Book Talk: Cleaning Out My Bookshelf
Well, not literally because I mostly get books from the library. But, one of my new years resolutions is to be a bit more picky with what books and book series I read and continue reading.
My reason?
Mainly because while there are SO MANY awesome books out there, to someone who is addicted to books and who gets caught up in the hype of new books so easily, it makes it extremely hard to keep up. I’m sure lots of you can relate to that. It’s one reason I started my Random Reads meme to help myself dig into my shelf and books that have been sitting on my shelf for awhile
Anyways, so I’ve come to the choice to drop a few series that I have been following or at least started. Generally I will always give a series at least two books to pick up in pace or interest. In the past, I would continue to read a series even if I wasn’t loving it (or even if I was disliking it a lot). But time-wise I just can’t afford to do that anymore.
So here’s the book series that just have to go for me personally going into the new year and why (in no particular order):
1. Sweetblood by Laurie London
Read in series: 2 (+ 2 novellas)
This is a paranormal romance series that I’ve been reading since it first came out in January of 2011. There have been two books so far, and one is coming out this month.
I will not be continuing this one because I have become an extremely picky paranormal romance reader. While the books aren’t bad, they’re just okay, and so I don’t feel like I’d be missing much by not continuing. I have not really been looking forward to reading another one because I just feel like there’s not much special about the world or the vampires in the world.
2. Changeling by Dani Harper
Read in series: 2
This is another paranormal romance series I started this year, but these are about werewolves. Again, while the first two books were really not bad, they also weren’t anything too special. In a genre that can feel very boring if everything feels the same, something needs to stand out for me, and I feel like not much really is with this series. So this is another one I won’t be continuing for reasons of feeling a bit mediocre.
3. Mercian Trilogy by K.J. Wignall
Read in series: 1
This is a young adult urban fantasy I read the first one via Netgalley. While it an a interesting world and I did think I might continue, after looking back on it, I really just don’t want to. The first reason is because it’s from a male perspective, and normally I prefer either alternating view points or primarily the female viewpoint. The other reason is that it doesn’t have much romance in it and I like to have at least a little bit of romance. I also just feel like of all the new young adult series that have come out in 2011, looking back, this was one of the weakest ones I read so I think I’ll be just fine not continuing. The writing is good though, but the series is just not for me.
4. Renegade Angels by Sylvia Day
Read in series: 1
Another just okay paranormal romance. Sometimes I feel like I might not be a paranormal romance fan anymore, but then I read a new one from one of my favorite PNRs or I’ll pick up a Dark-Hunter novel (which I’m still catching up on) and it will renew my faith in my love for PNR. But I have become extremely picky with the genre, and while this was again, okay, it was not anything dazzling.
In case you’re wondering, some of my favorite PNR series are Immortals After Dark by Kresley Cole, Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward, Lords of the Underworld by Gena Showalter, and Dark-Hunter by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Honorable mention goes out to Demonica by Larissa Ionne and Midnight Breed by Lara Adrian. The connecting theme between those would be a larger overlaying story connecting the books. So while each book is about a new couple, there is still a connection between books via a larger event, villain, or person in general going on. So I think I need that with a PNR. The three mentioned in this post do not have that (as of now) by the way.
5. Firefighters of Station Five by Jo Davis
Read in series: 1
Sort of a random pick for me, but I wanted to get into romantic suspense. After reading this I discovered that as of now this genre isn’t for me. So that’s what this is. I didn’t find the conflict all that suspenseful, and while I know I shouldn’t judge an entire genre by one book in a series, my blahness towards the book was enough to keep me away from the genre for awhile, and from the series indefinitely as of now.
6. Anita Blake by Laurell K. Hamilton
Read in series: 7
Okay, so there are people who LOVE Anita Blake, and people who HATE Anita Blake. It seems like it’s either one or the other. For me, I have a love/hate relationship with this series. I have read through book seven (Burnt Offerings), and my ratings have been primarily three stars for all of them, with a couple two stars, and I think one four star. What I’ve loved is the familiarity of the world and the mystery/plot in general. What I’ve disliked are the writing style a lot of the time, Anita a lot of the time (although sometimes I love her sarcasm), Jean Claude all the time, and as of the last few books I’ve read, Anita’s treatment towards Richard.
I won’t get into it all, but after getting through seven books with still mixed feelings, and with a lot of people saying they get more porny (which I really don’t know that I’ll like with the cast of characters given), I have decided to give up. I think I could see myself coming back to this series in years maybe when I’m curious if my tastes have changed, but for now I’m considering it a goodbye.
7. House of Night by P.C. and Kristin Cast
Read in series: 5
This was a series I had on my list for awhile and when a friend offered to let me borrow them, I figured I’d go ahead and try them. Like with Anita Blake, I have a love/hate relationship for them. My biggest love about the series would be the familiarity with the world. I know that sounds lame, but you know how when you’ve read enough of a series, you just like coming back to it for the sake of coming back to it? That’s kind of how it is. I also really like Aphrodite.
As for my hates, they would be long. I’ve read the first five in the series (up through Hunted) and I still really hate Zoey, I dislike the extreme immaturity of the majority of the characters, I don’t like how the characters (other than Aphrodite) do not change and mature due to their experiences. Also despite the books being so short, I never seem to find the motivation or desire to want to pick the next one up. As there’s no ending in sight for the series, I must say goodbye.
8. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Read in series: 3
Okay, so supposedly there’s only one book left. I suppose I could read that book and be done with it. But why? The last too books have felt like filler books to me, and while the first book was in my mind solid and original, they have been downhill ever since. I also do not like how the book series changed from a trilogy to a saga (three to four books) because I feel like this caused the series a lack of direction. So a lot because of principle and because I’ve been bored out of my mind by the last two books, I’m going to pass on the fourth unless it receives phenomenal reviews across the board (which I doubt).
And here are a few that I’m leery to continue, but will probably read one or two more in the series before I decide:
1. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Read in series: 1
My reason for being leery with this one is not because the first one was bad, but because it wasn’t scary. I picked up the book because it looked spooky and I was disappointed that it was not at all. So although I probably will read the next one, I will probably wait to read some of the reviews and maybe even pass altogether.
2. Healer by Maria V. Snyder
Read in series: 1
So this is kind of a different case than all of the books above. I really loved the first book in this series and so normally that would be a given for me to continue. But I also feel like the first book should have been a standalone. It ended nicely and I would’ve liked to leave the mystery surrounding how certain things would come about…well, a mystery. I don’t think they needed elaborating on so I’m hesitant to continue. I probably will though, because I loved her writing style and the world she created here.
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