November SeriesCAT - Female Protagonist

Welcome to the November (eep!) SeriesCAT where we'll be concentrating on series with a female protagonist.



Any series that features a female protag is fair game.

Don't forget to update the wiki with your selections: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2019_SeriesCAT#November:_-_Theme:_Series...

There are various possibilities, but I think the most likely one is The Sweetness At the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. I've heard so many people say good things about this series.

My choice for this one (which I read in advance) was A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, by Dorothy Gilman.

Lots of options for this. Most appealing to me now:

- Shopaholic Ties the Knot / Sophie Kinsella
- Susannah's Garden / Debbie Macomber
- Big Boned / Meg Cabot
- The Calculating Stars / MRK

Thinking of Poor Man's Orange from Ruth Park's The Harp in the South trilogy.

I'm thinking I'll read the next installment in the Ruth Galloway series, The Outcast Dead, and/or Messenger of Truth, next in the Maisie Dobbs series.

>5 pamelad: Oh, that is on my wishlist! what a good idea!

I think I'm going to go with The Braque Connection by Estelle Ryan.

>6 EBT1002: I will likely go with my next in the Ruth Galloway series as well. I am up to #8, The Woman in Blue.
>2 Robertgreaves: I also want to begin the Flavia de Luce series. I have The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie on my pile, so no excuses! We'll see how the month goes.

I have a couple that I would like to read for this challenge. The Red Road by Denise Mina featuring Alex Morrow and Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardottir with Thora Gudmundsdottir are in my November TBR.

This should be easy - right now I'm planning on Scandal Above Stairs by Jennifer Ashley and The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey.

I'm leaning toward Murder Most Malicious by Alyssa Maxwell.

Lots to choose from here! I am thinking of the Laurien Berenson mystery series that all feature dogs, (which I just discovered), or the Shopaholic novels, or the Mrs. Jeffries novels by Brightwell, or American Girls novels.

I have plenty to pick from too, but I'll probably read the next in the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear.

I just finished The Sugar House today, which is the third book in Antonia White's Frost in May quartet, with Clara Batchelor as the main character. I thought it was the best so far and I'm eager to read Beyond the Glass, which I try to fit into this month also.

I'm cheating a bit for this one and calling The Handmaid's Tale a series now. I guess it is!

I wanted to reread it before reading The Testaments as I read it when it first came out - a long time ago now.

I have The Testaments down for CalendarCAT as it is Margaret Atwood's 80th birthday in November.

I completed A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear starring Masie Dobbs.

I finished Der Sommer des Kometen, second book in a historical mystery series featuring Rosina, a player in a travelling theatre troupe. Very enjoyable!

edited for touchstone

I'm planning to read The Coroner by M.R. Hall. If I can squeeze it in I'll finish the Eustace and Hilda trilogy by L.P. Hartley, but I think I might have already overextended my plans for November.

Read An Appetite for Murder by Lucy Burdette - a cozy set in Key West with an aspiring food critic.

Two more books with female protagonists: The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey and Murder on Gramercy Park by Victoria Thompson

I've devoured The Braque Connection by Estelle Ryan, the 3rd book in the series which is one of my favorite. I'm tempted to pick up number 4.

I have finished I am half-sick of shadows, featuring the delightful Flavia de Luce, so precocious in some things, so childlike in others.

I read Here Comes Santa Paws by Laurien Berenson, which is the first one I read in the series. I have several others on my shelf, so I will be seeking those out too. What is there not to like about dogs and the holidays?

I finished Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear. It was not my favorite in the Maisie Dobbs series but the series is strong enough that I'll keep reading it.

COMPLETED The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Starting the 2nd in the series The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag

>26 Robertgreaves: I read most of them and enjoyed them, Flavia is a hoot! If you plan to read them all, be ready for surprises.

Just finished Livewire Volume 1: Fugitive by Vita Ayala, the beginning of a new solo series for a character from a previous series. I love the premise, but I wish I'd read the other series first.

Just finished a re-read of The Handmaid's Tale and am starting The Testaments.
Still as powerful as when I first read it 30 years ago (wow, that makes me feel old!)

I read The Mists of Avalon which has a female protagonist and is a series of 4 books. I read all four. It's been on my shelf 2012.

>30 Kristelh: I haven't read this in years but remember loving it. It is on my list to re-read - some day!

I'm reading a book of short stories featuring Miss Marple, The Tuesday Club Murders, as I make my way through Agatha Christie.

>27 LadyoftheLodge: I'm not that interested in chemistry and there are definite historical errors in them, so I'm probably not going to continue with the series

>33 Robertgreaves: and I read that the chemistry parts were not accurate either so I decided not to feature that series.

I read The Grub-and-Stakers Spin a Yarn, with the series female protagonist Dittany Henbit Monk.

Just finished The Bullet-Catcher's Daughter which was a fun read.

>34 Kristelh: It's a pity because the titles are great. This has been something of a theme in 2019 - great titles where the books themselves have proved to be a letdown for one reason or another.

>37 Robertgreaves: I agree. I have a chemistry background somewhat, but I just ignored the inaccuracies. I stopped reading the series when the "yuck factor" got to be more than I wanted to read.

>36 majkia: Looking at the cover and the description, that book sounds a bit steampunk? If so, yes please!

>39 JayneCM: Definitely steampunk!

>40 majkia: On my list it goes!

Two more books for this challenge A Bitter Feast by Deborah Crombie and Better Late Than Never by Jenn McKinlay.

Finished She Came Back by Patricia Wentworth. It's a Miss Silver mystery. It seemed familiar, either because I have read so many books like this, or have read this one before. It's set in WWII. Did Anna die escaping from France, or did she survive?

Corrected the title - NOT Anna, Where Are You?.

It appears that I do not lack for series with female protagonists.

So far, I've read two Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum books: Eleven on Top for a series reread and Twisted Twenty-Six, because it was just published.

I read two new to me series openers with female leads, Dead Spots and Frost Bites, and while there were good points to both, I doubt I'll continue either series.

A Cruel Deception is the latest Bess Crawford mystery by Charles Todd - it was good, as always.

And Meg Langslow has made her 26th appearance in Donna Andrews' Owl Be Home for Christmas. I'm still a big fan of this humorous mystery series, and if you've never tried it and need a new series for the December SeriesCAT, start with Murder, With Peacocks.

Finally, I'm really enjoying Melinda Mullet's Whiskey Business series, set in Scotland. I read Deadly Dram this month, and only have one more to get caught up on this series.

>29 JayneCM: I read The Testaments back in September - I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

>42 LittleTaiko: I love Deborah Crombie's books, but sometimes it's an awfully long wait between them. I worry when Gemma and Duncan are left in unsettled circumstances!

I read The Coroner by M.R. Hall Interesting and fast moving.

>44 Dejah_Thoris: Oh yes! Loved The Testaments. Although I was a bit disappointed that, having watched the second series of the TV show, a major plotline of the book had already been given away.

I finished two books so far this month with female protagonists: Squire by Tamora Pierce, book 3 in the Protector of the Small series and The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal, book 1 in the Lady Astronaut series. Both were great!

I am part way through The Calculating Stars. What a terrific book! Although it brings back some awful memories (similar to the protagonist - sexism and fear of crowds.) .

>46 JayneCM: I haven't watched the show - I guess that worked in my favor!

>47 staci426: >48 majkia: I was tremendously impressed with The Calculating Stars. Now I need to get to The Fated Sky - maybe next month?

>47 staci426: I should be able to get to "The Calculating Stars" next week! Looking forward to it!

>47 staci426: I also have The Calculating Stars here to read - seems it is very popular! I did not know there was a series.

The 5th Wave / Rick Yancey
4 stars

Not long after the aliens invaded, Cassie’s mom got sick and died. Later on, she, her dad, and her brother were gathered with others when they were rounded up. The kids were taken to “safety” on a school bus and everyone else… well, Cassie escaped. She had promised Sammy she’d come for him, and she must do that. But, it’s hard to know whom to trust when she needs help. Meanwhile, kids are being trained for a war to fight the invasion.

I’ve given away a bit more than the blurb on the book, but I don’t think it’s too much information. There are the two separate storylines that we follow in the book, so I wanted to mention both. I really liked this. Even as we get to know characters, it’s hard to tell if they are trustworthy or not – the author does a good job of that, I think. It got better in the last little bit, and I just wanted to keep turning pages. Of course, it’s a series, so I will – at some point – be picking up the next one.

Well, it's not an official series yet, but it's marked as the first in the series so I'll count it. Finished Shoot the Bastards by Michael Stanley about a female reporter from Minnesota of Vietnamese heritage who travels to South Africa to cover a rhino poaching story.

I completed my read of The Red Road with female protagonist, Alex Morrow. This was the 4th book of this series and was an excellent read.

The Calculating Stars / Mary Robinette Kowal
3.5 stars

It’s 1952. Elma and her husband Nathaniel are out of town, when they see a ridiculously bright light. It doesn’t take long before engineer Nathaniel and calculator Elma figure out that a meteor has hit and likely wiped out a good portion of the population of the East Coast, which is where they would have been had they not been on a weekend getaway. Elma then calculates that the Earth’s temperature will drop, then rise catastrophically, though it will take years. Humans need to see if they can create a colony somewhere on another planet. Oddly, only men are initially chosen to go into space. Elma (formerly a WASP who flew during WWII), and her friends fight to be considered to the space program.

The meteorite hitting and the resulting confusion started this book off with a “bang”, so to speak! It caught my attention right away, and I was hooked. It definitely slowed down in the middle, but there was plenty of sexism and racism going on (it was the 50s!) to keep things “interesting”. Overall, I enjoyed it, and I will be continuing the series.

>55 LibraryCin: Does it say how they were expecting a colony composed only of men would survive beyond one generation?

I finished The Spellman Files which was odd and funny.

>56 Robertgreaves: Nope, decision-makers' decision to only send men, although they were supposedly sending people there to start a colony, was never explained!