July 8th Recommending Reads

For today's edition of recommending reads, I'm going with my favorite duologies. Duologies are those rare group of books where the story is told in two parts rather than the traditional three. I think a lot of authors, and even publishers, push for the standard three parts because that is the norm. But I really believe that the story and characters should determine how long the books last for. Whether that is 1 book, 2 books, 3 books, 4 books, etc. Every story is unique and deserves to be treated that way rather than trying to fit it into the standard way of doing things.

This are in no particular order. Plus for a few of these I have not even read the second/last book but I loved the first enough to know it would make the list. This was a lot harder to do than I was expecting because it is so rare for duologies. There are a few really hyped ones where the second one is coming out next year such as The Crown's Game/The Crown's Heir by Evelyn Skye, Passenger/Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken, and The Star-Touched Queen/Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi. But I have not read even the first book in those yet.

1. Winger and Stand-off by Andrew Smith
2. If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman 
3. Sekret and Skandal by Lindsay Smith (still need to read Skandal)
4. Control and Catalyst by Lydia Kang (still need to read Catalyst)
5. Not A Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust by Mindy McGinnis (still need to read In a Handful of Dust)
6. An Ember in the Ashes and A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir (This makes the list because the first was so amazing I trust the second one will be too when it finally comes out)
7. The Wrath the Dawn and The Rose and the Dagger by Renée Ahdieh (again still need to read The Rose and the Dagger)

So as you can see because of my problem with finishing series, I have many of unfinished duologies left on my shelves. But I'm slowly working my way down my shelves reading all the unread books and trying to catch up and finish series. 

What are some of your favorite duologies?

May 23 Recommended Reads

So I'm back after a long hiatus, but I'm really excited to get back into blogging and writing full reviews and reading what other people have to say about what they are reading. My first year of Grad School is over and I now have the summer to read and devote time to this blog and the community more than I did during the school year. Coming back there are probably going to be more discussion type posts and lists until I get back into the swing of writing reviews and posting them here.

That being said, I'm going to start a new series of posts today. Basically every once and awhile, I want to post a list of my top 7 books in a certain genre, of a certain length, or even that I read at a certain time. Plus I'm also open to suggestions of what you would like me to recommend. For this first post, I'm going to recommend seven of my favorite series (and series not trilogies, that could be a different post).

1. The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling
2. The Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas
3. The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini  
4. The Falling Kingdoms Series by Morgan Rhodes
5. The Chronicles of Nick Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon
6. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
7. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

This was harder to do than I was expecting, but at the same time it really made me think about what it is about each of these series that has really stuck with me (even the ones that are not complete yet). There is just something special about a series that lets you completely immerse yourself in the world and the characters. And there is something to be said about the wait, whether it is a patient one or not, for the next installment to see where your "friends" are headed to next.

What are some of your favorite series?