Like the Monk Television Series? You will love Reading the Monk Book Series

The television series Monk, which airs on the USA Network, became a hit almost from the airing of the very first episode. Now in its eighth season, the show has decided that this season will be its last. But never fear, just because the Monk television show is in its last season, doesn't mean that the character of Monk is disappearing forever.

Monk has also been turned into a book series and this is a great way to stay in touch with one of television's most beloved characters. So for all you Monkofiles out there, instead of mourning the loss of your Monk television show, you find comfort by reading the Monk book series instead.

The books are very well written by Lee Goldberg who is also a writer for the Monk television show. In addition, Goldberg also wrote series books for another well know television series called Diagnosis Murder. He does a fantastic job of remaining true to the context of the show and portraying Monk in all of his “monkness”. The usual cast of characters from the television series also appear in the books including Natalie, Agent Stottlemeyer, Randy Disher and of course Dr. Kroger, whom in one book Monk follows all the way to Germany. In fact, long time fans will notice that Monk does far more travel in the books than he ever did in the television series itself going from London, to Paris, to Germany to Hawaii. It seems as though you never know where Monk will turn up next.

The frequent traveling that Monk does, as well as the numerous references to his trips is one of the main reasons why readers should attempt to read the books in the original order of release. Otherwise, you may be confused as to the timeline of events, some of which build upon each other.

Here is a list of the Monk books that have been released to date in the order of their release. Note that the last book has not yet been released.

1. Book 1: Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse
2. Book 2:Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii
3. Book 3: Mr. Monk and The Blue Flu
4. Book 4: Mr. Monk and The Two Assistants
5. Book 5: Mr. Monk in Outer Space
6. Book 6: Mr. Monk Goes to Germany
7. Book 7: Mr. Monk is Miserable
8. Book 8: Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop
9. Book 9: Mr. Monk in Trouble (Due to be released in December of 09)