RMFAO (Reading My Frigging A** Off) discussion

Hello all the members of RMFAO,

We all love reading series (how can we not, right?) There are so many amazing series that we simply can't have enough of. Reading about the familiar characters, following their lives one book after the other and exploring their worlds intimately is an entirely different experience than reading a standalone novel. Reading series is like living in different-different fictional worlds in a true sense. But so many times, much to our dismay, we fail to complete a series that were started long ago. Sometimes "real life" comes in the way and some time procrastination does, but no matter what we always think about reading and completing these series, but to no avail.

This challenge is devised for this very problem, and we are happy to present the 5th instalment of this extraordinary challenge - RMFAO 2019 Series Challenge.

RMFAO 2019 Series Challenge is here to give you an opportunity to complete the series you've longed to complete for a long time! You can even start with a fresh series and try to complete it within the year. Just pick a Level you want to aim for and start reading.

Levels:
Level 1: Casual Reader: 1 series (easy)
Level 2: Frequent Reader: 2 series (moderate)
Level 3: Bookworm: 3 series (mildly strenuous)
Level 4: Bibliophile: 5 series (strenuous)
Level 5: Bookiopath: 6 series or more (challenging)

You can download this image here: https://thereadingbud.com/wp-content/...

There are absolutely no rules for this challenge. All you have to do is complete as many series as you can, new and old alike.

Feel free to use this discussion board for recommending books, discussing the ones you're reading or really love and posting links to the books or your reviews.

Other challenges that you can participate in:
RMFAO 2019 Genre Challenge
RMFAO 2019 Classics Catchup
RMFAO 2019 Audiobook Challenge

If you're as crazy about reading and books as we are then go wild combining all or any challenges to spice up your reading lists!

You can also read blog posts relating to this challenge, other challenges or the group itself here: https://thereadingbud.com/rmfao/

Happy Reading!

Oeh I really like this new challange. I have so many series unfinished. Most of the time I read the first two books of a series, but than because I have to wait for the newest book to come out, I start something new and kind of forget about it.
So I think this is gonna help me get some motivation to pick up those series left unfinished. Thanks!!

Marjan wrote: "Oeh I really like this new challange. I have so many series unfinished. Most of the time I read the first two books of a series, but than because I have to wait for the newest book to come out, I s..."

That's exactly what happens to me too! TBH, this challenge really helps.

One of the series I've been meaning to finish for a very long time is Dune. I read the first book and absolutely fell in love with it. And though I have the sequel on my shelf I never got around to reading it. So I'll try and read that book for Sci-Fi challenge in Jan.
Another series that I'd like to finish is Divergent. I hated the 2nd book and hence never got around to reading the third one. But recently I found the audiobook of the third part, so I thought 'what the heck, I might as well listen to it and finish the series.
The third series for me would be The Prince Of Thorns one. I've read the first book and, again, in spite of having loved it I didn't read the 2nd or the 3rd part.
If at all I would be able to manage, I'd love to complete the Buchan series as well. But it's been so long, I don't even remember where I left it.

I've got so many series I want to read... I'm going to try for level 5.
1. Darkhunters (Sherrilyn Kenyon) - after about book 24 (I think), I lost interest and stopped reading.
2. ShadowFalls (CC Hunter) - I've got the spinoff books to read.
3. Trials of Apollo (Rick Riordan)
4. Red Pyramid (Rick Riordan)
5. Magnus Chase (Rick Riordan)
6. Age of Legends (Kelley Armstrong)
7. Snow Like Ashes
8. Valiant
9. Madman's Daughter
10. Red Queen
11. Brigertons
12. Throne of Glass

I'll probably add some, and hopefully remove some based on what I read over Christmas before the new year. I'm just hoping to get through these this year so that I can enjoy the new books when they come out right away!

I have a couple of series I would like to finish.
1. Game of Thrones - Martin
2. Amber - Roger Zelanzy (very old series)

3. I have a couple books in the Hitchhikers Guide I haven't read.

As I am not a big fan of series, I'm going to attempt level 2 for this challenge. I get easily distracted and loose interest easily. Does anyone have any suggestions of series that I can try that don't have over 3 or 4 books in them?

Level 5 for me. Not full series, but still a good amount of books. Will update when I find new series to read. :)

Series I'd like to finish:

1. Larklight - Philip Reeve. Rest 2/3 books.
2. Saga - Brian K. Vaughan. Rest 3/9 books.
3. Tales from Foster High - John Goode. Rest 2/10 books. Will also read 8.5, 8.6 and 9.5 short stories.
4. Rat Queens - Kurtis J. Wiebe. Rest 2/6 books.
5. The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox - Barry Hughart. Rest 2/3 books *if* I can get my hands on the last one. Damn you ''Best fantasty you've never read''-list that got me hooked on difficult to find books!
6. Fairyland - Catherynne M. Valente. Rest 3/5 books.
7. Until You - TJ Klune. Rest 1/4 books. (To be released in 2019)
8. Green Creek - TJ Klune. Rest 2/4 books. (Both to be released in 2019)
9. Gameworld Trilogy - Samit Basu. Rest 1/3 books.
10. Seven Shores - Melissa Brayden. Rest 3/4 books.
11. Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones. Rest 2/3 books.


Series I'd like to reread:
1. Lockwood & Co. - Jonathan Stroud. 5 books.

I’ll go for something over Level 15 again. I’m starting off with a handicap by making my first three series long ones. I’ll likely alternate books from several series to keep from burning out on a single style.

EDITED on 12/25/18 with new series and progress in each series
1) Gabaldon's Outlander series (4/16 including shorter works)
2) Elmore Leonard’s Westerns (3/10?)(previously seriously over estimated)
3) Elmore Leonard’s Other books (0/36)(slightly over estimated)
4) Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd & Gray Mouser (3/7) Started last year but struggling; not as fun as I remember.
5) Jacques Antoine's Emily Kane series (0/8) (YA martial arts; new book coming on 12/27 so I will reread entire series)


(more to come)

Dagny wrote: "Fran wrote: "As I am not a big fan of series, I'm going to attempt level 2 for this challenge. I get easily distracted and loose interest easily. Does anyone have any suggestions of series that I c..."

My preferable genres are mystery (nothing gory),and/or thriller (nothing gory), although I really am very eclectic in what I read. I'm open to any suggestions.

Dagny wrote: "I haven't come up with my list yet - have to put my thinking cap on - but I'm definitely going to participate."

What is your genre preference?

I would have to say mystery. I prefer Agatha Christie's novels to Girls with the Dragon Tattoo (too graphic and dark) types. "Cozy" mysteries work great as well.

Wow, seeing that everyone is going for Level 5, I'm also tempted. So even I'll try and do 6 series at the least. I think I might include Caraval trilogy to it, but I'm still not sure if I want to read Legendary given Caraval wasn't very impressive. Though, I have a feeling that the 2nd book might be better than the first one. I'll be posting the updated list of my Series names in a couple of days as I'm still figuring out what all to read.

Fran and Marjorie - most of the readers here are mystery/thriller lovers so I'm sure you guys will have a lot of fun. Do share your favourites in these genre as it would be great to explore some new titles and series.

I'm a huge thriller and mystery fan but I tend to love the darker works. I'm pretty new to cozy mysteries (though I do like a good Agatha Christie book) so I'd really appreciate recommendations :)

Dagny - Talking about cozy mysteries, can you please recommend a good cozy mystery series that might be available on Librivox or Gutenberg that I might enjoy. I love Christie's works (though they are a bit eye-roll worthy, I still love reading them) so anything like that would be great!! Thanks in advance <3

For cosy mysteries, let me recommend Josephine Tey. Her Inspector Alan Grant mysteries (6 books) would make an excellent series for this challenge. Her two standalone mysteries (Miss Pym Disposes and Brat Farrar are not-to-be-missed books for anyone who likes British mysteries. They are still in copyright (no Project Gutenberg), but very inexpensive used copies or Kindle editions are available from Amazon for most of her books. (I think I may make rereading Tey one of my 2019 series. We will see as my year progresses. EDIT: Or maybe not; I seem to have reread Tey in 2017.)

Peter wrote: "For cosy mysteries, let me recommend Josephine Tey. Her Inspector Alan Grant mysteries (6 books) would make an excellent series for this challenge. Her two standalone mysteries (Miss Pym Disposes a..."

I checked them and they sound very interesting. I'm adding them to my list. Thanks a lot, Peter. Appreciate it.

Dagny: OMG! Thanks a lot, Dagny!! They all sound so much fun and I can't wait to read them!! I have no idea why I never ventured into Cozy Mysteries before. I think they'll balance out Horror for me perfectly being light and cozy.
I'm adding all these books for now, but will set the preference once I get the time to read them all and will prepare a list year accordingly so that I have all in one list :)
Thanks a unch again. I really, really appreciate it!

Dagny wrote: "Here's a couple of more short series. They're newish books, and both are YA books. I'm not a big fan of Young Adult books in general, but loved both these series.

Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
1. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
2. Hollow City
3. Library of Souls."

There's a fourth in this series:
4. A Map of Days

I read YA books all the time. I quite enjoy them. I'm only 75, so I feel that I could be considered young(ish).

Heena wrote: "Fran and Marjorie - most of the readers here are mystery/thriller lovers so I'm sure you guys will have a lot of fun. Do share your favourites in these genre as it would be great to explore some ne..."

I really enjoy the Mary Russel books by Laurie King. They are a fun mystery series following Mary Russel whom marries Sherlock Holmes after he "retires".

Marjorie wrote: "I really enjoy the Mary Russel books by Laurie King. They are a fun mystery series following Mary Russel whom marries Sherlock Holmes after he "retires". "

I've heard so much about Laurie King, but had no idea she had a character who was Sherlock Holmes' wife. Sounds interesting and somethign I might want to read. Thanks for sharing!

Heena wrote: "Marjorie wrote: "I really enjoy the Mary Russel books by Laurie King. They are a fun mystery series following Mary Russel whom marries Sherlock Holmes after he "retires". "

I've heard so much abou..."
They are a lot of fun. She also does a good job with Sherlock. She keeps very true to Doyle's vision of Holmes while keeping him a secondary character.

Marjorie wrote: "They are a lot of fun. She also does a good job with Sherlock. She keeps very true to Doyle's vision of Holmes while keeping him a secondary character. "

I'll give this series a try. Thanks a ton :)

Thanks to my daughter who prefers a series to a stand alone book, i have a few lined up. I'm glad i came across this challenge. It gives me motivation to read more (especially since my tbr list just got longer with everyone's suggestions !😂😂).

Veronica wrote: "Thanks to my daughter who prefers a series to a stand alone book, i have a few lined up. I'm glad i came across this challenge. It gives me motivation to read more (especially since my tbr list jus..."

Lol... TBR lists s always to grow out of control. Good to have you here :)

I'm going to reach level 3. It won't be easy because I have some long series I want to give a go.

I'll edit as the year goes by:

1. Sherlock Holmes (0/4 books and 0/56 short stories)
2. Lord of the Rings (0/3 books)
3. Dune (1/6 books)
4. Wheel of time (0/15 books)

If feel this should count for level 4 haha.

I've never aimed so high so I can't tell. I do prefer to finish a series because else I just forget about it. But If I dont like the first 2 books I don't plan on reading the other 12, that's for sure!

I also like to interleave books from more than one series. As you say, you can burn out when you read too much of one style at a go. That said, I’m now well into the third Outlander book. (Will I have to move that series over to the 2018 thread?) I suspect that I’ll move over to the Leonard westerns for a bit to let the steam evaporate.

Arno wrote: "I'm going to reach level 3. It won't be easy because I have some long series I want to give a go.
I'll edit as the year goes by:
1. Sherlock Holmes (0/4 books and 0/56 short stories)
2. Lord of ..."

Your list is very tempting! I plan on reading Dune 2 as I loved Dune 1 so I might consider completing the trilogy first and then see if I can read the others in the series.
LOTR is one of my favourite series (and a re-read is long overdue.)
All the best for your reading!

Dagny wrote: "Peter wrote: "There's a fourth in this series:
4. A Map of Days."

Peter, since you tipped me off to a fourth in the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series, I planned to put it on my 'complete t..."

You must be depending on OPB (other people's (including libraries) books).

I can't bear to not have my own copy of any book I think is worth reading (or rereading). Of course, this is how I've ended up with about 20,000 books on the shelf; another 5 or 6,000 paperbacks in boxes somewhere; and 2k+ in my Kindle account (gradually converting all but a few (hundred) favorites to Kindle in anticipation of a move to a much smaller domicile).

Even more amazing is that three times in my life (under serious depressive clouds) I have sold off (or once just walked away and abandoned) all of my books. The only ones saved were a few childhood books (Alice, Milne, Gulliver, S-Exupéry, Tennyson, etc.) that happened to be residing with my parents. And again I find myself with tens of thousands of books. There must be something wrong with me.

Peter wrote: "Dagny wrote: "Peter wrote: "There's a fourth in this series:
4. A Map of Days."

Peter, since you tipped me off to a fourth in the Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series, I planned to put it on ..."

There is nothing wrong with a love of books.

I'll be adding Six Of Crows duology to my list as well as the entire Grishaverse. Though I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish the entire Grishaverse this year so I might take this for 2020 as well. ANyway, I'm just going to try and read as much of this series as possible.

I will start with: Level 1: Casual Reader: 1 series (easy) and work my way up.

My updated list:

With progress in each series (and not even 2019 yet)
1) Gabaldon's Outlander series (7/16 - 3 long; 4 short)
2) Elmore Leonard’s Westerns (4/10?)
3) Elmore Leonard’s Other books (0/36)
4) Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd & Gray Mouser (3/7) Started last year but struggling; not as fun as I remember.
5) Jacques Antoine's Emily Kane series (3/8) (YA martial arts; new book arrived on 12/27 so I will reread entire series)

I'll need a few weeks to get myself organized, but I know I have a couple left to finish the Miss Marple series so that is def. on the list. I'll have to look at my new series shelf and my in progress list.... See what I have going on.

I am looking forward to 2019 and increasing how much I read.
To this end, I have started the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. The second book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

I love the idea of this challenge! I tend to read standalone novels, but I have a few series laying around that I've been meaning to get into.

1. Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel
2. Wayfarers Series by Becky Chambers
3. Linesman Series by S. K. Dunstall

Joining in
Virals Series

Starting with this. Since it counts as a sci-fi too
Will update as i move ahead

Peter wrote: "I’ll go for something over Level 15 again. I’m starting off with a handicap by making my first three series long ones. I’ll likely alternate books from several series to keep from burning out on a ..."

I also want to finish off the Outlander series since a long time. Gonna try that too

Shashan, find Diana Gabaldon's personal webpage for helpful advice on reading order including the Lord John short novels and novellas. She helpfully includes the years when the action takes place in each of the books.

I'm going to use this challenge to try and clean up all my straggling series (3 or less to finish). With the exception of "I Hunt Killers" which is 4 but 3 of them are shorts.
Levels:
Level 1: Casual Reader: 1 series (easy)
Level 2: Frequent Reader: 2 series (moderate)
Level 3: Bookworm: 3 series (mildly strenuous)
Level 4: Bibliophile: 5 series (strenuous)
Level 5: Bookiopath: 6 series or more (challenging)

Undertow by Michael Buckley
Heart of the Storm 12/4/19

Croak by Gina Damico
Rogue 1/27/19

Fever Series by James Dasher
The Fever Code

Caraval by Stephanie Garber
Legendary 10/1/19
Finale

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Boundless 3/26/19

Falling Under by Gwen Hayes
Dreaming Awake

The Sweet Trilogy by Wendy Higgins
Sweet Peril
Sweet Reckoning
Sweet Temptation

The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins
The Great Pursuit

Fallen by Lauren Kate
Angels in the Dark
Rapture
Unforgiven

Alienated by Melissa Landers
Invaded 6/8/19
United

Legend by Marie Lu
Champion

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
Career Day
Neutral Mask
Blood Boy
Blood of My Blood

Red Hill by Jamie McGuire
Among Monsters 11/12/19

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Blood Promise
Spirit Bound
Last Sacrifice

Chaos Walking
Monsters of Men
Snowscape

Maximum Ride
Maximum Ride Forever

Darker Shade of Magic by V E Schwab
A Conjuring of Light

Intertwined by Gena Showalter
Twisted

Partials by Dan Wells
Fragments 9/12/19
Ruins

Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey
The Last Star

Peter wrote: "Shashan, find Diana Gabaldon's personal webpage for helpful advice on reading order including the Lord John short novels and novellas. She helpfully includes the years when the action takes place i..."

Sure Peter. Thanks

I already know what series I'm going to read.
1) P.J. B.O.O (already reread this year)
2) Harry Potter
3) Vampire kisses (book 4/8)
4) Kane Chronicles
5) P.J H.O.O
6) Ender's Shadow
7) Ender's Game
8) Water fire Saga

That is all I can plan for now.

Finished book two of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.
One book down a whole lot more to go to get through all the series I want to finish.

I'm more than half way through the first book of Nora Roberts' The Guardians Trilogy. At this point it's safe to say I'll read/listen to the second book. It took me awhile to get past just how unrealistic this is, but now, I'm truly enjoying it. I requested the second book in the trilogy. It's my first book by Roberts and now at all what I was expecting.

I think I'm gonna aim for 5 series this year. Not quite sure which ones yet. All the recommendations are awesome.

2) Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams.

My updated list:
With progress in each series as of 10Jan19

1) Gabaldon's Outlander series (12/19 - 4 long; 8 short; now back to the big ones)
2) Elmore Leonard’s Westerns (6/10?)
3) Elmore Leonard’s Other books (0/36)
4) Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd & Gray Mouser (3/7) Started last year but struggling; not as fun as I remember.
5) Jacques Antoine's Emily Kane series (8/8) (YA martial arts; new book arrived on 12/27 so I reread entire series)
6) Tolkien's Hobbit/LOTR* (0/4) (I just have never liked The Silmarillion)
7) Orson Scott Card's Ender series (0/5) (Just the "real" Ender books)
8) Zelazny's Amber series (0/10)
9) Gregory Maguire's Wicked Years series (1/4) (from which the musical Wicked was made)

Thanks to those who reminded me of old favorites.

------------
*Best described as: "march march march fight fight fight march march march fight fight fight..."

Peter,

I'm just getting into Westerns. I was wondering which of Elmore Leonard's Westerns you could recommend? Which are his best? (I have read Hombre and enjoyed it.)

Dagny wrote: " LOL, it's been ages since I read them, but recall especially thinking that about The Two Towers. It took me forever to read, because I found my other reading at the time much more interesting and the second book kept languishing on the nightstand."

I never got further than the halfway mark in The Two Towers. I did see the movies, though. Alot less investment of my time watching them, rather than reading them.