I'd like to complete my collection. I've only recently acquired further volumes, including some of the Alfred Hitchcock editions (they're lower priority, but I'd gladly pick them up if I found them cheap), and I want the rest. | ||||||||||
| Author: L. Frank Baum | Title: Oz series | |||||||||
What I own:
| ||||||||||
| What I don't own: The new omnibus volumes containing books 7, 8 and 9; 10, 11 and 12; and 13, 14 and 15 (the latter being the first by Ruth Plumly Thompson). | ||||||||||
| Notes: For years, I was unaware that there was more than one book in the series. But I've learned, and I want to complete my collection. (Books 2, 3 and 6 are collected in one omnibus, and books 4, 5 and 6 in a second. Yes, this means I have two copies of book 6.) | ||||||||||
| Author: John Bellairs and Brad Strickland | ||||||||||
What I own: 28 books in total.
| ||||||||||
| What I don't own: Magic Mirrors (an omnibus edition which collects Bellairs' three works for adults and the fragments of an unpublished sequel to his very first novel). | ||||||||||
| Notes: Author of three books for adults and fifteen for younger readers, Bellairs left behind outlines for four additional books completed by Brad Strickland. Strickland went on to write nine more books using Bellairs' characters. | ||||||||||
| Author: Bruce Coville | ||||||||||
What I own: A little over 50 books.
| ||||||||||
What I don't own: About the same amount. (Not all of which are on my wantlist.)
| ||||||||||
| Notes: According to Coville's personal website, Always October is his 100th book, with several more in progress. I have about half of his books, and I want the rest. | ||||||||||
| Author: Ann Hodgman | Title: My Babysitter is a Vampire series | |||||||||
What I own: #1 (My Babysitter is a Vampire), 2 (My Babysitter Has Fangs), 3 (My Babysitter Bites Again), 4 (My Babysitter Flies By Night), 5 (My Babysitter Goes Bats), 6 (My Babysitter is a Movie Monster).
| ||||||||||
| What I don't own: Stinky Stanley series - #1 (Stinky Stanley), 3 (Stinky Stanley, Superhero). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I found books 1 and 2 in a library when I was much younger. I acquired #5, and then #2 and 3, in the following years, and #1 more recently, with #4 and 6 finally joining my collection in 2020. (Also note, this series is no relation to the TV film My Babysitter's a Vampire and its spinoff TV show.) | ||||||||||
| Author: James Howe | Title: Bunnicula series; Sebastian Barth series | |||||||||
What I own:
| ||||||||||
| Notes: I've owned much of the Bunnicula series for years, getting books 5 and 6 around the time they first came out (if not a little later) and finally #7 in 2019; I eventually picked up the Sebastian Barth books in the 2010s, and later the spinoff Tales From the House of Bunnicula series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Madeleine L'Engle | Title: Chronos/Kairos series | |||||||||
What I own:
| ||||||||||
What I don't own:
| ||||||||||
| Notes: I read the first four books in the What I Own section when I was younger, and some time ago purchased my own set, which held those four and An Acceptable Time. Now I'm hoping to fill in the gaps. (The missing Kairos books and the main Chronos books have all been reissued over the past few years, and I may add her other linked works to this list at some point.) | ||||||||||
| Author: Kathryn Lasky | Title: Ga'Hoole continuity - Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Wolves of the Beyond, Horses of the Dawn; Bears of the Ice. | |||||||||
What I own:
| ||||||||||
What I don't own:
| ||||||||||
Notes: I saw the Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole movie when it hit DVD and got hooked. Now I want to own the books. (Including the sequel series. I'm waiting for the paperbacks though.)
| ||||||||||
| Author: Dian Curtis Regan | ||||||||||
What I own: 15 of 16 books total.
| ||||||||||
What I don't own: 1 of 16 books total.
| ||||||||||
| Notes: I read Monster of the Month Club when I was much younger, and my family owned one of her other books for years; while that one is no longer with us (I've since replaced it), I found some of her others and am interested in getting the rest of these three series. (Note: The "Holiday Monster" books aren't in continuity with one another - they just share a general theme.) | ||||||||||
| Author: Rick Riordan | Title: Camp Half-Blood, Kane Chronicles, Magnus Chase trilogy. | |||||||||
What I own:
| ||||||||||
What I don't own:
| ||||||||||
| Notes: I originally glanced through the first volume of each of the first two series in bookstores, and they looked interesting. I finally bought the first series in 2012, and the second in 2013 when its paperback box set was released. I later read Heroes of Olympus #1-5 and Magnus Chase #1, and have since acquired the former five and some others. | ||||||||||
| Author: Various | Title: Rick Riordan Presents | |||||||||
What I own: (Note: Books are marked with the order they came out in that year.)
| ||||||||||
What I don't own:
| ||||||||||
| Notes: There are some similarly-themed works out there, but not every such work is part of this series. | ||||||||||
| Author: William Sleator | ||||||||||
| What I own: House of Stairs (1974), Among the Dolls (1975); Into the Dream (1979); The Green Futures of Tycho (1981); Interstellar Pig (1984); Singularity (1985); The Boy Who Reversed Himself (1986); The Duplicate (1988); Oddballs (1993); Others See Us (1993), The Night the Heads Came (1996), The Beasties (1997); The Boxes (1998); Rewind (1999); Marco's Millions (2001); Parasite Pig (2002); The Boy Who Couldn't Die (2004). (17 out of 33 total.) | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: The Angry Moon (1970), Blackbriar (1972), Run (1973), Once, Said Darlene (1979), That's Silly (1981), Fingers (1983), Strange Attractors (1989), The Spirit House (1991), The Elevator (1993) (story collection), Dangerous Wishes (1995), Boltzmon! (1999), Unbalanced (2000), The Last Universe (2005), Hell Phone (2006), Test (2008), The Phantom Limb (2011). (16 out of 33 total.) | ||||||||||
| Notes: I read a couple of these books back when I was in Middle school. Some time ago, I found a mention of some of them on another site, and it brought back memories... so I'd like to get my hands on them and add them to my collection. I have since acquired several of them, and want the rest. | ||||||||||
| Author: Roland Smith | Title: Cryptid Hunters, other works (28 books in total) | |||||||||
What I own: 23 of 28 total.
| ||||||||||
What I don't own: 5 of 28 total.
| ||||||||||
| Notes: I originally found Cryptid Hunters in a bookstore and thought it looked interesting, then got the sequel much later (once it was in paperback). After learning that his Jacob Lansa trilogy and Sasquatch were in continuity with Cryptid Hunters, I added most of his other novels (excluding his addition to the The 39 Clues series) to my wantlist, and have since acquired several; I am still hoping to acquire the rest. | ||||||||||
| Author: Vivian Vande Velde | ||||||||||
| What I own: Twenty-one out of forty books - A Well-Timed Enchantment (1990); User Unfriendly (1991); Dragon's Bait (1992); Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird (1995); Companions of the Night (1995); Curses, Inc. and Other Stories (1996); The Conjurer Princess (1997); Smart Dog (1998); There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around (1999); Never Trust a Dead Man (1999); Magic Can Be Murder (2000); The Rumpelstiltskin Problem (2001); Being Dead (2001); Heir Apparent (2002); Wizard at Work (2003); Now You See It... (2005); Three Good Deeds (2005); Remembering Raquel (2007); Cloaked in Red (2010); Twitch the Squirrel #1: 8 Class Pets + 1 Squirrel ÷ 1 Dog = Chaos (2011); The Princess Imposter (2017). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: Nineteen out of forty books - Once Upon A Test: Three Light Tales of Love (1984); A Hidden Magic (1985); The Changeling Prince (1998); Ghost Of A Hanged Man (1998); A Coming Evil (1998); Troll Teacher (2000); Alison, Who Went Away (2001); Witch's Wishes (2003); The Book of Mordred (2005); Witch Dreams (2005); All Hallows' Eve (2006); Stolen (2008); Deadly Pink (2012); Frogged (2013); 23 Minutes (2016); Twitch the Squirrel #2: Squirrel in the House (2016); The Prince Problem (2018); Twitch the Squirrel #3: Squirrel in the Museum (2019); Twitch the Squirrel #4: Squirrel on Stage (2022). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I originally discovered a few of her short stories in the Bruce Coville's Book of... series, and later read about one of her full books, Heir Apparent, on TV Tropes. After buying and reading that book, I decided to add her full works to my collection. | ||||||||||
| Author: Paul Zindel | Title: The Zone Unknown; P.C. Hawke Mysteries | |||||||||
What I own:
| ||||||||||
| What I don't own: P.C. Hawke Mysteries - #4 (The Lethal Gorilla); 6 (Death on the Amazon), 9 (The Houdini Whodunit); 10 (Death by CD); 11 (The Petrified Parrot); 12 (Camp Megadeath). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I read Loch and some of its fellow The Zone Unknown novels in school, and when I found them in used bookstores and recognized them, I decided to look up the series. I also discovered the P.C. Hawke Mysteries by reading Zindel's Wikipedia page, and decided they looked interesting enough to get. | ||||||||||
Kid's spooky series
editIn the 1990s, R.L. Stine began releasing his Goosebumps series of spooky books for middle-grade readers. A number of similar series followed suit; while my interest in horror has dwindled over the years, I have many of these, and am looking for more to complete the collection.
| Author: M.T. Coffin | Title: Spinetinglers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What I own: #1 (The Substitute Creature), 3 (My Teacher's a Bug), 9 (Step on a Crack), 11 (Fly by Night), 12 (Killer Computer). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #2 (Billy Baker's Dog Won't Stay Buried), 4 (Where Have All the Parents Gone?), 5 (Check It Out-And Die!), 6 (Simon Says, Croak!), 7 (Snow Day), 8 (Don't Go to the Principal's Office), 10 (The Dead Kid Did It), 13 (Pet Store), 14 (Blood Red EightBall), 15 (Escape from the Haunted Museum), 16 (We Wish You a Scary Christmas), 17 (The Monster Channel), 18 (Mirror, Mirror), 19 (Boogey's Back for Blood), 20 (Lights, Camera, Die!), 21 (Camp Crocodile), 22 (Student Exchange), 23 (Gimme Back My Brain), 24 (Your Turn - To Scream), 25 (The Curse of the Cheerleaders), 26 (Wear and Scare), 27 (Lizard People), 28 (Circus F:R:E:A:K:S:), 29 (My Dentist Is a Vampire), 30 (Saber-Toothed Tiger). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I currently own 5 out of 30. | ||||||||||
| Author: Betsy Haynes | Title: Bone Chillers | |||||||||
| What I own: #1 (Beware the Shopping Mall), 2 (Little Pet Shop of Horrors), 3 (Back to School), 4 (Frankenturkey), 5 (Strange Brew), 6 (Teacher Creature), 7 (Frankenturkey II), 8 (Welcome to Alien Inn), 11 (Toilet Terror), 13 (The Thing Under the Bed), 15 (Tiki Doll of Doom), 16 (Queen of the Gargoyles), 19 (The Night Squawker). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #9 (Attack of the Killer Ants), 10 (Slime Time), 12 (Night of the Living Clay), 14 (A Terminal Case of the Uglies), 17 (Why I Quit the Baby-Sitter's Club), 18 (blowtorch@psycho.com), 20 (Scare Bear), 21 (The Dog Ate My Homework), 22 (Killer Clown of Kings County), 23 (Romeo and Ghouliette). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I currently own 13 out of 23. | ||||||||||
| Author: Johnathan Rand (pen name of Christopher Wright) | Title: American Chillers (and related series) | |||||||||
What I own:
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What I don't own:
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| Notes: | ||||||||||
| Author: M. D. Spencer | Title: Shivers | |||||||||
| What I own: #1 (The Enchanted Attic), 2 (A Ghastly Shade of Green), 3 (Ghost Writer), 4 (The Animal Rebellion), 5 (The Locked Room), 6 (The Haunting House), 7 (The Awful Apple Orchard), 8 (Terror on Troll Mountain), 9 (The Mystic's Spell), 10 (The Curse of the New Kid), 11 (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?), 14 (The Curse in the Jungle), 15 (Pool Ghoul), 21 (A Waking Nightmare), 31 (Shriek Home Chicago), 32 (Beware the Bog Girl), 35 (Terror on Tomahawk Island). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: #12 (The Secret of Fern Island), 13 (The Spider Kingdom), 16 (The Beast Beneath the Boardwalk), 17 (The Ghosts of Camp Massacre), 18 (Your Momma's A Werewolf), 19 (The Thing in Room 601), 20 (Babyface & the Killer Mob), 22 (Lost in Dreamland), 23 (Night of the Goat Boy), 24 (The Ghosts of Devil's Marsh), 25 (A Ghostly Playmate), 26 (One Foot in the Grave), 27 (Camp Fear), 28 (Watch 'em Kill), 29 (The Terrible Terror Book), 30 (Creepy Clothes), 33 (The Forgotten Farmhouse), 34 (Weirdo Waldo's Wax Museum), 36 (Madness at the Mall). | ||||||||||
| Notes: I currently own 17 out of 36. | ||||||||||
| Author: R. L. Stine | Title: Goosebumps | |||||||||
What I own:
| ||||||||||
What I don't own: Many, but my highest priority are:
| ||||||||||
| Notes: I'm a long-time fan who's collected these books over the course of the original print run, the September 2003-June 2007 run (consisting of all but five of the original 62), and the Classic Goosebumps reprint series. And yes, I'd like to get all the ones I'm missing. (Those on my "Active Want-List" are higher priority.) | ||||||||||
| Author: R. L. Stine | Title: Ghosts of Fear Street | |||||||||
| What I own: 20 out of 35 books - #1 (Hide and Shriek); 2 (Who's Been Sleeping In My Grave?); 3 (The Attack of the Aqua Apes); 4 (Nightmare in 3-D); 5 (Stay Away from the Tree House); 6 (Eye of the Fortuneteller); 7 (Fright Knight); 8 (The Ooze); 9 (Revenge of the Shadow People); 10 (The Bugman Lives!); 11 (The Boy Who Ate Fear Street); 12 (Night of the Werecat); 13 (How to Be a Vampire); 14 (Body Switchers from Outer Space); 16 (Don't Ever Get Sick at Granny's); 19 (Three Evil Wishes); 24 (Monster Dog); 25 (Halloween Bugs Me!); 27 (Parents from the 13th Dimension); 35 (Horror Hotel – Part II: Ghost in the Guest Room). | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: 15 of the 35 books - #15 (Fright Christmas); 17 (House of a Thousand Screams); 18 (Camp Fear Ghouls); 20 (Spell of the Screaming Jokers); 21 (The Creature from Club Lagoona); 22 (Field of Screams); 23 (Why I'm Not Afraid of Ghosts); 26 (Go to Your Tomb—Right Now!); 28 (Hide and Shriek II); 29 (The Tale of the Blue Monkey); 30 (I Was a Sixth-Grade Zombie); 31 (Escape of the He-Beast); 32 (Caution: Aliens At Work); 33 (Attack of the Vampire Worms); 34 (Horror Hotel – Part I: The Vampire Checks in). | ||||||||||
Notes:
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Media tie-ins
editNovelizations and tie-in novels to go with various movies, TV shows and comic books. I have a lot more series than are listed from here.
| Author: Various | Title: Aliens, Predator and Aliens vs. Predator | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
What I own: 32 books altogether. Books in this series are divided among four categories: novelizations (9 out of 12 films); Bantam Spectra (15 books - 9 Aliens, 3 Predator, 3 AVP - published in 1992-1999); DH Press (10 books - 6 Aliens, 4 Predator - published in 2005-2008); and Titan Books (14 so far - published in 2014-on).
| ||||||||||
What I don't own: 16 books.
| ||||||||||
| Notes: A media franchise that began in 1979 and spans three distinct series. I have much of it, but I want the rest. | ||||||||||
| Author: Alton Brown | ||||||||||
| What I own: I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking; Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen; I'm Just Here for More Food: Food × Mixing + Heat = Baking; Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run; Good Eats: The Early Years; Good Eats 2: The Middle Years, Good Eats 3: The Later Years, EveryDayCook. | ||||||||||
| What I don't own: I'm Just Here for the Food: Kitchen User's Manual; I'm Just Here for the Food: Cook's Notes (which I'll probably skip); and I'm Just Here for the Food: Version 2.0; Good Eats 4: The Final Years. | ||||||||||
| Notes: Famed TV host and author, Brown has published ten books, and I enjoy every one in my collection. | ||||||||||
| Author: Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain or Jon Land | Title: Murder, She Wrote | |||||||||
What I own: 47 of the first 55 (not counting the first edition of Gin and Daggers).
| ||||||||||
What I don't own: 8 of the first 55 (not counting the first edition of Gin and Daggers).
| ||||||||||
| Notes: A series of spinoff novels in the style of the original TV series, which I'd been considering for some time before finding and reading the first one, officially affirming my choice to get the rest of the series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Various | Title: Star Wars Legends | |||||||||
What I own (by in-universe chronological order):
| ||||||||||
What I don't own: Anything not listed above. As of my purchases in May 2019, I own everything book-wise that I want from this series. (Until 2023, that is, when I learned about an older series I'd missed...)
| ||||||||||
| Notes: Between 1977 and 1990, Del Rey held the license for Star Wars and released a handful of books; from 1991 to 1999, Bantam held the license and released many excellent works. Del Rey got the license back in 1999, and things went downhill from there. It got even worse when all previous material, save for the films and at least a few other things, were declared non-canon in April of 2014, and when the first film of the sequel trilogy was released, I could no longer hold back my disgust with the plot developments of that film. I have disowned it and the rest of this new "expanded universe", choosing to stay faithful to the original Legends material, primarily those novels (and some comics) released from 1977 to 1999. (I have some post-1999 books, but I'm not that fond of how Del Rey handled most of the storylines.) | ||||||||||
| Author: Various | Title: Universal Monsters | |||||||||
What I own: 14 out of 31 books altogether.
| ||||||||||
What I don't own: 17 out of 31 books altogether.
| ||||||||||
| Notes: Book spinoffs of the classic monsters... naturally, I'm interested. | ||||||||||
| Author: Various | Title: V (franchise) | |||||||||
What I own: 14 out of 18 books altogether.
| ||||||||||
What I don't own: 4 out of 18 books altogether.
| ||||||||||
| Notes: A media franchise that began in the ‘80s. I was introduced to it when I found and got The Final Battle on DVD (used) since it looked interesting; I found out about the rest of the franchise afterward. After finding The Next Generation in a store and later some of the original series (and The Original Miniseries book) in used bookstores, I hope to acquire the rest. | ||||||||||
Manga
editThe list that follows includes all ten series (Bleach, Haruhi Suzumiya, Kingdom Hearts, Maison Ikkoku, Naruto, Neon Genesis Evangelion, One Piece, Ranma ½, Rin-ne and Trigun) I own material from, and twenty others I don't (but would like to). Twenty-one of these series are either complete or on hiatus but have had all extant material released; nine are still releasing new material.
Not included are two other series I count among my favorites, both of which were originally released as anime and have no print editions, or at least none that I'm interested in: Nightwalker has no corresponding print material (but I do own the complete series on DVD); Tenchi Muyo! has three primary anime versions and two manga series, but I only follow the original Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki anime (and to a lesser extent, its two in-continuity follow-ups).
| Author: Kentaro Miura | Title: Berserk | Volumes | Originally released: December 1, 1990 | Status: Ongoing in Japan | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes: Saw the original anime (as opposed to the film trilogy released more recently) on DVD, and it was rather interesting. I don't own any volumes of it yet, but would like to. | ||||||||||
| Author: Tite Kubo | Title: Bleach | Volumes | Originally released: August 2001-summer 2016 | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: I own volumes 1-34 and four tie-in books. And I fully intend to get the rest of the series and its tie-ins when I can. | ||||||||||
| Author: Clamp | Title: Cardcaptor Sakura | Volumes | Originally released: May 1996-June 2000; June 2016-present | Status: Ongoing in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: Say what you will about the original English dub, it caught my eye. Coupled with a fanfic or two I saw, I'd like to read the source material. (Including the sequel series that began releasing in 2016.) | ||||||||||
| Author: Gosho Aoyama | Title: Case Closed | Volumes | Originally released: February 2, 1994 | Status: Ongoing in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: The longest series on my list (it's over a thousand chapters long and still going), I caught an episode of the anime while channel surfing years ago. It's been of interest ever since. I don't own any volumes of it yet, but would like to. | ||||||||||
| Author: Akira Toriyama | Title: Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z | Volumes | Originally released: December 3, 1984 – June 5, 1995 | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: One of, if not THE first, anime series I ever saw. Even if it WAS the Saban dub, it got me interested and launched an interest in anime and manga that's lasted my whole life. | ||||||||||
| Author: Hiromu Arakawa | Title: Fullmetal Alchemist | Volumes | Originally released: August 2001 – June 2010 | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: I watched the entire first anime on TV, and own a copy of the movie that wrapped up that version of the series. However, I don't own any volumes, and haven't yet seen the second anime series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Nagaru Tanigawa | Title: Haruhi Suzumiya | Light novels; All manga volumes | Originally released: June 6, 2003 (novels), November 2005 (manga), July 26, 2007 (first spinoff) and July 4, 2009 (second spinoff) | Status: Ongoing in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: I've seen the complete first season of the anime, and own the first five Light Novels (and intend to get the rest), but none of the manga (I would like to though). | ||||||||||
| Author: Kouta Hirano | Title: Hellsing | Volumes | Originally released: 1997 – 2009 | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: It's one of those series you hear about and just HAVE to read at some point. | ||||||||||
| Author: Rumiko Takahashi | Title: InuYasha | Volumes | Originally released: November 13, 1996 – June 18, 2008 | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: Takahashi-san's fourth full-length series, and the first that I ever actually followed (though I'd heard the name and a brief description of the Ranma series some years earlier). Don't own any volumes of it yet - I'm holding out for the VizBig releases. | ||||||||||
| Author: Shiro Amano | Title: Kingdom Hearts | Volumes | Originally released: October 25, 2003 (volume 1) | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: As of this writing, five manga adaptations have been released: Kingdom Hearts (four volumes), Kingdom Hearts Final Mix (three volumes), Chain of Memories (two volumes), 358/2 Days (five volumes), and Kingdom Hearts II (first five volumes/37 chapters released between 2006 to 2009; volumes 6-10 released from 2013 to 2015). Eight volumes (all four Kingdom Hearts, both Chain of Memories and the first two of Kingdom Hearts II) were released in the U.S. between 2005 and 2008, when Tokyopop lost the license during its 2008 restructuring; I own all of them.
Subsequently, Yen Press acquired the license in 2013 (until it apparently expired in early 2024), and has released new and old material, none of which I own yet:
In addition to the manga, eighteen light novels were released in Japan between 2005 and 2012, and three in 2019:
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| Author: Shotaro Ishinomori | Title: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past | Volumes | Originally released: January-December 1992; collected in 1993; reissued in 2015 | Status: Complete | ||||||
| Notes: I read a couple of chapters of this series in the original magazine YEARS ago. I want to read it again, if only for the nostalgia factor, and the 2015 reissue of its lone volume is the perfect opportunity to finally do so. | ||||||||||
| Author: Rumiko Takahashi | Title: Maison Ikkoku | Volumes | Originally released: 1980 – 1987 | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: Takahashi-san's second full-length manga series. I own the first two volumes, but most of the rest are out of print at the moment. | ||||||||||
| Author: Rumiko Takahashi | Title: Mermaid Saga | Volumes link: See main entry. | Originally released: 1984 – 1994 | Status: On hiatus in Japan; all extant material collected. | ||||||
| Notes: The series has been on hiatus since 1994, but all extant chapters are available in collected form. The author has said she wants to go back to it at some point though. I don't own any volumes of it yet. | ||||||||||
| Author: Okayado | Title: Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou | Volumes link: N/A | Originally released: March 2012 | Status: Ongoing in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: Another one that's caught my eye, in part through fanfic. | ||||||||||
| Author: Masashi Kishimoto | Title: Naruto | Volumes | Originally released: main series November 1999-November 2014 (volume 72 released February 2015); Gaiden April-July 2015 (collected August 2015); franchise ongoing. | Status: Ongoing in Japan (original manga series complete; other media forthcoming). | ||||||
| Notes: I don't own any actual manga volumes (though I would like to, along with the about 20 or so prose novels that have been or are scheduled to be released), but I do have three "Anime Profile" books from the series. | ||||||||||
| Author: Various | Title: Neon Genesis Evangelion | Volumes (all five series) | Originally released: See notes | Status: Franchise ongoing in Japan | ||||||
Notes: There are actually five complete manga series, plus four others that I don't have any interest in. The five main ones are:
I'd like to get my hands on all of the other main series at some point, and have seen all 26 episodes and two movies (both of which I own) of the original anime. I have not, as of yet, seen any of the Rebuild of Evangelion films, but I want to at some point. | ||||||||||
| Author: Kōsuke Fujishima | Title: Oh My Goddess! | Volumes | Originally released: September 1988-April 2014 | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: One of the series I was originally introduced to through Ranma One-Half fanfic crossovers. I don't own any volumes of it yet, but would like to. | ||||||||||
| Author: Rumiko Takahashi | Title: One-Pound Gospel | Volumes link: See main entry. | Originally released: 1987 – 2007 (on and off) | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: A shorter series, but with the author, I'm interested. Don't own any volumes of it yet. | ||||||||||
| Author: Eiichiro Oda | Title: One Piece | Volumes | Originally released: August 1997 | Status: Ongoing in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: I own volumes 1-56, the first twelve in omnibus form. And I fully intend to get the rest when I can. | ||||||||||
| Author: Hitoshi Iwaaki | Title: Parasyte | Volumes link: N/A | Originally released: 1990-1995 | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: Saw a few volumes in a bookstore once, and it looked interesting, so I'd like to get it at some point. | ||||||||||
| Author: Hidenori Kusaka | Title: Pokémon Adventures | Volumes | Originally released: 1997 | Status: Ongoing in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: Seriously, don't laugh... the guy who began the franchise as a whole likes this one, stating that "This is the comic that most resembles the world I was trying to convey." I don't own any volumes of it yet. | ||||||||||
| Author: Rumiko Takahashi | Title: Ranma ½ | Volumes | Originally released: 1987 – 1996 | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: The first of Takahashi-san's series I ever heard of, though it was years before I actually read it and became a fan. I own all 36 volumes (the U.S. edition cut down the number of volumes by two, but still includes all 407 chapters of the series), the very first manga I ever owned. | ||||||||||
| Author: Rumiko Takahashi | Title: Rin-ne | Volumes | Originally released: April 22, 2009-December 15, 2017 | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
Notes: I own the first five volumes. And I fully intend to get the other 35 when I can.
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| Author: Naoko Takeuchi | Title: Sailor Moon; Codename: Sailor V | SM volumes; SV Volumes | Originally released: 1992 – April 1997 and 1991 – 1997, respectively | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: And again, seriously, don't laugh. Ranma 1/2 fanfiction crosses with this series so often, it's hard NOT to have at least a passing interest in the franchise. | ||||||||||
| Author: Yasuhiro Nightow | Title: Trigun | Volumes | Originally released: February 1996 – February 1997 (part 1), 1998 – 2008 (part 2) | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: About the third manga series I started buying, I saw the anime when I was in High School, and have since come to own all sixteen volumes (the two originals, and the fourteen published as Trigun Maximum). I'm still missing the 2011 (Japan)/2013 (U.S.) Trigun: Multiple Bullets anthology, but hope to remedy that soon. | ||||||||||
| Author: Osamu Tezuka | Title: Triton of the Sea | Volumes link: N/A | Originally released: 1969-1971 | Status: Complete in Japan. | ||||||
| Notes: Saw it on Amazon once, and decided it looked interesting. | ||||||||||
| Author: Rumiko Takahashi | Title: Urusei Yatsura | Volumes | Originally released: 1978 – 1987 | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: Takahashi-san's first full-length manga series. I don't own any volumes, and the original, incomplete U.S. run is out of print... but, it was announced in July 2018 that the series has been relicensed and will be released in a new edition in 2019, consisting of seventeen two-in-one volumes with a brand new translation. | ||||||||||
| Author: Kazuki Takahashi; Akira Ito; Naoyuki Kageyama | Title: Yu-Gi-Oh!; Yu-Gi-Oh! R, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX | Volumes | Originally released: December 1996 – June 2004, June 2004 – January 2008, December 17, 2005 – March 19, 2011 | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: The original series and its first two spinoffs (Yu-Gi-Oh! R and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX), which I followed, are both complete. Other spinoffs have followed, but I never followed those. I don't own any volumes of the first three series yet. | ||||||||||
| Author: Yoshihiro Togashi | Title: YuYu Hakusho | Volumes | Originally released: December 1990 – July 1994 | Status: Complete in Japan | ||||||
| Notes: Another early anime series for me, and I'm still intending to get all nineteen volumes at some point. | ||||||||||
| Author: Tite Kubo | Title: Zombiepowder. | Volumes link: See main entry. | Originally released: 1999-2000 | Status: Discontinued; all extant material collected. | ||||||
| Notes: As an early work by the author of Bleach, it's of interest to me. | ||||||||||