The Sunday Symposium: Serious About Series

The Sunday Symposium is a weekly feature in which I'll be discussing various bookish topics and asking for your commentary, as well.  This week, let's discuss series:  why some series are easier to finish than others, why it's sometimes better to wait until all the books in a series are released, what series you could read over and over, etc.

I used to be really good about finishing series.  Okay, maybe good isn't the right word for it.  I was obsessive about it.  The same way I was about finishing every book I began reading.  I've started DNFing books that weren't particularly holding my interest, and in a way, that's carried over to the series I've started in the last few years, as well.

That isn't to say that I've lost interest in every series I haven't finished yet.  There are a lot of series ending this year.  Some I finished the minute the books were released (The Clockwork Princess)...or earlier if I had a review copy of the final book (Requiem).  But therein lies the problem.  My review books are taking priority these days, so if I haven't specifically fit a book -- whether it be a finale or not -- into my reading schedule, it likely won't get read for awhile.  Unless I download the audiobook.  I've been doing that for a lot of books (finales included) that I just don't have time for.

But I've really got to stop doing that, especially when I already own the book.  Because more often than not, there's a reason I've been putting off that final book, and I don't just mean time constraints.  Look at Lauren Kate's Rapture.  I knew that series was...less-than-stellar.  But I own signed copies of all four books.  It took me forever for my curiosity to get the best of me, and even so, I didn't break down and read the book on my shelf.  No, I downloaded the audio from Audible without checking who the narrator was.  Big mistake.  The book wasn't good on its own, but add a terrible narrator into the mix, and it was doomed to fail.  It took me four attempts to get all the way through it.  (I've since barred myself from any audio featuring this narrator.)  And after all that, I couldn't even bring myself to review it.  Not even to rant about it.  That's saying a lot.  And so you might understand why I'm hesitant to read the finale for that other angel series.  There are a million good reasons not to finish that particular series, and yet, I know my curiosity will get the better of me and I'll give in to temptation, no matter how wrong it is.  If it weren't for Angelfall, I think I'd give up on [fallen] angel books completely.

But it's not just angel-themed series that I haven't finished yet.  Sometimes, I start a book without realizing it's the first in a series.  (I'm looking at you, I am Number Four.)  Sometimes I start a series just to pass the time until something better comes along.  (It's me, not you, The Maze Runner.)  Don't judge...you know you've done this, too.  ;0)

On the other hand, there are series that I will devour the minute I get my hands on each book.  I couldn't wait a minute longer to read The Bitter Kingdom, for instance.  Now that was an epic finale.  Well worth the wait, I might add.  Though, it would have caused me less heartache to have waited until that entire series had been released before diving in.  I mean, I read the first book only a couple of months before the second was released.  Another year wouldn't have been asking too much, but I'm weak.  So very weak.

The one series, though, that I could read again and again is Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials.  Not only are those some great fantasy books, but they bring back good memories.  First, unlike so many YA enthusiasts these days, I cannot boast that the Twilight series was the one that got me back to my reading roots.  Nope.  For me, that all started with The Golden Compass.  I started it when I was pregnant with my daughter, and I ended up giving that copy to my older sister and buying the omnibus that contained all three books.  I remember going to one of my "treatments" at the end -- there were complications -- and having to lie there for an hour at a time, and one of the nurses remarked that "that's an awfully big book".  Um, yeah.

I have a love/hate relationship with series these days.  I love finding great new series, but I also hate the waiting in between books and the feeling of obligation to finish each one I start.  That's another thing I'm working on.  And I might be giving away a couple of the completed series mentioned in this post, even though I haven't finished them myself.  If I get that curious, I can always download the audio, right?  ;-)

Here are some of the series on my shelves right now...

Completely finished and completely unread...don't ask:

• The Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking
• The Firelight Trilogy by Sophie Jordan
• The Looking Glass Wars Trilogy by Frank Beddor
• Modern Faerie Tales by Holly Black
• Prophecy of the Sisters Trilogy by Michelle Zink
• The Incarceron Duology by Catherin Fisher

Finished series that I'm behind on (read: waivering on completing):

• Across the Universe Trilogy by Beth Revis, read books #1 and #2
• Gone with the Respiration by Lia Habel, read book #1...not sure if there's more than two
• The Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DeStefano, read books #1 and #2
• The Goddess Test series by Aimee Carter, read books #1 and #2
• The Revenants series by Amy Plum, read books #1 and #2
• Shades of London series by Maureen Johnson, read book #1
• Hereafter series by Tara Hudson, read book #1
• Personal Demons Trilogy by Lisa Desrochers, read books #1 and #2

There are more to add to both of those lists, and I wanted to list all the series that I plan on completing this year, but it's getting late, I meant to have this post up this morning, and I'm still recovering from a cold or whatever my daughter passed to me, so this will have to be enough for now.  :-P  Plus, you probably don't need to know how neurotic I can be.  I am such a list-maker.  =)

So, how do you feel about series?  Any that you just can't make yourself finish?  How about those that you wish you would have waited to read?  And best of all, which series could you re-read, no matter how many times you've read it before?

Any and all commentary, chastising, and public flogging is welcome, as per usual.  And thanks for stopping by!  Also, be sure to check out Let's Discuss to find more bookish discussions all over the interwebz!

Labels: series, the sunday symposium