Welcome back to the eleventh month of Calendar Girls (aka my Birthday month! Woo!) It’s a monthly blog event co-hosted by Flavia and myself, and designed to ignite bookish discussions among readers. Calendar Girls was inspired by the 1961 Neil Sedaka song, Calendar Girl, (because I’m an oldies fanatic. 😛) For more information, click here!
November’s Theme:
Best End to a Series
Wow… You would think that this would be an easier one to have choices for, but it would seem that I’m REALLY bad at finishing series. In fact, I almost never even make it to the second book in the series. I’m such a fail, guys! But!!! I did manage to find one series end that I actually thought was a good choice (because there were some series ends that I wasn’t really a fan of. I mean, did you really expect anything else from me, guys? 😉 ) Without further ado…. *drum roll*
EXTRAS
by Scott Westerfeld
Now… this might seem like a bit of an unorthodox choice (especially to those who have actually read this series), because the main character in this last book isn’t the same as the first three. However, I really liked how this book took on a new turn from the originals. It wasn’t a continuation. The society was quite a bit different from the originals. It was like starting a whole new series, but it was just one book and it ended up fitting so well into the first three that I loved it.
What’s more is that this series end actually did take a turn from the original three. I don’t want to say too much lest anyone not having read it yet, but this book actually had it’s own plotline. Yeah, the world was still the same. However, the entire concept of what was going on was different. The characters faced different battles and had different personalities. It was a fresh way to end a series that had all but ended in book three. Thus, it is my favorite option for Best End to a Series.
Have you read Extras yet?
If you haven’t, you should!
Calendar Girls’ picks for Best End to a Series!
Flavia – The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkein
Alex – Our Dark Duet by V.E. Schwab
Katie – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Sophie – The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare
Deanna – Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty
Lauren – Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
Dawlyn & Krista – Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Adrienne – Starlight by Adrienne Woods
Samantha – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Melanie Noell Bernard 
It’s been so many years since I read this that I’m soft on the details but I do remember it being both different and good. And I remember loving it. Melanie you’re making me want to re-read it which is NOT good for my reading challenges haha.
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Hahahaha! I’m sorry. I don’t re-read even when I want to. But I know there are quite a few books where I’m like: “I remember loving this book! Oh… if only I had time to re-read.” :p So, I’m sorry for putting you in such a difficult situation. Hee hee!
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Oh I re-read. When I’m in the mood for the thing I re-read it. Or if I read the first or first couple books in a series and then set it aside for a long time then I go back and re-read before continuing.
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OH wow! I know people do that, but i’ve never done it myself. Which means I’m always re-orienting myself with the new book in the series and spend two chapters going: “Okay. Where are we again?” :p I wish I had time to re-read because it would be nice to not waste time in a world I don’t remember. Hee hee!
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I used to do the same and then one day I realised I was the only thing keeping myself from having time to reread, so I just said screw it and started rereading stuff. Hasn’t kept my reading count down at all. But it’s a very individual thing 🙂
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Hahahaha! Well, I’m not the only thing keeping myself from re-reading. :p That would be grad school. Hahaha! But I know what you mean. 🙂
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Ahhhh I started this series some YEARS back, and actually finished the first book. But then I wasn’t sure if it was worth finishing. Since you keep mentioning it though, I think that I will definitely have to sit down with the rest of the books and give them a read!
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Hahahaha! I have heard that a lot of people didn’t like the books or the series, but I personally thought it was really good. It deals a lot with societal flaws, which is fun to read for me. 😉
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I only read Pretties. I wasn’t intrigued enough by the series to keep going, especially since at that point I was a broke college student who couldn’t afford to buy books. Or have time to read them really.
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I hear that! I read the series when I was working 8 on/6 off work days. So I had almost a full week to sit around and binge-read. Gosh. I used to get so much done when I worked that shift… ponders going back to it >.>
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8 on/6 off actually sounds kind of nice! Because it isn’t really THAT many more days than I work in a row now, but it’s SO MANY MORE off! My neighbor is a firefighter, and he does 2 on 4 off, and I’m always a little jealous.
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Hahahaa! Yeah, those schedules are kind of nice. But they are difficult when you have kids or a dog (as I do.) I can’t very well leave my dog home alone for 12 hours.
And it does make it difficult to do like… day-to-day practice of languages or instruments or something, you know? That was the hard part, but I read sooooo many books. hahahaha!
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I don’t know, back when I played the clarinet I had to make time to practice whether I was working or not. You just have to stay up late or whatever, I guess. I wasn’t very dedicated, lol.
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Hahaha! You do have to make time for things, but one thing I’ve never sacrificed for anything is sleep. Sleep is too much of a biological necessity (like eating or breathing) that nothing really trumps it in my mind.
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Me too. And I need more sleep than the average person. I can NOT function on less than 7 hours. Maybe 6 if I had to, but not every day.
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Same. I like 7.5 but I have insomnia so I give myself at least a half hour to fall asleep to ensure I get that 7.5.
I do not understand how people function off 4 hours of sleep. Crazy people
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Right? People would always be bragging about stuff like how little sleep they got in college, and my response was inevitably “You’re an idiot.”
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Why do people brag?! That’s so dumb. I managed to get appropriate amounts of sleep and still got a decent GPA so that really does just make them sound dumb. Plus, less sleep consistently = dying earlier. Thanks, but I got a world record to break. 😉
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Here’s mine more thorough comment tomorrow: http://twobirds1blog.blogspot.ca/2017/11/calendar-girls-nov-2017-best-end-of.html
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I haven’t read this one … yet. Why am I not surprised that you don’t finish many series Melanie? LOL
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Hahahaha! What makes you say that???
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Dunno.. past posts and experiences maybe 😉
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i have heard about the series but i haven’t read it! so i guess, i should give it a chance?!
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Hee hee! Yes! I know some people hate it and some people love it. I waited until the hype died down before I read it and quite enjoyed it myself. 🙂 This is one series that I binged book to book. I never do that. :p
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wohooo, then it’s good! i love binging books! the best thing!
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YES. EXTRAS. I completely agree! Definitely an unexpected choice for most people but I loved that book!
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Yay!! 😀 I’m happy someone agrees. (I was kind of afraid I’d get a lot of ‘what are you saying?’ hahahaha!)
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I liked Extras more than the first three books. Excellent choice!
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Hee hee! Thank you! 🙂 I’m not sure I’d say I liked it more, but I definitely liked it enough. (Too many books have awful endings, in my opinion.
)
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