Favourite Things Part 2: Book Series

So here is the next installment of my Favourite Things Series. This time I am sharing some of my favourite book series, as the title says. I am a huge reader and I usually enjoy reading a series of books only. It is very rare that I find a stand alone book I really enjoy. I think that this is because I get so into the book and the characters that I don't want it to end.

I have added a brief synopsis of each of the series under the pictures to give you a hint of what it is about. You may see a trend in the series below..I am in a Fantasy/Paranormal phase that I just can't seem to shake. Like the my Favourite TV Shows in Part 1 some these are old favourites and new, but all still a very good read.

Let me know what your favourite book series is in the comments below.

Harry Potter by J.K Rowling

About the books: Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of a wizard, Harry Potter and his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main story arc concerns Harry's quest to overcome the Dark wizard Lord Voldemort, whose aims are to become immortal, to conquer the wizarding world, subjugate non-magical people, and destroy all those who stand in his way, especially Harry Potter.

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

About the books: The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit (1937), but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in stages between 1937 and 1949, much of it during World War II. It is the third best-selling novel ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

About the books: Vampire Academy is a best-selling series of six young-adult paranormal romance novels by American author Richelle Mead. It tells the story of Rose Hathaway, a seventeen-year-old Dhampir girl, who is training to be a bodyguard for her Moroi best friend, Vasilisa "Lissa" Dragomir. In the process of learning how to defeat Strigoi (the evil undead vampires) in St. Vladimir's Academy, Rose finds herself caught in a forbidden romance with her instructor, Dimitri Belikov, while having an unbreakable bond with Lissa.

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

About the books: Pretty Little Liars is a series of 12 young adult novels by Sara Shepard. The series follows the lives of four girls — Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin, Aria Montgomery, and Emily Fields — whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their leader, Alison DiLaurentis. Three years later, when the girls are juniors in high school, Alison's body is found, and they begin receiving various messages from someone using the alias "A" who threatens to expose their secrets and get revenge.

Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

About the books: Twilight is a series of four vampire-themed fantasy romance novels by American author Stephenie Meyer. It charts a period in the life of Isabella "Bella" Swan, a teenage girl who moves to Forks, Washington, and falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire named Edward Cullen.

 

Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris

About the books: In The Southern Vampire Mysteries series, Harris develops a detailed mythology and alternate history that approaches supernatural beings as real; at the beginning of the series, vampires have only been public knowledge for a couple of years. Other supernatural beings, such as werewolves, shape shifters, etc., exist but do not go public until later in the series. Its history has otherwise unfolded so closely to that of the real world that the series contains occasional references to popular culture.

Women of the Underworld by Kelley Armstrong

About the books: Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series is part of a recently popular contemporary fantasy subgenre of the fantasy genre that superimposes supernatural characters upon a backdrop of contemporary North American life, with strong romantic elements. Within that subgenre, she is notable for including many types of supernatural characters, including witches, sorcerers, werewolves, necromancers, ghosts, shamans, demons and vampires, rather than limiting herself primarily to a single type of supernatural creature. Most of her works have a mystery genre plot, with leading characters investigating some novel situation or unsolved question.

Lords of the Underworld by Gena Showalter

About the books: Long ago, twelve immortals warriors – each more dangerously seductive than the last -- stole and opened Pandora’s box, unleashing the evil from within. Now they carry that evil within themselves. Violence, Pain, Death, Disease, Disaster, Misery, Doubt, Promiscuity, Defeat, Lies, Secrets, and Wrath. When a powerful enemy returns, they will travel the world in search of a sacred relic of the gods – one that threatens to destroy them all.

The Dark Hunters/Dream Hunters by Sherrilyn Kenyon

About the books: Dark-Hunter is a best-selling paranormal romance book series by the American author Sherrilyn Kenyon.

The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith 

About the books: The series follows the life of Elena Gilbert a 17-year-old girl, who falls for a 162-year-old vampire named Stefan Salvatore. Their relationship becomes increasingly complicated as Stefan's vicious and malevolent older brother Damon returns with a plan to wreak havoc on the town and also to plan a revenge against his younger brother.

The League by Sherrilyn Kenyon

About the books: The League series is an on-going romance book series by the American author Sherrilyn Kenyon. It consists of three books that take place in a future time in a place known as the Ichidian Universe. In this universe, The League is in charge. The brutal, expertly trained League Assassins are essentially the power of the government. But like all governments, even the League is corrupt.The tag line for the series is "In Morte Veritas". In Death, There is Truth.

Pictures for this blog were found on www.weheartit.com

Book Summary Information taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/

Disclaimer: I give all credit to those who wrote the summaries on Wikipedia, and for those who took the pictures on WeHeartIt.



Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Be aware that this review may contain spoilers. If you have not read the book prior to this review you may want to.

Number of Pages – 487

ISBN - 9780062024022

Price In-store Hardcover - $19.99

Price Online Hardcover - $15.19

Pre-Order Trade Paperback Price Online - $27.95

E-Book Price - $9.99

Hardcover Release Date – April 25^th, 2011

Paperback Release Date – October 30^th, 2011

Genre – Sci-fi/ Dystopia

Location In-Store – Teens

Ages – 14 & up

Grades – 9 & up

From the Publisher

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to a cultivation of a particular virtue.

• Candor – Honesty
• Abnegation – Selflessness
• Dauntless – Bravery
• Amity – Peacefulness
• Erudite – Intelligence

On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is...she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometime infuriating boy fits into the like she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves...or it might destroy her.

About the Author

Veronica Roth graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in creative writing. While she was a student, she often chose to work on the story that would become Divergent instead of doing her homework. It was indeed a transforming a choice. Now a full-time writer, Ms. Roth lives near Chicago. Divergent is her first novel.

My Thoughts

I was first introduced to this book through my job at Indigo Books & Music. As a new Teen read, it was my responsibility as a Customer Experience Representative to familiarize myself with this novel so that I could effectively sell it to customers. I was informed that if I liked The Hunger Games I would love Divergent. Once hearing that I was not very enthused about reading it. I could not get past the first few chapters of The Hunger Games and to this day still cannot force myself to read it.

At this point in my reading career I have moved away from Teen books and haven’t been able to read a Teen book and actually enjoy it. That's why I was so surprised that I LOVED Divergent. As you can see in the picture above I have the Advance Readers Copy. These ARC's are an occasional perk of working for a book company. Aside from a few spelling and grammatical errors, this copy of the story was exactly the same as the ones available for purchase in stores.

After receiving the ARC I put it on my bookshelf to await its turn in my Reading List. It probably would have sat there a lot longer if it hadn’t been chosen as the June Book at my book club. I had given myself 1 week to read this book, however, it only took me 1 day of continuous reading. Once I started it I couldn’t force myself to put it down. When I did I was constantly wondering what was going to happen next.

Veronica's writing style completely surrounded me, keeping me entertained until the last page. Even though Tris is 16 years old I could find my 21 year old self relating to her. I find she is a character most women of any age would be able to relate to as her fears and life challenges are things that we all go through.

I found the love story enough to keep me hooked (Me being used to adult love stories), however not to romantic as to make it to much for teens to handle. The appropriateness was perfect.

I have heard that a lot of people found the amount of violence in this book shocking. I however thought it was the perfect amount and it is what kept the story interesting and entertaining. The only thing I thought went a little too far was the scene which depicted fondling and the possibility of rape. I do not think this was needed and it was a little to mature for the intended audience of this book.

At the book club we all decided which faction we would have chosen to be a part of. Although it would be really cool to be part of a bad ass faction like Dauntless, I don’t think I could have handled the initiation process. So my reasonable choice would be Erudite.

I have heard that this series will have 6 books and the movie of the first book will be made around 2014 or 2015. However this is just speculation.

Overall, I would give this book a 5/5 stars. It was the best Teen book I have ever read, and it also makes my Top 10 favourite book list as well.

*Disclaimer – I was given this book for free through my place of employment. Neither the company or author is compensating me for this review. All opinions are honest and completely my own.