Tuesday Top Ten

 Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Book bloggers create their own lists based on the chosen topics and post links to our lists. It’s a way of all sharing our thoughts and our love of books.  And who doesn’t love lists??

So this week’s challenge was to list the top ten best and/or worst book series endings.  This was tough for me, because although it seems like I read a lot of series, I generally don’t have that strong of an opinion on how they end…  But I did what I could…  What series endings did you love/hate?

First, the best:

1. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling – OK, probably everybody picked this one, but I don’t care.  The only thing disappointing about this ending was that it was the end.
2. Delirium by Lauren Oliver – I know some people were disappointed in the ending of this series, but I liked its relative realism – everything doesn’t always get wrapped up tidily!
3. Pendragon by D.J. MacHale – If you’ve never heard of this series, it’s worth checking out if you are a fan of young adult or fantasy fiction.  I enjoyed it all the way through, even to the ending.
4. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer – In my opinion, the series got a little weak in the middle, but all the things that made me love Artemis were back for the final book!
5. The Giver by Lois Lowry – Finally!  All of our questions are answered!  I though the final book did a great job of bringing all of the other disparate stories back together and telling the story from a different point of view.
6. Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness – An engrossing series, amazing from beginning to end!

Now, the worst:

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer –OK, the whole series was ridiculous, but at least it was entertaining.  Unfortunately, there’s a point where it just got too ridiculous…
2. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – I LOVED Hunger Games – Catching Fire got there eventually – but I found Mockingjay disappointing…
3. Fallen by Lauren Kate – I liked the series when it started, but by the end I was just annoyed…
4. Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare – I enjoyed the book, it was a fun read, but really?  Could her decisions have been any easier?  Could it all have come out any more perfectly?

Clockwork Princess

The Clockwork Princess is the final book in The Infernal Devices trilogy which was written as a prequel series to Mortal Instruments series.

For those who have not read The Infernal Devices trilogy, let me give you a brief overview.  The books are set in Victorian England and the story starts with Tessa Grey heading to London from America to search for her missing brother.  She soon finds herself part of a world that she did not know existed – a world full of Nephilim, warlocks, werewolves, demons, automatons, etc.  As she stays at the Institute, the home for Shadowhunters, Nephilim who fight demons in order to protect us mere humans, she searches for the truth of her own identity, battles demons, and falls in love – of course there’s a love triangle – isn’t there always?  I thoroughly enjoyed this book in spite of becoming tired of love triangles (this one does have a uniqueness), and the books are filled with so much more – adventure, battles, death, triumph, magic, technology, demons, warlocks, politics, family feuds, …  making the series fast and fun – a great way to kill a rainy weekend.

For those who have read the first two books and are eagerly awaiting a chance to read the final piece of the story, the final book does not disappoint.  Maybe things are a little too tidily wrapped up, but hey –this is fiction – why not?  There are epic battles, lives will be ended and changed, new loves will be found, and hearts will be broken.  Will or James?  I’m not telling!  😉

Title: Clockwork Princess
Author: Cassandra Clare
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 592
Publication: Margaret K. McElderry Books, March 2013

Top Ten Books On My Spring 2013 TBR list!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Book bloggers create their own lists based on the chosen topics and post links to our lists. It’s a way of all sharing our thoughts and our love of books.  And who doesn’t love lists??

So this week the challenge is to list the books that are on our “to-be-read” list for this spring.  My TBR list is always long, but I will try to pick out a good sampling of what I’m excited about.

1. Inferno by Dan Brown – I’m sure everyone will be reading this, but I must admit to being a fan of Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code, so I am sure this will be one that I burn through in a weekend.
2. Requiem by Lauren Conrad – The last book in a trilogy that I’ve been reading, one of those that I started when the first book was released and now, after two years, I will finally get to read the end of the story!  I hear mixed reviews, but I can’t NOT read it.
3. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare – Another last book in a trilogy.  Another two years spent waiting for the end of the story…  Finally!  This is why I keep saying I’m not starting anymore trilogies until the last book is released!
4. A Step of Faith by Richard Paul Evans –  This is the fourth book in The Walk series, and while I did not love the third one, I need to follow through and finish the story.  Seeing a pattern here?  I’m not doing this to myself anymore!
5. Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz – I adore Odd Thomas!  This series is not one that I mind waiting for, each book has an actual non-cliffhanger ending even though you know the journey will continue.  With the quirky characters, these are must-reads for me!
6. With or Without You by Domenica Ruta – My next book from my Indiespensables subscription!  It should be here in a couple of weeks and I can’t wait!
7. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson – I have seen a lot of pre-release press on this book and I enjoyed Started Early, Took My Dog so am looking forward to just plain old fiction, not part of a series, something different to contemplate.
8. Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell – I hear such great things about this collection of short stories that I can’t ignore it any longer!  I’m hoping that they will be good short reads for those instances where I don’t have the time to get absorbed in something longer.
9. Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger – I have the ARC of this sitting on my shelf and I am looking forward to a chance to read it – small towns, suspense, coming of age, all story elements I tend to enjoy.
10. The Wonderful World of Oz by Frank L. Baum – I recently treated myself to the new collector’s edition box set of all of the Oz books.  Since these are on my series-to-read list I am going to start reading them aloud to the kids next week!  It’s been too many years (we are not going to talk about how many!) since I’ve read the first book in the series, and I am looking forward to sharing it with the family.

Top Ten Series I’d Like To Start But Haven’t Yet

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Book bloggers create their own lists based on the chosen topics and post links to our lists. It’s a way of all sharing our thoughts and our love of books.  And who doesn’t love lists??

So this week the challenge is to list the book series that we’d like to start, but haven’t gotten around to yet.  I’m going to cheat a little – well, maybe more than a little – and include series that I have started, at some point in my life, but never got around to finishing, series that I want to start over – and make it through the whole darn thing!

1. Wonderful World of Oz by Frank L. Baum – I read The Wonderful World of Oz when I was a kid, but I’ve never read the rest of the series.  I just bought them all in hardcover and am looking forward to sharing these with my kids!
2. Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis – What can I say, some of these classic series for younger audiences I started as a kid, but never moved past the first book for some reason.  So add this to the list as another great series that I could read out loud with the kids!
3. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien – I read The Hobbit and I attempted at one point in my middle-school years to tackle the rest, but never made it.  Since my hubby is such a fan I should probably give them another try!
4. Matched by Allie Condie –  I have made a vow not to start any more trilogies until the last book has been released – I hate that year-long wait between books – it makes me crazy!  And then there’s always the effort of trying to remember where I left off when the next book comes out!  Now that Reached was released at the end of 2012 this is a trilogy that I have put on my to-read list.
5. Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare – I read her Infernal Devices series and the last book is coming out this month, finally!  The Infernal Devices series is a prequel to the Mortal Instrument series, so once I finish Clockwork Princess I will add this series to my to-read list.
6. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon – I have heard a ton of great things about this series, but have never started it.  Travelling back in time, Scotland, intrigue, romance – how can I go wrong?
7. Miss Marple by Agatha Christie – I’m a lover of mysteries and have never spent any real time with the queen of mystery!  I picked up a bunch of her books at a used book sale a couple of years ago and keep meaning to start working my way through them – they’re not too long so it shouldn’t be too hard!
8. Stone Barrington by Stuart Woods – I like a lot of the books in this genre – mystery/thrillers with a recurring character – good quick reads that are entertaining.  I know that this series is popular in my library with folks that like many of the authors that I do, so it’s probably worth a try.
9. Song of Fire and Ice by George R.R. Martin – I’m generally not a huge reader of fantasy, but given the popularity of the HBO series (which I have not seen), I would like to give the first book a try and see how it goes.
10. Divergent by Veronica Roth – A dystopian series that looks interesting and I hear positive things, I just need to follow my own rules and wait until the last book is released in October!