The Summer Series Challenge has begun!
Hosted by Asheley @ Into the Hall of Books
Lauren @ Love is not a triangle
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My favorite way to read a series
A big factor in determining how much I like a series is...MOMENTUM. I know that's nebulous, and not something that an author can specifically strive for (although who doesn't want that?). But I love the feeling of getting totally immersed in a story and a world. Taking a big chunk out of a series is the best way for me to do that. I get such a rush when I embark on reading a completed series one book right after another. Usually the further in I get, the more frantic my reading becomes, and the more I live and breathe a story. I love it.
A big factor in determining how much I like a series is...MOMENTUM. I know that's nebulous, and not something that an author can specifically strive for (although who doesn't want that?). But I love the feeling of getting totally immersed in a story and a world. Taking a big chunk out of a series is the best way for me to do that. I get such a rush when I embark on reading a completed series one book right after another. Usually the further in I get, the more frantic my reading becomes, and the more I live and breathe a story. I love it.
Some series I read in a week or less:
A few of these are 5-6 book series. I don't think I could handle more than 6 in a week.
(I only read the first 3 Mortal Instruments books together. The Iron Fey and Queen's Thief series, I read the first 3 books back to back and # 4 at a different time. Once I'm that invested, waiting for future books doesn't ruin momentum - it just makes me impatient.)
Clearly I should be tackling more series this way. But I'm impatient and like to read new books when they come out. It's also hard to read this way when I'm blogging, because I have more obligations. I tend to block out the world for the week that I'm reading a series and neglect everything.
That's one reason why I'm so excited about the Summer Series Challenge, because it's an opportunity to go back to some fully published series that I've been dying to read and enjoy them all at once.
What is your favorite way to read a series?
Does the #serieschallenge compliment or challenge your series reading habits?
What series have you read in a week?
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I'm with you Lauren! I love reading a series in its entirety one after the other because the feelings just build as I go rather than stopping and starting. That being said however, sometimes I lack the patience to wait for all the books to be out so I start with one and year after year, wait with breath held for the next book. My favorite types of reads in that situation though are the ones that are complete stories within themselves, a smaller mystery or romance plot the focus while the overarching series plot progresses in the background.
ReplyDeleteI just pretty much love series in general:)
YES! Exactly this. I LOVE that building feeling, the increasing momentum as you get deeper into a series. Great way to describe it. And I also, prefer completed stories to drawn out plots over several books with big cliffhangers in between. Companion series do this very well! Have you read the Queen's Thief series? That's also a great example of completed books, that build on each other. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteI agree completely, Lauren! I loved devouring the Fever Series in a week, along with The Queen's Thief and TMI passed so fast with those cliffhangers to keep us on the edge of our seats. It's the best kind of feeling for sure. Wonderful post! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's a complete rush, isn't it? I had so much fun with both the FEVER series and The Queen's Thief - thank you for encouraging me on both of them. I couldn't imagine if I had to wait a year for each to come out!!
DeleteI love getting caught up in a series as well, love it when all I want to do is sit back and READ:) Afterwards I am usually in a bit of a stupor, because I have put everything on hold to read, but there is nothing better than being so into that world at that time:)
ReplyDeleteI get that same hangover feeling. Your'e right, a stupor! And often I'lll go back and reread my favorites in the series, especially if I read them all the way through at a frantic pace. I love how you describe the feeling of wanting to READ a series and not do anything else. It's such a rush, but one that I can't let myself have all the time because I won't do anything else. LOVE that we all get the same feeling when we read a good series.
DeleteBefore blogging, I definitely was all about reading a series all at once. I just really wanted to get immersed in this one world with certain characters. But blogging has certainly made this more difficult. Although I don't have many review books complicating my reading schedules, I've come across other issues with reading series in a chunk. If I don't write the review of a book as soon as I finish reading it, then it's hard to remember exactly what happens in each individual book for a review. And also I try to be aware of the book reviews I schedule, and I do not think scheduling reviews for a series in a row is the most reader-friendly way to go. I'm going to try to break my new habits just a little with the Summer Series Challenge, though. Hoping to read all 3 Dairy Queen books in a row, and hopefully the Lumatere Chronicles as well!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amanda -- blogging has made reading series in a row much more challenging. And I'm excited that both of us are reading Lumatere Chronicles for the challenge!
ReplyDeleteYou can find me here: Jen @ YA Romantics
I adore binge reading series, and sometimes I lose steam if I have to wait too long between books. I have book amnesia and can't remember why I was freaking out over certain storylines, and even if there's a cliffhanger, I have trouble summoning up the angst I felt if it was a year or more since I read the ending. It sucks that for me to feel this binge reading momentum, I have to basically wait until a series is done to start it, but it's worth it for instant gratification. Love this challenge, I think I might do Kate Daniels like you. :-)
ReplyDeleteYour first paragraph of this post-YES! That is totally me! I LOVE to be able to read a series beginning to end. AND because of the loss of momentum that you totally get from spacing out a series, I LOVE re-reading the books before it. I almost always do this. Not only to remember everything that happens, but it is a guilty pleasure of mine to revisit a book I love and recreate the feelings I had from the first time I read it! VA, Hunger Games, Iron Fey, Bloodlines--all series I finished in under a week...or for The Hunger Games, 2 1/2 days...sorry not sorry? :) GREAT post! :)
ReplyDelete"Sometimes I lose momentum by spreading a series out over time, because I forget elements that happened previously, or I've just lost interest in the story." Yes, definitely! This is the biggest problem I have with series. I either forget so many things, or lose interest completely. Right now, I feel this way about the Chemical Garden trilogy. I read Wither, loved it, bought Fever... but it's been so long, I've just lost interest.
ReplyDeleteReading a series back to back is definitely my favorite way to read them! Like you, I read the Iron Fey series back to back! However, often, I don't have that opportunity because we have to wait for the next book to come out, and all that awful stuff, haha.For Percy Jackson, I had to wait for The Last Olympian to come out, and for The Hunger Games, I had to wait for Mockingjay.
Fabulous post, Lauren! :)
I LOVE series! I'm going to have to consider joining your challenge, because there are a few series I NEED to reread. I want to reread all of the Jessica Darling Books, Confessions of Georgia Nicholson, and the Gallagher Girls books before the last one comes out. Also, Harry Potter, because it has been too long. Will I get this done, realistically? Probably not, but I'm going to pretend! Whenever I start any of those series, I like to read them back to back.
ReplyDeleteAnd over analyzing a series is my FAVORITE part of reading a series. It's why I'm loving Game of Thrones so much and why I was so invested in Harry Potter back in the day.
I like to read completed series as well! I very rarely read series books back to back, however. For some reason I LOSE my momentum if I do this, it just becomes too much. I will usually put 1-2 books in between my series books, and I've found that works well. I'm much more likely to read a series in the course of a month than in the course of a week.
ReplyDeleteWould Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans count? Book 2 isn't released until August 2014...
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry I didn't respond to your earlier question! Level 2 does not count, because it's not a fully published series yet. Only the first book is out now.
DeleteIt's okay. Thank you! I wasn't sure.
DeleteLove that you're a fan of the Fever series! I devoured that one too, and VA!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a blog but I wrote out my challenge goals on my Goodreads profile page. Can I link to that?
ReplyDelete