Top 5 Series I Need To Read In 2016

It’s only January, and I’ve already basically planned out my TBR shelf for the rest of the year. There are just so many good books out there that I’m desperate to read, and that’s excluding all the new releases that could potentially ruin what remains of my social life. But above all (except maybe A Court Of Mist And Fury), I’m prioritizing these five series that I’ve been dying to read for ages, but just never got around to.

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1. Harry Potter

Okay, okay. Put away your wands for now. I get it – I’m a total failure as a reader. It’s shameful that I’ve never read this series. (In my defense, I read the first two books when I was ten, and then my best friend at the time told me they were satanic. I should have known right then and there that we could never be sisters in stories, but instead I just never continued reading them. As I said, shameful.)

I can’t not read Harry Potter. That’s like a sin against… everything. There are no excuses for my stupidity in wasting my life on mediocre books when this masterpiece exists in all its glory. Now I’m just waiting until I’ve built up enough of an emotional barrier to survive the feels J. K. Rowling’s characters will undoubtedly force upon me. Also, my sister is an utter HP fanatic, and she refuses to lend me her books until the holidays, when I’ll have enough time to read them all in one go, and she can watch me suffer while I do it (cruel, isn’t she?).

Number books in series: 7

Combined number of pages: 4,100 (Holy mother of Hermione… This is going to take a while.)

Estimated enjoyment: INFINITE LOVE.

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2. The Lord of the Rings

As I said, failure. I’m a total fantasy dork, so it’s unacceptable that I haven’t read one of the greatest fantasy series of all time. After reading The Hobbit, there’s nothing I want more than to lose myself in Middle Earth. I’m hopelessly in love with Tolkien. But I’ve been warned about the dangers of trying to read this series too quickly. I don’t want to wear myself out and fall headfirst into the greatest reading slump in history. This is high fantasy, after all. Not something to be read during elevensies. It’s LONG. It’s a gruelling adventure. All the same, I’m terribly excited to start it.

Number of books in series: 3

Combined number of pages: 1,216

Estimated enjoyment: IMMENSE ADORATION. (Hobbits, dragons, elves… WHAT MORE COULD A GIRL WANT?)

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3. The Selection

Honestly, I want to read this series to see what all the fuss is about. I’ve heard many things about Kiera Cass’s series, and not all of them are as pretty as the girls on her covers. There’s a massive black hole of hype surrounding The Selection. While I don’t want to be sucked into the pit of despair, disappointment and disaster, I need answers. Is it really overhyped? Or is there a reason that book bloggers go gaga over it? Obviously, I’m intrigued.

Also, the final book in the series (I think?) comes out this year. (And the vain part of me that’s always thinking of my bookshelf keeps drooling over how pretty the covers are…)

Number of books in series: 5 (plus a bunch of novellas)

Combined number of pages: 1,696 (excluding novellas)

Estimated enjoyment: Meh feels. (I’m hoping that by going in with low expectations I’ll save myself from being too disappointed.)

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4. The Lunar Chronicles

To be fair, I have actually read Cinder and Scarlet, but I’ve been too busy to read Cress and Winter. I get the feeling these books will demand my full attention, so I don’t want to have annoying things like uni and breathing distract me. I JUST WANT TO CURL UP IN BED AND HAVE NOTHING ON MY MIND BUT THE MOST FABULOUS FAIRYTALE RETELLINGS OF THEM ALL. I need to plan when I read these super carefully, because if my estimations are correct then I’ll need at least a week to recover from the unavoidable book hangover. All the same, every time I even think about either of them, my heartbeat sputters.

Number of books in series: 4

Combined number of pages: 2,216

Estimated enjoyment: EXTREME ELATION. If my love for this series could be measured, it would reach from earth to the moon and back a billion times.

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5. The Young Elites

Them: “Wait… You haven’t read The Young Elites?”

Me: …

Them:

I’ve only heard good things about Marie Lu, and this series looks positively epic. It’s dark, it’s deadly, and it’s daring. I love it already.

Number of books in series: 3 (The Midnight Star comes out sometime this year)

Combined number of pages: 750 so far

Estimated enjoyment: I feel like this series is going to rip out my heart and stomp on it. But I also feel like even if I’m emotionally beaten and bruised, I’ll look upon it in blind adoration. So: HEART WRENCHING HAPPINESS.

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Are you guys planning on reading any of these this year? Or are you planning on working your way through another series that I missed out? Comment and we can fangirl together!