For someone who tends to fall in love with serial fiction at the drop of a hat, it would appear that this particular reading challenge is a natural fit for me! The only bit I was worried about is if I was able to complete reading the series I only have one or two books of through my local library, but as there is a clause that states its at the readers discretion to decide how to continue onward, I will simply take the library route post haste! One day, it truly is my dearest of goals to complete my ‘sets’ of the series I am most unabashedly an appreciator of! Most will be read throughout the year in this challenge, and hopefully, as I write about them I can inspire others to take a chance on reading what I feel are stories worth exploring! Now, I best get to the particulars, setting up which series I will tackle over a twelvemonth, and JUMP IN!

 

General Overview: {official blurb & rules!}

How serious about series are you? We’ll find out in 2014.

In the summer of 2012, Amanda @ On a Book Bender and I hosted an informal challenge that focused on completing books in series that we owned. It was enough of a success that we decided we wanted to turn it into a year-long challenge–with a few minor changes.

Definitions:

For this challenge, a series is defined as a collection of two or more books that belong together and where the second book is published before the end of 2014. This is a pretty broad definition of series, and it includes traditional series like the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, less traditional series like Stephanie Perkins’s YA contemps (Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door), and shorter series, like Kendare Blake’s Anna series (Anna Dressed in Blood, Girl of Nightmares).

A series is considered complete in one of two ways: either as finishing all the books that you own in the series or as obtaining and reading all the books that have been published in the series to date. Because we don’t want this challenge to become a financial burden, how you choose to define completion is left to your discretion.

How It Works:

To allow for the greatest level of flexibility, we’ve separated series into three categories: series started before 2014, series started in 2014, and series rereads. Series started before 2014 are defined as series that you have started reading before Jan. 2014 and that you still have unread books to get current in (or finish) the series. Series started in 2014 are defined as any series that you start reading between Jan. and Dec. 2014, and the second book in the series must be published before December 2014.

A series reread is defined as books that are part of a series that were read before Jan. 2014 and that are reread between Jan. 2014 and Dec. 2014. A series reread does NOT have to include the full series. For each category, there are different levels of seriousness about series that you can choose. Semi-serious is reading 1 to 6 series, seriously serious is reading 7 to 12 series, super seriously serious is reading 13 to 18 series, and seriously spectacular series star is reading more than 18 series. What this ends up looking like is this:

Semi-Serious:

Series Started Before 2014: 1-6 series | Series Started in 2014: 1-6 series | Series Re-Reads: 1-6 series

Seriously Serious:

Series Started Before 2014: 7-12 series | Series Started in 2014: 7-12 series | Series Re-Reads: 7-12 series

Super Seriously Serious:

Series Started Before 2014: 13-18 series | Series Started in 2014: 13-18 series | Series Re-Reads: 13-18 series

Seriously Spectular Series Star:

Series Started Before 2014: 18+series | Series Started in 2014: 18+ series | Series Re-Reads: 18+ series

Goals and Progress:

Want to sign up? Create a post or page about this challenge, what goals you would like to accomplish (mine is here, as an example–currently, it’s my 2013 page, but it’ll switch over to the 2014 challenge in January), and then link up your post here at Reading the Paranormal. In addition to the sign up, every three months, there will be a check-in, where you can report your progress and reassess your original goals. That schedule will look like the following:

• April 1st: January–March
• July 1st: April–June
• October 1st: July–September
• January 1st, 2015: October–December

 Ready to sign up? I know I am! :)

A seriously serious serial fiction reader chooses which series to read,…

Semi-Serious:

Series Started Before 2014: 1-6 series| Books in Series I Own

Each of the following series I originally started to read prior to 2014,

and in so doing, decided to start to gather the books!

1. Aunt Dimity by Nancy Alterton | Aunt Dimity’s Death {Book One}
2. Coffeehouse mysteries by Cleo Coyle | On What Grounds {Book One}
3. Daughters of Boston by Julie Lessman | Complete Set*+
4. Mary Russell by Laurie R. King | borrow through local library+
5. Lady Emily by Tasha Alexander | borrow through local library
6. Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig | borrow through local library

{*+} I do have the complete original trilogy “Daughters of Boston”, however, I am using this as a general series name to include the two sequel trilogies that follow suit by Ms. Lessman. The same family is included throughout the stories and timelines, but as the family grows over the generational years, as does the story! Rather than confuse the three or appear to be reading more than one singular family’s saga, I am using the original trilogy name to suffice identification! {+} I did make an enquiry if I could count series that I had started to read through my local library vs. only committing to series I had started to purchase! Thankfully, I can!

Semi-Serious:

Series Started In 2014: 1-6 series| Books in Series I Own

1. Moses Lake by Lisa Wingate | Firefly Island {Book Three} | cross-applies to my 70 Authors Challenge

Breaking it down per series:

Aunt Dimity by Nancy Alterton | Previously Read in Sequence: {which I will re-read!}

1. Aunt Dimity’s Death
2. Aunt Dimity and the Duke
3. Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed

Aunt Dimity by Nancy Alterton | Semi-Serious Readings

1. Aunt Dimity Digs In
2. Aunt Dimity’s Christmas
3. Aunt Dimity Beat’s the Devil
4. Aunt Dimity: Detective
5. Aunt Dimity Takes A Holiday
6. Aunt Dimity: Snowbound
7. Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin
8. Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea
9. Aunt Dimity Goes West
10. Aunt Dimity: Vampire Hunter
11. Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon
12. Aunt Dimity: Paranormal Detective
13. Aunt Dimity Down Under
14. Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree
15. Aunt Dimity and the Village Witch
16. Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince
17. Aunt Dimity and the Wishing Well

Coffeehouse mysteries | Previously Read in Sequence: {which I will re-read!}

1. On What Grounds*
2. Holiday Grind

{*} I have single handedly re-read this first in the series *at least!* three times!

Coffeehouse mysteries | Semi-Serious Readings

1. Through the Grinder
2. Latte Trouble
3. Murder Most Frothy
4. Decaffeinated Corpse
5. French Pressed
6. Espresso Shot
7. {insert} Holiday Grind
8. Roast Mortem
9. Murder by Mocha
10. A Brew to Kill
11. Holiday Buzz
12. Billionaire Blend

Daughters of Boston | Previously Read in Sequence: {which I will re-read!}

1. A Passion Most Pure
2. A Passion Redeemed

Daughters of Boston | Semi-Serious Readings

1. A Passion Denied
2. A Hope Undaunted
3. A Heart Revealed
4. A Love Surrendered
5. Love At Any Cost
6. Dare to Love Again
7. A Light in the Window

Mary Russell | Previously Read in Sequence: {which I will re-read!}

1. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice: or On the Segregation of the Queen

Mary Russell | Semi-Serious Readings

1. A Monstrous Regiment of Women
2. A Letter of Mary
3. The Moor
4. O Jerusalem
5. Justice Hall
6. The Game
7. Locked Rooms
8. The Language of the Bees
9. The God of the Hive
10. Pirate King
11. Garment of Shadows

Moses Lake | Semi-Serious Readings

1. Larkspur Cove
2. Blue Moon Bay
3. Firefly Island

Lady Emily | Previously Read in Sequence: {which I will re-read!}

1. And Only to Deceive

Lady Emily | Semi-Serious Readings

1. A Poisoned Season
2. A Fatal Waltz
3. Tears of Pearl
4. Dangerous to Know
5. A Crimson Warning
6. Death in the Floating City
7. Behind the Shattered Glass
8. The Counterfeit Heiress

Pink Carnation | Previously Read in Sequence: {which I will re-read!}

1. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation

Pink Carnation | Semi-Serious Readings

1. The Masque of the Black Tulip
2. The Deception of the Emerald Ring
3. The Seduction of the Crimson Rose
4. The Temptation of the Night Jasmine
5. The Betrayal of the Blood Lily
6. The Mischief of the Mistletoe
7. The Orchid Affair
8. The Garden Intrigue
9. The Passion of the Purple Plumeria
10. The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla

I am most eager to even nibble out half of each list if there are more than three titles included, in order to get a better handle on the serial fiction that I enjoy reading each year! There are a heap more series, but I am not sure if I can include *all!* of them, as I am reading the ones I am thinking of rather exclusively through my library at this point in time! I might add a few series here or there, as I still have quite a few on hand, such as “Virgin River” for instance that I might elect to read as the year progresses! I might even dip into more of my 70 Authors Challenge list to even it out as well! Time will see! I am curious, which series get you excited to read in 2014!?

{SOURCE: The Seriously Serious Series Challenge badge created by Jorie in Canva.Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. }

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.