In which I fangirl all over my favorite series

As a followup to my post about my favorite books, I'd like to talk a little about my favorite book series (in no order):

1. Harry Potter (of course) - J.K. Rowling - I started reading HP when the third book came out. I hadn't heard of it before but I have always like boy wizard type book (e.g. the Chrestomanci books) so I picked it up and that's was all. I have them all in hardcover sitting proudly on my bookshelf. I am also collecting the audio versions but they are expensive so I only have the last one right now. Jim Dale is an awesome narrator.

2. A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket - I picked the first one up because I liked the cover and the way the book pages were cut. I kept reading because it was so absurd, but the kids were so smart and better than the adults. I would have loved these when I was younger, probably more than I do as an adult and I love these books so much that I own all of them. They get a little repetitious until The Vile Village when he changes up the format and starts to create the mythology in more detail. The ending is insane but what else would you expect. I listened to all the audio books recently in order in a row and let me tell you it can get brutal, but Tim Curry is just so excellent and was the perfect person to narrate these books, although Daniel Handler narrates books 3-5 and was a poor substitute.

3. The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis -This is one of the first series I ever read. I adored Aslan and was always looking for a way into Narnia. I always loved the first five books but got bored around The Horse and his Boy. Recently we listened to them in the car, but I stopped at The Last Battle and didn't finished the series. The last book never really sat well with me. I recommend the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre version of the audio books. They are excellent.

4. Nancy Drew- Carolyn Keene - My obsession with Nancy Drew had carried through my whole life so far. I read as many of these as I possibly could growing up and when I was about 21 or so would "sneak" into the kids section at the library and check out the books and the audio books( read by Laura Linney (excellent)). I bought books on Nancy Drew and read every analysis book I could find on her. To say that Nancy Drew is a cultural icon is nothing new, but she was and still is a very important person to me.

5. The Bartimaeus Trilogy - Jonathan Stroud - Okay, if you don't like Bartimaeus, the wise cracking "demon" then I don't know what to say. He is one of my favorite literary characters and the points in the books when he is not there are not as good. This series is just so awesome, I love it. The audio books are read by Simon Jones and he does a phenomenal job. I have listened to them at least twice.

6. The Hitchhiker's Guide "Trilogy" - Douglas Adams - I love the irreverent Hitchhiker's books. They are just classic and full of quotable quotes. There are 5 books in the inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy, but my favorites are the first 3. So much of pop culture can be attributed to these books. 42 anyone? Now where's my towel?

7. The Incarnations of Immorality - Piers Anthony - I loved these books growing up. To this day, I still have my original paperbacks sitting on my bookshelf. Admittedly, I haven't read them in a while, but they've stuck with me. Each book is about a different supernatural beings, Death, Time, Fate, War, Nature, Evil, Good, and how each person became these things.

8. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer - Yeah, yeah, look I like these books, okay (well, most of them). No the writings not the best and Edward is a crazy stalker person but this series is like sprinkles on a cupcake. I adored the first three books, then Breaking Dawn just kinda ruined it for me. I understand the Renesmee was the end game and I'm fine with that, but it was just such a departure from the rest of the books. I think that is what happens when the publishers mess with the writer's vision. She didn't know how to either take her original ending or change it to match the rest of the series. But I'm still a Twilight fan, even if I'm in it for the lulz now.

9. Sailor Moon - Naoko Takeuchi - I know this is not a book series, but a manga series, it is still one of my favorite things of all time. I watched the anime first, then found the manga series. I own the original Mixx series and recently reread them. I love Sailor Moon! I can't explain the attraction or why I'm still a fan 10+ years later. Some things are just worthy.