Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is:

Top Ten Series I’d Like To Start But Haven’t Yet

This week’s topic is a bit problematic for me for two reasons:

1) One of my chief resolutions for 2013 was a NO NEW SERIES rule. Basically, I vowed not to start any more new series unless a) the series is by one of my “auto-buy” authors, b) the series is already completed written, or c) the series is still underway but the final volume has a release date.

2) Putting aside my issues from #1, how can I possibly narrow my list down to just ten choices? If I were to start naming series that I’d like to read, I could go on all day! (See, that’s why I made my resolution which — dammit it all — I’m doing my best to keep.) As you’ll see below, this is such a substantial problem that… I went all the way to 20 (and there are still more I could add). There’s just no stopping me now!

Here we go: A whole bunch of series (definitely more than 10) that I’d like to read — but haven’t started yet:

1) The Beka Cooper series by Tamora Pierce:  This trilogy — Terrier, Bloodhound, and Mastiff — is set in the land of Tortall about 200 years before the events in the excellent girl-power Song of the Lioness quartet. I’ve enjoyed the Tamora Pierce books that I’ve read, but my daughter is a huge fan, and has been after me to read the Beka Cooper books for a while now. This trilogy is complete, so I could read this and still keep my reading resolution. Very tempting!

2) Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery: I was a total bookworm as a child (okay, not just as a child), but somehow, I managed to completely miss out on these books. I know a lot about them, but I’ve never actually read a single one. Maybe I’ll stock up and take the first few volumes with me on my next vacation. I feel like I should read these books in a beautiful setting.

3) The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons: I only recently heard of this series via my online book group, but it seems as though everyone loves it. Historical fiction set in Russia, before, during, and after World War II; it sounds intense, long, romantic, and quite engrossing.

4) Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde: I realize that I am totally remiss in never having read these books. The first, The Eyre Affair, is one of my choices for my 2013 TBR Pile Challenge, so I swear I’ll get to it this year!

5) The Colonial Trilogy by Kate Grenville: The three books in this trilogy — The Secret River, The Lieutenant, and Sarah Thornhill — are historical novels that chronicle early generations of white settlers in Australia. I love reading about Australia’s history, and I’ve heard such great things about these books and this author. I really hope to get to these soon!

6) The Dark Tower series by Stephen King: I’m including this series even though I have, in fact, started it. Last year, I finally picked up The Gunslinger, devoured it, and immediately read books 2 and 3. I loved what I’d read and yet — despite having a copy of the 4th book, Wizard and Glass, on my shelf and ready to go — for some reason I just wasn’t in the mood. And still haven’t gotten into the mood. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly why I’ve stalled out on this series, but I do intend to get back to it and see it through. I suppose I’m including it on this list as a reminder to myself that starting a series isn’t enough — must finish reading!

7) The Eden Moore series by Cherie Priest: Comprised of three books — Four and Twenty Blackbirds, Wings to the Kingdom, and Not Flesh Nor Feathers, this trilogy sounds ghostly and spooky and overall terrific, with a Southern gothic atmosophere and simply amazing covers. I actually own these books! Just haven’t read them yet…

8) The Frontier Magic trilogy by Patricia Wrede: From what I understand, this is a series set in a magical world that has a wild west flavor to it. I’ve heard good things, and the final book came out in 2012, so it fits my series-reading requirements.

And moving on, a whole bunch of science fiction/fantasy series that I’m either dying to read… or feel like I really ought to read:

9) The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss: Everybody — and I do mean everybody — insists that I need to read this amazing series NOW. To which I reply, tell me when book three has a release date, and then we’ll talk. Seriously, I know this is supposed to be outstanding, but I just can’t start one more series without knowing when it’ll wrap up.

10) The Oxford Time Travel series by Connie Willis: Four novels and a short story. Lots of awards and accolades. I know I must read these! Plus, this series includes one of my favorite book titles, To Say Nothing of the Dog.

11) The Promethean Age by Elizabeth Bear: Fantastic premise, in which our world and the world of Faerie exist side by side, with historical settings and figures mixed in with the magical realms.

12) Riverworld by Philip José Farmer: I have a certain friend who pretty much yells at me every time I admit that I still haven’t read these books, despite his constant reminders that this series is the be-all and end-all. Don’t tell him I haven’t started yet.

13) The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan: Now that the final book has been published, I’m out of excuses.

14) Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card: No excuses, must read.

15) The Company series by Kage Baker: I’ve heard so many wonderful things about these books. Gotta get ’em, gotta read ’em.

16) The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin: See my comments about Ender’s Game. Same applies here.

17) Narnia by C. S. Lewis: I’ve read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, but have never gone farther in the series.

18) Lilith’s Brood by Octavia Butler: I’ve read and loved several Octavia Butler books, but so far haven’t read any of her science fiction works. She’s an amazing writer, but her subject matter is usually pretty harsh, so I may need to gear up for this series.

And finally, two graphic novel series that I absolutely want to read, but which are so vast that I find the idea of starting them completely daunting:

19) The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman

20) The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman

Okay, so I definitely went a bit overboard with this week’s theme. Have you read any of the series on my top 10 (20) list? Where do you think I should start? And which series are you just dying to read?