Top 10 Incredible Book Series – All the Best Books to Binge

I decided to join in another round of Top Ten from That Artsy Reader Girl’s blog which this week is satisfying book series and all about series that wrap up well, no “second book syndrome” etc. 

But I have to confess, I’m a serial series non-finisher! This is weird because I don’t DNF books as a rule (I just have to give every book a chance!), but I’m so bad at starting new series even though I intend to finish ones I’ve already started!

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So instead I’ve decided to change up my title and topic just a little and go for “incredible” book series – some I have completed (I’m not a total heathen!), and others that I’ve just started or read a few books from that I know already are incredible!

This isn’t a complete list by any means and I’ll probably come back to it (one day, when I’ve finished as many as I can in the list!), and some are pretty “basic” I’d say – but that doesn’t mean they’re not as worthy as any other books!

Let’s start with the ones I’ve completed and continue from there:

Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling

See what I mean by basic! Are you even a reader if you haven’t read the Harry Potter series?!

These books are just the absolute classic of my generation – well, I’d say the best book series any generation really! My grandma read them in her 60s and 70s, and now I have my 14 year old cousin reading them. 

I actually reread the entire series every few years – I’d probably say it’s my favorite series ever. I’ve now discovered that Harry Potter fanfics don’t have to be weird either and am slowly delving into that world with books like Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Again, if you’re a romantasy girly like me, this was probably your entry into the world of reading as a grown up. I never really stopped reading, but I did have some low points when I had children and during lockdown, and this fantasy series brought me right out of that slump – read my ACOTAR series review here. 

And it’s not complete yet – how exciting! Sarah J. Maas only recently shared a post showing the completed draft of ACOTAR 6 – at least, that’s what we think it is…there’s some debate over what’s scribbled on the front! 

I’d say that the first 3 books of ACOTAR – A Court of Thorns and Roses, A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Wings and Ruin – actually fit the brief of satisfying series as a trilogy of fantasy novels. The ending of ACOWAR actually wraps up everything very well. After these three (plus the A Court of Frost and Starlight novella which kind of stands alone) we move to a new main character. Some people aren’t fans of this, but I could read about this world all day long, which is why I moved onto Sarah J. Maas’s other novels (such as Throne of Glass…see below!) to fill that gap.

Read more: Best Romantasy Books & Series You HAVE To Read Now

Everyone talks about ACOTAR, but I honestly think it’s just such a magical world and an excellent love story. I loved how the wool was pulled over my eyes about one certain aspect of it (no spoilers!) – I think it’s brilliant when authors can flip what feels like a whole world view on its head for you! This series is like modern fairy tales, but darker and spicier and just more fun.

It’s also a fandom with the best merch – check out my post on ACOTAR gifts here!

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

I actually jumped on this bandwagon super late! I know His Dark Materials was a super popular series when I was a child, but I think I had it in my head that they were “books for boys” – why I had this antiquated notion, who knows?! I put this into the same category of books as Percy Jackson, which again, is a young adult series that I’ve never read – I might save that one for when my kids are a bit older and read it for the first time alongside them. (Actually side note, why have I never read them? It’s about Greek gods – my specialist area!)

Anyway, it wasn’t until 2017, when I was 26, that I picked up The Golden Compass on a whim and decided to give it a go. Honestly, I was blown away. Why didn’t anyone tell me how brilliant these books were?! Maybe I was just too stubborn! 

For a children’s book series, these are so well written. The storyline is so sophisticated and I can absolutely see why this is such a beloved series. It takes you through such immersive worlds.

To be fair, I haven’t technically completed everything related to this series – or at least, this world. His Dark Materials is considered the main series, but it has a few shorts stories and novellas such as Once Upon a Time in the North, Lyra’s Oxford and Serpentine which accompany the series, and the new books, The Book of Dust trilogy (the good news is that this is due to be completed this month) – I have the first book of this one, The Book of Dust, just waiting for me to pick it up! 

I actually have the Yoto cards for this series all ready for my young children to listen to, I’m just waiting for them to get a little bit older first!

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

Vampires were to 2010 what the fae are to 2025. Twilight was such an iconic series for me as a teenager, and I like to think that I was at the forefront of it after one of my best friends bought Twilight in a small bookshop while I was on holiday with her when it was still new, and I stole it off her to read first!

Read more: 5 New Romantasy Books You HAVE To Read in 2025

Seemingly the Twilight Saga is going through a bit of a revival at the moment – the HOA HOA sound is all over TikTok this season (if you know, you know!) and vampires are taking centre stage again! It’s inspired so much popular culture over the years, and even though it falls into meme territory nowadays sometimes (the ketchup bottle!), it captured imaginations of young readers for such good reasons.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I would have considered this one of my completed and “satisfied with” series, until a few years ago! Initially this was considered The Hunger Games trilogy, but 10 years after the final book, Mockingjay, was released, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes came out. And earlier this year, Sunrise on the Reaping. 

I haven’t managed to get to these two yet as I’m not sure I’m mentally prepared enough to re-enter this world which tore me apart. There was a moment in Mockingjay that had me absolutely sobbing! I thought it wrapped up so well that I didn’t need more – but then again, these are considered prequels, despite there being much debate over the Hunger Games reading order.

Katniss Everdeen was such a brilliant, strong female character for young readers. I think it was among a minority of novels at the time that showed girls in this way – potentially helping to break that gender stereotype of “boys’ books” vs “girls’ books” that I’ve already touched on above. 

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

So now I’ve shared the all the book series that I consider to be satisfyingly complete, let’s move onto the ones that are patiently waiting for me to finish them!

This fictional world is just incredible – it’s so full of depth and detail. I have to admit, it took me a while to get into the Throne of Glass series, but around half way through, I’ve seen it all starting to come together and I finally get it. The only reason I’m still stalling is because my library hasn’t got the next book in for me yet! I have, however, written a post on the best Throne of Glass reading order – although I’m not sure I even agree with myself!

Crowns of Nyaxia by Carissa Broadbent

I’ve only read the first novel, The Serpent and the Wings of Night, so far, but this is a series that I am already obsessed with! I cannot WAIT to get my hands on the next one. 

This is like an upgraded version of the Hunger Games and Twilight, with added spice – I can already tell from a single book that it’s going to make my favourites list!

Zodiac Academy by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti

Again, as yet I’m only 2 books into this fantasy series, but I can see why it makes all the book lists. Zodiac Academy is an absolute mammoth of a series though, and it intertwines with the authors’ other series too – Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac, Darkmore Penitentiary and Sins of the Zodiac. I’ve researched and researched the best series reading order for these and have had to make a spreadsheet so I know where to go (post coming on that soon!).

The only thing that hasn’t sold me on this is the bully romance vibes which, so far, are not my thing. I’m willing to stick with it though as I foresee a satisfying ending and explanation for all this that I can’t wait to get to – it’s only, you know, 10,000 or so more pages to go!

The Dream Harbor Series by Laurie Gilmore

​A bit of a turnaround of pace and style here to a different genre – romance! I wouldn’t have called myself a romance book lover at all, even up to a year ago, but whoops – I’m easily influenced!

The first book of the Dream Harbor series, The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, just had such fall book vibes that I couldn’t resist trying it out last autumn, and I was won over. I’m now four books down in the series – The Gingerbread Bakery just made it to my bookshelves this week as a 99p Amazon Kindle book deal – and while I can’t say they’re groundbreaking or anything particularly special, they are cute and light and easy to read. I enjoy them!

Heather Bay Romance by Amber Eve

As I said above, I’m not really a romance reader, but I do love rom com movies – who doesn’t? And these books have exactly that vibe – I believe I once described the first one as a hilarious Scottish Bridget Jones.

I’ve read the author’s blog, Forever Amber, for years and love her writing style and fun stories about her life. When she started writing books, I knew I’d enjoy them! I’ve just got one more of the series that I haven’t got to yet, but they’re among my favorite books.

And just to round off the post, here are the book series on my TBR that I haven’t yet started but I KNOW I need to!

Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

I know, I can’t believe I haven’t read them either! I remember a boy at school reading these when I was about 12 or 13 and I felt completely intimidated by these books that seemed so huge! 

Everyone knows these books are the epitome of immersive worlds, so I know I’ll love them. I just need to get round to it!

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin

In the same vein as Lord of the Rings, these books are enormous – it’s a committment to read them that I haven’t ever been sure I’m willing to take on. I’m going to have to take that step soon and pick up the first book, A Game of Thrones.

Annoyingly, the two series above also fall into a bracket that I’ve only identified while writing this post – maybe it’s just a me problem, but in my head, these were “books for boys” – which I absolutely do not agree with at all, but must have been something that got pushed into my brain at some point in time. How annoying – let’s change that!

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

This is another confession – I hadn’t even heard of Brandon Sanderson until late last year, whoops! He was talking on a podcast and his books sounded interesting, so I looked him up thinking I was discovering a slightly niche author. Apparently not! How I missed out on hearing about the Mistborn series, I honestly do not know.

Nevertheless, this fantasy series is now on my TBR waiting patiently for me to hurry up and complete some other great series before I can make room for it!

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

I read the first book of this science fiction series years and years ago – it was a quirky and fun journey, unlike anything else I’ve read really. I’ve meant to pick it up again ever since as I know it’s a classic series, but I’m just not in my sci-fi era at the moment.

The Millennium Series by Stieg Larsson

Okay, so I said above that I never DNF books (series are a different matter!), but I guess I lied. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is one book that I picked up, put down and never picked up again. And I’ve always felt guilty about that! Can you see why I don’t DNF books?! I always intended to try it again but I haven’t yet got to that point. One day, I promise!

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

This is an interesting one – I’ve read plenty of historical fiction over the years, it’s not my favourite genre ever, but I do enjoy it, but weirdly, they’ve all been standalone ones. For a long time, I’ve wanted to pick up a historical fiction series to really get my teeth into it, and this is the one that keeps catching my eye. I know it’s a TV series too, but I haven’t ever watched it for some reason, I just haven’t ever committed myself to it (do I have committment issues?!), but I think the book might be a better place to start – I usually prefer the book over a film or TV series!

Read more: Book Review: The Naked Light by Bridget Collins

Okay, I could go on forever – I haven’t even mentioned ones like Little Women that I’ve never read (whoops again!), Sherlock Holmes (especially considering how much I love a good mystery, how?!) and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld (I KNOW!). And the last one which I can barely bring myself to mentioning – The Chronicles of Narnia! I’ve started them with Emmy now, okay?! There are just too many books and too little time!