In an effort to have more control over all the book series I have started to read, need to finish or want to start on, I decided to make a few categories I can arrange them into and make myself busy with planning on how to fit them in my future reading plans!
There are lots of second books of the series where the first book did not make that great impression on me. When I was getting them, I went and acquired more than just the first book before reading any, AND NOW I am left with bunch of books on my shelves I did not read.
This is the most upsetting type of unread books on my bookshelves since there is an actual deterrent for me to pick up any of those books and start reading them. Some of these I have even considered just getting rid off without reading them BUT for some reason that did not happen. I feel the need to read them before I can safely find them a new home or something. All of these are on my TBR and on my bookshelves in physical form for few years without me even trying to pick them up.
Book series second books I am not jumping for joy to reading but want to read on anyway:
Belladonna (Ephemera, #2) by Anne Bishop
These two books were my pick to try reading something by Anne Bishop. She was an author that kept popping out on my recommendation lists and many readers were fans of her books. This was back when I was a student and working in a bookstore. I expected something intriguing and magical with a little erotica on the side. It has been over a decade since I’ve read the first book. What little I remember of it is marred by the memory of a slow uphill battle to read trough it. I remember the book was not engaging and even with the main character being an incubus I was bored while reading. Afterwards I remember thinking maybe I tried the wrong book series when I wanted to try reading this author for the first time – the series everyone still praises are Black Jewels and The Others.
The prospect of 450+ pages is not something I am looking forward to. Considering there are a great number of books I am more motivated to read before this one it is not very likely I will be reading this book anytime soon. Chances of it being picked up for some reading challenge are also very slim . the cover does not offer any specific details for a visual prompt, my understanding of the plot being very vague so I can’t fit it in for any plot specific prompt either. The number of pages is too high for a casual read and it is missing out for that 500+ category. All in all very hard book for me to place for an actual reading plan. The fact that there are more books in the series afterwards don’t make me happy either…
The Taste of Night (Signs of the Zodiac #2) by Vicki Patterson
Urban fantasy book series that came out more than fifteen years ago. I picked it up because it fit into the category I enjoy reading in general. I ended up with four books of the series: first, second, third and the fifth one! I have no idea if I’m ever gonna be able to get the fourth one! There are altogether six books in the series and a number of short stores across several short story collection. I remember reading the first book not so long ago – though it has probably been a few years and at this point I am scared to check GR for the actual date because then I would need to do this for each of my book series books!
Maybe it was the mood I was in when I picked it up and read it but it was okay. The creatures and location were interesting but it was more of an average reading experience and I just never felt the need to pick up the second book. Again it is 400+ pages long and not very inviting for the purpose of a reading challenge. It rates better than the book series I mentioned above because I just find UF genre more interesting.
Elminster in Myth Drannor (Forgotten Realms: Elminster #2) by Ed Greenwood
Story of Elminster was something that I let myself get hyped about long before I even bought the books. I played and online video game Dungeons and Dragons Online where the character has had a major role and was generally well liked. I have been playing pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons RPG across two decades on and off and enjoyed the experience. To read about the history and creation of a such a strong character was something I was genuinely interested in. I managed to get four books of the series – with again missing the fourth in chronological order.
Then I read the first book for a reading challenge few years back and almost hated it. The writing style was such an obvious “dude wrote this for other dudes” that I just could not get past it. Slightly over 300 pages long and published in 1992.! This book did not age well. There is something about the main character’s interaction with female characters that made me read and have the hairs on the back of my neck stand out with a sleezy feeling accompanying every reading session.
Judging the book series as a whole gives me hope for future character development of Elminster – in the fifth book he has a daughter that tries to kill him if the book cover is to be trusted! The number of books in the series has climbed to eleven in the mid 2010. Covers and plots are colorful enough for these books to fit into a reading challenge prompt or two. There is hope for this one yet…
Angel Souls and Devil Hearts ( The Shadow Saga #2) by Christopher Golden
These books are like a blast from the past. My general motivation for purchasing these was the vampire theme and urban fantasy setting. I remember the first book being horror dark with a splash of mystery to it. Vampires as a species type along with their background were well written as well. I was just in that period of my life when I did not read much but was intent on collecting books with vampire themes. This one seemed cool and cool it was. What I really disliked were the dark generic covers of UK editions I managed to get my hands on. Don’t get me wrong I strongly believe that the US covers are even worse and that this books series never had a fortune of a caring editor and designer to make sure the visual design of those covers is going to attract potential buyers. US covers look trashy and cliché and among the seven books of the series you can point out a single unifying motive on the cover other than the name of the author. Now that I think about it these UK covers are not that bad.
From what I remember reading in the first book, the characters and their background was rich and intriguing. along the side of vampires and usual urban fantasy elements the horror factor was a nice touch with some rather memorable gory scenes in particular. I don’t remember much but I remember few of those gory scenes. I am considering to read the first book again and give this book series a proper chance. I already have more than half the books – need only three more to complete the set.
My biggest issue is finding an excuse to reread the first book – a little under 400 pages makes it just on the wrong side of that inviting number of pages to get to it. At least now I will be actively looking for an excuse to try!
Confessions of a Bookseller ( The Diary of a Bookseller #2) by Shaun Bythell
This is, by far, the most recent addition to my bookshelves. It might have been an impulse buy to satisfy my neglected dream to own a bookstore. Unfortunately for my long neglected dream, reading the first book did little to inspire me to venture on my own real life adventure of owning a bookstore. The writing style is not as nearly as exciting as the blurbs on the front and back cover would lead you to believe. I might have expected way too much out of the bookstore owning life that it can be written about it in a book like this one – one that is supposed to be based on real life. I need to work on managing my expectations better.
Chances are, I will get to reading this book next time when I need a non fiction book for a reading challenge prompt or when that long neglected dream strikes me again. I recently found that there is a third instalment in this book series and I am not sure if that one is ever going to be on my reading or buying list.
Tanki bodež (His Dark Materials #2) by Philip Pullman
Long before the TV series or even the movie based on this book series came into being, these books were on my reading list as a YA fantasy (more like middle grade). Bf has read them and liked them and at one point I was excited to read them before the TV show comes out and we can watch it together. I barely remember what happened in the first book and I don’t have any fond memories of my reading experience.
For some, this book series is a staple of children’s fantasy and as someone who was supposed to be a librarian youthworker I thought I needed to read this. Whenever I think I NEED to read something for reasons other than my own intrinsic reading needs, I get even less motivated or excited to actually do it.
Most annoying thing about these books is the Croatian edition came out with two types of covers and I was not able to collect one or the other – second book is with a different cover version. And, at this time Croatian editions are sold out and hard to come by. We even watched the TV series and lost interest somewhere around season two. Generally, I just don’t seem motivated to go anywhere near this book series and I feel I might miss out if I let it go.
Chances of me picking these books up to read are slim to none, even with the size of the books being around that 300 mark that can fit a reading challenge prompts easily. I just did not know how much conflicted about these books I was…
Vjetar u Vratima (Time Quintet Series #2) by Madeleine L’Engle
These dreadfully dark covers targeted at children reader audience are Croatian editions of first two books in a series of total five books. Naturally, other books of the series never came out in translation – something that is rather common in Croatian book market. My first objection to these is that I am not targeted audience but it is, AGAIN! one of those beloved children’s books that I feel I should know more about. I was not an avid reader of big book or long stories when I was a child. I preferred the short stories and folk fairytale collections because I could not hold my attention for longer than that. So, as is the case with most children’s books for me, I never really read them when I was a child and now I have trouble understanding them. My second objection are the covers – dark and uninviting – I really dislike the style of these books.
Number of pages is a lot lower than all previously mentioned books – around 200 pages per book. In the past I came to a conclusion that my best course of action might be to read both books and then just get rid of them. I don’t like having these on my shelves and these are not something I plan to go back to.
I know there was a movie with Oprah and that nobody had a nice thing to say about it. It saddens me when that happens. It also did nothing to motivate me to finish my chapter with this book series.
In conclusion
Writing down my own thoughts about these books has helped me to clear a path for future reading plans that might include them. Learning what I have on my physical shelves and exploring how to reach that unattainable goal to read all the books I own gives me hope in organizing my time and reading better. Some of these will definitely be leaving my shelves and I might try completing others both by reading trough them and by collecting them – sadly these are two very different things.
I don’t expect to deal with all the books from this category by the end of the year but now I have a place to start and that is a great thing!
anastasiaadamov 