Monday, February 17, 2014

Monday Maunder: Book Series


Happy Monday!

Over the weekend, I took a brief detour of my reading of The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.  I was to start a book club conversation this morning about Divergent by Veronica Roth, so I dove into that book to prepare myself.  I was not expecting that book to go quite so quickly, and now cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of the series.  And, with that thought came the rush of all the other series that I am in the middle of, begging me to pick them back up as well.

At the beginning of the year, I mentioned that I was looking for some resolution in my reading, meaning that I was hoping to return to a multitude of series that I have read only partially.  There are so many books that I am just one book away from the finale.  For example . . .

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

Then, there are a group of series that I have read the first book, but not the subsequent books, despite them being on my shelves awaiting me to pick them up.  Some of these I even want to re-read the first books because I appreciate them so much.  As a few examples . . .

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Wicked:  The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

Of course, then I also have those many, many books that I know are the beginning of a series that sit on my shelves that I have yet to even begin.  A peek into these include . . .

Matched by Allie Condie

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

The sad thing as I look at this list of series I need to work on is that this is only a small portion of what I am in the midst of or want to begin.  When I see this list, I begin to feel a bit overwhelmed and confused at where to begin.  Do I go with just finishing out the Divergent series since it is so fresh in my mind, or do I develop a strategy of another sort to begin tackling these books to find the resolution that I wanted to achieve in 2014?  Oh, what to do, what to do . . .

Oh, and for those wondering, I am back to reading The Woman in White and expect to finish it this week!

How do you tackle your series reading?  Do you have a strategy on staying up-to-date with your book series?  What series do you think I should tackle sooner rather than later (whether it is listed above or not)?

18 comments:

  1. I try very very hard to stay up to date on series I read. When I discover a new series several books in, I either work them in as a feel like it (which usually means I get further behind), or I work out a mental plan. I've got a couple of series like that right now, and I've got the books in the series spaced out several months apart in my planning to finish them up this year.

    It will be interesting to see if I stick to that plan or not.

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    1. Mark Baker ... I have never really had a plan for series before and I think that is my issue. I'm a mood reader ... reading what I want when I want, but am discovering that I need some closure for a few of these series I'm in the midst of!!

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  2. I enjoyed a series by Harlan Coben, his Myron Bolitar series. He's stopped that series, so you can read them all. Now he writes a YA series about Myron's nephew, Mickey.

    Another good series that has ended is the Patrick Kinsey-Angela Genaro series by Dennis Lehane.

    Both series are mystery/thriller. And I'm very sorry that they have ended. Lehane's books since his series haven't been as good.

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    1. techeditor ... You have me wondering ... I have a couple of Coben books on my shelves. I'm wondering if that is yet another series I need to take note of!! Of course, I'm always up for a good mystery/thriller. I haven't been reading them as much as I used and I've been in the mood for them lately!

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  3. I typically wait until all the books in a series have been released before I start reading it. If I don't do it that way, I'm unlikely to remember enough about it to return to it when a new volume comes out, and then I tend to drop out of the series altogether.

    I'm also a little reluctant to read a book knowing that it's the first in a series, particularly if the series is longer than three books. It can feel like more of a commitment than I'm ready to make. On the other hand, finding a really good series that you genuinely enjoy (I'm thinking of the year someone told me to read Kage Baker's Company books) is one of the most fun reading experiences ever.

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    1. Jenny @ Reading the End ... That's a really good idea to wait until they are all out. Sometimes though that can be a really LONG wait!! :) I have found sometimes I have picked up a book not knowing that it is part of a series, then I really want more ... but the book isn't on my shelf and then I think I will come back to it later and then I'm in the middle of another series ... it is pretty much a never-ending cycle!

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  4. I read quite a few series and have a hard time staying up-to-date with them. There are just too many books out there! The last few years, I've done the Finish the Series Challenge, where I've selected 3 or 4 challenges that I focus on for the year to "catch up" on. That seems to have worked for those that I was way behind on. Another strategy that worked was deciding to do switch to audio for a series. I did that for the Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series and Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli & Isles series. Both worked really well on audio and I didn't mind listening to the books back-to-back.

    I use FictFact to keep track of where I am in all the series that I read...not sure if you are familiar with that site. It's great!!! I also have lists in my notebook where I keep track of books read - I'm a huge list person! When I get a free space inbetween review books, I try to fill in with a series book.

    Great post...I love posts that foster discussion!!!

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    1. I really don't do official challenges much anymore, but I think I need to implement an informal one like you mentioned for myself. I have so many series to catch up on!!

      I like the idea of switching to audio for a few of them. I will have to see which ones I can find. I am also familiar with FictFact. In fact, I need to swing by there and update my series reading soon. I haven't done that in a while and maybe it will make me feel better about the series reading that I am accomplishing!!

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  5. I don't worry if I stay up to date with series or not, with a few exceptions such as Michael Connelly and Jo Nesbo. Other than that, I just let myself go with the flow and whatever I'm liking, I continue with that. For example, right now I'm digging the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series by Robert Crais so I'm working my way through them -- slowly, if I get "sidetracked" by something else that catch my eyes so be it.

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    1. Bryan G. Robinson ... I am typically a mood reader, reading what I want when I want. BUT, some of that has changed recently and I feel like I am hanging with some series and need some closure. With never having a plan before, I found myself in unfamiliar territory with this feeling!! :)

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  6. I've completely given up on starting series that are not completely done. I'm in the middle of too many to name and will probably never finish them because I lose interest between book releases. I do intend to finish A Song of Ice and Fire, the Wicked series (I, too, have the final book left), and a few others that I've loved. The rest...oh well.

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    1. Brooke ... Ha! I do have Martin's series on my shelf somewhere too. Well, at least A Game of Thrones. I haven't started it yet, so it is yet another series to add to this list above. I really don't know if I will ever finish all the series, but I definitely need to make at least a few of them a priority!

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  7. I do the same as Jenny and try to wait until a series is complete and then read the whole thing. Or sometimes I'll read the first book, decide if it's worth continuing, but then I won't go any farther until the whole thing is completed. (The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is one such example... the second book is out, but I kind of don't see the point when the third book is nowhere in sight.) Of course sometimes I just can't help myself reading as the books are released (All Souls and Passage trilogies) but I always end up re-reading the earlier books, so I know it's a better use of my time if I can just wait.

    Of course, many mystery/thriller series are just ongoing without a planned conclusion, so those I just try to keep up on as they come out. I'm usually good keeping up on the series I'm current with. But it's authors who I discover and like but who have huge backlists (like Robert Crais) that I get too intimidated to start... even though that list is only getting longer...

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    1. Charleen @ Cheap Thrills ... Oh my goodness! I completely forgot about those two trilogies you mentioned!! All Souls is one of my faves and I cannot wait for the third book this summer. Though I will likely need to re-read the first two just to make sure I remember all the details. I have also read The Passage, but have not gotten to the second one yet. So many books, so little time!

      I didn't even bother listing out some of those mystery/thriller series because they are ongoing and I don't even think I've read some of them in order. I used to be a huge fan of Patricia Cornwell (still a fan actually) and her's I read periodically, but never in the order I think they were actually written.

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  8. I've made a resolution to read or catch up on a couple of series this year. I've never read Robert Jordan's A Wheel Of Time so that's on the list. I'm working on reading all of Peter Robinson's mysteries. Then I'm starting Game Of Thrones again to go back and remember where I was before catching up on books four and five. Finally, Stephen Donaldson wrote a fantastic fantasy series called the Thomas Covenant Unbeliever books. I think there are now about a dozen and I own them all and hope to read them this year.

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    1. Sandie ... Sounds like we are in the same boat to catch up on our some of our series! I have not read Jordan's A Wheel of Time either, and it sounds like I need to check out Donaldson's series ... well, at some point!! I gotta work on the series currently on my shelves!! :)

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  9. I have no method which often leaves me with a ton if half finished series.

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    1. Tanya Patrice ... So glad that I am not alone!! :)

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