So, after trying to get into Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books by reading Mort a couple years ago, and failing miserably and quitting by the 50th page, I just listened to the audiobook of Going Postal and found it really nifty. So now I’m going to try to delve back into the whole Discworld thing. Any recommendations on what books are best to start with? Should I just start with the first book and go in chronological order by publication date, or what?
Ifyou liked Going Postal, then you may like The Truth. I am partial to the books that involve the city watch. You can start with Guards, Guards to get background, or you can jump right into one of the more recent ones. Night Watch is very fun and could introduce you to many of the main watch characters.
Mort is very early and going postal is more recent. I like his recent writing better as I think there is more wit. Since you liked Going Postal, you might want to stick with the more recent books and then reach back when you are into the series a bit more.
I like reading them in order, because I like to see the way the writer develops, and how the recurring characters grow and change. That said, I really didn’t care for the first two, Pyramids, Pyramids was my least favorite, but I passionately love the ones featuring Granny Weatherwax and Death – and both of those characters change significantly over the series, so reading them in order enhances reading pleasure greatly.
If you don’t want to go through them all and are inclined towards political satire, you’ll enjoy The Truth. The Thief of Time pokes fun at Buddhism/Taoism/mystical stuff in general, and Moving Pictures at Hollywood.
Have fun. I wish I were reading them for the first time, but I’m going to have fun rereading them slowly this winter once the snow piles up. They are so densely packed with jokes and references, I’m sure I’ll pick up many more that I missed the first time round, when I read quickly. And I’m sure that there are many specifically British cultural references that just whoosh over me.
Read them by arcs. Since you liked Going Postal, the first book to buy is the new one, coming out next month, called Making Money. The further adventures of Ludwig Moist.
Then read the City Watch books: Guards! Guards!, Men At Arms, Feet of Clay, The Fifth Elephant, Jingo, Nightwatch, and **Thud! **
Skip the first books until you get hooked. The series really started to take off with Moving Pictures. Here is a link to the order of the arcs.
Jingo is also a Watch book.
I’m not much of a fan of the very old stuff and some of the very recent stuff.
I would skip all the Rincewind stuff until you run out of the rest of the books, and ditto some of the recent stuff like Feet of Clay or Monstrous Regiment. He gets all super-serious and it’s kind of a drag.
The early-to-mid-period Witches books (Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad), Death books (Hogfather, Reaper Man), and Guards books (Guards! Guards!, Men At Arms) are the best, in my opinion. I also actually loved Pyramids, unlike Tapiotar.
Thank you for that very cool and extremely useful link. 
Some people have entirely too much time on their hands (making Discworld flowcharts, egad), but sometimes it benefits the rest of us. 
Thief of Time (one-off), Small Gods (one-off), The Last Continent (Rincewind), and Nightwatch (Guards) are probably my favorites out of the whole series.
Soul Music is my favorite of all the Disc books, if for no other reason than some of the world’s best(worst?) puns and visual references. Nightwatch is Literature. Small Gods makes you think the most.
I’d consider Thief of Time a Death/Susan book.
I strongly recommend you read the Watch books in particular in chronological order. The central characters in them grow and change remarkably. You won’t get the full flavor of Sam Vimes, for example, in the later books if you don’t know where he came from to get there. Guards, Guards, as it happens, was the first Pratchett I read and I was utterly hooked.
Night Watch is my very favourite Pratchett book, but I’d recommend reading all the preceding City Watch books first - honestly, I think if you start with it, you’ll miss out on a lot of what makes that arc so good. Go with Guards! Guards!
I love the Watch books, but mostly because I love the Vimes/Vetinari/Carrot dynamic. One has the power, one “should” have the power, one makes sure no-one abuses their power.
I’d like more Carrot though…maybe a dwarf/wolf- baby/puppy story?
Plus…you have to love Nobby.
From a safe distance upwind, of course.
I agree that it is preferable to read the city watch books in order. The OP stated they liked Going Postal, which is written more like Night Watch, so I offer the option that reading Night Watch might get the op “hooked” into the Discworld series.
Oh, by the way, Night Watch is my favorite as well. I have devoured that book four times. And I do not tend to read a book more than once.
Nobby will steal your heart.
And your wallet, keys, gold teeth, boots, sword and anything else you have that might be worth something to somebody somewhere.
Even the bad books are good but my favourites are the Watch series ,Going Postal,The Truth,Interesting Times and Pyramids.
I thought I’d read every single DiscWorld book most of them several times over imagine my glee when I found that for some reason I’d missed Equal Rites,soon took care of that.
And just to add ,my totally favourite character Casanunda.
Troll"we dont allow dwarfs in"
Casanunda “I’m not a dwarf ,I’m a giant”
Troll"you dont look like a giant"
Casanunda"I’ve been sick"
(Not verbatim)
Casanunda is the world’s second greatest lover… But he tries harder. :snort:
Just read them in order. The people who like the Iwtches will say you should start with those books, those prefering the Watch will praise the Watch arc, and since no one seems to like Rincewind but me, I’ll say start with the wizzards.