Glomming a series
I just finished reading a series I really enjoyed. Ironically, the first three books of this series sat on my TBR pile for months, even though I’d heard it was a good series and I would love it. But when I started reading the first book, I HAD to know what happened in the second and then in the third and yep, I went and got the forth book and gobbled it up too. In five days, I’d read the entire series and am now all caught up with everyone else who’s impatiently waiting for the next book to release. I’ve done this with another series as well…and er, with TV shows. I’ll get the entire first and second season DVDs and watch them back to back. Hmmm, I think I see a pattern here…instant gratification maybe? LOL!
What about you? Do you read your favorite series books as soon as they are released? Or do you buy the book when it comes out but wait until the entire series is done before reading the books back to back? Or does the series dictate which ones you read right away and which ones you read later? If so, why?
Yes, I’m full of questions today. 
As soon as they come out,then when a new one is due to be released I re read the previous ad continue; I want to be sure I’ll enjoy the book so I don’t go out and buy the second if I’m disappointed with the first.
I re read the previous ad continue
I know a lot of people do this, but I have never done that…reread a book prior to reading the next in a series, even if it had been a year since I read the last book. Then again, I’m not one to reread books and I’ve only been known to re-watch maybe 6 movies tops so that’s probably why.
It depends on if I “find” the series late or not. I do have a few series I came into after 3 – 4 books were out and like you I read them all and then waited impatiently for the next book(s) to be released.
If it’s a new series I will sometimes let it sit in my TBR. I hate it when I do that because then I have to buy the next book when it comes out and if I don’t like the series I now have two books from it and it feels like I’ve wasted the money.
If it’s a new series I will sometimes let it sit in my TBR. I hate it when I do that because then I have to buy the next book when it comes out
There is definitely that potential downside.
I come into most series late, so I read them all back to back, and wait patiently (actually go insane) until the next one comes out. I’m also like that with tv series. I’ve been known to channel surf and run across a gem of a series, then hulu the entire series, sometimes for weeks on end, until I catch up to where the tv series is. Then I just about go crazy as I wait an entire week for one measley small episode. I think it is an instant gratification kind of problem, for me at least. But could I wait until the series is finished so I can read them all together at once? I doubt it.
I’m like you…I can’t wait until the series is finished. I just hurry up and catch up and then wait breathlessly until the next one (book or TV show) comes out.
I’m a read as many as possible right away and then wait impatiently for the next book to come out.
As for TV series…eh. I usually wont go back and watch back episodes I’ve missed unless it’s a series I’m already into and then I’ve probably seen it from the beginning. If the series is based off a book then I am way to impatient for the series to get through the book episode by episode to watch it, so I will usually go and read the book (which I find tends to be way better than the show/movie) instead.
BTW: What series did you read and LOVE?!?!
Ironically, it’s a series that has been around for a few years. But too many people around me had recently told me they knew I would like it (ie, ppl who know my reading likes/dislikes), so I picked the books up. It was the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning.
I am completely OBSESSED with that series. (My BFF and I talk endlessly about it and our theories.) I am continually checking the KMM website to see when the fifth and final book comes out. Alas, there is no publication date yet given, but I think it will be this year.
I know…it’s nail-biting waiting to find out what the heck Barron’s is! Since the books have come out once a year, the assumption is it’ll come out later this year. Otherwise, mutiny!
I am a total instant gratification type person. If I come into a series late, I will read everything back to back until I’m caught up and then wait impatiently for the next one.
OMG the cliff hanger from the Fever series was a KILLER! Welcome to the waiting club!
I thought the one from FaeFever was worse! I’m just glad I had book 4 so I could immediately see what happened after that.
I buy the first book in a series. If I like it, I buy all the rest until I’m caught up. Sometimes this backfires, in series that start out strong but go nowhere, and I’m left with six or eight books trying to figure out where to draw the line.
I tend to just read books when I come across them, no waiting or calculating based on how many books are in a series; but I confess, I find myself more likely to pick up a book if there are at least two sequels. If I like it, I want to know there’s more.
I also reread the last book in a series when the newest one is released. It helps to put me back in the world. I read so many books in a year that otherwise I’d be asking myself about things that don’t exist in this universe (mating bonds are really bad for this, since you either have them or you don’t). This can also backfire on me; I read Iron Kissed a week before Bone Crossed was released, then I was left jonesing for my Mercy fix, so I had to reread Moon Called and Blood Bound. Oh, what a terrible burden to be cursed with.
This can also backfire on me; I read Iron Kissed a week before Bone Crossed was released, then I was left jonesing for my Mercy fix
Yep this can definitely be an issue. Love the Mercy books too!
I have the first 4 Fever books, but I’ve heard so many people talk about how much torture the cliffhangers are, I’ve been afraid to read them until the 5th book is written. (I’ve never waited before.) On the flip side, I’m so terrible, I’ll probably die of suspense and go straight to the last book! I think I should probably get started on the books.
Since so many authors write series, it’s hard not to begin one and then wait impatiently for the next release if you like the series. However, there’s a difference between the urban fantasy that features one main character and so you are DYING to know what happens next, and the paranormal that has a continuing story arc throughout a series, but each book features a couple who have their HEA. The stress level to get the next book is different.
Just be prepared, once you start reading, you won’t want to stop until book 4 is finished. Then you can commiserate with the rest of us in the ‘waiting impatiently’ line.
Yes, I agree, UF with continuing characters can really leave you hanging vs traditional PNR where it’s one couple’s story per book.
I actually love discovering a series after it has been around a while. The first book I normally will borrow from a friend or library. If the story passes my criteria for reading more (have I read the same story done as well before? Is this something new? Or is this a classic tale done in a way I have never read?) then I will glom the whole series. This gives me a week or more of totally falling into a series with no breaks. Series that I have done this with: Vorkosigan series by Bujold, Troubleshooters series by Brockmann, Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews. Those series stood the test of time, the second reading was just as good in their own way as the first. While I have discovered other books where I read the first book of a series then signed on for the rest, I now actually prefer to know that a series has developed past a few stories. I like series.
Television shows? I am just now Glomming Witchblade, and have in the past Glommed HBO’s The Wire, Rome, Sex and the City, and BBC’s I, Claudius.
I’ve heard Bujold is wonderful, especially Sharing Knife.
She is! You should check her out. The Vorkosigan Saga is space opera, the Chalion series is political intrigue fantasy, and The Sharing Knife is romantic fantasy. She writes very vivid characters, that come to life and come off the page.
I’ve been bitten too many times by series that start strong then fizzle, so I don’t buy a stack at once anymore but take them one at a time. I do love when I discover a series that has several books already out, naturally, as I can dive in and not come up for days. On the other hand, having discovered at the ripe old age of 12 that I was an addict (LOTR) I sometimes force myself to be strong and wait several weeks before reading a book I’ve been waiting impatiently for – but I buy it as soon as it’s available and take no mercy on anyone who comes between me and the object of my desire
=A
I end up going whole hog on a series.. but not with books, usually with t.v. shows. I don’t watch a whole lot of t.v, but when I really like a show, I go out and buy the whole banana. Whole banana = every single episode of the series. ( I have Gilmore Girls, West Wing, LOTR- yes, not a tv show, but a series nonetheless)
With books, more or less, I tend to be leader of the pack. I buy books with alarming frequency, so more often than not, I have every book of a series ( Here’s looking at you Harry Dresden, Kate Daniels,Allie Beckstrom, Cassie Palmer etc.) And then you know.. I pace & growl & snap while waiting impatiently for authors to finish books.
I need instant gratification. I read the series books as soon as they come out. If it is a long time between or I need to refresh my memory, I’ll reread the previous one to get caught up.
With the Sharing Knife series by Bujold, I reread the whole series each time a new one came out for the sheer joy of the words and the world.
I had let the Cat and Bones books by Jeanine Frost sit on my TBR pile until I picked the first up by chance one day. I am really sorry I waited as long as I did to start that series.
So put me down with those who just can’t wait until the series is complete before beginning it.
I like series in UF. It gives you more story with the same characters. That said, they have to go somewhere. Give you the idee that there will be an ending. Otherwise, I feel like am just reading random episodes that don’t go anywhere. It’s why I stopped reading Kim Harrison. I love her books, but there just so … I don’t know. There is no ending in sight and the idee of waiting years for the next book without that just doesn’t appeal to me.
I am now awaiting the last Riley Jenson book. Really curious to see how it ends.
And waiting for the last Fever book.
I like to read things in order, but I often don’t because I test drive books from the library and it depends on whether I got in at the beginning or not. I remember that I started reading in the middle of Jim Butcher’s Dresden series and ended up with about 2/3 of them, but with Steven Brust I was in early and ended up buying them all. Patricia Briggs Mercy series and Ilona Andrews’ books are other examples. I read one, then bought them all as they came out. Unfortunately I have a terrible habit of cruising the new books display. If something looks interesting and there are may books in the series I look around for an older one and see if I feel motivated to read however many more there are. If I love it and I know I’ll reread it, I buy it. Sometimes I end up with the individual books AND a boxed set.
I’m weak. I have no control at all. as soon as I get my greedy little paws on a new release from my fav authors, I gobble it up in one go. after the first read, I take more time and sometimes reread the whole series (depending on lenght of the series…. rereading more than 20 books of the ‘in death’ series for each new release seems a little out there
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