Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Urban Fantasy Series I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Read Yet

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is Top Ten Books I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Read From X Genre!

I’m choosing Urban Fantasy since I consider myself fairly well read in the genre. Below is a list of 9 extremely popular series that I consider “staples” but just haven’t gotten around to reading yet. (Or in the case of a few, have no plans to read/read 1 book and didn’t feel like continuing.)

---

 Shifter series by Rachel Vincent

I look like an all-American grad student. But I am a werecat, a shape-shifter, and I live in two worlds. Despite reservations from my family and my Pride, I escaped the pressure to continue my species and carved out a normal life for myself. Until the night a Stray attacked.

Been avoiding this series for two main reasons. I’m not a fan of the “not many women of X species and therefore it’s their duty to breed” trope (is there an actual trope name for this?) and the the synopsis of the book makes it sound eerily similar to Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten. I adore Bitten, so I’m afraid of reading this only to compare it the whole time to Armstrong’s book. Still, I’m sure I’ll end up reading this series eventually.

---

The Other’s Series by Anne Bishop

As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut—a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg’s Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard—a business district operated by the Others.

This is a series that I really want to read. I just haven’t gotten around to buying or borrowing it yet.

---

Fever series by Karen Marie Moning

MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks… until something extraordinary happens.
When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. 

Confession time. I read the first book in this series and hated it. I feel like I’m missing something because people rave about this series and Jericho, but it just didn’t work for me. Not sure if I’ll ever swing back around to reading the rest of these books.

---

Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris

Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She’s quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn’t get out much. Not because she’s not pretty. She is. It’s just that, well, Sookie has this sort of “disability.” She can read minds. And that doesn’t make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He’s tall, dark, handsome–and Sookie can’t hear a word he’s thinking. He’s exactly the type of guy she’s been waiting for all her life.

I get the feeling that this series overstayed it’s welcome and know very few people who liked the last book. However, it’s a staple of the genre and I may consider picking-up the first couple of novels some day down the line.

---

Chicagoland Vampires by Chloe Neill

Sure, the life of a graduate student wasn’t exactly glamorous, but I was doing fine until Chicago’s vampires announced their existence to the world. When a rogue vampire attacked me, I was lucky he only got a sip. Another bloodsucker scared him off and decided the best way to save my life was to make me the walking undead.

I’m torn on whether or not to start this series. Not a huge fan of vampire politics, but I might eventually give one or two of these books a shot since so many people love them.

---

The Hollows series by Kim Harrison

All the creatures of the night gather in “the Hollows” of Cincinnati, to hide, to prowl, to party … and to feed. Vampires rule the darkness in a predator-eat-predator world rife with dangers beyond imagining — and it’s Rachel Morgan’s job to keep that world civilized.

I’ve had the first book of this series sitting on my bookshelves since 2004. This might be the novel I’ve owned the longest and have just not gotten around to reading. I might need to remedy that very soon.

---

Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep

They call me the Spider. I’m the most feared assassin in the South — when I’m not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland. As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife. But I don’t use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride.

I read the first two books in this series and couldn’t get into them. However, it was more of my not being in the mood for this sort of book at the time. I have plans to retry the series eventually.

---

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger…

Technically, this is young adult but I’m running out of urban fantasy series to lists and this is one that I see constantly pop-up. I just have not gotten around to it yet.

---

Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher

Harry Dresden — Wizard Lost items found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment. Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he’s the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the “everyday” world is actually full of strange and magical things — and most of them don’t play well with humans.

I’m extremely indifferent to this series. So many other things that interest me a lot more, so I just haven’t gotten around to these books yet.