I'm not much of a completionist in any sense of the word. I chip away at mystery series, but only a very few have I actually kept up with or completed. Sometimes I begin books and then let them linger on my nightstand and then let them go back to their piles or shelves. I am a firm believer in not pushing myself to finish something I am not enjoying it or if it is just not the right story at the moment (which means it happens a lot since I am very much a mood reader). And there are books that are duos or trilogies or quartets that I look at and mean to read in their entirety. Oh, and then there are all the many authors who I collect because I read one of their books, fell in love and then wanted to read all of them. I have lots of collected authors waiting to be revisited.
So in the last couple of years I have been trying to pick up a set of books or an author to try and read (and complete) over the course of the year.
In 2022 I read all of M.M. Kaye's "Death in ..." series. I had read one or two many years ago and felt like revisiting one of the books. I had managed to collect the five she had published, so what the heck, I would try and read them all and indeed, I did. Most I loved and some a little less so, but it was fun reading my way through them. I have a couple saved on my Audible wishlist for later listening. And they are keepers for maybe another reread.
Last year I picked up (again ... I had read the first volume at least twice, and the second once, but never the whole set) Elizabeth Jane Howard's Cazalet Chronicles. I loved what I had read, but somehow just run out of steam each time to continue on. However, I managed to read the original four volumes by the end of the year save for the fifth volume, All Change, which is currently on my nightstand and I am slowly enjoying chipping away at. Since she published the last book many, many years after the first four, I have given myself a break and consider it a tying up of the stories. (By the way, she is an author I have read and would like to read all of her books eventually).
I felt it was an accomplishment I am pleased with still, that I read Elena Ferrante's quartet of books beginning with My Brilliant Friend. I admit the read was at times challenging, and the politics occasionally seemed over my head, but it was a really wonderful experience and I loved the stories. There was something very raw and real about them and I was constantly conflicted by what I felt about the characters and their interactions, but there was a complexity in them that felt so real to me and I loved them for that.
In the last few years I feel like I am looking back more and more and appreciating books published earlier in the last century (aside from my ongoing love of interwar year novels) almost more than contemporary fiction (though there is a lot of great books out there and I have a constantly maxed out library queue of forthcoming books). When I was young, maybe middle school age, I read some of Constance C. Greene's Al books. I remember saving my allowance and going to the mall where there was a newsstand with many magazines and a variety of mass market books (oh, those were the days!) and I recall buying A Girl Called, Al. The books are set in 1970s NYC and narrated by Al's best friend. The series begins when they are in 7th grade and the story has stayed with me. I decided to revisit the books and read all of them, and they were a delight. Maybe a little dated for today's middle schoolers, but I loved going back in time.
So, what to choose to work on this year? I have many sets of books. Perhaps I will add a tab up top and begin a list of sets and series (though not mystery series, since that is a rabbit hole to dive down into and I dabble in a lot of different mystery series), but groups of related books or authors I collect.
At the moment I am considering reading Martha Grimes's Emma Graham books, which begins with Hotel Paradise (a favorite book of mine that I have read several times and am happy to revisit again). Grimes manages to present a young girl in a small town just pitch perfect in my opinion. There are four books. I have read the first two, but never read the whole set together.
I've also got the Habits of the House trilogy by Fay Weldon, which is her nod towards Downton Abbey (which I thoroughly enjoyed). The first book is Habits of the House, and is an upstairs/downstairs story, which I am fond of and have not read in a while but it might just match my mood.
I think I will likely add other possibilities later, but if you have a favorite set or series, do share!