book series

TTT: 10 Series I Can’t Wait to Finish and/or Start

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Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Are you the type of person that can finish a series? I am….not generally that person. There are a few series that I love–that I’ve read multiple times, but to be honest those are mostly books that I started as a kid or young adult. And even then, some series I didn’t finish until I was older like A Series of Unfortunate Events. And by the time I did, well the window where I was going to love that book had sort of passed me by. Although I really enjoyed the Netflix show.

I was obsessed with the Harry Potter books and read them all multiple (multiple) times, but there’s not a lot of other series I can say that about. I’m a serial series starter. I have a really hard time when not all the books are published or published in a reasonable timeframe (ahem GoT and The Kingkiller Chronicles) because I hate waiting for a new book to come out. I also don’t have a lot of patience for series of more than 10 books. I do okay with trilogies (especially when I’m reading them for a book club or something), but on the whole I mostly read standalone books.

But like all (arbitrary) rules, there’s always exceptions. Most of the series are ones I’d like to finish, and just two I’d like to start. But of course, I start series all the time so this list is always changing.

Series I’d Like to Finish:

Thursday Next by Jasper Fforde (finished 2/7 books)

Do you like books about books? How about saving the world through a combination of bureaucracy and butt-kicking? If you answered yes to both these questions, you’ll probably enjoy Thursday Next, who lives in an alternate world where books are of great importance–in fact they might even save the day. The first book, The Eyre Affair, follows Thursday, a veteran from the never-ending war, in her job in Special Ops, and her division deals with book crimes. She gets pulled into a plot that involves evil corporations, evil geniuses, and lots of literary references. If you are a fan of Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett, I think you’ll probably enjoy these books a lot.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (finished 4/8 books, first 3 and the prequel)

My friend recommended these books to me and they are so much fun. Who doesn’t love an assassin protagonist with a love of fancy clothes who is secretly… but we won’t go there. And love triangles? That’s so simple. We deal with complexity. Why not love pentagons? love octagons? I would have had 5 of them read, but I had to turn the book in when we moved and I haven’t gotten it out at the library again. I wish the library had the whole series as audiobooks.

Flavia de Luce by Alan Bradley (finished 2/11 and counting)

Okay so I read the first two of the Flavia de Luce series featuring a precocious preteen detective with a love of all things grisly and a knack for chemistry. It’s like someone shook up A Series of Unfortunate Events and We Have Always Lived in the Castle with a whole lot of mystery. The reason I’ve held off is that the series isn’t finished yet. But maybe this will be less of a problem once I get a few more books under my belt.

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (finished 1/5 books)

I really, really enjoyed the first one, and I’d like to just get them all out from the library at the same time, including the first one, and binge read them all the way through.

Great Cities by N.K. Jemisin (finished 1/2?)

I loved The World We Make, and honestly I think the first book stood on its own, but it was also so good that I think it’s worth reading the sequel. I don’t know if this series will have more than two books, but the fact that the second one came out so quickly (Jemisin seems like an author who actually finishes her series) makes me feel a little more confident about picking this one up.

Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab (1/3 books)

There’s only 3 books. The first one was really good. Series should really not be this hard to finish–that’s what I keep telling myself.

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (1/3 books)

How have I only read one of these? I honestly don’t know.

The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss (1/3? books)

I refuse to read the second one until the final one comes out. This is silly. I have principles. The first one was so good, but it was clearly not meant as a standalone experience and they are dense so I only want to reread the first one.

Series I’d Like to Start:

Discworld by Terry Pratchett (41(ish?) books. Gulp.)

My first introduction to Terry Pratchett was through Good Omens, and I know deep, deep in my bones that I’m going to love these books. But–there are so many! I think I will read them in sub-series order because then I can break up the larger world into smaller, more manageable series. That seems more doable.

The Wilderwood by Hannah Whitten (2 books, so far?)

These look like some good, dark fairy tale adaptions, which are generally my preferred reading material.

Have you read any of these series? Do you have a favorite book series? Let me know in the comments!

Top Ten Tuesday: In Which it Is Described How My Enjoyment of Certain Books Has Changed Over Time…Or Not

allison burris, , , , , , 5 Comments

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature from the book lovers over at The Broke and the Bookish.

So I sort of struggled with today’s topic, which was 10 books that you’ve changed your opinion about over time. I have to be honest, my opinion of books doesn’t usually change all that much. In fact, there are only three series/books I can think of that I’ve fallen out of like with over the years and that I will never willingly read again (my good opinion once lost, is lost forever). The reason for this is pretty simple–for pleasure I pretty much only read the books I like and I’m fairly good at evaluating them and moving on. Even though my reading of texts change (I don’t read Harry Potter the same way that I did as a kid), my pleasure at reading doesn’t diminish just because the book isn’t similar to other things I’m reading. I tend to strike a balance between judging a book on its own merits and seeing it within a larger body of works and in its time period–I’m big on context. Because of this, I think I have fairly reasonable expectations on books and so they don’t disappointment me very often. However, every rule has its exceptions, and these are mine:

  • The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer–I read the whole series twice, and it wasn’t until the second reading that I really wasn’t so sure about the books. I was so interested in the story the first time, and I read them so quickly I didn’t really evaluate the writing. And then on the second read-through, that’s all I could see–and it wasn’t all that pretty.
  • Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James–Again, another book that I read really quickly and was fascinated by, but I didn’t even have to read it again to start questioning it. As I learned a little bit more about the lifestyle depicted in the book via various feminist websites, I realized that the book really fails at the major issue of consent, which leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And it’s not really realistic either. It’s really your average romance novel with a more risqué premise.
  • Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls–The first time I read this book, I thought it was fine. But from third to eighth grade (I changed schools a bunch) I was either required to read this book or watch the film. So now I can’t stand it.

And here are seven books/series that I’ve continued to love, even if I don’t get exactly the same things out of them as I did when I first read them:

  • The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling–After all this time? Always. I’ve read these books more times than I can count. And they’re still the best.
  • The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank–I read this book for the first time in 6th grade, and I identified with the protagonist in a very different way then than I do now, but the book is still amazing and there’s so much to it and the story of this family.
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen–This one speaks for itself.
  • The Wizard of Oz series by L Frank Baum–Still the charming and magical world I loved as a kid.
  • The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde–This is one of my favorite works by any author in any period. It just makes me laugh.
  • The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot–I recently reread this series and I still think it holds up.
  • Sorcery and Cecelia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer–I bought this book again the other day, (I donated it when I went to college, along with a lot of other books. The only thing I ever regret getting rid of is books…) and I started reading it immediately. It only took me a few hours to read, and it instantly put me in a good mood. Can’t ask for more than that.

 

Have you read (or reread) any of these books? What was your opinion of them? Is there any book that you’ve changed your opinion about over time? Or is there a book that you always stay constant to? Let me know in the comments.