A Dance to the Music of Time-twelve volumes by Anthony Powell
LOTR, of course!

I LOVE the Betsy-Tacy series. My daughter, however, was, “they’re ok.” Sigh. And I, too, love the Mitford series. These rank number one for me. I’ve always loved the Little House series, as well. And if you can call the Jack Ryan books by Tom Clancy a series, then I would include them. (Patriot Games, The Hunt for Red October, etc). I also loved the Anne of Green Gables books. They will always be a treasured memory for me.

Arwen, I am not surprised to hear that LOTR might rank in your favorites… “I am Arwen, Elrond’s daughter, and am also called Undomiel…”

1. LOTR
2. Anne of Green Gables etc.
3. Hercule Poirot book by Agatha Christie
4. Miss Marple book by Agatha Christie
5. Ursula K. LeGuin’s books that she the novels of the Ekumen (http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Biblio-Short.html)
6. Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain books
7. Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea books

1. The Kristen Lavransdatter Triliogy (Tina Nunnaly translation is a must IHMO)
2. The Little House Series
3. Anne of Green Gables Series
4. Steven Saylor’s series of Murder mysteries set in Ancient Rome
5. The Shopaholic Series
I know it’s and odd collection, but what can I say I’m an odd one

I would say Anne of Green Gables and the Little House books.

Here are some others… I think if I was on a desert island I would need my Kindle instead, and a solar recharger…

Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan
Louis de Wohl’s biographies of the saints
anything/everything by Jane Austen

I hit “send” too quickly, here are two more series I bet many of you would like: the “Fairacre” and “Thrush Green” series by “Miss Read”, quietly humorous in a very English way. The cycles of the year, the traditions and changes in two different rural communities, and lots of tea drinking make these classics. They have been reprinted in paperback and can be ordered in the library. Enjoy!

Oh, I adore the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  I was so captivated and just couldn’t put them down. I have her most recent one on my bookshelf but haven’t opened it yet… I think I’m just too excited… (make any sense?)

I also love and can re-read Tom Clancy’s books with Jack Ryan and John Kelly. The Hunt for Red October came out when I was in college and that’s when I was hooked!

As a kid I read the Narnia series during one summer… oh I was transported to another world!  I can still remember exactly where they were at the library!

I just finished Anne Perry’s WWI series (5 books).... wonderful!!!!!

Most of those mentioned are terrific and would be on my list.  I would add Katharine Valentine’s Dorsetville books, which are similar to Jan Karon, but with a Catholic parish at their center.  I have lost my love for Ursula LeGuin since learning that she is not just non-Christian, but as anti-Christian as Philip Pullman.  It’s hard for me to read her work, knowing she was “never comfortable” with Mother Teresa because she thought Blessed Teresa was the wrong kind of altruist.

1. Kristen Lavransdatter
2 Lord of the Rings
3. Andrew Lang’s Fairytale books (e.g., Blue Fairy book, Olive Fairy Book, etc.)
4. Narnia
5. Great Brain books

Something for all ages here.

Emily of New Moon
Little House on the Prairie

As a child I adored the Little House on the Prairie series. Narnia and Lord of the Rings were favorites as a teen. Now I’m an adult and I enjoy The Dresden Files.

By far my favorite is the Anne of Green Gables series.  Anne is exactly the kind of friend I have always wanted!  I find her character to be so courageous.  She was orphaned and could have had a chip on her shoulder her whole life for the terrible treatment she endured as a child, but she wasn’t that way-she was positive and upbeat and she embraced life.  I sometimes find myself trying to be more like Anne Shirley.  I think she is a heroine in every aspect of the word.

It’s so funny how the Anne books pop up so frequently on people’s favorite list.  They are old books (some more than a hundred years) but so strongly do they find their way in people’s hearts.  As a note to those who do not know, the family published a 9th book posthumously called “The Blythes are Quoted” in 2009.  It was originally published in 1974 under the title “The Road to Yesterday” with much of the work abridged.  The family decided to restore the book in an unabridged fashion.  It is a wonderful read with half the book before “Rilla of Ingleside” and the other half after.  It’s also wonderful to finally get to read the poem referenced so often in the last two books called, “The Piper”. http://lmmresearch.org/the-blythes-are-quoted/

“The Mysterious Benedict Society” trilogy is one of my recent favorites.  I can’t recall the author’s name at the moment.  They are meant for kids, preteen age I think.  They are a fun read, though, with lots of adventure. 

My other favorites have already been mentioned over and over so I won’t repeat them.  Just wanted to throw the Benedict books out there in case some haven’t heard of them!

Patrick O’Brien’s Aubrey/Maturin books would be on my list.  They’re definitely not for kids, but are rich historical novels worth reading for the dialogue alone.  At turns brilliant, delightful and fascinating.  Both Aubrey and Maturin are flawed men, but worthy protagonists.

My favorites:
1. Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy (shouldn’t every Catholic woman read these?!)
2. LOTR
3. The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength)
4. not actually a series, but Bethlehem Books publishes Living History books for school-aged kids, and I love them so much we have a whole shelf-full of them!! Some of my favorites: Beorn the Proud, The Red Keep, Hidden Treasure of Glaston, Enemy Brothers, If All the Swords in England, Red Hugh of Donegal, With Pipe Paddle and Song
5. Well, you didn’t specify that the books have to be novels (unless I missed it) so I would also say any of the books by Danielle Bean rank among my favorites also!!

Anne of Green Gables
Little House / Caroline, Martha series
Summer of the Great-Grandmother, 2-Part Invention, Meet the Austins, 24 days before Christmas by Madeleine L’Engle
Thomas Kinkade’s Cape Light series

Top 3 favorite series for me are definitely Little House, Harry Potter, and Betsy-Tacy.  I’m always so happy to find other Betsy-Tacy fans!  Arwen, did you know that there are Betsy-Tacy conventions in Mankato every few years?

I don’t think of kristin lavransdatter as a series since i have the single volume edition but is a series isn’t it? Also one of my faves.
Speaking of bethlehm books, midshipman Quinn is wonderful. My favorite of their books and it is technically a.series too.

The Book of the New Sun, by Gene Wolfe (4 vol.)
All the Discworld books of Terry Pratchett
The 1st and 2nd Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, by Stephen Donaldson
Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso, by Dante

The Hawk and the Dove (a trilogy in one volume) by Penelope Wilcock.  Might be out of print, but worth it. 
I also like Kristin Lavransdatter.

The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency
Betsy-Tacy
Little House
Miss Marple & Poirot by Agatha Christie
The Great Brain

What a fun question!

I would definitely put the Little House series on the list, like many others. But I’m afraid the other series I can read over and over are rather, well, trashy mystery series. I LOVE THEM, but not high literature: the Patricia Cornwell Kay Scarpetta mysteries; Sophie Hannah’s mystery series; Sue Grafton’s alphabet mysteries. Love them all.

My all time favorite series are the books by James Herriot, All Creatures Great And Small, etc. I read them to my children when they were small.  I also love the older Nancy Drew books written in the 40’s and 50’s.  Glad to hear of other fans of No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.  Love all the characters, and their gentle emphasis on the best aspects of their culture, sweet humor, too. LOTR I read after the movies, because I’m not normally drawn to fantasy, but Tolkien’s writings ARE in a class all their own.  Have any of you heard of the Mrs. Emily Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman or M.C. Beaton’s books about Hamish Macbeth the Sottish Constable in the Highlands?  Both are terrific mysteries.  No sex, only allusions to violence, great characters, wonderful scenery, lots of humor.  Like going on vacation with really interesting friends.  I also enjoy the Original Star Trek series books written after the movies came out, and the early books about Star Trek Next Generation.  The characters are so well fleshed out,  I’m not a fan of sci fi, but I like some of these!  So glad to see other books mentioned.  I have been trying to find the name of the author of the Betsey-Tacy books so I can find these again, and thanks to all of you, I’m going to check out some others!  God bless!

The books I go to because I just love the characters and page turning plots are the
1)The O’Malley Series and the Uncommon Heroes series by Dee Henderson
2)Kristen Heitzmann’s (sp?) Indivisible and Indelible; they’re stand alone novels, but because the setting is in the same little town, the characters I came to love in Indivisible are present in Indelible so I got to “spend time with them” again
3) Fountain Creek Chronicles by Tamara Alexander.
4) Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers
5)Kinship and Courage Series (All Together in One Place, No Eye Can See and What Once We Loved) by Jane Kirkpatrick.  She also wrote the very powerful Tender Ties Historical Series based on the historical life of Marie Dorion.  My husband loved it, but too much tragedy for me to read it on my deserted isle..

I second the All Creatures Great and Small, Little House, and Anne of Green Gables series. And though they’re not really in a series, I love the characters (many are repetitious but I don’t mind a bit!) and witty dialogue in Georgette Heyer’s novels.

I guess that’s much more than 5…