patrick ness | Watching the Words

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:

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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness – An engrossing series, amazing from beginning to end!

Now, the worst:

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…
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – I LOVED Hunger Games – Catching Fire got there eventually – but I found Mockingjay disappointing…
Fallen by Lauren Kate – I liked the series when it started, but by the end I was just annoyed…
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?

So this week’s challenge was to list authors that I think deserve more recognition. That doesn’t mean that they don’t get any recognition, I just think they should get more. It also doesn’t necessarily mean that they are writing the greatest literature of our time (although some are), just that I think they are being overlooked. Oh, and I only came up with 9, although I am sure there are more I’m just not recognizing…

Authors of my 3 Favorite Mystery Series:

Louise Penny – Her Inspector Gamache series is simply amazing and she should always be at the top of the NY Times bestseller list!

Reed Farrel Coleman – His gritty Moe Prager novels are the best of the best and shouldn’t be missed by any mystery fan.

Kate Carlisle – My favorite cozy mystery series – The Bibliophile Mysteries combine two things I love – books and mysteries. These books are a step above many of the cozy mysteries out there.

YA Authors:

Patrick Ness – His Chaos Walking series is suspenseful and dark and well-written. Fans of dystopian fiction should give them a try – they are as good or better than other series out there.

Rainbow Rowell – I read Eleanor & Park and fell in love – I hope to see much more from this writer and hope she gets overwhelmed with recognition.

Markus Zusak – The Book Thief should be required reading in every high school, until that happens, and until he is recognized as having written the next classic novel, no amount of recognition will be enough!

Adult Authors:

Eoin Colfer – His Artemis Fowl series received a great deal of attention, but I would like to see him receive more for his adult series featuring Daniel McEvoy.

Anthony Marra – A Constellation of Vital Phenomena was amazing and I can’t wait to read more from him!

Robin Sloan – One of my favorite books of the year – Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore was a funny, quirky story of a quest for immortality. Anticipating what comes next!