The other day, I was re-organizing my books and I realized I have a LOT of books sitting in my TBR piles that are the final book in a series. Some of them are just trilogies, and others are a part of a long series that I invested a lot of time (and years) into. Either way, for one reason or another, they just got pushed further down my TBR and I never got around to them.
So, in no particular order, here are the ones I’m most desperate to finally read:
Title: Seven Minutes in Heaven
Author: Sara Shepard
Series: The Lying Game (#6)
Publication: July 30, 2013
I was never a huge Pretty Little Liars fan. I started reading them because I wanted to watch the show (which.. never really happened either.. Whoops!). And then Sara Shepard released The Lying Game series. I was really torn about buying them. They looked interesting, but she was dragging PLL out so much and they weren’t as good as when the series first came out, so it made me a little bit skeptical when it came to The Lying Game. I ended up buying the first book in Borders for about 40% off between coupons and my membership. But I never read it. And then book two came out around the time Borders announced it was closing. I wasn’t sure about buying it, since I hadn’t read book one yet. But it was 30% off. I decided to wait and see if the price went down as it got closer to the store closing. And it did. I snagged it for about 50% off. I read the first and second books back-to-back and fell in love.
The Lying Game is way, way better than Pretty Little Liars (no offense to PLL fans). It’s a murder mystery with a supernatural element to it and it’s fascinating. I’m so sad I haven’t read Seven Minutes in Heaven yet because it will answer all the remaining questions. I’m dying (pun intended) to know who the killer is and see how it all plays out. I’m truly hoping to get to this one in the next few weeks!
Title: Winds of Salem
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Series: The Beauchamp Family (#3)
Publication: August 13, 2013
I’m a little confused with this one. I’ve heard that, while it’s the final book in the trilogy, it is NOT the final book in the series. I’m not sure what that means, but I’m eager to find out! For now, I consider this the final book. I’ve always been a Melissa de la Cruz fan. I loved her Blue Bloods books so much! So when she decided to tackle an adult Science Fiction book, I was game! I really enjoyed the first two and, since I’m fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials, I have a feeling Winds of Salem is going to be my favorite in the series, by far! I’m really hoping to get to it before the year is out!
Also, for those who don’t know, The Witches of East End is now a television show on Lifetime. It’s very different from the books, but so far, it’s really awesome and you should definitely check it out!
Title: Awaken
Author: Meg Cabot
Series: Abandon Trilogy (#3)
Publication: July 2, 2013
If someone were to ask me who my favorite author was, I’d reply: Meg Cabot. And for those of you who know me, I’m a HUGE fan of Greek mythology (just look at my blog’s name!). So it should come as no surprise that I’ve absolutely been LOVING Meg Cabot’s Abandon Trilogy, which is a modern take on the Persephone myth. The first two books were awesome and I’m dying to see how it all ends. But, unfortunately, I haven’t been able to read it yet. To be honest, I feel like a bad Meg Cabot fan because I didn’t even BUY Abandon until August or September. Normally, I buy Meg Cabot’s new books on release day, and finish them two or three days later. So the fact that it’s October and I still haven’t read it? Bad, bad Mer! This one is top priority for when I get around to all the books on this lovely list!
Title: Daylighters
Author: Rachel Caine
Series: The Morganville Vampires (#15)
Publication: November 5, 2013
I have a lot of mixed feelings about the Morganville Vampires series. It was amazing in the beginning, but it hit a snag and there were a couple books that were just so so. I pushed through, though, because I love the characters. The plot wasn’t always amazing, but the characters felt like friends and I still cared about them and worried about them, as if they were real people. And I’m so, so glad I kept with it, because the last two or three books – but the last two especially – were amazing!!! They breathed new life (hahaha, sorry, couldn’t help myself) into the series and Daylighters looks like it’s going to be an epic, amazing, incredible conclusion. It just released, so I don’t feel as guilty as with the others books on this list. But I still really want to get to it and see how it all ends – even if I’m a little scared!
Title: ArchEnemy
Author: Frank Beddor
Series: The Looking Glass Wars (#3)
Publication: October 15, 2009
*Clears throat.. Stares at publication date… hangs head.* I’m feeling some major guilt on this one. Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that I love, love, LOVE Alice in Wonderland retellings. And this one was one of the first I ever read. I loved it and it was just… Loved. You guys should seriously read it!
Sooo… If I loved the series so much, you ask, why did I never read the final book in the trilogy? Well… The first book, The Looking Glass Wars, was published in 2006. And then the second book, Seeing Redd, was published in 2007. And then nothing. Nothing for two whole years. And back in 2006-2009, I didn’t know about Goodreads and I certainly didn’t know about blogs. I would check author websites occasionally, but other than that… I had no idea how to go about searching for news of the third book. To be honest, I assumed something had happened and it was just never published. I gave up hope. And then, one day on a family vacation, I stumbled upon book three! But after two years, I didn’t remember enough to read the final book without re-reading the first two. And at the time, I had so much else to read.. I put it on the back-burner and just never went back to it.
Now I really, really want to finally read it. I want to re-read the first two and so I can finally read the third. Desperately. Splintered by A.G. Howard has re-awakened my love for Alice in Wonderland retellings, and I’m really hoping I can finally finish The Looking Glass Wars after all these years!
Title: The Book of Dreams
Author: O.R. Melling
Series: The Chronicles of Faerie (#4)
Publication: May 1, 2009
This series has a similar story to Frank Beddor’s The Looking Glass Wars. I’m pretty sure this series was the very first one I ever read with faeries. And I loved them! Very, very much! They are more like companion books in a series than actual sequels, and each book deals with a different heroine. Except.. the Book of Dreams has the same heroine as the third book, The Light-Bearer’s Daughter. So… again, you ask, if I loved the first three books so much, why did I never get around to the fourth and final book? Like with The Looking Glass Wars, the fourth book in The Chronicles of Faerie came out two years after the third book released and I just didn’t remember enough to read the final book without re-reading the entire series – Granted, I probably only had to re-read the third book to read the fourth, but I really wanted to read them all again. And I just.. didn’t have the time.
I do hope I’ll get to read The Book of Dreams soon. It was an amazing series and I’d love to finally see how it ends after all these years.
And there you have it. The six books that end a series, that I have yet to read and am dying to get to. I’m sure there are more. If I took another look around my room, or went downstairs and checked the books I have in my family room or went up to my attic to check all the bins up there, I’m sure I’d find more. But for now, these are the ones I’m the most desperate to finish. These are/were some of my favorite series and I’m ashamed of myself for not finishing them sooner.
So talk to me, guys: Do you have a series (or a bunch of series) that you have yet to complete? Is it just one book holding you back from finishing the series, like with all the ones I mentioned above? Or are you several books behind on a beloved series? Share it with me in the comments!
And, since this is my first “On Meredith’s Mind,” I would love feedback on what you thought of it!
While I do find a lot of books I’m super-excited about on release somehow slip further & further down the TBR pile, they don’t tend to be series books.
What I am terrible for is matching covers. If I’ve got part of a series in a particular edition, I like to get the others to match. Even – and indeed often – if that means putting off buying a book I’ve been desperately waiting for just because I want the matching paperback edition.
And I often don’t start series at all until the final book is out (Divergent, for example, or Matched).
I know, I know, this is all tl;dr, but I wanted to reply for a change! And by the way, I love “On Meredith’s Mind”.
I totally get that! If I buy book one in a series in hardcover, they all have to be hardcover. That’s just about my only format/cover quirk. But I know a lot of people who go all out like you do and I can completely understand! I love matching covers, but I’m too impatient to wait like that!
Thanks!! Glad you love it!! ^_^
I always get a first book in a series either from the library, or as a cheap Kindle deal. If I liked it, and want to read the next one right away, I get the ebook. Then, if I want to own the series, I buy the box set of hard covers when the third one comes out.
Oooohhh, that sounds like a great system you have!! :)
I haven’t yet read Cold Days by Jim Butcher. I was sooooo excited for it then when it came out, I got incredibly nervous that it wouldn’t be as good as the others. Which was an odd feeling because it’s not something I experienced with any of his other books. But this is number 14 and 15 is coming out soon. I’m just afraid that it will turn into one of those series *coughAnitaBlakecough* that the author just keeps putting books out for to make money when it should have ended already.
Out of the six you mentioned, I’ve only read the Morganville Vampires and I only made it to book four. When I started five, there was something that happened and I went ‘Orly? We’re making this mistake AGAIN?’ and I just couldn’t finish it. I thought the first few were amazing, the others were okay. But at the current moment I don’t have any desire to pick the series back up.
Ooohhh, I get that. I read a few series’ that are like that – They were great in the beginning, but now it’s time to just let them come to an end!
I’m sorry :( If you ever give Morganville another shot, I promise they get better again! Especially the last few books!
The thing is, there hasn’t been a single bad book, imo, in The Dresden Files series. It is one of the best series I’ve ever read. I don’t know why I’m so anxious about reading the next book! lol
I might, one day when my TBR list isn’t quite so long. :) I’ve been running a fever on and off for over a week so I took a break from reading. I still have to write one review.
Maybe you’re anxious because of the fact that you haven’t read a single bad book in that series, and you’re nervous that, the longer it drags out, the liker it is you’ll run into a bad one :\ Or maybe you just don’t want it to end!
Awww, I’m sorry you’ve been sick! I’ve had a migraine all week, so I didn’t do much reading either. Yay for the weekend though! Haha
So, obviously, I’m just going to tell you that you NEED to read DAYLIGHTERS. Like now. Just do it! (:
Yes, yes yes!!! I’m going to try ASAP!
I am not allowed to be behind on series anymore. I had too many that I bought signed copies of, waiting for the series to be complete before I would read them. Annnnnnnd then a friend would tell me how horrible the series end was and I wouldn’t read them.
I like OMM. I look forward to what else you’re going to talk about.
<3
Yupp! I do that a lot too. I just keep buying the books and then never get to the series at all -_- I’m trying to be better about that!
Yay, thanks!!! <333
It’s funny I haven’t read any of these books you posted lol. I do want to read The Witches of East End series though. It looks really interesting. As far as the book series I started yet haven’t continued, well there’s too many to say hahaha! I’m am way behind on many series, but I do want to desperately continue the Bloodlines by Richelle Mead. I read the first one and loved it! Can’t wait to see what else you post Mer!
Witches of East End is so, so good!!!! Let me know what you think when you get to it!! :) OOhhh, same with Bloodlines!!! You MUST read those! So good!!