RReading Rambles is a sporadic feature in which I ramble about all things bookish and ask you to join in on the discussion.
Today's Ramble: A Serie(ous) Problem
Lately I've been faced with a bit of a problem when it comes to reading: I'm finding it harder and harder to finish the multiple book series I've started. Surely I'm not the only one. With just about every YA story being published in a series of three or more books, it can get pretty overwhelming to stay up to speed with them all. And all the releases this year are just making it even harder: Cassie Clare and Laini Taylor's series are both coming to an end this spring, and Sarah J. Maas's next Throne of Glass installment is due out in the fall (just in time for my birthday! Lucky me!).
In some cases it's been years since I've read the earlier installments in a series, so I like to refresh my memory by rereading all the books that are already out before reading the newest book. This is especially important when a series has a long, complicated plot, like Harry Potter or The Mortal Instruments. It can be really fun to go back and pick up on little things I missed on the first or second read. But rereading takes time and it can get a little boring when I reach parts of the book that I didn't like the first time around. And it's when I get to those less interesting parts that all the other unread books on my shelf and TBR list start beckoning. Then I'm faced with the dilemma of how I want to spend my precious reading time--reading a book I've already read or one that's entirely new and exciting to me?
.JPG) |
| Look at these poor neglected books. I've only made it as far as City of Glass. |
With some series, I'm questioning whether or not I even want to finish them. Take the Divergent series, for example. It's been a couple of years since I first read the book. I enjoyed it at the time and even bought Insurgent when it came out, yet there it sits on my shelf a year and a half later, still unread. And after the uproar over Allegiant, I did something I rarely do--I read the spoilers. I needed to know what could possibly have the whole fandom up in arms and, if it was really that bad, if I wanted to continue the series. Now that I know the major spoiler, it's definitely changed my feelings on finishing the series. Right now, I feel like I'm not going to continue, which has left me with feelings of book guilt. I know that I liked the first book and I already own the second book, so in a way I feel like I owe it to myself and to Veronica Roth to at least give Insurgent a try. But on the other hand, I don't know if I really want to put myself through all the emotional turmoil now that I already now how the series ends. Decisions, decisions.
Now I want to know: Do you have trouble keeping up with multiple book series? Do you like to reread older books in a series before reading the next installment? What are some installments/series enders you're most looking forward to in 2014? Are there any that you have given up on?
I somehow only have City of Bones and City of Class and than Clockwork Angel (I...misplaced my copy of City of Fallen Angels) and I feel the same way about the series. I feel like it just got kinda ridiculous after the first three books, ya know? I'm also planning on re-reading the Hunger Games because I don't remember at all what happened in those books, and I want to see the movies. Than I have the series I just won't finish because I didn't like the first book or the plot got so ridiculous that there seemed no point in finishing.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've kind of wondered how the rest of the series is going to turn out (I think it was originally meant to be just a trilogy, right?). Seems like people either love it or hate it.
DeleteThe Hunger Games movies are fantastic! I've liked them just as much as the books.