Top 11 Book Series
1. “Wayfarer Redemption” by Sara Douglass: It’s beautiful, it’s fun, and it’s armed with the powers of drawing you in and getting you emotionally involved. Like most of Sara’s books, you really have to get through the first few chapters before you get to a point where you like it, but the moment the magic appears and the Icarri race are introduced, you are swept in this story of love, heartbreak, sacrifice, and magic. What makes it better than the “Troy Game” quartet is that despite the impending doom looming over the horizon, they still find happiness in special moments in life, like babies being born and pagan holiday parties. It’s a trap, because everyone that’s read it gets emotionally involved, starts yelling/cheering, and at some point, throw the book at the wall.
2. “Troy Game” by Sara Douglass: I bought the first book (to be honest, Daddy bought it for me) because I’m obsessed with Greece and its mythology. I read the first few chapters, put it down for about a year, then read it again and got sucked into the magical world of Sara Douglass. The characters are so flawed and imperfect that they’re lovable. There’s so much magic, hate, toxic love, and betrayal, and these people still manage to stick together to the end. It’s too easy to get involved. I swore during the third book I’d never read it again, only to buy the fourth one the moment I saw it.
3. “Meredith Gentry” by Laurell K. Hamilton: I like to call it the Faerie Slut books (guess why). Faerie princess Meredith Gentry has to get pregnant in order to take the throne, since it’s difficult for her race to get with child. What does the current queen suggest? Take more than two men into her bed. How many does Meredith originally take? Five. As the books go on, she gets more powerful, the threats on her life get more serious, and she takes more guys into her harem. They all drive me crazy, but I keep coming back.
4. “Night Huntress” series by Jeanine Frost: Kudos to Josi and Allison for bringing me into this series. Yes, it’s vampires, but no, it’s surprisingly not cheesy. It’s a series of paranormal romance books that primarily star Kat, a half-vamp, and Bones, a master vampire, but there are spin-offs dealing with other loveable characters. The banter is witty, the characters are a hoot, and the story is fast-paced with plenty of action and bad guys to go around. I guarantee any girl that reads these books with find a master vamp to fall in love with, and there is a large supply.
5. “Harry Potter” by J.K. Rowling: Come on, who doesn’t love Harry Potter? Of course, I think by the third book everyone should’ve expected that Harry was going to get in some kind of pickle with Voldemort every year, but they’re fake characters, so they get a break. Rowling created a world where magic seems incredibly possible (even logical) and is so like ours, we can spot problems in magic society that we also go through (racism, government interference, etc.). Harrison Potter gets you sucked in and emotionally involved in no time flat, and you easily find characters to get behind until the very end. Yes, I cried when Dumbledore, Hedwig, and Snape died, and millions of others did too.
6. “Daughters of the Moon” by Lynn Ewing: This series has influenced me more than any series ever. A small group of mortal goddesses come together to fight against an ancient evil that wants to cover the world in darkness and evil. The girls also try to balance their goddess lives with their human ones, and eventually they have to make a choice to decide which one they want to keep, and which one to abandon forever. It’s fantastic, it’s addicting, and it makes me wish I spent my teenage years in L.A.
7. “Alice” series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor: This author wrote the famous Shiloh series, and this series is even better. In this enjoyably long series, Alice McKinney goes through life and deals with high school, dating, and the drama her friends get into. It’s a very good series for young girls growing up to read, as they can empathize with Alice’s concerns with fitting in and trying to find herself. Alice is ridiculously likeable, and, to my pleasure, extremely reasonable; she doesn’t fit into any real category, and is very level-headed in most of her decision making, yet still gets in a fair bit of trouble. It’s hard not to love Alice.
8. “The Dresden Dolls” series by V.C. Andrews: I haven’t finished this series and I probably never will, but it’s an extremely twisted, yet strangely addictive. After all, what kind of mother locks her four kids in an attic for three years with barely any food and an extremely abusive grandmother? Oh right, the kind that marries their half-uncle. Yes, you read that correctly. While reading of the horrors these kids go through and their disastrous choices in their later lives, you feel kind of like a useless guardian angel or a parent. Don’t expect a happy ending, I swear you’ll never find it with the kind of stuff they choose to jump into.
9. “Twilight” by Stephanie Meyer: Yes, we all talk a lot of crap about the Twilight series, but the books weren’t bad at all. My best friend brought the books to my attention, and I instantly fell in love with the story. The characters are likeable, the story’s engaging, and, aside from the sparkles, Meyer’s version of vampires actually seem pretty cool. Now I read other vampire stories and am like “You sleep? You can die that easily? Wimp.” Don’t let the “eh” movies fool you, the books are a fun read.
10. “Darkglass Mountain” by Sara Douglass: Oh, Ra. This is a crossover series of three different Sara Douglass works, and it was certainly an adventure. Characters you thought you loved change sides, new races are discovered, surprising secrets are revealed, and the strangest alliances are formed. This series scarred me, and it was all Axis’ fault, but I still loved it. The greatest thing about Douglass is that she can’t seem to leave Axis alone, so we probably still have more of him to deal with J.
11. “The Baxter Family” series by Karen Kingsbury: It’s a Christian fiction series, but my grandma got me involved in it and now I care about how the disaster-ridden Baxter. Things rarely go right for them, but they still have faith in God and stay happy. I love this family and wish them the best, even though they aren’t real.
