This year I've decided to tackle my TBR pile by reading thirty books from it that are the first in a series and assess my eagerness to read the rest of the series in terms of Yes / Probably / Maybe / No.

 

In February, I read four of these books of which, half were for series that I'm very keen to read. I also read four books that are the first in a series but weren't on my original list of thirty. I've decided to track them in these posts as well.

From my original list of Thirty Firsts, the best two where "Iron and Magic" a surprisingly strong and very different spin-off from the Kate Daniels series and the truly remarkable "Annihilation" which is one of the strangest and most compelling ScienceFiction books I've read in a long time.

 

Gregg Hurwitz's "Orphan X" was a well-written example of the tortured man of action who does bad things for good reasons school. I've ranked it as a probably read because the first book didn't leave me needing to know what happens next and I need to be in the mood for this kind of escapism.

 

"Halfway To The Grave" was a humorous vampire book that misfired for me so I added it to my DNF pile and won't be reading the rest of the series.

I started four other series in February, two of which are very promising and their series get an immediate yes."The Darkness" is an original, dark and surprising piece of Scandi-noir that tells the story of a sixty-four-year-old Police inspector, taking on one final case before her retirement. "Changeling" is a light piece of humour and magic set in a girl's school for magic in an alternative London where the world is ruled by magic users.

 

"A Question of Proof" is a curiosity of a book, a Golden Age detective story written by the soon to be Poet Laureate and with the remarkable Nigel Strangeways at its centre. I'm not sure if there's enough there to pull me back to the whole series, so I've classed it as a Maybe but I'm sure I'll read at least one more book.

 

I had great hopes for "Mortal Engines" but abandoned it at the 85% point because I didn't find the main characters interesting or credible. I won't be reading any more in the series.

In the first two months of the Reading Challenge, I've read ten of the thirty books I'd selected and another four that I picked as I went along. In the process, I've found another seven series that I want to follow.

 

This is rapidly becoming a "Increase My TBR Pile With MUST READ Series" challenge.