My first was Lords and Ladies, and it hooked me, although it's kind of a weird one to be first, in retrospect, given how it has the Witches AND the Wizards, both four books in.

Going Postal is a decent first Discworld

I would concur with this: it's a good introduction to the city of Ankh-Morpork and some of its issues, while also being quite a great riff on the internet and corporate skullduggery. And it doesn't require a lot of backstory, since Moist is a new character.

Which is not to say that Nightwatch isn't very good--I think you can still get a lot of the social commentary out of it. Especially now, because the bulk of the plot involves protests and the role of the police in handling civic unrest against a corrupt administration. But you'd miss a lot of the (quite awesome) character work if you read it first.

OTOH, it's free, so I would say, give it a try because it's free, and then go back and reread the City Watch novels in order. And then read the Witch novels in order. But skip the Rincewind novels, they're really not very good by comparison. (Except for the Luggage, which I do love.)

Speaking of Pratchett, I just started listening to Making Money; I'm a bit sad, because not counting Snuff, it will be my last unread Discworld book. And I've heard that Snuff isn't up to.

I do enjoy the Rincewind novels, but I would agree they're not as good as the others. The early ones, though, are really rough.

Wait, looking at the chart...I don't actually like the Rincewind novels much at all. I like Unseen University.

Alrighty then. I'll return it and get it later. Here are the Discworld novels that I could get right now without waiting - Will any of these work alone and possibly addict me?

• Carpe Jugulum
• The Fifth Elephant
• Interesting Times
• Lords and Ladies
• Making Money
• Men at Arms
• Thud!
• Witches Abroad

Based on that reading guide, it looks like none of these are great entry points? I'm 2nd on the waiting list for Color of Magic - should I just wait? I'm going to read the fake 6th Hitchhiker's book and a Connie Willis novel, so I can probably make it.

I like Unseen University.

I suspect I should find the wizards less funny than I do, but I love the Bursar and his dried-frog-pills, and how much Hex actually resembles a computer, and poor long-suffering Ponder Stibbons, the only sane human being in the place. Oh, and I think Ridcully/Granny is kind of sweet.

And I adore the Librarian.

Hmm, I shall have to go backwards: I appear to have skipped Making Movies on this read-through.

As I said, Lords and Ladies was my first and hooked me, so that's my vote!

Men at Arms is the second Watch book, and it's a good one, and a decent starter.

I recall enjoying Carpe Jugulum. I mean, if you like vampires, there's your in. It's even later than Lords of Ladies, though.

I'm 2nd on the waiting list for Color of Magic - should I just wait?

DO NOT READ THAT FIRST. It is not very good, and it will not hook you.

Unfortunately, the first books in the Witches, Death, and City Watch series are not available through the NYPL OR the Nashville PL on Kindle. I need to get addicted before I'm willing to pay for the books or suffer through the pain of lifting a big, heavy, real library book (whine!). Will any of these addict me?

ETA: All right. I'll try Witches Abroad, as both of you voted for it. Thanks!

Gris, I think on that list, Witches Abroad, Men at Arms, or Making Money would probably do. Pratchett doesn't do multi-book story arcs, really. Although the characters do grow and change from one book to another, it's mostly implicit, and anything you need to know to understand, he'll tell you.

If you like books about dealing with a multi-cultural city, go for Men at Arms. If you're more interested in the Power of Story and how it can warp people's lives (and be warped by them), try Witches Abroad.

The books are all $7.99 each on Kindle. You know, I tend to love the Kindle, but that is an excessive price for such a long-running, older series. I could almost certainly pick up many of the books at decent used book stores for $2-$3 each.