Series I Want to Finish (Because I’m SO CLOSE)

​I have a confession to make...

       I’m not good at finishing series (There: I said it, okay?). There are just so many great ones out there and not enough time in the day to finish them all. More specifically, I have time to start all these great novels, but I am awful at finding the time to fit the last few installments into my schedule. The first one will come out, I’ll read it, and then I have to wait a year for the next one to come out, and by that time I’ve forgotten what happened in the last book. (Vicious cycle, I know) After you’ve been reading books as long as I have, there is a long list of these series that I would love to find the time for, and today is the day that some of those are made into an official record for your viewing. If you have any other series I should start, I encourage you to discuss any of these or any new ones in the comments.

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The Half Bad Trilogy, by Sally Green

       I read Half Bad in early 2016 and thought it was good. Then for some reason, I put off reading Half Wild until December of 2016, when I had to look up a synopsis to know what the heck happened in the first book. And THEN, I decided not to learn my lesson and put off reading the last book for over a year now. The first two are sitting sadly on my shelves saying, “Finish our friend! We are lonely!” It makes me sad, too, because I’ve enjoyed the series up until this point. Modern witch stories like these are hard to come by, and it’s probably because this trilogy sets the high standard for the other books in this subgenre. Hopefully Half Lost makes its way to my 2018 TBR Pile soon.

The Shadowhunter Novels, by: ​CASSANDRA CLARE

       Ah, the never-ending pile of Cassandra Clare books. It’s not that I haven’t been trying to keep up with these books (because I have), but they just COME OUT SO DARN FAST. I am impressed by how quickly Cassie can crank out these bad boys, and each one is as high quality as its predecessor. I have read all of The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, and both The Bane Chronicles and Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy. All that’s left (for now) are The Dark Artifices, which I am hoping to read by the time Queen of Air and Darkness comes out in December. I am thinking about putting them on my reading list for this summer to binge.

Shatter Me Series, by: Tahereh Mafi

       I have read the first two books in this series and enjoyed them both. I plan to read Ignite Me, which is the last book in the first trilogy, and Unite Me, which are the companion novellas, before the fourth novel, Restore Me, comes out in March. Since I haven’t read the original last book in the series, I can’t officially say whether I’m excited for the next three to come out or not, but I’ve seen tons of posts on Instagram about it, so I hope the remaining novels are as good as the first two. When reading these books, it was nice to dive back into the realm of dystopias after seeing them disappear for the past few years. I feel like back when The Hunger Games and Divergent came out, all the books that were coming out were very dystopian, and I had forgotten why they were so popular until I took the time this past year to read Shatter Me. That element brought me a little bit of nostalgia since dystopian books were what got me reading in the first place.​

​Rebel Belle Trilogy, by: Rachel Hawkins

       This series is in a similar situation to the Half Bad Trilogy as far as my reading habits go. I remember sitting down to read Rebel Belle and finished it somewhere between one day or a weekend and loved it. It’s too bad that I had to put off buying and reading the second one for so long. But fear not! The time has come for me to knock down the wall of excuses, Google the synopsis of the first two books, and read Lady Renegades before it’s too late! (Because my life has turned into a sequence of Googling synopsizes before reading the next book in the series…I have no shame.)

The Illuminae Files, by: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

​       OBSIDIO COMES OUT IN MARCH, AND I COULDN’T BE MORE EXCITED. I preordered this book back when the authors had the contest to see whose names would be featured in the book (of course). This book also happens to be a birthday present to myself, because I’ll be getting it on March 13th, which is a little over a week before my birthday on March 22nd. I love when life works out like that. But, if you haven’t gotten a chance to read Illuminae, I consider it a must-read. It does look daunting when you first pick up all 600 pages of it, it’s written in the form of online chats, classified files, pictures, and typography, which is what makes the series so unique. It’s one of my all-time favorites.

Furthermore Duology, ​by: Tahereh Mafi

       Middle-grade books are the ones that I wish I had more time to read, but are usually overridden in my brain by all the young adult books that I want to read. I distinctly remember sitting down and devouring Furthermore in one sitting and wanted so much more from the setting and its fantastical world. The land’s magic utilizes color, riddles, and love to run, and it’s an excellent book for young girls (and boys) out there. Furthermore is on the top of my list when recommending books to children. The other book in the duology, Whichwood, came out back in November, and it is on my list of books I want to buy next.

The Magisterium Series, by: Holly Black & Cassandra Clare

       When this series came out back in 2014, I was so excited to read it. But, since only one book came out a year, I was bound to forget what happened in the first book by the time the second rolled around. I read the synopsis and powered through the second, but the reading experience just wasn’t as good for me as it could’ve been. I just decided to wait until they were all out so I could read them back to back. The good news is that the last book is expected to be published in September this year, which means I have time to reread books one and two and collect books three and four to read before it comes out. All I can hope is that they’re better the second time around!

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       There you are, those are the seven series I would like to finish in 2018. Do you have series that you want to complete? Are there any other series I need to start? Let me know in the comments!

Your blogger with a never-ending TBR pile,
Ashton

Sleep is good, he said, and books are better.

— George R.R. Martin