I used to be horrendous at finishing series. And now? I’M FABULOUSLY AMAZING AT IT. (Also terrifically humble, just so we’re clear on this.) Unless I abhor the very sight of a particular book, I plan to finish everything I start now. And I plan to finish them in a timely manner. Hopefully before Armageddon and the zombies come and all humans have to huddle in safe secret locations existing solely on peanut butter and the memories of previously read books. This is my deadline, yes.
Also I did this prompt back in 2014, and can report that I’ve now finished…um…4 out of the 10 series I listed there? OOPS? Clearly I still have much work to do.
This Week’s Prompt: Ten Finished Series I Have YET to Finish
1. SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT
I have about 3 books to go and I even own them (yay for second-hand sales!) so why haven’t I read them? BECAUSE I VALUE MY EMOTIONAL HEALTH, THAT’S WHY. For goodness sakes, Skulduggery is carrying a looks-like-dead Valkyrie on one of the covers. Does that inspire confidence? NOPE. But everyone is adorable and doesn’t mean to be as evil as they truly are and I love them all a lot. They’re like cute fluffy little evil ducklings. I don’t want them to all DIE TRAGICALLY.
Except, I kind of do. So I will read these books eventually. (Why do they have to be so enormous, too, by the way? Gawsh. My poor delicate overlord hands get tired holding 600+ page books open.)
2. LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY
While I love the movies, the first book (and half of the second) bored me half to death. I literally lugged Two Towers ALL OVER CHINA for an entire month while on holiday and ended up reading NONE of it because I hated it so much. “So, Cait, you illiterate unappreciative turtle,” I hear you say, “Why would you want to finish these famous classics now?” An excellent question. But I’d like to try the audios! I do so much better with fantasy on audio. And I refuse to let Tolkien beat me to sleep.
3. HEIST SOCIETY TRILOGY
Ally Carter and I have an…odd relationship. I feel like I should love her books because they’re downright EPIC. But. I usually am pretty uninvested. Still. Heists! Stealing things! THIS IS MY THING. I will finish them someday.
4. Every Trilogy
No, this does not refer to every trilogy ever…I mean the Every Breath trilogy by Ellie Marney WHO IS A GENIUS AMONG MORTALS AND WHO WROTE AN AUSSIE SHERLOCK HOLMES AND LET ME CRY BECAUSE I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Please. Don’t be me. Don’t cover judge. The books are secretly glorious. And I just won the second book, Every Word, from Rachel and am going devour it immediately. I love Sherlock Holmes. I love that Watson is a girl. There is only love here.
5. LEGEND TRILOGY
I have to admit, I was about 2% interested in reading more after Legend. I just thought it was bland. BUT. I was also a wee bookworm when I read Legend and highly critical of anything dystopian because *gasp* how could anything be as good as The Hunger Games?!?!? I KINDA MISSED THE POINT. So. I’m torn but maybe I should read Prodigy and Champion?
6. BZRK TRILOGY
I adore Michael Grant. I’ve read bucket loads of books from him and each have traumatised me to the point where I can’t even look under my bed at night, dangit. And please don’t talk about bugs OR I WILL DIE. I still want to finish the BZRK books. The only reason I haven’t is because I listened to the first two on audio and the library didn’t have the third on audio.
So I have to read it for myself? With my own two eyeballs?! THE SERVICE AROUND HERE IS SLACK, OH MY GOSH. I shouldn’t have to work like this.
7. PENRYN AND THE END OF DAYS TRILOGY
The final book came out this year and why haven’t I read it?! BLAME THE LIBRARY, IT DOES NOT HAVE IT YET. (I blame the library for everything, basically.) I really like this trilogy becaues BLOOD! GUTS! TORTURE! BLEEDING! What could possibly go wrong?
8. HARRY POTTER
You all know my shame. YES. I haven’t finished this series yet. I’ve read the first 5 and, occasionally, when I have nothing else to do but smite rebelling planets and invent cake conspiracies, I read another book. It’s not that I dislike them, it’s that I get annoyed easily. Like Hermione and Harry and Ron FIGHT all the time. And Snape is a hero??? But he abuses children???? And Dumbledore keeps hiring him??? And every time something goes bad with Harry and the others are like “Tell Dumbledore!” he’s all “No, I’d rather potentially die in a battle I had no business being in because I’m like 12 years old.”
WHAT EVEN.
At least Harry agrees
9. THE ENDER QUINTET
Look, I know the author is controversial, but that doesn’t deny that this book is freakishly brilliant! It. is. AMAZING. And I don’t read many adult books or sci-fi. I’d like to read the rest, but, I don’t even know what they’re about. Pfft, don’t suggest I look it up. Please. We’ve established that I don’t do these menial tasks.
10. Chaos Walking Trilogy
I’m mildly horrified by my collection because — ULTIMATE DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY. But that aside, I really really want to finish this series. And I mention it every second post, but it’s PATRICK NESS. It’s on my mind, okay?! If this photo tingles your OCD, there, there. Me too.
I still have to start the Chaos Walking trilogy. O_O And yes, that does tingle my OCD. Also, go finish HP. NOW! What is Skullduggery?
You NEED to finish Chaos Walking ASAP. The second and third book SHATTERED me, body and soul. In the most beautiful way possible *deep sigh*
LMAO I made it to 2/3 of Return of The King and had to quit those books. It’s one of those rare occasion where I VASTLY prefer to movies. LOTR movies, OTOH, I rewatch with my BF every year. It is THE BEST.
I feel like if I read HP now, I would be doing a lot of eyetwitching – but the haze of nostalgia keeps me loving it <3
CAIT! FINISH HARRY POTTER!!! What are you even doing? You should experience the fabulousness of the books and the characters!
I want to read the Every trilogy! So bad! It sounds really great, and for some reason I’ve always loved Australian fiction.
I really want to read Legend! I want to try Marie Lu’s writing because everyone says that she’s awesome, plus I am quite intrigued by how her Young Elites sound.
I didn’t do this week’s list because I have hundreds of series that I have to finish – what can I say, I get distracted easily – and it would be an endless list to make!
The title of this post slayed me! Thanks for a before coffee in the morning laugh. Do you know how difficult that is to make happen? I feel your pain with LotR. My best friend tried to get me to read The Hobbit in 7th grade (age 13), but I could not get into it (I was in a Bronte Sisters phase). I finally read it the summer before my senior year in high school (16 yrs old). I loved it and planned to dive right into the trilogy, but, ugh, just like you, not happening. I have never read them. Maybe I will try the audiobook route, too. I noticed when I was thinking about my Top Five list that I have two duologies I need to read the second books for. How lazy is that? 🙂
Great list! And your your blog is so pretty!!
🙂
Wait you have not read all of the LORT trilogy…. oh that is just devastating….. I want to finish the tales of goldstone wood series….. I just don’t own any more of the books. I also really want to read the books after Red Rising…… I borrowed it as an audio, but the library only has it…. I even picked out a copy of Golden Son one day when you could go and pick books for them to consider buying…… they just didn’t. I like to know how series and even more so how trilogies end. Those are the only ones I can think of right now…
I just bought the first Skulduggery Pleasant book today, at a secondhand shop. Not like I needed it but, I bought it because I remember you raving about it. Mind control is still working 😉
It took me up until last year to finish the LOTR trilogy and I am a hardcore fan, they are monstrous books.
You have Every Word, I want that book so bad. Can’t wait for your review.
My dad read LOTR to me when I was like eleven and I kind of zoned out during books two and three, so I’m not the best person to try to convince you to read it…I LOVED Legend, though. Prodigy and Champion were great….but the last book is kind of mean.
YOU MUST FINISH HARRY POTTER. NOW.
I can’t give you any tips as I am a series dropper too. I made it through LOTR, but really I thought the movie was much better. Those books are such a slog.
I still have to start Harry Potter – oops! And I gave up on the Chaos Walking books. I know everyone LOVES them but I DNFed book 2.
Oh snap girl, I need to read all of these series too apart from HP because Cait, how have you not finished them yet? *gasps and weeps*. I’m SO BAD at finishing series because I HATE having my heart broken and last books in series does that normally. I have literally about 30 last books in series that I haven’t picked up yet… oops!
But the last three Skulduggery books are SO intimidating so I haven’t touched them. I am worried about Skulduggery and Valkyrie since we know that Landy doesn’t pull any punches and just there’s going to be too much sadness…. gah! And Legend bored me too so I never got around to finishing Champion – though I obviously must at some point. It just wasn’t the new THG like it promised it would be. And same, same with Ally Carter. I don’t know how to take her! Her books SEEM epic but they’re a little meh in reality and I haven’t managed to drag myself through the rest of the series, just the first or so books..
Yes, I’m a series finisher. And I still haven’t finished Skullduggery, or read Every Word, though I liked Every Breath. If you’ve read What’s left of me, you soso need to finish that trilogy. Once We Were is good, but Echoes of Us is like the most amazing book or ever. Prodigy and Champion are good too. I read the Lord of The Rings when I was ten and it took me three weeks, but I don’t want to reread even though I do. I’ve only seen a few of the movies, though, because ORCS ARE SO SCARY. Currently I’m working on finishing the published Raven Cycle books. I love the Dream Thieves. And it’s not a series, but I just finished Emmy and Oliver!
*snickers at the fact that my Chaos Walking trilogy looks perfectly perfect* *feels ashamed at snickering*
YOU SHOULD TOTALLY FINISH THE CHAOS WALKING TRILOGY. The Legend trilogy was meh. I mean, I really like bits of it, but I just got so annoyed with the June and Day dynamic. So, I mean, it was good but it wasn’t, and I’m not sure whether you’d like it or not. *shrugs* I want to finish the Ender Quintet too, but I haven’t done it yet, I think partially because I’m nervous that the rest of the quintet won’t be as good as Ender’s Game. I mean, how could they possibly be as good? And people tell me they’re weird, so I dunno.
I haven’t even started LOTR because it’s just so intimidating! I’ve been told by many people that I need to, but… there are so many more books I need to read!
OMG and End of Days. I have it on my freaking bookshelf and I STILL haven’t read it! I don’t know why because I ADORED the first two 🙁 My mood just doesn’t agree with that book lately!
By the way, (I totally haven’t stalked you on instagram or anything), but I’m a new follower on Blog Lovin 🙂
Here is my Top 10 post 🙂
I also have to finish Legend and Chaos Walking. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Legend either, so getting motivated to read the others is hard. But I’m really ashamed to have not finished Chaos Walking! There are just so many series’ I’ve got to finish that it’s kind of crazy. Just gotta start with one, right? 😉
My Top Ten!
GAH! HOW DID I FORGET TO PUT ON THE EVERY TRILOGY?! Because, dear god that series, I ADORE THEM and I am antsing to get onto book two because book one was AMAZEBALLS. (And yes I feel that is an appropriate use of the word.)
I really don’t blame you for finding the LOTR trilogy hard to get through, because yes ok they are amazing and classics, but they are also hard to read at points. Some parts are brilliant and OMG, but others are just, dear god people, please stop talking this is insane. (I have issues with Tom B and the Council of Elrond because REALLY.) I really hope that you enjoy the audio of these though!
HEIST! YES! For me nothing will ever beat the gloriousness of the first book, and I feel kinda grumpy about this series because it felt like there should be another book after the third one but there is no fourth book and WHY?! I pine.
I’m terrible at keeping up with series. I used to be pretty good but now I just have too many books and it’s a downward spiral. One day I will be all caught up though I just know it! I haven’t read all of Harry Potter. I stopped after book 4 because it was just getting too emotional and the bad guys won too much. Bad guys win enough in real life I don’t like them to win in my fiction too! The Elite has been on the edges of my radar as is Ally Carter. Great list and I love your reasons for reading/not reading them.
You need to read the rest of the Every trilogy ASAP! The second book was incredible, and the third was still great but definitely the weakest in my opinion (but still oh so good!). I also think you should continue with the Legend trilogy! It’s one of my favourites, but it has been awhile since I read it so I might actually have a different opinion of it now and not even know! And obviously Harry Potter is a must! I hope you enjoy them when you get around to reading them!
Also, I want to crown you as the queen of book photography because your photos are always so so beautiful 🙂
About Harry Potter, you literally just stated the reason why I am not a huge Ron and Hermoine shipper. ALL THEY DO IS FUCKING FIGHT (i feel strongly about this, I AM SORRY.) Where is the romance? I like love/hate romances but Ron and Hermoine did not work for me. THERE, I said it. Now I will forever be known as the human who didn’t ship this infamous couple.
Also, I totally need to finish Skullduggery Pleasant too. I read book 1 AGES ago and kind of never picked the series up again .-. Gonna fix that though since I loved book 1.
I hope you loveeee Every Word, Cait! I finished it a couple weeks ago and adored it! Ellie Marney is a GENIUS.
Speaking of Michael Grant, I need to finish his Gone series. I’ve read all but the last book but his books are SO intense and they just require me to be in a certain mindset. Also kind of really terrified by what will go down in the finale *cries*
YOUR LIBRARY NEEDS END OF DAYS. You need End of Days. EVERYBODY NEEDS END OF DAYS. You know, all of what I just said would sound really weird to someone who doesn’t know that End of Days is the name of a book…
And I also need to finish the Chaos Walking trilogy. I am also terrified of the last book in this series because I imagine it will make me want to curl up in a ball and die. The first two books were INTENSE and I doubt the last book will go easy on my poor nerves.
Now, get on finishing all these series, Cait. DO IT. DO IT NOW. Right this second.
Cait, we share soo many in common. I still need to finish EVERY WORD series! And I only read the Hobbit of LOTR and never read LOTR. Oops?
Dude, you definitely need to finish BZRK. I love that trilogy sooo hard and no one else seems to, so HIGH FIVE FOR LOVING IT TOO. Auto-friends. Ha!!!! I just was gifted an advance copy of his next book, a WWII novel where women can be drafted and it’s about 3 girls that sign up and end up in Africa and then are going to Europe to fight the Nazis and aaahhhh it’s soooo good. I think it is out in 2016 – January for USA and hopefully AUS/NZ too!
I definitely thought I was a serious finisher but maybe not so much? Whoops. I tried to be and then failed epically.
Ally Carter is also on my TTT!
Mine: http://rachelwritesthings.blogspot.com/2015/09/top-ten-finished-series-i-have-yet-to.html
You really should finish the Legend Trilogy. I just read them and really enjoyed them( you can see my reviews for them on goodreads).
And you must finish Harry Potter.
I WILL. I actually just borrowed bk 6 on audio today! GO ME. XD
FINISH HARRY POTTER!!!! I think you should try Prodigy. I still need to read Champion, but I like the trilogy. I haven’t read most of these series, but their on my TBR list. Also I love the title to this post!
Can we talk about the sheer hilarity of that Sherlock GIF?
I am a series girl. Stand-alones…what even are those? 😉 Sinner is sat on my pile as we…type? (Do companion books even count as part of a series?). I read the first four Gallagher Girls and the first Heist Society, but my library doesn’t have the last two of the first series or the second book of the second one. Still, I will finish these series. I must. Gallagher Girls #4 totally blew me away! And then there’s Shadow Scale (the second Seraphina book) which is a definite must-read. I could go on, but then we’d end up on series that aren’t even complete yet and manga.
Every is a series I need to check out.
Hmm…I only got through the first one and a half Skullduggery Pleasant books (I keep meaning to go back, I swear).
OMG yes you have to read End of Days! It was so amazing and does a great job in wrapping up the series. Tell your library to get it in gear ASAP! Also yes Harry Potter! I know a ton of people on booktube and goodreads who do random Harry Potter read-alongs through the year if that might be something to check out.
That really is the timeline we’re working with here. THE PRESSURE.
Okay.. I get the message. Maybe I should finally see what this “Skullduggery Pleasant” is all about? Because you rave about it all the time and I have absolutely no idea what it’s about.
You’re right. The are EPIC. Ally Carter is my favorite author, and what’s not to love about heists? Heist Society is THE BEST! You have to finish it soon. I’ve been meaning to reread them because they’re just fantastic and one of my favorite series.
Along with Skullduggery Pleasant, the Every series appears to be your other obsession. I really want to read the Every series because they sound absolutely wonderful and I love Sherlock.
I’m not sure what to advise you to do about the Legend series. I’d say, give it a chance. Overall, I liked The Young Elites way better and I feel like Legend may have been a tad too long. Also, I don’t like June.
Mismatched series are terrible, BUT I rather like your mismatched Chaos Walking series. They seem to fit. They’re all mismatched and artsy in a way and I actually think they look good. A series with “chaos” in the title shouldn’t match.
Olivia @ Fluttering Pages
I’ve read the Kindle sample of Legend several times but could never get into it based on that. I feel like I should read more, but it’s simply not on my priority list right now!
I’ve also never read any of the Harry Potter books, oops~ *hides*
Right now, I’m reading Queen of Shadows (of course) and I just finished the Mistborn trilogy. The Hero of Ages crushed a small part of my soul, but I also loved it tremendously. Now I’m just trying to read more and carry on with everyday life…*sobs*
By the way, I love your blog font! It’s Raleway, right? I’m a bit of a font nerd. XD
I have yet to even start HP. I have watched all the movies though (bad bookworm, I know). This Christmas though I am thinking of doing something over at the blog where we would read one book and watch the movie and compare the two.
LOTR was on your IG yesterday I believe and you talked about it being too boring to finish. I bought it awhile ago because it was a leather bound edition and I’m too nervous to pick them up. My boyfriend talks about their awesomeness all the time so I know I’ll give them a try sometime in the future (near future…eh probs not).
I am on the seventh and final Harry Potter book. I do adore these books and will definitely be reading them again (someday). Another series I have read is the first two of The Bill Hodges Trilogy by Stephen King. I can’t wait until the third book comes out! The next series I will be reading is The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker. After that, I will be reading the America Gods series by Neil Gaiman.
I think it is safe to say I am a sucker for a series.
I love that you have a deadline! Although, I’m hoping in the case of an apocalypse that I can bunker down somewhere with all the books I haven’t read yet and just read. 🙂 End of Days is on my list. I need to finish the Legend series by Marie Lu as well. You can check out my list in the link below!
I, too, am a changed woman when it comes to series! I SHALL FINISH THEM. And out of the, uh, 14 I’m currently reading (yes, really … gosh I’m a terrible person) I shall finish AT LEAST FIVE before I start any more! (Hahahaha you’ll probably see me starting a new one, like, next week. Oops.)
LotR, you JUST NEED TO STICK WITH! Seriously, though, halfway through Two Towers is where it gets really really intense and good. I’m not just saying that, I promise.
Apart from that the only ones I’ve read are Harry and Skulduggery and, well, I think you know my feelings pretty adequately on those particular series … XD
PS Cait thanks for the heads-up RE my vlog failures, I got it to work! 😀 #fail on my part though ~hangs head~
Only 14?! PFFT. I FEEL LIKE I’M IN THE MIDDLE OF A MILLION AND TWO SERIES HERE. -_- It’s a bit outrageous but a LOT aren’t all out yet, so I really can’t help with that. 😛 I feel like with audios I have a HUGE chance of liking LOTR. So I really should at least try, right?!? I’d probably need to go back to the Fellowship because…I FORGET ALL THE THINGS.
Haha, don’t worry! 😀 I think I did that with my first vlog too. Now I can go back and watch yours, right?!
Great list, you have a lot of wonderful series that you need to finish. A lot of these are series that I still haven’t even started yet, but really want to. I have far too many of these to start myself.
You know what I am going to say…. FINISH HARRY POTTER! DO IT! DO IT! You have gotten through the beast that is Order of the Phoenix, which is like a punishment in itself. You HAVE to continue and finish now. If you can make it through Order of the Phoenix, you can make it through anything.
I want to read LOTR because I LOVE the films. BUT they sound pretty boring. And long. And like they waste far too much time with songs and such things. My sister read them all and told me the movies were actually better. She NEVER says that about adaptations, so I am inclined to trust her.
Toooo many books. NOT ENOUGH TIME. Where are our clones, dangit. It’s like 2015 already.
I WILL! I WILL! And I got inspired from everyone’s Harry Potter encouragement and got out the 6th book on audio today! 😀 So once I finish Game of Thrones I’m onto this. XD
Ok, fighting battles at 12 years old may be a bit much lol, but that’s also kind of Dumbledore’s fault, and I still think you should finish the series. Do it for Lupin! Ok, I have no idea if you like Lupin, but I do, and it was worth a shot 😛
i WILL FINISH HARRY POTTER, I PROMISE! In fact I was inspired by everyone and got out the 6th book on audio today! 😀
Oh man, you got some big series to finish! I personally love the Legend series. The 2nd and 3rd book mature a lot in tone and get darker.. The ending of Champion really got me. Also, yes! Finish the Chaos Walking series. Holy crap, man. What a series.
Also, you were mentioning on Elizabeth’s blog about where to start with Pratchett. I have a handy dandy chart for you. Now, it isn’t completely updated, but this is my recommendation: Read the Wee Free Men series (YA), then go back and read the Colo(u)r of Magic and The Light Fantastic. From there you can jump around a lot. His books are not strictly chronological. I personally like the Watch series and the Mort series, but the Witches series is also very very popular. http://www.lspace.org/books/reading-order-guides/the-discworld-reading-order-guide-20.jpg
YES I HAVE WORK TO DO. *collapses on the floor exhausted just thinking about it all*
Ahhh, I do need to get onto Pratchett. XD I actually got an ARC of The Shepherd’s Crown (it was an unsolicited one) and so do you think I could read it without having read aaall the first ones?!?
I haven’t read The Shepherd’s Crown yet, so I’m not sure how much it references the previous books, but based on what I remember from the series I think you could read the first one and then skip to The Shepherd’s Crown. But I would read Wee Free Men first for reference points. And it is worth the read.:)
Ahhh, that would make sense. And I actually own Wee Free Men because I found it at a library sale for less than a dollar SO YAY. I have a starting point! I need get onto this. 😉
Re your comments about Snape: THANK YOU. I am a huge Harry Potter nerd but I cannot stand Snape’s “redemption” arc. Like GET OUTTA HERE. I don’t care that he does one nice thing in his life – that does not negate what he did in his past and what he did throughout all seven books. He is an abuser and it really gets me riled up to see people PRAISE someone who abuses children. Urghhhh
YAAAAY!! YOU AND I SHALL STICK TOGETHER ON THIS!! I just don’t understand how someone who maliciously bullies little kids (omg, Neville is just a baby) can ever be redeemed. Nope. Just nope.
Harry Potter!! That is all LOL .
Seriously I need to start the Penryn and the end of days trilogy everyone seems to love it. I need to finish Michael Grants Gone Series.
YES GET ONTO MICHAEL GRANT’S SERIES ASAP. I feel like some of the middle books were kind of just fillers!? BUT. Still fun. xD The last book is perfection. :’)
I wish I read more book #1s (how do you say that? It just sounds awkward…) that made me want to continue the series. I’ve got a ton of reviews for the first books in series or trilogies that I just didn’t like that much, so I didn’t continue. And even if I do like the first book, I often don’t like the second… so I’ve read very few series from start to finish!
I wouldn’t mind finishing Elizabeth Knox’s Dreamhunter Duet; the first book was pretty good. Anne of Green Gables is another series I really should read in its entirety; but, since I read the first and second books when I was eight, I’ll probably have to start from the very beginning because I don’t remember much at all!
Haha, I know what you mean. Firsts?!? Maybe that?!? I actually hesitate to keep reading series sometimes, because I don’t usually blog-review them because no one reads the reviews. D: I AM SHALLOW LIKE THAT.
You can totally skip The Two Towers and be okay. The first book and the third book in the LOTR trilogy are the best 🙂 My TTT
AHHH I don’t know if I could skip though?!?! I AM worried I’ll need to go back and reread the Fellowship though. o.o AGH. That’ll kill me. XD
Sometimes I’m not sure if I can read your blog because it makes me want all the books SO MUCH. Lol 😀 But seriously, have fun with the Harry Potter and LOTR. 😉 And now I’ll go add more books to my TBR
IT IS A WONDER AND A CURSE. XD But still…if I’m convincing you to read all the books, my job here is done. XD
Your job has been done fabulously. 😀
Yes, yes you should read the rest of the Legend trilogy! It’s one of the few series out there where I’d say that each book improves on the last. Legend was good, but nothing special. Prodigy? SO AWESOME. Personally I loved Champion and it was my favourite of the lot, but I think your mileage is going to vary there depending on how much you like the ending.
OH WELL THAT IS GOOD NEWS! 😀 I feel like I can’t judge a series off just ONE book, right?!? And plus the covers are gorgeous. I can totally read a series just based on cover love, right?!
I REALLY need to start The Chaos Walking series! I’ve heard so many things about it. Ehh, I didn’t like the Angelfall series, and I’ve actually heard that last book is a BIG disappointment. As for me… YES, I AM A SERIES FINISHER. It’s kind of sad, actually, because even if I absolutely ABHOR book 1 in a series, it’s really probable I will pick the next one. :/ I agree about Harry Potter, but that series is special for me because it got me through my high school years. May I recommend a series you MUST read for Halloween? (Are you seeing where I’m going?) Well then if your answer was yes (and if it was no, I don’t care :P), I recommend The Monstrumologist, which I am sure you’ve heard me talking about it. 😀
I have heard you mention the Monstrumologist…maybe once or twice. 😉 HEHE. I think my library has it actually!! I SHOULD READ IT. Although I don’t really do Halloween, buuuuut…I can be always easily persuaded for creeptastic books. 😉
I can’t believe you haven’t read Harry Potter 😉 But I totally feel you about LOTR. I love the movies but OMIGOD are those books boring! Especially book one and two. They just drag on and on and on and burn them with fire.
I am a bit of a bookworm failure here, aren’t I?! No LOTR or Harry Potter. *sentences self to corner of shame* hehe
I’m not too bad about finishing series. The only ones I haven’t finished is the Taken and Chaos Walking trilogy (just because I do not own them). I usually become rather obsessed with a serie/trilogy and finish one book after another.
I WISH I could do that!! All the shiny books distract me and I’ve totally never binge read a series!
So many people today said that they haven’t finished Harry Potter. My mind is blown! Lord of the Rings is one of my favorite series. Hopefully you” enjoy it on audio. End of Days is on my list too. Penryn is awesome! But I’m stuck on the third book. It’s on my Kindle though and I think that’s the problem not the book.
Really?!!? I FEEL A BIT BETTER THAT I’M NOT ALONE, THEN. XD hehe Agh, but I hear ya on the kindle vs book thing…I have that problem too. Like I’ll have a book on my kindle for aaages and then I’ll just borrow it from the library so I can read it physically. xD
I love the idea of series … I really do … it’s just I haven’t found very many in recent history that I’d like to read all the books of. On the other hand, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the sequel to Prisoner of Night and Fog and please can someone give me the rest of Anne Elisabeth Stengl’s Tales of Goldstone Wood series? Sidenote: I’d also love to write an amazing historical fiction series one day where the points of view are possibly all boys (and it would be set in Russia), but I keep thinking a series would be infinitely harder to write than a standalone…. Oh well. Marvelous post, Cait! Can you recommend any other contemporary or historical series by the way?
Oh oh I’ve almost FORGOTTEN about the Prisoner of Night and Fog series. I NEED THE NEXT BOOK ASAP TOO!! It’s out, isn’t it?! I don’t even know if it’s a trilogy or not. Agh, I need to research this.
SET IN RUSSIA?!? *signs self up to buy all your books of ever*
(I actually don’t really read many contemporary series…o.O It’s weird. They’re not as popular for some reason?! I TOTALLY recommend Elizabeth Wein’s historical fiction books, particularly Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire. They’re more companion books than an actual series but OMG I CRIED MY HEART OUT.)
I’m struggling with the prompt this week, because most of the series I’m interested in aren’t finished yet. (A Song of Ice and Fire, I’m looking at you!) But I do want to finish Chaos Walking this winter.
I think the Legend trilogy gets a little better after that first book. The world building really takes off in book two and I think that helps a lot with the blandness of book one, which seemed to be all about introducing people. Still not as good as THG, though. 😛
SAME. I hear ya, I do. I nearly put on Game of Thrones but YEAH NO. >_> And I also nearly put on Throne of Glass and The Raven Cycle and omg, these authors need to write faster. xD
*whispers* Nothing can beat The Hunger Games for me, really. xD
Agh I too have read the first Heist Society book and I actually really enjoyed it… heists! What’s not to love!?!? Perhaps I’ll read the rest some day… or plan my own fabulous heist and be a super cool con artist or whatever! You know that whole before zombies take over the world scenario thing you mentioned? Do you think humans could survive on peanut butter? It is certainly an interesting debate, one that I wholeheartedly agree with ;-D
INVITE ME ALONG TO YOUR HESIT THEN. I’ll be the comic relief. WHAT COULD GO WRONG?!?! x) I’m like 99% positive humans could live on peanut butter, and books as a supplementary diet. *nods*
“Stealing things” LOL. The Ally Carter books do look fun, I have to say. And LotR- I love them now, but when I first read Fellowship as a wee lad I was beyond bored with the whole traveling through the shire for 800 pages… talking about farmers and stuff. 🙂 It grew on me tho… 🙂
I feel like LOTR isn’t the kind of book you can rush, right!?!?? More of a stop-and-smell-the-roses reading journey?! I NEED TO FINISH IT. XD
I need to add the Chaos Walking trilogy to my TBR list. I keep hearing good things about it.
AND FINISH HARRY POTTER. Basically, finishing Deathly Hallows will leave you with a book hangover that won’t go away for days. DAYS, I TELL YOU.
I NEED TO KEEP READING IT SO BAD. *glares at ominous TBR* I swear it’s growing, atm. AGh. XD And, OH, I hope you’re proud, but I just book out Harry Potter bk 6 from the library today. 😉
I also need to finish the Legend trilogy! I had the same thoughts when I read it. It wasn’t my favorite ever, but I have just heard so many more good things about it that I have a feeling I might need to re-read this. It took me awhile to finish the Lord of the Rings trilogy, since big and (I hate to say it…) slightly boring, but I managed to do it last May! Skulduggery Pleasant sounds awesome and I need to read it now, since I know Engie also loves it. Have a fabulous week, Cait!
*whispers* We can quietly confess it’s boring together then, shall we? 😉 I feel SO GUILTY for admitting it, but yes…nope. I nearly fall asleep every time I touch those books. AUDIO IT SHALL BE. Engie got me onto Skulduggery. BE CAREFUL. Her recommendations are wonderful AND SUPER PAINFUL XDXD
Bat Harry Potter, I’ve not read most of these. I started LOTR, but it bored the hell out of me. I have The Knife of Never Letting Go, and I have the whole Angelfall series, but I’ve yet to read them. I also have my brother’s copy of Skullduggery on my shelf, but have also yet to pick it up. >.> Otherwise, I have no interest in the series you mention here except maybe the Every series. But I don’t know. I’m not big on detective-y mysteries, they don’t generally appeal.
I am for the most part a series-finisher. If I fall in love with a series, I’m there until the end. I just love a series. My reading roots are in fantasy series. I think I might love series more than stand alones – though of course I love them too. The only series off the top of my head that I’m behind on is the Spellcracker.com series by Suzanne McLeod, an adult urban fantasy series with fae. I just typed out this long description of what it’s about, but then couldn’t remember if what I was saying was the plot of the first or a later book. But if you’re interested, you can read about it here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4278916-the-sweet-scent-of-blood?ac=1 The series is GOOD! I have the next one I need to read, but have yet to get to it. I don’t why why, I’m silly. I should really get on with it.
AH YAY ANOTHER LOTR FAILURE. XD hehe. I just love fantasy so much…except LOTR… and I feel like an utter bookworm cheat. XD oh and Skulduggery gets better as it goes along. Like I was liking but not loving the first three books, and after that?! Totally 5-star areas. *happy sigh*
Ohhh, I shall check out that series because I actually do need some fantasy recommendations! 😀 I ADORE fantasy but rarely find any good newbies. XD
YES, READ PRODIGY AND CHAMPION! I felt the same about Legend–it was good, but not GREAT–but this series is SERIOUSLY GREAT, OKAY? Just stick it through until the end! Trust me! And, gosh, Cait–finish Harry Potter, would ya?! XD I know it can be frustrating…well, I don’t–I read the series when I was 6. SO I THOUGHT IT WAS THE BEST THING EVER. Love this post, anyway, Cait! 😀 I’m good at finishing series, I like to think, although it takes me forever and a half to do it!
OKAY I TRUST YOU, ERIN. DON’T LET ME DOWN NOW. #thepressureison And I juuuust borrowed bk 6 of Harry Potter on audio from the library today. Aren’t you proud. 😉
I am completely with you on Penryn and HP. My excuse for not finishing Penryn is I’m stubborn and I want to own my own copy. I don’t have an excuse for not finishing Harry Potter my tbr is just ginormous and I don’t feel motivated to re-read book 1-4.
As for the Legend trilogy… I enjoyed it and CHAMPION CRUSHED MY HEART. Sorry had to throw it in there…
Great list 😀
Well if Champion crushed your heart…CLEARLY I NEED IT IN MY LIFE AFTER ALL. And those covers are totally beautiful. That’s good enough reason to finish reading them right?!?!
I kind of feel the same way about Ally Carter! I started the Heist Society series, but I stopped at the second book and then never remembered to pick up the last one. And I just love the theme of that trilogy, but somehow it just slips my mind that it even exists.
Thanks for stopping by!
Kar @ Pause Time
SAME! I wish there were more heist and crimey books out there…where are they?!? WE NEED THEM. I wish I loved all Ally Carter’s books more, but yeah…not really. 🙁
Why Dumbledore still keeps Snape around makes sense in the end, but I agree that he is still terrible to children and not really all that awesome. However, it’s definitely still worth reading the series! The last book is my favorite of the series. 🙂
Oh so it IS explained?!? GOOD. Because it’s bugging me so so much. -_-
I want to read the Every Breath series but I keep forgetting! I should just borrow a copy from the library, yep that’ll ensure I get to it! And ha, I have read one of the Skullduggery books, so I don’t have any faith that I will finish that series. Ever. I did just finish Penryn and the End of Days!!! I’m pretty meh about that last book, but I’m proud I finished it. The series was one of the first I reviewed on the blog, though I realized I never reviewed Angelfall, just World After. D’oh!
HA! I do that too! I mean, borrow things from the library because it ensures I’ll get to them faster. heeh. I feel like most people were meh about the last Penryn book!? It worries me SO MUCH because I loved the first one and then I thought the second one already wasn’t as good. Nooooo. IT’S GOING DOWN HILL RAPIDLY.
Honestly, it is not as good, but still worth it just to wrap up the tension between Raffe and Penryn. 🙂
I totally agree about the Heist Society! It is absolutely 100% my thing but for some reason… nothing… it frusterates me. I’m going to go look up this Skullduggery Pleasant business 😛 I’ve been following your blog for awhile and seen you reference them before and it went straight over my head, but now I’m way too curious to let this go haha.
Uhhh… and the Every trilogy?! How did I not find this in my Sherlock Holmes investigation? I NEED TO GET THIS NOW! I am currently on a mini rabbit hole type obsession with all things Sherlock Holmes and I need his in my life… obvs.
I love that you haven’t finished HP yet. I adore that series, and I live and breathe for all things Harry but I feel like it’s just so EXPECTED of everyone so I love when someone hasnt finish this series. That’s a weird thing for me to say I think 😛
Your pictures are also very lovely <3
OMG WE ARE TWINS IN THIS, LAUREN. I wish I could give a definitey Why-Ally-Carter-Isn’t-Working-For-Me but I just CAN’T. I keep expecting to be enamoured but each time I finish a book I feel completely meh. 🙁
I will reference Skulduggery for a million years until everyone reads them. 😉 THEY ARE SO GOOD AND SO PAINFUL.
And YES YES YOU NEED THE EVERY TRILOGY. OMG GET ONTO THIS. THE FIRST BOOK IS SO SO GOOD. I will never have enough Sherlock Retellings in my life. XD
You’ve got a few series here I still NEED to check out! It’s never ending. So many books, so little time :-(. Awesome post, your posts always make me smile 🙂 :-).
I know right?! We need 49208 more hours in our day. SOMEONE MAKE THIS HAPPEN FOR US.
Aww, really?!? I AM SO GLAD THEY MAKE YOU SMILE. Knowing that makes me smile. XD
Chaos Walking is one of my all time favorites!
I can completely see where you’re coming from with Legend – 2 and 3 are better than the first, though..
My TTT: http://never-anyone-else.blogspot.com/2015/09/top-ten-tuesday-finished-series-i-have.html
Ohh, if Legend improves as it goes on I DEFINITELY need to get onto it!
In my humble(ish) opinion, the Heist Society books are so much more enjoyable than Gallagher Girls books. It’s definitely worth finishing the trilogy!
I’m talking an English class that focuses on Tolkien works, and I am NOT looking forward to suffering through LOTR. I will stand with you and take the moldy vegetables that the LOTR geeks will throw as we try to save ourselves by listening to the audio-books.
Good luck with finishing your series!
I totally need to. I mean, stealing things?! WHAT CAN GO WRONG. (I adore the Italian Job and Ocean’s Eleven movies so. so. much.) Omg, you are a non-Tolkien fan too?! OMG LET US STAND TOGETHER AS WE BEAR THROUGH THE BARRAGE OF ROTTEN VEGETABLES, SUNNY! XD I so don’t understand their magic. Maybe one day?!? MAYBE?!?
So, you obviously need to finish Chaos Walking, because it is amazing. And granted, your books do not match. BUT at least they go in height order, so not all is lost! Legend for me got better with the next two books. I mean, it isn’t like my favorite series ever or anything, but I liked the next two books better than the first. The first bored me a bit. And I’ll just pretend we aren’t talking about Penryn and the End of Days. Great.
Your pictures? GORGEOUS, as always. Maybe more gorgeous than usual. I approve. 🙂
YES I DO. And at least it’s very deviously well done of the books, because they ARE called Chaos Walking, and these 3 editions are nothing if not chaotic. WELL PLAYED, BOOKS, WELL PLAYED.
Why not talking about Penryn?!?! WAS THE LAST BOOK NOT OKAY?! OMG, TELL ME, SHANNON, I’M FREAKING OUT HERE.
I have ambitions for being a series finisher, but at the moment I’m just not…. In the last three years I think I’ve started and not finished around 40 series (there’s a whole shelf dedicated to it on Goodreads because it’s that much of a problem). I’m working on it though and I think I’m slowly starting to lower that number! Yay for the small successes in life.
Also, READ HARRY POTTER!!!
Oh oh I start SO MANY. Gah. But a lot of the ones I start these days aren’t even all published yet, so I don’t feel guilty about starthing them. hehhe Buuuuut ONE DAY I will get on top of this! 😀
I finished reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy and I remember enjoying it so I really want to reread it. I still like The Hobbit even better, though. I need to read The Ender Quintet and just more sci-fi in general. One of my WIPs is sci-fi but I don’t even read that much sci-fi, which is silly.
I haven’t even read The Hobbit. I MEAN. HOW SHAMEFUL IS THAT?!?! It’s a full on kids book! Oh oh but I’m the same with sci-fi. I’ve read, like, 3 sci-fi books in my life and written just as many. -_- Clearly there is an unbalance here.
It took me about a month each to read the Lord of the Rings books. They’re just so dense that you can’t even read them quickly without missing tons of information. That being said, I had seen the movies (way too many times I’d care to admit) so I knew the story, which made it much easier to visualize. Book 2, The Two Towers, was my favorite book in the series. I urge you to try them again, and maybe watch the movies before tackling each book to make it less tedious.
Agh, I loooove the Legend trilogy — it’s one of my favorite dystopian series. Give the rest of the series a go, but the first book is definitely my favorite by far.
Harry Potter is epic and I totally get why some people just don’t get Snape. That’s fine. In the books he’s a lot slimier than in the movies. I think I may also like Snape a lot more BECAUSE of Alan Rickman. 😉 But Harry Potter. As a Harry Potter fan I urge you to finish the series, but the last two books are definitely weaker and less enchanting than the earlier books.
I kind of do like that about the movies-plus-the-books…I wasn’t actually interested in City of Bones until I saw the movie! THEN I read the book and adored it. SO YEAH. I’ve watched the movies twice, I think, but doing it simultaneously would be interesting to compare details too! 😀
Everyone is saying the Legend trilogy is good! I NEED LISTEN.
hhehe, and I will finish HP. I WILL. A book a year isn’t terribly slack, is it?!
I definitely recommend finishing the Legend series. I absolutely loved it.
I’m not a great series finisher either. I need to finish Percy Jackson, I have one book left but I’m kinda putting it off because I don’t want it to end! I need to finish off the Vampire Academy series too.
OKAY!! 😀 I’m very easily convinced. XD And I get curious…also the covers are pretty. And YES that is a good reason to finish a series. XD
I am JUST like you when it comes to LotR – I WANT to love it. I mean, what self-respecting fantasy loving bookworm doesn’t love LotR. But I tried to read it and I just couldn’t. I have heard that the boring factor goes way down on audio, though – I’m up to trying it if you will! 🙂
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Omg, I’m sooo glad I’m not alone in this then. XD I feel like an evil bookworm but…they were so boring. >_< Ahhh, we should challenge each other hehe.
Aww, they might not match (the Ness books) but at least they don’t-match in a relatively pleasing way. Like, ascending height order and all that. What’s worse is when you have a series where the middle book is tiny and the others are huge or whatever. SO FRUSTRATING. Or, all of them match except ONE that OBVIOUSLY DOES NOT MATCH. (I have this problem way too often.)
It IS true. And plus they’re called Chaos Walking and they’re rather chaotic so WELL PLAYED, BOOKS, WELL PLAYED. And omg I know that feel when they don’t match horrifically. That is me and my Magisterium small collection. Bk 2 is tiny, and Bk 1 is as big as Noah’s ark. IT’S JUST NOT FAIR. WHY CAN’T THERE BE ONE SIZE OF BOOKS?!
I need to read Skulduggery. I NEED HUMOOOOR.
YES YOU MUST FINISH THE LORD OF THE RINGS. IT’S MY FAVORITE. (That and Howl’s Moving Castle, which is small so easier to read. XD And no I”m not going to stop bubbling about it ever. :P) I second the listen-to-the-audiobook decision. *nods seriously* (That’s actually how I read them the first time, come to think of it…)
YES READ THE OTHER HEIST SOCIETYS THEY’RE AWESOME. Because heists. *nod nod*
I just got most of the HP books at a library sale (LIBRARY SALES YAYYY) so Imma read them at some point… maybe… I’m missing the middle one though. 😛
I haven’t read the rest of the Ender Quintet, BUT I have read some others kinda-sorta in the same universe. SO MANY BOOKS. There’s one called Ender’s Shadow that I loved almost as much as Ender’s Game and it’s fascinating because some of it takes place on the same time-line as Ender’s Game so you get to see some of what’s going on during EG from Bean’s POV. IT’S FASCINATING. I think you might adore it. *nod nod*
My OCD-ish self is dying sliiightly. At least they go up like steps so it’s not TOO horrendous. (Like if the middle was taller or shorter than both of the others. *shudder*)
Love this post!
THE LOTR AUDIO MARATHON HAS JUST GOT TO HAPPEN. I find there’s like SUCH a better chance I’ll like something if it’s on audio, particularly if it’s slow. XD
Library sales are life. LIFE I TELL YOU. I only own 2 Harry Potter books but…library sale. 😀 I have like book 2 and book 5. -_- Because I’m organised like that.
Gah, I need Bean’s POV. I would probably like almost definitely totally adore it. I NEED 29482 MORE HOURS IN MY DAY TO READ ALL OF THESE OMG.
And at least the Chaos books are kind of ironic right. I mean CHAOS WALKING?!?? AND THEY DON’T MATCH?!?! Well played, books, well played.
I came into this post fully expecting Skulduggery Pleasant to be on this list.
And it was…and YOU HAVE TO READ IT, CAIT! FINISH IT SO YOU CAN KNOW MY PAIN!!
*cough* Did I say pain? I meant happiness. Obviously.
And I LOVE the Legend trilogy!! Admittedly, Prodigy wasn’t the greatest (*cough*lovetriangle*cough*), but Champion was fantastic.
And I know what you mean about Harry Potter…but I still love those books.
I KNOW YOU MEANT HAPPINESS AND RAINBOWS WHEN YOU SAID PAIN. I just know this. I’m totally sure there’s a happy ending coming. TOTALLY…
*breaks down sobbing*
The love triangle has totally scared me off Prodigy. What do I dooooo. Read it or run screaming?!
READ IT! Champion is so good! You just have to get through Prodigy, but Champion is worth it!!!
Hi! I am a series finisher! Mostly because I don’t even start a series unless I know it’s something I’m going to like. And although I finished Harry Potter, I can understand those frustrations. 🙂
My TTT: http://lesliehauser.com/2015/09/08/top-ten-tuesday-serious-about-series/
*stares* Why is Harry Potter on this list? HOW CAN THIS BE?
I use to be good at finishing series, and now I’m not so much anymore, haha.
I was just looking at my Legend series and thinking I should finish it. I heard Champion was really good!
I am right there with you on the HP books. I have yet to read #7. And yes, Harry needs to learn to go to responsible adults for help. 🙂
A bunch of these series I haven’t started at all (but they’re on my TBR). LOTR I have read, twice, and second time on audio (which is an excellent idea, especially if you get the ones read by Rob Inglis). And I have read the first book of Ender’s Game, and thought it was pretty decent. I have 3 more in the series sitting on my shelf, but I don’t know if I’ll be getting to them any time soon.
EVERY BREATH IS SO HIGH ON MY TBR ITS IN OUTER SPACE.
Me too, with Harry Potter…
WE SHALL UNITE IN OUR SHAME ON THIS. XD
I am usually so good at finishing series. I think the only one I haven’t finished is Margaret Atwood’s MaddAdam series. I read the first one and enjoyed it, but for some reason I never finished it. At this point, I really need to read the first one again first so I can remember what happened.
I loved the Legend series. Marie Lu is so great. And I love Michael Grant so much. I can’t believe I haven’t read his BZRK series.
I TRY TO BE, CAIT. OH, I TRY. YOU NEED TO BUMP UP LEGEND OMG. THAT END, I LOVED IT THAT SERIES. CAIT. GIRL. CAITTTTTTT. YOU GOTTA PUT IT IN TOP. YOU JUST GOTTA MOVE THAT UP TO NUMBER ONEEEEE. I need to finish Mara Dyer. I must.