Saturday 16 July 2016

Conversations - Book Series: Yay or Nay?

Conversations is a meme from Geraldine @ Corralling Books and Joan @ Fiddler Blue.

I just join in when I feel like it because I have a hare-brained way of approaching life XD






So, this week/fortnight/whatever-day-it-is we have the question of:

Book Series: Yay or Nay?



OK, I'm going to indulge my Bookish Rebel tendencies again, and just point out that as a community, we bookish-people WORRY ABOUT THIS WAY TOO MUCH.

Seriously, you all seem to have these rules about series - ranging from you HAVE to finish a series, to all of the books in the series  HAVE to be exactly the same size and in corresponding covers or you will all freak the hell out!!!!!!




Meanwhile, I'm in the corner, like: 'Can I get anyone a cuppa? ...Or a chill pill?'





People I bug on the Internet have discussions with may already know this, but I read a lot of series out of order.

And for this I-do-what-I-want!!!!! and don't give it a second thought attitude, I blame several factors:




  • The fact that I will quote Loki and/or Loki memes WHENEVER POSSIBLE






  • My hippie-ish upbringing - I've heard 'go with the flow' since I was too teeny-tiny to know what the eff it meant.


  • Reading a sh** load of comics - seriously, ain't no-one got the time, money, or will-power to read through all 50+ years of major Marvel and DC canon. And even if you do, it's still not gonna make all that much sense. (Earth-616. Spider-Ham. That is all.)


  • Being a major library/second-hand-store reader, you tend to pick a lot of stuff up that's mid-series, often by accident. After a while, you barely notice any more.






  • Fanfiction has warped my brain. I no longer require long explanations for anything. You wanna have a world where everyone is a talking banana? WHY THE HELL NOT????? (*Laughs hysterically*)


  • Most of the time the author will stick a bunch of reminders into the latest volume of the series, because we all have the memories of book-amnesiac goldfish.








That all said, I seem to have meandered off-topic (which is totally not like me *snorts sarcastically*)

Right, the point, which I'm sure I had somewhere towards the beginning... but, then again, maybe not... is that we stress too much about series.





So, are series better, or are standalones?

Well kids, let me let you in on a little secret - there is no 'better.' There's only things that you enjoy and/or connect with, and things that you don't.




The difference isn't in whether the story is split into one part or one hundred.

The difference is you.














What do you think? Am I making sense? Or am I talking complete cr*p? (Wouldn't be the first time.)

Do you think it's more about the story than the number of instalments? Or does that matter more to you?




Like this post? Try these:




14 comments:

  1. Most of the books I read are parts of series, but it doesn't really make a difference to me. Most of the I'd love a series because then I get the story for longer, but sometimes it's refreshing to read a book and then just be done with it, and know I don't have to go and get another one to carry the story on. If that makes sense?

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    1. Ha, it makes sense, no worries! :)

      Reading is reading XD

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  2. I LOVE THIS POST!! The amount of times I haven't finished a series just because, well, I didn't want to is so long. I don't like to feel obligated you know? That being said, I love book series as a whole.

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    1. Ha, why thank you XD and yeah - FREEDOM IN READING!!!! ;)

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  3. I totally get what you mean: trying to read comics (especially Marvel's or DC's) in the "right" order is awful, I never know where to start because of it. So in that case, the number of the issues doesn't matter that much, right? Everything is connected anyway. In some series, the author recaps so much what went down in the previous books that you can read out of order, but you're never sure the author will do that, aren't you? I love to read in order and book series as a whole. :)

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    1. Ha, yeah... comics have a lot to answer for in my case! If reading in order is your thing then go with it :) it's all about the reading, not the stressing over the tiny details! :)

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  4. lmao! You're hilarious.
    Booknerds are definitely curious people and I am always bemused by the little things that bothered them (and me..)

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    1. Why thank you *bows elaborately* ;) Yeah, book nerds are curious people, and then again, people are curious people ;) I read a lot of posts where people are getting themselves worked into a righteous rage over the tiniest details and I'm just sat there, bemused expression in tow, like 'okkkkk... I'll be over there... waaaay over there!' ;)

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  5. I don't mind cover changes or size changes as much as everyone else seems to! I mean, if the series started with a nice cover and changes to a worse one in my opinion, I'll think bummer but I'll be over it!

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  6. For me, I like a mixture of both. Personally, it just depends on how many pages the author feels they need to completely convey the story. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous post! <3

    ~ Zoe @ Stories on Stage

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  7. I absolutely love your post! It's so different from everyone else's! Plus that Catherine Tate gif is beautiful - I relate to that gif so much ahah :D
    But yeah, I remember when I was younger, and I always used the library, I wasn't too fussed about series order. But then I started buying my own books, and all of a sudden, I HAD to have the next book, I HAD to read them in order >.<
    I love your conclusion, because it's so true - it does depend on the person! And I think that's a point that no one has brought up yet ^_^

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    1. Ah 'different' - so that's what we're calling it now ;)

      Thanks! :) I'm glad you liked the post - especially since I drifted so far off-topic ;)

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