Reading a Series

So, I am a bit of an oddball. In more ways than one without a doubt, but for this post I am referring to how I read a series. I am not sure when it started but at some point I decided waiting until all the books in a series were out was the only option. At that point, I could binge read the whole thing in one sitting. By reading a series this way I am content and there is a sense of completion.

But lately there are more and more series I can’t avoid because I am finding I want to enjoy them now, or at least start. I am actually considering reading a series differently than I ever have before. Thankfully I have a few series on the back list, already complete, I can enjoy while I contemplate how to tackle reading a series that isn’t all out yet. It isn’t that I worry they won’t ever be finished, it is more that I am impatient and don’t like the not knowing how it ends. Of having that story constantly running in the back of mind wondering what might happen next until I can read the next installment and know for sure.

I do this with TV shows as well; I wait to binge watch a season, when finished I will google to see how the next season started so I at least know how that particular story arc ends. I am horrible that way. But with a book series I don’t have anything to Google! I have avoided that problem by either not reading series altogether or digging in once available, years after it was originally published.

I was discussing this quirk of mine with a friend the other day and he stated that he has to read the first book to know if he wants to read the series and make the commitment. Honestly, that concept had never occurred to me. If I am interested enough in the premise and synopsis, well, I am in all the way. It never occurred to me I might want to test the waters as it were. Having always read a series as one giant tome I never considered them as separate books.

But I want to see if I can shift that perspective and reading habit this year because there are quite a few series that recently started, or will be starting later this year, and I am anxious to get to know the characters. It is going to be hard for me and my inquiring mind to have to wait, so we shall see how this experiment goes.

Do you have odd reading habits or treat a series in a special fashion differently from a standalone? Let me know any tricks you have for reading a series and battling the waiting for the next installment!

~ Happy reading ~