There are two challenges on my Ultimate Homemade Challenge which concerns the amount of series I have started and not finished. I have this thing about starting but not finishing series. it makes my TBR very big having all these sequels in it. It needs to get sorted out.
Last year I took an in-depth view on the series I’ve started and I reviewed my interest in all these series, but I never posted it 🤦♀️ I thought I had, but apparently not cause it’s in my post-bin 🤷♀️
Anyway, as part of this year’s challenge, I have added two prompts for finishing series I started a specific year. The series I can finish is the ones where all the books are out and I still have an interest in them.
So let’s have a look at which first-book-in-a-series I read in 2015 and 2016 and which of those I’m still interested in and which I can dump. The titles with a line through are series I have since completed.
Series started
2015
Rivers Of London by Ben Aaronovitch
Tigers Curse by Colleen Houck
Legend by Marie Lu
Odinsbarn by Siri Pettersen
If I stay by Gail Forman
A Vision of Fire by Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin
The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
2016
A Darker Shade Of Magic V. E. Schwab
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Ink & Bone by Rachel Cain
The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
Discussion
Firstly, I read more series in 2016 than in 2015, which match my overall read count of those years; more in 2016 than in 2015. Secondly, my taste in books clearly improved 😏
2015
I loved the first book of Rivers of London, but this is a long on-going detective series which won’t be done for a while I reckon. I won’t finish it this year.
Keep for now
I’m not sure if I have enough interest in If I Stay. Yes, I enjoyed the first book, I never saw the movie. but I felt the first book was enough. I’m not sure about this one.
Keep for now
A Vision of Fire was a book that really surprised me. it was philosophical and deep, but also phycological and very interesting. I really enjoyed it but never finished. I now have all the books in the trilogy and its ready to become read.
Read
I loved the first Magnus Chase book. He was so funny and snarky, it hit right home. Though I’m currently a bit sick of Norse mythology being everywhere. As a Scandinavian, I feel protective of the myths and sometimes get annoyed at all these American taking our stories and make money out of it… I do have access to all the book in the series though I don’t own them. I think I will finish them for the sake of Magnus and his sass.
Read
Conclusion: That leaves me with two options for 2015 series; A Vision of Fire and Magnus Chase
2016
I was blown away by A Darker Shades Of Magic when I first read it, but for some strange reason, I never continued. This will be my year! I have all the books and I’m ready!
Read
I wasn’t so keen on Ink and Bone when I finished it. I felt a bit let down and disappointed. I pretty much decided there and then that I was not going to continue.
Discard
The Alchemyst by Michael Scott was a fun read. I read this while I was on holiday in San Francisco and whenever I see the cover I think back on the pancake house I eat breakfast in, across the street from our hotel. I enjoyed the book, but I have no need to finish it yet. I have access to all the books so I will finish at some point but maybe not this year.
Keep for now
I listed to Storm Dancer on audiobook form the library by Jay Kristof when I was driving to and from work sites and really enjoyed it. But my library didn’t have the last book in the series so I never read it. This would be a quick way to finish a series from 2016 as there is only one book left. But I’m not sure if I want to at the moment. I will at some point but not right now.
Keep for now
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan was a book I enjoyed but felt a bit “meh” afterwards and I’m not fussed about continuing.
Discard
Red Rising by Pierce Brown was amazing and I can’t believe I have finished it yet! I have book 2 available and I really needed to pick it up.
Read
Half a King by Joe Abercrombie was a good book, but I wasn’t feeling it. It was entertaining and everything, but it just wasn’t interesting enough. Writing that made me think that I might have an unconscious bias towards female protagonists, and generally dislike the rest… Or maybe I just dont like male authors that much 🤷♀️ I don’t think I’ll continue with this series even though I have access to the rest of the series.
Discard
Conclusion: That leaves me with two options for 2016 series too; A Darker Shade of Magic and Red Rising, with the potential of finishing Storm Dancer as a quick fix.
Which series do you think I should let go off?
Which series do you think I should keep?
Any of these series on your TBR or favourite book list?
Let me know!
A natural history of Dragons was really disappointing for me. But I’ve loved the illustrations in it.
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yeah me too. but i listen to it on audiobook so i didnt know there were any illustratons. maybe i missed out on half the book?
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No, there are few illustrations here and there.
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In think I have something like 90ish ongoing series? I mean, some of them I may never get back to, but I like keeping track. It’s always good to be organized!
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😂 that’s a lot! I don’t dare look at all my series just in case I find too many. I focus on 2015 and 2016. Deal with it in portions 😁
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That’s a good way to go about it!
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Definitely read A darker shade of magic!
Personally I really loved The alchemyst, but I was quite a bit younger. So I’m not sure if I would still enjoy it now..
(www.evelynreads.com)
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I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks 😁
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Ahhh series are the bane of my existence 😂 😂 I have soooo many I haven’t finished! At least you were able to discard some 😀 I really like the A Darker Shade of Magic series! I thought it was really good!
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Yeah, I really want to read it. Also, I just let a friend of mine borrow a darker shade of magic which means I should read the other two so she can borrow those too without waiting too long. 🤔
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I read the whole Red Rising trilogy a few months ago and totally loved it! I hope you can get to them soon and that you enjoy it! And I too have left the Stormdancer series behind. I still have to read book three and probably should! I’d love to hear your thoughts on it if you do read it!
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Yeah I loved the first book in Red Rising series and I also hope to get to the rest soon! I do want to read the third book in the Stormdancer series. I really enjoyed the setting, the main character and the world. When I read it I will let you know what I think of it 😁
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The second and third of the Red Rising series are even better than the first! I hope you like them! And I honestly read Stormdancer years ago and I still remember it so clearly. Jay really did a great job with the setting!
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I’ll keep that in mind! Same here! I remember so much! I also like his female main characters, which so many male authors fail at. Jay just has this way of creating bad ass female characters. I really want to read Nevernight too. Its on my shelf, but I want to wait till the last one is out and then bing read all three.
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I read Nevernight a few months ago and really enjoyed it. It’s definitely pretty bloody but also pretty fun. But I totally get what you mean. I don’t want to read book two until I already in my hands. Hopefully you like the series when you do read it!
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