I don’t know about you but when I start reading a book, I seem to get sucked right in and I become heartbroken the minute I finish the book.
So, I have started looking for more and more book series so I don’t have to be heartbroken as often as I would be with reading a standalone book (is that even the right terminology? I have no idea).
However, reading a series does make it harder when you become so attached to the characters. I feel like I have lived so many different lives and I just can’t wait to read more!
But the real trick is finding a good book series to read.
It seems like everyone has certain styles they like to stick with and now that I’m looking at my list of books I want to suggest to you, I have some styles that I tend to stick with even though I do like to change it up every now and then.
Most of the time I tend to lean towards the dystopian style books, I mean what could our world look like in the future? It scary to think about but it really could go a little crazy. But then I also really like the fantasy books, gotta love those dragons!
Now you might be wondering how this busy mama has had a chance to read. Well that is a big challenge in itself. I have two boys with tons of energy. Tucker who is 6 years old and too smart for his own good and his little brother Hunter who is 4 and wants to do everything his brother does.
If you asked me 4 years ago what I liked to read, I probably would have laughed. I have young kids, I don’t have time to read. But in reality I needed a change, I needed to go back to something I have always loved. I needed mama time.
Mama time…
Right?!? How do all of these moms have time to do much of anything. I struggled enough trying to get the kids ready in the morning, go to work, figure out dinner, clean the house, and get them in bed. How do these moms do other things like Zumba class, or watch Netflix shows?
Cutting out an hour of my day wasn’t realistic even once or twice a week. I mean I couldn’t even go to the bathroom by myself… even the dogs like to follow me. So I was determined to find something where I could have some me time, even if it was for a couple minutes at a time.
I have always loved reading but I didn’t have the money to buy new books or even have the time to go to the library, even if I could reserve it and pick it up. So I decided I would use the kindle app on my phone.
I still didn’t have money to buy books, so I decided to check books out from my local library on their ebook page. This worked for a little while. And it gave me a chance to figure out when I could actually read.
I stuck with YA adult books for the most part (and still do) because it is just an easy read. It is easy to stop and go as needed, so when your kids start yelling at each other (are my kids the only ones that do that?) you can put it down and come back to it when your ready.
So when was I actually able to read? Well the good thing, is that I had it on my phone so I pretty much had it when I felt like I had a chance. I could zone out of the shows they were watching on the TV for a few minutes and get a chapter or two in.
According to my husband I’m pretty good with zoning out when I’m reading so I couldn’t do it too often. There is just something about hearing “mom, mom, ma, mama, Mommmmy!!!” that it makes me want to lose the name sometimes. Just kidding, I love being a mom, but really do you have to say mom that many times?
In the long run, I try not to do that too often with the kids. But I did finally fine the perfect time to read. And wow, even 20 minutes a day, you can read a lot!
I am lucky enough that my kids have always slept in their rooms and if they wake up in the middle of the night they just hollar for me instead of climbing in our bed. So I can just go to them, luckily we have full sized beds for both of them. Those long nights in a rocking chair were killer!
The bad part is that both of them want someone to lay with them to go to sleep. That was a whole other issue but now my husband and I switch nights with the kids as they go to sleep.
I don’t know if you have ever tried laying with a kid while they are “going to sleep.” But it can truly be the most exhausting part of your day.
Did you know your kid could talk about so many random things, that they can flip side to side, up and down, sit up lay down, pet the dog. Yeah… my kids literally don’t know how to stop moving.
So I started reading.
I tuck them in, tell them I love them, goodnight, sweet dreams. Then I say, I’m going to be right here with you while you fall asleep but I’m not going to answer questions or respond to you because you need to be resting and I’m going to read my book.
Sometimes they watch me read. Tucker has even started to point to words on my screen and he knows what they are. He thinks its so cool that he can read some for the words.
So now, at night I get to snuggle with the boys while I also dive into another world. So much better than fighting to stay awake while they fell asleep (I always bet them falling asleep before that).
These short reading sessions as night were so nice (and still are, even if sometimes I lay there reading longer than I should). But I with borrowing the books from the library I started to get annoyed. It drove me nuts every time there was a wait on a book because once I start a series I need to finish it, I can’t skip around to different books, and I might be a little impatient at times. 🙂
So it was time for me to make a change.
At first I was hesitant about getting the subscription but the more I thought about it the happier I was with spending the few extra dollars each month.
Since I was already using the kindle app I decided to give the Amazon Unlimited subscription a try. There are pros and cons to it but I love the ease of using it and being able to read some books that aren’t as well known. (One main con is that all the popular books people talk about aren’t listed in their free section.)
That brings us to today. Since I know how hard it is to find a good series that is actually finished I wanted to share with the world. I personally use Amazon Unlimited, so these books are free if you have the subscription. The book series are all slightly different, some have different worlds, some are in the future, some seem to repeat themselves, but they all take you on a new adventure.
So here we are, I have been using the Amazon Unlimited subscription for about 2 years now, maybe a little longer and here are some of the series I have found:
Five Book Series to Check Out!
The Conspiracy Chronicles by K.A. Riley: The Resistance Trilogy, The Emergents Trilogy, The Transcendent Trilogy, Academy of the Apocalypse, and Ravenmaster Chronicles.
- It has been a while since I read this book series but I fell in love with it. It is pretty cool because K.A. Riley actually created four different trilogies that all go together. The series starts with a girl named Kress living in Valta, where she is one of the oldest members there. She knows she is about to embark on a journey to help fight the Eastern Order, because they always come on November 1st each year to get all of the 16 year old’s. They have no idea what to expect. It is a journey that just keeps going through all of the trilogies.
The Thaw Chronicles by Heidi Catherine and Tamar Sloan
- This is a 13 book series that takes you on a full looped journey in a fascinating future dystopian world. It is amazing how Heidi and Tamar have worked with all of these books so they all tie together, even from different perspectives. You get to meet so many characters and go through all of the ups and downs of this intricate place.
Songs of Chaos by Michael R. Miller
- I don’t know about you but I love a good dragon story and this is a perfect way to delve into the dragon world. You get to go on an adventure in a new world where a boy saves a dragon. Only this wasn’t just any dragon, this is a blind dragon who is frowned upon from all sides. See if they can overcome all of the hardships set in front of them!
The Immortal Ones by Shade Owens
- A dystopian novel series that takes you on many twists and turns with a girl named Silver. Out of all the people that could have been chosen from the annual lottery, the one girl who wanted nothing to do with eternal life gets chosen. Follow her journey to see if she is able to stop the enslavement in Lutum and make things right and no matter how much you guess, you will never figure out how the book is going to end.
Supernatural Prison Series and Supernatural Academy by Jaymin Eve
- Who knew there was a whole world of Supernatural’s living around us? Doing their best to keep us weak humans safe. Enjoy the two different series that coexist with each other to live the lives of different supes. Some who were raised as supernatural’s in their towns always ready to protect and keep supes secret and others who didn’t know they were supernatural until there was no way to get away from that world.
I hope you get a chance to dive into at least one of these book series. Let me know what you think about them! Everyone has books they do or don’t like. I personally haven’t found many I don’t like, so I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. I also can’t wait to hear some of the book series you have found and are dying for someone else to read!