The Curse of the Unfinished Series

Hi, my name is Sara and I have over 50 unfinished trilogies/sagas/series under my belt.

As most of you know, and have realizing for years, trilogies/sagas (we're just going to call them series from here on out), have been a major trend in most YA fiction. Specifically in the fantasy, sci fi, dystopian/post-apocalyptic genres. Very rarely are we seeing stand alone novels outside of most contemporary stories. In saying this, I was curious about how many unfinished/half finished series I had hanging around. A couple of weeks ago I took the time to do an inventory of all the series I had started. As I was doing this, I got a little overwhelmed and I began to create categories: Series I've completed; Series I've read one book from; Series I've two or more books from; Series I just need finish (the final book has been published, I just need to read it); Series I am totally caught up on (just waiting for the other books to be published).

I was a  little blown away by what I discovered- I have only finished thirteen series (which is kind of pathetic to me), and a few of those are adult romance/paranormal sagas I started and finished before I started this blogging adventure. Thirteen!!! That's it?!?! Terrible.

 The thing is- I have over 40 'book ones' in my repertoire. That's 40 series I read the first book in, but for some reason I chose not to continue for one reason or another. So, I have made the decision- and I am committed to this decision- not to start any more trilogies/sagas/series until I complete two other first. If I complete two, I can start a new one. Which should be good incentive, because there are some pretty fun books coming out that I am eager to read. And I have some firsts on my various shelves that I am eager to get to.

I have 12 series where I only have the last book to read- those are no-brainers. I am going to finish those. Perhaps, in the future, if I am struggling with actually reading these books, I'll get your input on those. But first...What I need your help with is choosing which series I absolutely should keep reading.


Below is a poll of four series in which I have read the first book- and while I enjoyed the first book (for the most part), I wasn't totally taken with the story, and didn't feel like I needed to rush and keep up with the series. I want you guys to vote on which series I absolutely need to keep reading. It's an easy click- and if you feel so inclined to add a comment on what you voted for and why, I'd love that- I want to know what your favourite series is and why.

You gotta keep reading...

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater Jessica Darling by Megan McCafferty

Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta The Selection by Kiera Cass

Do Quizzes

My goal is to have one of these series completed my the beginning of June- it's ambitious, but I am going to try. Make sure to vote, friends. I'll be using the blog to continue this discussion on all my unread series- Stay Tuned.

~Happy Reading Everyone.

The Winning Kiss: The Winner's Kiss Blog Tour

Tour Stops

I am beyond ecstatic to be a part of The Winning Kiss blog tour, to celebrate the conclusion of Marie Rutoski's The Winner's Curse trilogy, The Winner's Kiss. I am a big fan of this series, and have been anticipating The Winner's Kiss all year.  You can read my thoughts on the first installment of this series here.

War has begun. Arin is in the thick of it with untrustworthy new allies and the empire as his enemy. Though he has convinced himself that he no longer loves Kestrel, Arin hasn’t forgotten her, or how she became exactly the kind of person he has always despised. She cared more for the empire than she did for the lives of innocent people—and certainly more than she did for him.

At least, that’s what he thinks.

In the frozen north, Kestrel is a prisoner in a brutal work camp. As she searches desperately for a way to escape, she wishes Arin could know what she sacrificed for him. She wishes she could make the empire pay for what they’ve done to her.
But no one gets what they want just by wishing.


As the war intensifies, both Kestrel and Arin discover that the world is changing. The East is pitted against the West, and they are caught in between. With so much to lose, can anybody really win?

**Le sigh** I haven't read The Winner's Kiss yet, but you better believe I will before to much longer.

My Favourite Literary Kiss

I cannot be the only one who struggled with this. My favourite kiss? Seriously? Have you met me? I am a romance junkie and I love all the kissing! So I struggled, and I waffled. However, in the end I figured it out. 

Ana and Sam

Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Ana and Sam has been floating around this kiss for the book's entirety. Sam's will power was a force to be reckoned with. But finally... 

Let me set up this scene for you. Sam and Ana are at a Masquerade. They're both wearing these pretty intricate masques and Ana's having a hard time figuring out who Sam is... and then, there he is (she thinks), dancing with her. 

"His fingers brushed my cheek, down my neck. The entire masquerade stretched out before me, but my focus tunneled to the man behind me. Hands eased around my hips and held tight as we spun; my feet lifted off the ground, but even when I thought the wings might carry me into the breeze, he held me tight."

Swoon, right? 

"A cold breeze made me shiver as I tightened my grip on his. Stepped close. Searched his eyes. 

His lips tilted up at one corner, like amusement. I'd known, but still, the familiar expression stunned me so much I almost didn't act. 

I kissed him." 

Finally!!!

"It wasn't an easy, sweet kiss like I'd imagined mt first kiss would be, but frustrated and hungry. That was good, better than easy and sweet, because after everything, I was frustrated and hungry for him, too."

Oh, this scene, just gives me all the feels: 

So, now that The Winner's Kiss is upon us...

What kiss do you hope will occur?

I am hoping for the bottle to burst with Arin and Kestrel. Those two have been denying their feelings for far to long now. It's gonna to be reminiscent of Ana and Sam's kiss. They're not going to be able to help themselves. I just can't wait.

The Winner's Kiss

by Marie Rutkoski

On Sale March 29th, 2016 

~Happy Reading Everyone! 

February Recap

It's March 1st and time for me to reflect on the past month.

February was full of good and bad. I have a pretty high stress job, which has been VERY high stress and a little overwhelming for me since about October. So, at the beginning of the month a friend and I went to Tulum in Mexico- The Mayan Riviera- and it was absolutely amazing!  This was my very first tropical vacation, and I absolutely loved it.

 

It was so relaxing. We had two full beach days- where we sat on the beach, read and jumped in the ocean when we got hot. I freaking love the ocean! It's so clear and blue and I swam (well snorkeled) with Dori fish and sea turtles and I saw eagle and manta rays. It was lovely. We were there for seven days and I was able to start and finish two books (it probably could have been more, but the first book I wasn't a huge fan of, so it took me some times to finish). 

After that, I came back to madness at work, got sick and am now trying to play catch up- again. 

Anywho, onto the bookish recap

Number of books completed

9 

Physical books

5

Audiobooks

  4

Favourite Read of the Month

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson

This was my vacation and read and it was absolutely perfect for the beach! It was a light fun book, and I loved the characters so much. If you haven't read this- get on it! 

Favourite Listen of the Month

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling

I am slowly rereading the Harry Potter series by listening to it. My local library has them all on audio and the narrator, Jim Dale, is absolutely genius. He's really making the series fun. Now I am eagerly waiting for Goblet of Fire to be available, but I have five people ahead of me- BOOOO!!

How am I doing on my bookish resolutions: 

Okay- I read The Little Prince as part of my List of Twelve goal. And I am currently reading a debut, which I thought I would have finished by yesterday, but work has been insane and I come home exhausted. So, I'm not reading at much. My goal for March is to get at least two debuts read. It's really important to me that I get that done. 

That's about it for me. Bring on March, and hopefully things on my end will slow down and I can get some serious reading in. I would like to have physically read six books (break this cycle of five), and go from there. 

~Happy Reading Everyone!