Completed Series I Want to Collect

August 23, 2022 Top Ten Tuesday 17

Top Ten Tuesday graphic

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature/meme now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. The meme was originally the brainchild of The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Completed Series I Wish Had More Books From.

Completed Series I Want to Collect

To be honest, I’m not going to have a lot of series for this list. I tend to buy the whole series of something once I start, so I already own many of the completed series I love. But there are some I don’t have, either because I didn’t buy them when they came out, or because I want older editions that are either hard to find or too expensive.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, illustrated by Alan Lee, in hardcover. Oh, I already have multiple sets of LOTR: a paperback set for reading, and a slip-covered, leatherbound, single-volume book. But I recently picked up a UK hardcover edition of Alan Lee’s illustrated Return of the King, and I fell in love with it. Now I want the first two books – The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Oh, and while I’m at it, a hardcover copy of The Hobbit illustrated by Alan Lee, as well. I’m not overly particular about UK vs. US edition, nor about first edition, as long as the set matches each other. In other words, I’d probably be happy with this US boxed set. (I do think the covers chosen for the UK editions, pictured above, are better than the ones on the US editions, though. And I love the silver foil text strip along the top and bottom edges. So if I can find the first two UK editions in very good condition at an affordable price, I will get them.)

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Again, I do already own the books – multiple editions, in some cases. There are several softcover sets of all 8 books, and I have one (pictured above.) I also have a hardcover set that was issued without Anne of Windy Poplars or Anne of Ingleside, due to copyright issues. (Also, the print is pretty small.) But so far, I haven’t found an affordable SET in hardcover with good covers, that contains all the books.

The Chronicles of Narnia – Original editions
The Chronicles of Narnia – Hardcover box set with cover illustrations by David Wiesner

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, illustrated by Pauline Baynes. Don’t get me wrong; I already own all seven books in print, as well as on my Kindle. But my print books aren’t a set; I have some in softcover, some in hardcover. What I really want is a complete set of the hardcovers with the art by Pauline Baynes, including the color plates. It would be lovely to have a set of first editions (the first set pictured above), but I’m not likely to find those in my price range. I’m not sure if the available newer set (the second set pictured above) has Baynes’s color illustrations inside, or just the black-and-white drawings, but I would settle for it as long as the drawings are there. The covers of this set are by David Wiesner; they’re pretty, but I think I prefer the originals.

Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms by Mercedes Lackey – paperback collection

The Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms by Mercedes Lackey. I have several of the books in hardcover – but not all of them. I need to fill out my collection. (I couldn’t even find a photo of all the hardcovers, though they were all issued in hardcover, I believe. The books pictured above are the paperbacks. The hardback covers are similar.)

The Lunar Chronicles by Melissa Mayer. I own a beat-up old library copy of Cinder, and all four of the quartet on Kindle. I would love the entire quartet, in hardcover and in good condition, with the original dust jackets. (I don’t necessarily need Fairest and Stars Above, just the original quartet.)

What about you? What completed series do you want to see on your shelves?

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17 Responses to “Completed Series I Want to Collect”

  11. Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits

    Great twist on the topic! I would love to have a pretty set of the LOTR books — my preference would be the leatherette omnibus to match my fancy copy of The Hobbit. But, I refuse to buy any set of the Narnia books which AREN’T in publication order, so it’s not likely that I’ll ever buy another set of those books. Mostly now I can only find Narnia sets in chronological order. I’ll just keep my old paperback set forever. 😉

    My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2022/08/23/top-ten-tuesday-completed-series-i-wish-had-more-books/
    Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday ~ Completed Series I Wish Had More BooksMy Profile

  15. Katherine

    I have a set of the Anne books that I really love but I do want to find a better set of the Chronicle of Narnia books.

  16. La La in the Library

    I have quite a few Tolkien hardcovers. I’m not searching them out, but when titles I don’t have in hardcover pop up on Better Word Books for cheap, I grab them. 📚

    I would also love to have a set of Anne of Green Gables. My problem has been that I love the cover art for the paperbacks, but I only buy hardcovers for my shelves. I should set aside some money and look for a boxed set. 📚
    La La in the Library recently posted…TELL ME TUESDAY #386 – AUGUST READING WRAP-UP – Tidbits – Library Lion Life #BookGiveaways #DDOSMy Profile

    • Lark_Bookwyrm

      I know; I bought one of the paperback Anne sets for the covers (to be honest!), but I really want them in hardcover. Well, full disclosure: what I really, really want are the original editions in hardcover. But those are out of my reach, especially the first book.