When I was younger, the week after Christmas was officially the saddest time of the year.  I had spent months (and months) waiting for Santa, waiting to give my parents the handmade presents that I had wrapped using enough tape to ensure they were more secure than most government facilities.

And then it was all over.

But gradually, I realized that those days after Christmas could be kind of pleasant, too.  Without expectations or anticipation, there was finally time to settle down, appreciate and recover from all the business and social activities that the holidays brought with them, and, of course, read all the books.  Now that I am….taller (“older” implies that I have grown up in any appreciable way), I have come to treasure the days between Christmas and New Years.  After the hustle and bustle of the past few months, it’s lovely to take some time for quiet.  And for books.  After a discussion with the good Lady Pole, I have taken to calling this period The Hermitage Week, when it is socially acceptable to build a blanket fort and hide away in it, and indulge in all the lovely books that you have been putting off all year long, and those that you got as presents, or catching up on those films and tv shows that you keeping meaning to check out.

And so, in the spirit of Hermitage Week, I thought we might begin to investigate some suggestions to sustain you through the next few days, and perhaps help you get ready for any Reading Resolutions that you are planning for the upcoming year.

First off, we present a few series which are indubitably long enough to sustain you through a week of reading, whether inside your blanket fort or otherwise.  These books have also, largely, proven the test of time and readership, so you can be assured that you will be in good literary company with these selections:

Peter Diamond Investigations: Anyone looking for a detective story reminiscent of the Golden Age of mysteries (more on this genre later, but much like those of Dorothy L. Sayers, Ellery Queen, or some early Agatha Christie) should definitely add these books to their list.  Peter Diamond is a detective working in Bath, England, whose cases range from discovering lost manuscripts of Jane Austen to cults of murderous musicians, to covert drug smuggling rings and back again.  Unlike many mysteries out there right now, these books don’t focus on the gory details of the crime, or the sadistic nature of the criminal in question.  Nothing against those books, mind, but for those of us who like their detective novels with a bit more tea-and-sausage breaks, these books are an ideal choice.  Fans of the much beloved Inspector Morse will also find a great deal to enjoy here.  Though you can start anywhere in this series, Peter Diamond made his first appearance in The Last Detective in 1991, and is now on his 15th adventure (the quite enjoyable Down Among the Dead Men, published earlier this year.)

Agent Pendergast: We’ve discussed this super-phenomenal series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child previously, but, just in case I wasn’t clear, I love Agent Pendergast.  These stories are a pitch-perfect blend of intellectual stuff: settings like the New York Museum of Natural History, and plots that involve lost Sherlock Holmes stories and antique cabinets of curiosities…and utterly over-the-top elements, like monsters in the subway or ancient curses.  Not to mention the fact that, at the center of these stories, is one of the most enigmatic, fiendishly clever, and wonderfully ruthless heroes at work today.  While this series doesn’t have to be read in order, it is so much more fun to watch these characters develop, evolve.  You can start at the very beginning, with Relic, or jump in with Cabinet of Curiosities, which really launched Agent Pendergast as the series’ protagonist.

Discworld: The world lost a huge talent when Terry Pratchett passed away earlier this year.  Not only was his imagination boundless and his wit razor-sharp, but his heart was the biggest part of his person and his works, especially evident in his later works, written after his diagnosis with a very rare form of Alzheimer’s Disease.  Even though his longest series is set on a flat disc balanced on the backs of four elephants which in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle known as Great A’Tuin, there is something so perfectly human about all his characters (which range from witches to vampires to kings to milkmaids) that it’s impossible not to become a part of this huge, mad, hysterically funny, irresistibly touching world.  Though this series began with The Color of Magic way back in 1983, you can enter Discworld anywhere (like with Carpe Jugulum, my favorite of the series)…and I can guarantee that you won’t want to leave.

Maiden Lane: Elizabeth Hoyt is one of the best historical romance writers at work today, and her Maiden Lane series, which take place in 1730’s London, are always sure-fire successes.  Set, quite literally, at the crossroads between the opulence of nobility and the filth and fear of the impoverished, these books not only give Hoyt the chance to put her considerable research work to good use,but also allows her to play with a number of tropes, insuring that each of her stories are unique, engaging, and thoroughly satisfying.  This is another series that doesn’t need to be read in order, but there are benefits for those who do begin with Wicked Intentions and carries on to the most recent release, Sweetest Scoundrel.  Overall, though, new readers won’t have any trouble falling into these super-steamy, intensely emotional romances within a very few pages.

So there you have it!  If anyone needs me, I’ll be over there building my blanket fort….