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! 

My Thoughts: Ready Player One By Ernest Cline

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the  OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

I have been dying to read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline for ages now! Some of my go-to reader peeps highly recommend this book and I have not really heard anything bad about it. So, in order to convince myself to read it, I added it to my List of Twelve and read it back in January- Finally! Here's the kicker- I am probably in the minority when I tell you, I didn't love this book.  That's not to say I didn't like it, I just wasn't blown away by it.

Ready Player One takes place in the future- a future where the world's resources are limited and poverty is everywhere. People have resorted to interacting with one another through the OASIS, a sort of virtual reality- it's actually pretty cool. When the founder of this system dies, he plants an Easter Egg in the game and who ever finds it wins his fortune (which is a crazy amount). Naturally, everyone and anyone has been trying to find this egg, including our protagonist, Wade.

Ready Player One is a fun story. Really- the idea of an quest and an Easter egg was so intriguing. I really enjoyed the challenges and would get totally stressed out when Wade was in the middle of one, or when he was trying to decipher a clue. I was really rooting for him. I loved how obsessed participants of the Oasis were in finding this egg and winning this fortune, that they became scholars of 80's pop culture. It was pretty intense- albeit a little unrealistic- but it was fun none the less.

I also really like the friendships Wade was able to make with some of  the other folks who were also hunting. Everyone was very apprehensive of one another and extremely distrustful, so when actual friendships were developed- it was pretty great. There were also some pretty nasty villains who do some pretty terrible things.

But, after all that, why wasn't this book as magical for me as it was for others. Here's the thing- Ready Player One pays homage to the 80's. And yes, I appreciated all the 80's references, but in all honesty, more than half of them were lost on me. I am a child of the 90's and give me anything from that era and we're golden, but the 80's that's a little tougher for me. Therefore, in that sense, I just could not connect with the story. All the references to movies and television shows were not that exciting to me. I wanted to be excited though, cause it's a pretty awesome idea! I want a book like this for my decade.

There were also times that I felt like the story was taking to long to go anywhere- Wade does something about three quarters in that I am not 100% certain was totally necessary for the overall movement of the plot. I found there was a lot of stagnant space, where I was on edge and waiting for something to happen or be revealed and nothing did or it was really slow coming. Now, this maybe just a style of story telling I am not used to, and therefore don't fully appreciate.

Overall, Ready Player One is such and unique and entertaining read that I would recommend this to everyone. I loved the gaming world (and no, you don't need to be a gamer to enjoy this book), I loved the adventure and I loved the quests. I am indeed curious about Cline's other work, Armada. I am pretty sure I will read it some day- soon.

Happy Reading Everyone!

 

January Recap

Let's try this.

I know it's like almost the middle of the month. But whatever- let's get to it.

Number of books completed

10 

Physical books

5

Audiobooks

  5

 

 

Favourite Read of the Month

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

 How is it possible that I have never read this book before- It was fantastic. So clever and fun, and I got all the feels reading it. 

Favourite Listen of the Month

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

After my experience with I'll Give You the Sun last year- I knew I needed more Nelson in my life. This one is narrated by Julia Whelan and I really liked what she did with the story.

How am I doing on my bookish resolutions? 

Not to bad- I wasn't able to get to a debut, but I did read TWO books from my List of Twelve.  So, I don't think I am doing to badly. 

That about sums up the month of January for me. 

~Happy Reading Everyone!

Vacation Reads

 As you are reading this, I will be sitting on the beach, with my stack of reading material. That's right folks, I am on vacation in Mexico- Tulum to be exact. I have never taken a tropical/beach vacation before and I am really looking forward to it. I have a feeling I may become completely hooked.

As my friends were deciding on what to clothing and swim suits to bring, I was thinking about which books to fit into my luggage. I thought I would quickly share with you what I have decided to bring with me.

I didn't want to be to weighed down by physical books, so I loaded up my Ereader with a bunch of stuff. I will either read a ton, or not at all, best be prepared for it all.

Happy Reading Everyone!!

My Thoughts: Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King

Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities--but not for Glory, who has no plan for what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she's never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way...until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person's infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions--and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying: A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women's rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she'll do anything to make sure this one doesn't come to pass.

So- let's talk about Glory O'Brien's History of the Future and my feelings on it. What a STRANGE little book. I started reading this when I spent a cold winter day at the cabin. I thought, I'll spend the 2+ hours driving there reading, read while at the cabin and finish it on my home- no. This book took me ages to sink into. I think it's  because this book was so weird, and I needed time to figure out where the author was going. I never did, I just gave up and went with it.

Essentially, Glory O'Brien's History of the Future, tells the story of Glory O'Brien and her buddy-Ellie- drinking the remains of a dried bat (ya see- strange). Which, totally does something to them, and they start to see things. In Glory's case, she's getting snippets of the future- and to be honest- it's pretty bleak looking. Full of civil war and human trafficking and all kinds of ugliness. Naturally, this causes Glory to panic a little... and go a little cuckoo.

What bothered me about this book was Glory- she was major Debbie Downer. I like to think of myself as a fairly optimistic individual, I don't tend to think the worst of people or situations, and I usually like people. This wasn't the case for Glory, and I really struggled with that. She was kind of a jerk. Some would say she has good reason to be so miserable- she's still confused about her mother's death and angry at the world because of it, add now that she's now seeing the end of the world- I guess that would weigh on a person. But I couldn't connect with her. I found that she used her situation and her mother's death to keep people at arm's length. When people got to close she would antagonize and insult them, which I just found mean. However, she wasn't all bad (sigh)...What really saved Glory for me was how she cared for her dad- she wanted him to be happy and to live a happy life. She didn't want him to be stuck loving her long dead mother and never living again. This was really important to her and it really revealed her heart. You would get at these little nuggets of a kind and loving Glory through out the novel and truly, that's what kept me going. She does evolve and comes into herself- like I said, she's not all bad. But, I didn't really like her.

What I did like was the secondary characters, I liked Ellie a lot. She was this little hippie girl, who was torn between loyalty to her family and the life she was raised in, and wanting to break free and live her own life. She was self-involved, but she tried. I think she was my favourite. I liked Glory's dad and how strange he was.

The story was interesting. The concept of a second American Civil War and what it stems from was super intriguing. I often found myself thinking, 'this could never happen... could it?' Kudos to A.S. King for that. I don't want to spoil to much here. But I looked forward to these parts of the book, where we would get snap shots of the future.

Overall, I am torn. I couldn't love this novel because I really didn't like Glory and her attitude. But at the same time, the concept and the way it was told was really cool. So, I don't know, I really don't know. Try it for yourself.

~Happy Reading Everyone,