You may want to check if your library has an e-lending program, though usually you can't take out very many books at the same time from those. But for trying a new author or series, it might be handy.
Re Mercedes Lackey - I like most of her books, but while her books-in-series are similar enough to be cookie-cutter, she isn't always similar across series. The urban fantasy can be hard because she uses the miserable-orphan trope in *our* world, in ways that...well, hurt to read (I think - it's been a while - that the Diana Tregarde books are an exception). The Bardic Voices series has some hard moments, but overall feels more like Valdemar to me in terms of tone. The Brainship series is awesome IMO, but more Anne McCaffrey influence than Lackey, IMO. Dragon Jousters is good but I'm at a loss what to compare it to. I quite like the Elemental Masters books, and because they're recasting fairy tales, you have somewhat of an idea of what you're getting into. The Obsidian Universe is very, very different - I can see her hand in it, to be sure, but I suspect that was more James Mallory than her - and fairly dark, IMO.
I'm not sure, but:
You might like Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael books (mysteries, and the detective is a monk). It's a fairly large series and I remember it being consistent in tone/characterization, so if you like a couple, you'll probably enjoy most or all of them, I'm guessing.
Things that I love and find rereadable, that may or may not overlap and I'm not at all sure of, but listing in case: Michelle Sagara's Chronicles of Elantra, beginning with Cast In Shadow; Marion G Harmon's Wearing the Cape series, beginning with Wearing the Cape. Possibly Amy Thomson's _The Color of Distance_.
I don't know if you'd enjoy Ruth Reichl's books - which are mostly memoirs and about nothing like what we've been discussing - but I've enjoyed them a lot. Though Delicious!, her novel, covers some rough subjects and may not be as good a choice as the semi-non-fiction (she freely admits she dresses up th details, so I can't call it pure non-fiction).
no subject
Re Mercedes Lackey - I like most of her books, but while her books-in-series are similar enough to be cookie-cutter, she isn't always similar across series. The urban fantasy can be hard because she uses the miserable-orphan trope in *our* world, in ways that...well, hurt to read (I think - it's been a while - that the Diana Tregarde books are an exception). The Bardic Voices series has some hard moments, but overall feels more like Valdemar to me in terms of tone. The Brainship series is awesome IMO, but more Anne McCaffrey influence than Lackey, IMO. Dragon Jousters is good but I'm at a loss what to compare it to. I quite like the Elemental Masters books, and because they're recasting fairy tales, you have somewhat of an idea of what you're getting into. The Obsidian Universe is very, very different - I can see her hand in it, to be sure, but I suspect that was more James Mallory than her - and fairly dark, IMO.
I'm not sure, but:
You might like Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael books (mysteries, and the detective is a monk). It's a fairly large series and I remember it being consistent in tone/characterization, so if you like a couple, you'll probably enjoy most or all of them, I'm guessing.
Things that I love and find rereadable, that may or may not overlap and I'm not at all sure of, but listing in case: Michelle Sagara's Chronicles of Elantra, beginning with Cast In Shadow; Marion G Harmon's Wearing the Cape series, beginning with Wearing the Cape. Possibly Amy Thomson's _The Color of Distance_.
I don't know if you'd enjoy Ruth Reichl's books - which are mostly memoirs and about nothing like what we've been discussing - but I've enjoyed them a lot. Though Delicious!, her novel, covers some rough subjects and may not be as good a choice as the semi-non-fiction (she freely admits she dresses up th details, so I can't call it pure non-fiction).