A Perfect Ten with Amanda from One More Page!

It's time for my new feature A Perfect Ten, where bloggers talk about their top ten favourite series of all time! Today I am being joined by Amanda from One More Page who has picked some great series for you all to salivate over. So without further ado I will hand you over to Amanda.


I didn’t think I’d read many series’ but when I started listing them there were loads!! Here are ten of my favourites in the order that I first read them:

Mallory Towers by Enid Blyton
I was about 10 when I found the first book in this series on my gran’s bookshelf and I was soon hooked. The series follows the adventures of Darrell Rivers as she attends boarding school Mallory Towers. I loved reading about Darrell and friends with their tricks and capers and midnight feasts – it made boarding school sound like so much fun! Seeing the cover on the left brings back lots of happy memories.

Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin 
I started this series on the recommendation of a friend when I was at university and have loved all of Maupin’s eclectic San Francisco ‘family’ ever since. Tales of the City was first published in 1978 as a newspaper serialisation and follows the lives of the occupants of 28 Barbary Lane in San Francisco. The seventh novel in the series was released last year after a twenty year break and is as good as ever!

Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot 
I’m a big fan of all of Meg Cabot’s adult novels but the three books in this series are my absolute favourites. Queen of Babble, Queen of Babble in the Big City and Queen of Babble Gets Hitched follow the story of Lizzie Nichols and are light fluffy chick lit at its best with tonnes of Meg Cabot’s sparkly humour – guaranteed to make me smile every time.

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

My favourite Vampire series at the moment; I discovered Blue Bloods when I was looking for something to fill the gap after reading the Twilight series. Set in New York with a cast of rich and fabulous teenage vampires at the centre, these are quick but gripping reads and I’m now looking forward to reading the spinoff series Witches of the East.

Secret Shopper by Kate Harrison
There are three books in this series; The Secret Shopper’s Revenge, The Secret Shopper Unwrapped and The Secret Shopper Affair. I haven’t actually managed to read the third one yet but it’s on my Kindle waiting! The series follows three women who meet as a result of secret shopping; young mum Emily, Shop manager Sandie and the glamorous Grazia who recruits them into her secret shopping team. I love Kate Harrison’s writing; despite the titles, these books aren’t really about shopping but are funny and observant takes on life and Kate isn’t afraid to tackle more serious issues (bereavement, single parenthood, losing your job) and the characters and the situations they find themselves in are very real.

Nightshade Series by Andrea Cremer
Nightshade, Wolfsbane and Bloodrose (out in February 2012) tell the story of Seventeen year old Calla Tor, the leader of the Nightshade pack. Calla and her pack have the ability to shift into wolf form at will and are designated ‘Guardians’, charged with protecting the secrets and sacred sites of their masters ‘The Keepers’ from their enemies ‘The Seekers’. Calla, as female Alpha, is the leader of her pack and is destined to unite with her opposite number Renier (Ren) Bane, Alpha of the Bane pack bringing their packs together in a powerful alliance. Throw in the mysterious new boy Shay Doran and things quickly get complicated. The mythology is complex and well thought out with a huge cast of fantastic characters and creatures who move seamlessly through our world; the romantic element is gripping and the plot fast paced.

The Cousin’s War series by Philippa Gregory
There have been three books in this series so far (The White Queen, The Red Queen and The Lady of the Rivers) set during the Wars of the Roses. I love the way Philippa Gregory focusses on ‘forgotten’ women in history and gives them a voice by trying to piece their stories together.

I Heart … series by Lindsey Kelk
Part travel guides, part witty, fun chick lit, this series (I Heart New York, I Heart Hollywood, I Heart Paris and I Heart Vegas) follows Angela Clark who after discovering her boyfriend is cheating on her at her best friend’s wedding flees to New York and starts a new life. Angela is one of my favourite chick lit heroines ever. She’s incredibly lucky and unlucky at the same time and her escapades never fail to make me smile. The books in this series are all brilliant escapist reads and I love the travel guides at the back. The final book in the series, I Heart London will be out next year.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
My favourite book of 2011! This is the first in a planned trilogy (book two, Shadow of the Night will be out in July 2012) and tells the story of Diana Bishop who discovers a bewitched manuscript, Ashmole 782, in the Bodleian Library, Oxford; a manuscript that has been ‘lost’ for centuries and soon has a whole host of witches, daemons and vampires trying to get their hands on it.

I love this book/series firstly, because the early part of the book is set in Oxford and more specifically the Bodleian Library where I worked as a trainee librarian. Secondly, it’s a book about books, libraries and history which are three of my absolute favourite subjects and finally, it combines of all of these elements with a good dose of paranormal romance involving vampires, witches and daemons!

The Taker by Alma Katsu
Another 2011 debut that blew me away. The Taker is something a little different in the paranormal market. It’s about immortals and immortal love but there are none of the usual paranormal subjects here just a mysterious vial promising eternal life. In contrast to the majority of immortal love stories I’ve read, the driving force behind most of the action in this book is unrequited love which makes for a story that is both dark and gripping. This book is as dark as it gets with some shocking scenes and kept me thinking long after I’d read it. I can’t wait to find out where the story goes next. Book two The Reckoning will be published in 2012.

Thanks for taking  part today Amanda! I have only read one series on your list so I think I will be adding some more to my TBR list today! I have had A Discovery of Witches on my bookshelf for ages and I really must stop worrying about how big it is and just get on and read it!

How about you guys? Anything here you've read and loved? Anything that you'll be adding to your TBR list? Let Amanda and I know what you think!