Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Favorite Books from Ten Series

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This one was pretty hard. It’s been a while since I was able to dig into a longer series (as in, more than a duology), so memory is a little fuzzy with a lot of the series’ I have read. I used to have a list of the different series I was in the middle of, so I could track what I’d read and what the next book I needed was – maybe I need to restart that, as there are plenty I absolutely adored but fell off with somewhere along the way! Anyway, here’s ten books from ten series I have read, where I’ve read at least two books in the series – figured it’d be a pretty boring list if it was just ten book 1s from ten series!

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This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

Genre: Fantasy
Age: Young Adult
Format: Hardback
Published: June 29th, 2021
Series: This Poison Heart Duology
Review

I really liked both books in this duology, but I’d definitely put the first book as my favourite. Bayron has become one of my favourite writers, and This Poison Heart really does a great job of infusing fantasy with the gothic, as Briseis learns more about her strange gifts and family.

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The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco

Genre: Fantasy
Age: Young Adult
Format: Hardback
Published: October 15th, 2019
Series: The Never Tilting World Duology
Review

This is another duology I really enjoyed – I loved the second book, but the first one really shines for the way it’s set out and the journey we take across this world. It feels like Final Fantasy, but with a unique style and voice.

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#The Leftover Bride by Elodie Nowodazkij

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: September 14th, 2021
Series: Love in Swans Cove
Review

This was the first book published in this series, though there are now chronologically two books before this one, all the books are set around Swans Cove. I picked this up right as I was really getting into romance, and it has such a special place in my heart. This series of small town, Christmas Romances are wonderfully written with really engaging characters, and Sorcha and Ryan’s story serves as a wonderful start, with a grumpy Roy Kent-like hockey player as the MMC.

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Saga, Volume 6 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples

Genre: Sci-Fi
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: June 29th, 2016
Series: Saga
Review

It’s actually really hard to pick one favourite out of this series, and if you ask me a few days I’ll probably have a different answer! But for now, I’m going with Volume 6 – partly because it’s at least a little hopeful towards the end, and it’s when Hazel really comes into her own as a more fully fleshed out character, and starts having more of an active role in the plot. But every single volume of this series is excellent, really.

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Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

Genre: Fantasy
Age: Adult
Format: ebook
Published: January 1st, 1988
Series: Discworld
Review

I’ve actually only read the first 6 and the 13th of this fantastic series – definitely need to get on with reading the rest – and similar to Saga, it’s near impossible to pick a favourite! For now, it’s this brilliant Shakespearean tale of a small coven of three witches. I could have gone for Mort, or Small Gods, or Equal Rites…but I really did adore this one, I think because of the Shakespeare aspects.

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Reflection by Elizabeth Lim

Genre: Fantasy
Age: Young Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: March 27th, 2018
Series: Disney Twisted Tales

This is another series I really need to catch up on, though at one point I was pretty much picking up the books and reading almost as soon as they were published. This one is, by far, my favourite. Not only because Mulan is my favourite Disney Princess, but this book made me fall in love with Lim’s writing and totally ensured I was a fan for life of her work!

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A Gathering of Shadows by Victoria Schwab

Genre: Fantasy
Age: Young Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: February 23rd, 2016
Series: Shades of Magic

I adore this trilogy, and the three signed paperbacks are my prized possessions. But something about the 2nd book really hits ever so slightly better than the first or third – the games, the way things are set up, the absolute build-up throughout had me totally hooked and reaching for book 3 as soon as I put this down!

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Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King

Genre: Fantasy
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: November 4th, 2003
Series: The Dark Tower

This is another series where I could have picked almost any of the other books (except The Gunslinger) as my favourite, but something about the showdown here really sticks out in my memory, though it’s been a long time since I read it. This is one of those series I picked up at the exact right time, and read through until completion – alternating between other SK books and the main series itself. The fifth book though just feels like something particularly special for Roland and the others.

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The Lunatic Cafe by Laurell K. Hamilton

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: January 1st, 1996
Series: Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter

My memory of this series is sketchy at best, let alone specific books, but this is the first one I rated as 5 star, and it was enough to keep me reading the series for quite a while after before I basically put down one of the books and never picked up the next one. But…I loved this series. I loved the vampires, the werewolves, and Anita, until every book became about Anita saving the day with the power of sex and every single male character had a huge dick.

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The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice

Genre: Horror
Age: Adult
Format: Paperback
Published: October 4th, 1992
Series: The Vampire Chronicles

I haven’t read these books since I was a teenager, and I’m way overdue for a) a reread and b) carrying on with the series (whoops). I am planning on rereading Interview soon, but something about Body Thief really, really sticks out in my mind. I loved all of these books, but there was something truly special about Lestat exploring his…well, mortal body.

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What do you think – have you read any of these series? I especially want to hear if your favourite books from the series’ featured are different to the ones above! And if you have any recommendations for a series you think I should check out, please let me know.