Once you start a series, are you compelled to read the entire series, even if you no longer really enjoy the books? In other words, are you suffering from Serial Addiction? or just plain old OCD?
Julie:
Nope. I’m perfectly fine letting a series go if I’m not enjoying the books. Really, if a series is super duper long (i.e. more than 7 books), it is more likely that I’m going to call it a day with that series eventually. Call it short attention span or whatever, but I find long series that are ongoing and do not see an end in sight to be tedious and repetitive, and I get bored. And bored means I move on and read something else. Maybe with the intention to return to that series someday later, or maybe I put it on the shelf permanently. There are too many books and I’m still working on that immortal thing.
Rose:
I like to complete a series. However, if the series loses my interest, I do not always finish that series. I suppose it depends on how much time I have devoted to the series. For instance, I feel I must keep reading the Outlander Series even though the books are not as interesting to me anymore. The first several in the series were and still are amazing every time I read them. However, I find my attention wandering for the latest two books that are out in the series. I have several series that I have started and have not completed. I have not finished the Sookie Stackhouse novels. I have not completed the different series by Abbi Glines (even though I have started all of her series.) In fact, I don’t even add every book from a series to my TBR list. I just add the first book from the series and then add the others as I actually read them.
Lynn:
Most of the time, I start a series without even realizing it is a series. (And really, aren’t most books these days part of a series?) But I use the first one to gauge whether or not I read the others in the series. If I enjoyed the first book, I’ll read the others in the series. If I didn’t enjoy it, I feel no guilt what so ever for not reading the others. I really don’t care what happens in the other books (I’m talking to you Maze Runner). But I will stick it out, like Rose, even if I’m not enjoying the later books in the series (ahem, Mortal Instruments). For me, though, the perfect series would follow this pattern: each book is a separate story, with an ending. And then a tease for the next book. I’m more likely to read the next book in the series than books with a cliff-hanger ending. I want some resolution with my books.
I am usually compelled to finish unless I dislike it. If it is just ‘Meh’, I at least want my resolution. However I will not invest money into the series so it is usually only finished if I can find the books at the library.
That’s a good way to get your resolution without wasting money on books that don’t wow you 🙂 Yay libraries.
I always MEAN to complete every series, but sometimes I just let them fall to the wayside …
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction recently posted…Review – Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
There are just too many series to try to read them all right?
While I can’t not finish a book I’ve started unless I have a drastic reason, I feel no compulsion to finish series unless I’m enjoying them. Thanks for sharing this fun discussion at Booknificent Thursday!
Tina
Tina at Mommynificent recently posted…Books for Little Boys and Booknificent Thursday Link Up Party #82
I’m with you that it is hard to quit on a book in progress, but much easier to quit on a series in progress.
[…] Julie, Rose, and Lynn share their thoughts on completing series. […]
I won’t continue a series if it gets boring to me. For example, I recently read most of The Maze Runner series, but got bored and haven’t read the last one. I got tired of no resolution or plot progression. But I’ve read plenty of series through just because I was bored.
Brenda @DailyMayo recently posted…10 Literary Quotes Taken Wildly out of Context
Yea no sense in continuing to be bored if a series doesn’t wow you.
I usually start a series and if I get tired of that series I’ll go back to it (or intend to go back to it) at a later time. I like trilogies better, I’m able to finish them and it’s not as big of a commitment.
I intend to go back to so many series, and haven’t heh.
I like to complete a series, and I used to be particular about completing a few years ago. Now, if I feel like stopping, I stop. No pressure.
Nish recently posted…Mailbox Mondays – A Surprise Unboxing
Taking the pressure off helps a lot.
I only finish a series that I am no longer interested in story-wise, when I already own them (like a box set) and sometimes I don’t even do it then.
Kaitlin Michelle recently posted…If You Were Me and Lived in… A Child’s Introduction to Cultures Around the World by Carole P. Roman
Yea that’s a tough one – what to do when you own the books but aren’t into the series anymore.
Lynn which book are you on in the Mortal Instruments. Because City of Fallen Angels is just okay (kinda boring), but then it gets better in City of Lost Souls. City of Heavenly Fire is epic.
Rachael @ Rachael Turns Pages recently posted…Sunday Post # 3: Homework is endless
I think it was the 5th book that was just so bleah that I haven’t read the last one yet.
It depends on the series. For example I never thought I would finish The Hunger Games series because I didn’t like the first book, but I finished the series this year and enjoyed the last two books. Also the Scarlet series by A.C. Gaughen and the Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I know I will never finish these books. I was so annoyed by Scarlet when I read it that I don’t think I will read any more books by this author because I did not enjoy the writing style. The Caster Chronicles on the other hand, I read the first two books, but Beautiful Darkness was so boring that I have no desire to finish the series. The Splintered trilogy by A.G. Howard is one I will also never finish because the first book was so confusing. These series I do not feel bad about not finishing. Most of the time I finish the series, but I also enjoy the series majority of the time.
Rachael @ Rachael Turns Pages recently posted…Sunday Post # 3: Homework is endless
Yea when the writing style isn’t good or the book is confusing or uninteresting, no sense in continuing. But there are some series that start out good and then fail from there, and others that start out boring and get better, so it is a hard call to make sometimes.
If I like a series, I’ll usually order/pre-order the rest of the books, but I don’t always read them. Sometimes, if I start really hating the series, I stop completely. But as long as I still enjoy the series, I buy the books, even if it takes a while to get to them.
Brittany recently posted…January Write On Review-a-Thon
I used to do that too – collect the whole series even if I might not read it for a while. But that’s how my shelves got out of control.
I’m generally ok quitting a series if I’m no longer entertained by it. There are some that i feel too close to the end to quit – like the maze runner actually. I’ve read the first two and while I wasn’t happy with book 2, I now need to know how it ends. But most the time I don’t quit a series, so much as just never get back around to it. Great post!
Berls @ Fantasy is More Fun recently posted…Sunday Post | 72nd Edition
True, a short series you just want to know how it ends. But with a long series it is easier to let go.
Oh yea, I definitely make myself read a series! I think it’s serial addiction, cause I don’t have OCD otherwise. I hate the idea that I read one part of a bigger story and not the rest!
Jennine G. recently posted…Miss Peregrine’s World of Peculiar!
There is that bit of curiosity about what happens next, huh?
Trilogies get me EVERY time. I think, “oh, it’s only 3 books. I can read three books.” Then either book 2 or 3 and I’m left disliking the series as a whole even if I liked the earlier books.
The one series I wish I had dropped? The Sookie Stackhouse series. I read every single one and after awhile they really got confusion and cheesy. Some authors can put out quality books every year for a series and others…maybe not so much.
Terri M., the Director
Second Run Reviews
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Ahhh, Terri, I want to read on in the Sookie Stackhouse series, sad to hear it goes downhill. Sad face.
The Sookie books are good until the fairies enter the picture. That’s when everything got confusing! When it was just Sookie, the Vampires and the Weres, I was fine.
Terri M., the Director recently posted…Scenic Sundays 21: Heaven, Hell and John Milton
It depends on how much I disliked the series. If I only thought the series was okay (like the Selection series, for instance) I will keep reading to see if it gets better and because I am just curious to see what happens. But if I hate it, I have no problems letting it go. I just read the first in a series, Seeker, and I really didn’t care for it. I don’t care about any of the characters either so I will not be reading any more of it.
Cynthia recently posted…BOOK REVIEW: Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton
Cynthia,
I feel the same way. If I do not care about the characters, I will not read on in a series.
I have issues with series that are long. I loved the Robert Jordan series that Sanderson finished (Wheel of Time) but when they were coming out, they came out slowly and I lost interest. I love the Sword of Truth series by Goodkind, and even though the whole series is out, I find myself losing interest on the 4th book. Other long series I’ve read I sometimes forget about it and move on from it. That may be lack of interest (like the Hollows) or my own forgetfulness. I’ve never felt compelled to finish a series, though.
Erik Ammon recently posted…2015 Journal Challenge Week 4
Erik, I know what you mean. I read the first two book in the Fire and Ice series (Game of Thrones) and I really wanted to read on. When I started the third book, it had been a while since I read the first two and I forgot what was going on… I need to revisit the first two books, but I may just have lost interest. I have felt compelled to finish a series, but sometimes, I think it is best to just let it go.
I think that’s what I’m going to do with the Sword of Truth series. I’ve had the book for over a month and I’m only half way through. I like it, but just cen’t get into it…
Erik Ammon recently posted…2015 Journal Challenge Week 4