Series I Want to Read

I LOVE reading series. I consider anything with three books or more a series because any story that extends past two books seems to have more potential to pull me in. And any series to which I commit (meaning the first book makes me want to read on), I become super involved in the characters' lives and don't want the series to end.

However, reading a series is also a serious commitment. It means other books get put aside because I must read a series back-to-back! Not only do I not like waiting to see what is next, but I also have a horrible memory for details. I know I lose little pieces when time and other books come between books in a series. Not liking an interruption in a series means I put off reading a series until all books have been released. I've found this out the hard way. I found Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series when it was a trilogy - a nice boxed set at B&N. Bought it, read it, loved it. And then...there was a fourth. And then...there was a prequel. And then...there was a list of release dates for book five and six, as well as prequels two and three, all published interspersed over the next so many years, which ended this past year with the last book released. Why, Cassandra, why? Not that I'm upset for more of a series I loved, but I will have to go back and reread from the beginning! That is, after they are all out in paperback, because that's how I started collecting them...but that's a topic for another day.


Anyway, here are some series I am looking forward to reading:

Source: candacesbookblog.com

1. The Mortal Instruments, by Cassandra Clare. See above, of course. If you're not familiar with this series, it begins with the book City of Bones, which was made into a movie. It's fantasy and reminds me only in genre of Harry Potter. There is an overall dark lord causing problems in the supernatural world, which is connected to the human world as well. A group of supernatural fighters work to defeat him. (Yes, much deeper than that, but best summary I could think up without an overabundance of detail. Y'all have Google!) Also my students love them and it's always good to have books to talk about with them, as well as recommend.

Source: Amazon.com

2. The Century trilogy, by Ken Follett. This series consists of Fall of Giants, Winter of the World, and Edge of Eternity. The series looks at the interrelated lives of five families, spanning from WWI to the present. I like interrelated characters, where the reader sees all the connections, even if the characters don't. And my reason for looking into it at all is two fold. First, I've read Follett before and liked his work. Second, I found the first two books in their huge hardback form at B&N for $7 each. Can't beat that! Waiting for that third one to go on sale before I start.

Source: dixiedelights.blogspot.com

3. Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. Rave review after rave review and so much excitement when a new one comes out makes me very interested. I actually have no clue what they're about and that might be good. I wouldn't want too much expectation to ruin it for me. What I've had a hard time nailing down is the number and order of books. From the author's site I've found that there are eight major novels to the series, four short novels/novellas, a handful of side/short stories, and at least one more major book (#9) in the making. (Someone correct my book numbers here, if I'm wrong.) You know what this means? Outlander will have to wait until I hear that ninth book has a publication date!

Source: christianbook.com

4. Matched trilogy, by Ally Condie. This series is dystopian, which I have enjoyed in other series thus far, such as The Hunger Games and Divergent. In the world of Matched, officials decide everything about your life, so that it may be perfect. Has something of The Giver feel to it. I will likely read these by the end of 2014.

Source: novelnovice.com

5. Uglies trilogy +1, by Scott Westerfeld. This is a trilogy consisting of Uglies, Pretties, and Specials, with a companion novel called Extras, which is from a different perspective. Again, dystopian. Everyone has plastic surgery to look perfect and, of course, there's a group who wants no part of it. These were recommended to me so long ago and I have them all ready to go. A friend recently read my set and she didn't really care for them. So I'm going to give it a try and see what happens.

Source: squeakybooks.com

6. Gone series, by Michael Grant. I believe this series may have been on a list of mine previously, but they weren't all out yet and I think they are now. There are six, one word titled books in this series: Gone, Hunger, Lies, Plague, Fear, and Light. I haven't heard a whole lot from others about this series, but the premise sounds fascinating to me. Once again dystopian, the Gone series looks at a world where every single adult has disappeared. There are only teens and the story takes on a Lord of the Flies bent, where people team up: bullies against the weak, powerful against the powerless, etc. Typical problems, such as hunger, arise amid unexpected problems, like mutating animals. Sounds promising.


The Matched, Uglies, and Gone series are likely the top of this list for me because I already have the books for them and they've been sitting on my mind for awhile, ready to be read. Are you a series reader? If so, any good recommendations?