An age old question…
Are you a stand alone or a series person? It’s hard for me to remember the last stand alone book I read. It seems like everything lately is either part of a series or part of an anthology. I was talking to my niece last night about my obsessive reading habits and I think I had an realization. My need to grab a book the second I finish one is because of the dreaded book hangover! You know what I’m talking about right? It’s the awful sadness that comes over you when you realize the best friends you have in your imaginary world won’t be talking to you tomorrow. When you know everything there is to know about them and the story is done. For some, like me… it’s one of the worst feelings in the world.
The stand alone readers.
I know you are out there but I will never claim to understand you. My husband is a stand alone reader, however some authors he reads such as Tom Clancy will have reoccurring characters in other books. I almost feel like that’s stand alone cheating. To me a stand alone is one book, one story and one set of characters. When you close the book you don’t see them again. But many authors have learned that their favorite characters can encourage readers to give a new storyline a try. We see more and more books built within the same world and that’s appealing to any reader. There is a familiarity that you get with those books similar to what you see in a series.
The series reader.
Clearly this is my camp. My familiarity. My love. I have to admit I think my adoration of a good series dates back to the days of The Boxcar Kids and The Babysitters Club books. I got into books that fell within a series very early in life and it’s just kind of stuck. As a romance reader I love moving on to the next book and learning more about the characters I loved from the book before. Right now I’m reading a coming of age series by Sarah Bailey that is the storyline of the children from another of her book series. I absolutely love seeing the characters later in life while still enjoying the new stories as well. I haven’t read anything like this before and the experience has been rewarding.
As I get older my reading habits are changing. I’m willing to try things I haven’t read before. I’m willing to stop reading a book I don’t like and I don’t feel any guilt over reading what I love. It wasn’t always this way and I hope for those of you who are still trying to find that book that takes your breath away that you don’t give up. Keep looking because you will find it soon. I promise you.
So are you a stand alone or a series reader? Comment below and let me know.