Although this post is part of tCR’s excellent “Best and Worst” series, I’ll neither give you my best nor my worst read. It’s simply impossible. It can’t be done. Forget it.
My all-time best read is impossible to pick because, dear readers, I’ve grown old and my memory has faded. Or is that just an excuse? Perhaps it’s a commitment issue?
And the worst book is impossible to pick because frankly, if I really don’t like it, I don’t read it.
Here’s what I am going to do… I’m going to admit to something totally embarrassing. Much more embarrassing than just reading bad books. I’m going to admit to what kind of books I read that I actually really, really enjoy!
And you’re going to have to wait for it. Like any good author, I’ll give you the set-up, the background, the lead in, wait until you’re good and hungry, and then sock it to you. (No cheating. I know you read-the-last-page-first types are out there–I’m officially putting you on your best behavior to read this entire post in the order that it’s written.)
Like all avid readers, when I read something that really sucks me in, inspires or excites me, I immediately inhale everything else written by that author.
But even better than just reading a book is reading all the books in a series. I love a good series, especially in the sci-fi or fantasy genres, where the characters become more familiar than your best friends and their universe is so convincingly rendered that it seems it really must exist somewhere out there beyond the pages of a book. A series becomes a companion, refuge, solace, and inspiration.
Think The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Or how about picking up Marion Zimmer Bradley’s enchanting Darkover novels? Or the hilarious, yet scary Sookie Stackhouse series? Or my beloved Harry Potter? I considered naming the entire Harry Potter series as my best read, but just couldn’t bring myself to commit. (There’s that pesky commitment issue again.)
But my all-time favorite series was written not by one author but by many. Intrigued?
Okay… the series I’m talking about is… drumroll…
Star Trek.
Yes, Star Trek. Don’t care if it’s original Trek, Next Generation, Voyager–I’ve read them all. There are literally dozens of books, written by many different fans–er… authors. I love that universe. I love those characters, those weird aliens, and, of course, Captains Kirk and Picard.
Do you see why I had to make you wait? Do you get why I couldn’t tell you right away? I knew you’d laugh. I knew you’d make fun of me. I knew you wouldn’t read the rest of the post.
Yes, I’m a Trekkie and I’m proud of it.
___
Related reads:
- Read more from Leslie Miller at her blog, A Writer’s Query.
- Check out more guest posts at our Best and Worsts.
- Star Trek is all very well, but what about Star Wars?
- If you like space adventure, give the Space Opera genre a try.
- Read our Science Fiction reviews.
The Book Canaries 
Nothing wrong with being a trekkie….lol 🙂
Agreed! Shared world fiction is the best kind of fun. I remember devouring all and any Dragonlance spin-offs I could get my hands on in school.
*shrug* I don’t think it’s embarrassing. I gladly admit I was brought up on a combination of Star Trek and Doctor Who, so who am I to laugh?
Shared world fiction can be very fun to read. I’ve got a large collection of Magic: The Gathering books and a few Forgotten Realms (and a couple Dragonlance ones, but not many so I never got into the series much). I’ve read a few of the Star Trek novels. They’ve been rather good, but I’ve been more for the television version (probably because I’m lazy and watching tv is easier than having to actually think and imagine what a book is presenting).
There’s a club I belong to where we do a collection of flash fictions set in a shared world built out of a weird brainstorming session. Series are also my absolute favorites. I rarely ever read stand alones unless they’re by an author whose work I really like. Some of my absolute favorite books are series. I love getting so immersed in a world and the characters that I munch through book after book. They’re also my favorite things to write. I’m more of a fantasy/urban fantasy girl, but maybe it’s just because I haven’t found a sci-fi series I like enough yet.
I’ve never read the Darkover series. I think I’ll look into that…well, as soon as I finish reading everything I’ve been putting off.
I don’t think I could pick my all-time favorite or all-time most hated book either. A lot of books I hated when I was younger, after rereading, turned out to be very enjoyable when I had a more mature perspective whereas books I loved when I was younger I now thoroughly dislike. I don’t think I even hate books. The books I most often rail on tend to be the books that had so much I loved, but were ruined (in my eyes) by something(s) that I just couldn’t get past…but they had so much potential. I’ve got a number of favorites, but that list is around twenty to thirty books long and I don’t think I could pick one. Picking one is actually a hell of a lot harder than I thought, now that I think about it…
Sorry for the extremely long comment. I lack the ability to be short and sweet. >.<