After some experimentation I discovered that I needed at least 4 or 5 books in between each book in a series to keep me reading and keep me enjoying the series. Now that blogging has changed the way I read and the way I pick current read it's a little harder to read a whole series close together. And because I'm discovering new series at the beginning I'm not going to have the first four books ready to dive into so I don't have the series reading problem anymore or at least not as frequently.
But now I have a different problem - genre fatigue. Lately. I've been noticing that if I have a lot of the same genre in a row then I start getting that feeling you get when you're 2/3 in to a ridiculously large dessert. It's not that it's bad it's just that there's so much left and I've already eaten so much. I need to mix it up with something - anything of a different feel or tone.
Can you read a series all in a row? Do you suffer from genre fatigue?
Oh yes, lady, it's as if you read my journals! Personally I love a series and I will on occasion read two in a row. But then I need a break from the series and read something else entirely. I still have 3 books left in my DCI Banks series. My husband say he'd just read those, plow through to get caught up. I have to have a break and I like to savor a series. If I read too much of the same thing I do get in a slump, need something completely different to get my interest.
ReplyDeleteOh I found that if I read a series right in a row I usually get bored after like 3 or so. Genre is kind of weird. I can always read contemporaries - YA or adult with no issue usually. But other genres I can burn out on for sure. It depends though so I do try and mix it up.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I need to break up reading a series, too. Usually. I can get genre fatigue sometimes. Although I haven't really gotten it with romance, but I think that is because the genre is huge! There is so much variety. So I could read a light, funny contemporary, and then a more intense historical, and then a romantic suspense.
ReplyDeleteI need to space out books in a series (even classics) and find that I enjoy reading more when I mix up genres, too. Blogging has definitely changed my reading habits!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! I felt like I could have written this post. It's exactly how I feel. I've been reading nothing but cozy mysteries for awhile now, but I've been branching out to romantic suspense and romance in between and I'm enjoying it very much. I always enjoyed those genres, but haven't been reading them since I've been blogging and reading by blog tour dates. So, I know where you are coming from with this.
ReplyDeleteI do sometimes suffer from genre fatigue, although less so now than I used to. Mostly because I read a variety of different types of books to avoid it! I learned the hard way that reading too much of one kind of book would cause genre fatigue. I sometimes do binge on a genre still, but it's not often and when I do, watch for the signs of possible burn out and take preventative action before it gets bad. At least I try to. :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat discussion topic, Katherine!
I usually mix it up by reading YA and adult romance back and forth. But I totally get what you mean about series fatigue. Sometimes I'm in the mood to binge read and will read a while series (usually romance) but than I'll need a break after. I do miss the days of starting a new genre having books on end in a series to read sometimes haha.
ReplyDeleteI can understand why Tricia would get on your nerves sometimes. This year is the first time I'm reading at least two books of a series in a row; my logic is because the characters are fresh in my mind, I want to at least read another book and I guess I feel the storyline will better cement in my memory? But I do like to mix it up which is why I have a like/dislike for a stack of books waiting to be read.
ReplyDeleteOh I have been there done that Katherine. This is why I read so many different genres even within a single genre. Example romance, romantic suspense, women's fiction. Like you, I cannot read a series back to back. 3 weeks is the max time in between and that is with me reading/listening to 3 books a week. I do go through phases where I want all thrillers, but purposely added other, lighter genres in between.
ReplyDeleteI cannot read a series all in a row. I find when I try that I start burning out. I need to break it up a bit, but then I don`t always get back to them in a timely manner.
ReplyDeleteI do sometimes get this- genre fatigue. I mean my knee jerk reaction to a "favorite genre" question would be fantasy, and I read surprisingly little of it these days? PArt of that is tastes changing, but there's some genre fatigue in there too. I just need a break- hence the cozies, or the Victorian mysteries, or YA stuff. Now that I blog the variety helps a lot. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is so me. I read a little bit of everything but if I try to read too many of one genre in a row, I start disliking it. I do try to mix it up and almost never binge read a series.
ReplyDeleteI have to mix up my reading by genre. I used to be a series reader from start to finish. Now I'm willing to jump in the middle and rarely find one that can't stand on its own. Sadly, I usually don't have the time to go back and read the previous books. As I write this I get that old feeling that maybe I should pull back from so many review books, tours, etc. I just can't seem to follow through on that thought. I need more resolve!
ReplyDeleteI have to mix it all up. I def get genre/series fatigue. I also mix it up with fiction and non fiction.
ReplyDeleteExactly! When I was younger, I would get obsessed with an author or a series and want to read everything, preferably in order - and I notice this tendency in my sons nowadays. But now I need a bit of a change of pace in-between books in the same series or even by the same author but standalones.
ReplyDeleteI have only binge read one series and never had anything like this happen and that is the Shelby Nichols mysteries by Colleen Helme, they are all just so fun I wanted to know what was going to happen next and now I am all caught up because of that and have to wait, not sure which is worse....needing to get caught up or being caught up...lol. :) I normally don't read books in a series back to back cause I am afraid it will lose that part I love about them. :)
ReplyDeleteComing a little late but loved your post. I can read a series through fairly on top of each other and have done so. Although most likely with few others in between. However I think of The Troubleshooters series by Suzanne Brockmann which I read through up to where I had to wait. Nalini Singh's Psy Changeling was another. Other than that others I can spread out. I do get a little genre fatigue. Romance is one I have just about fatigued myself out of. I now look for what they call mainstream fiction. I like a different genre just occasionally to spice things up.
ReplyDeleteI can't read more than two books from the same author close together - the editor in me starts noticing particular writing foibles and that gets in the way of my enjoyment. And no... I don't suffer from genre fatigue anymore because I tend to mix up what I read. I'll alternate a space opera with an urban fantasy, followed by a grimdark adventure. They are all speculative fiction, but so very different that I don't get jaded or fed up. And I'm careful how many of my least favourite sub-genres I read, anyhow. My last big reading slump was 4 years ago, so I seem to have the balance right.
ReplyDeleteI never read multiple from a series in a row or even from an author in a row. But it's mainly because I start picking up on their writing quirks and they annoy me-- like using similar slang with different characters.
ReplyDeleteFor genre. I mostly read romance now days but I try to bounce between all the subgenres so I don't read two historicals in a row or two contemporaries. That keeps things going okay most of the time :)
No, I can't read all the books in a series in a row...in fact, I often have to mix it up with my reading, switching from my usual reads (thrillers) to books about family and relationships. Even memoirs. I definitely like what I call "palate cleansers" with my reading choices.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. Great post!
I don't remember there being that many series back in the day, or perhaps I wasn't aware of them. Now it seems they are all I come across. I have given up on trying to keep up on some because I have stopped enjoying them but am not sure if it's because I have read them so close together or if maybe the author didn't have the best stories because they wrote them so soon after one another. I do get genre tiredness though and this year have been trying to mix up what I read. It's hard because of what I'm drawn to but interestingly the books I have liked most are the ones I don't normally read.
ReplyDeleteI rarely read books in a series in a row. i did sued to do that more often pre-blogging and I have binge read some series than. I do like to read books in a series in a row sometimes, but usually only two or so. And even that happens rarely, I usually have some other books in between. I also read a lot of new releases, so often series binge reading isn't possible then. I do experience genre fatigue now and then. Which is why I try and switch up genres regularly. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI encountered the series (and even author) problem way back in the day, and I totally agree with you --- I can't binge on one series back to back to back without getting bored. I experience genre fatigue to a lesser extent --- I pretty much only read fantasy, but I do try to keep a healthy mix between YA and adult, and between epic and urban fantasy sub-genres. I found myself on a nothing but YA kick at one point last year and am STILL feeling a little burned out on it now.
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