Tag: Reading a series

Have you ever stopped reading a series before the end?

Bookish Question #352 | Have you ever stopped reading a series of novels?

I’d like to say I finish every series I start. I’d like to say I finish every book I start, but neither statement is true.

There are three main reasons I don’t finish a series:

1. The Publisher

Sometimes, a publisher decides not to complete publishing a series. I’ve had this happen a couple of times, and it’s really frustrating as a reader. In one I remember, the second book in the series ended just as the Berlin Wall went up, leaving the hero and heroine on opposite sides of the wall. I was so annoyed that I stopped buying fiction from that publisher unless the complete series was already available. They stopped publishing fiction soon after.

I know some readers prefer not to buy books in a series, especially a trilogy, until all the books have been published so they know they’ll get the full story arc. I also know this can become a self-fulfilling prophesy: if a publisher doesn’t see sufficient sales for the first book in a series, they might cancel the contract and not publish the full series.

While I can see the publisher’s point (they need to make a profit), their actions are counter-productive: every time a publisher cancels an incomplete series, they increase the number of readers who won’t buy books in an incomplete series.

(But that’s only for traditional publishers: self-published authors will probably finish the series because they know a book is forever, and they will increase their readthrough and their profits when the series is complete).

2. Boredom

There are, unfortunately, series I’ve stopped reading because of boredom—usually because the series has gone on so long that it’s no longer about the characters who originally caught my interest.

3. Lack of Knowledge

The other reason I don’t complete reading a series is because I didn’t see a new book was available.

An easy way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to sign up for an author’s email newsletter – most authors have a newsletter now, especially self-published authors. Yes, some email too often, but it does make sure I don’t miss out on a book I wanted to read.

What about you? Have you ever stopped reading a series of novels before the end?

Do you remember why?

Have you ever read a series of novels from start to finish?

Bookish Question #351 | Have you ever read a series of novels from start to finish?

This question could be read two ways:

  1. Have I ever read an entire series of novels from start to finish i.e. read all the novels in a series? or
  2. Have I ever read an entire series of novels from start to finish i.e. back to back without reading anything else in between?

I’ve read a lot of trilogies and longer series as they have released.

The longest single series I can remember reading is Karen Kingsbury’s Baxter series, which might not count because it was actually divided multiple series. I stopped reading around halfway through the second four-book series because the story was straying away from the original characters.

Back when I used to buy lots of paperbacks, I would often reread a series from the start every time a new book was released, partly to remind me of where the story was up to, but mostly because I enjoyed reading but was on a budget so couldn’t buy endless paperbacks (there was also the small problem of storage). I don’t have the cost or storage problems so much now I read ebooks, so reread less.

What about you? Have you ever read a full series of books? What series?