Confessions: The Series Devourer (With Gifs)

Confessions of an Insomniac Book Devourer #8

Have you ever looked at your overstuffed bookshelves and wondered how you suddenly have so many books? Why, in years previous, there was plenty of room for books on your shelves, but suddenly you're running on empty?

There are one of two answers: either you are a Book Buying Binger (I'm a recovering BBB) or you happen to like reading books that are part of a series.

I, myself, am a confessed series killer devourer, like many others who like to read Fantasy, Sci-fi, Urban Fantasy, and Paranormal books. Not that I must read every series I pick up: if I rate the first book below three stars, I often don't have the patience to slog through another okay book. But if I actually liked the first book, it's almost impossible for me not to pick up the next book.

Here's a look at some of my book series I have in physical form:

14 Book Series = 43 Big Books

All of these (fourteen) obsessions began with one book, that grew to another book on my shelf, and then another, to the point that my book series account for about a third of all my read books. Many people have admitted disdain for book series: they don't like the waiting, the money (if you buy as soon as the next in the series comes out), the re-reading (to remember plot/characters before the next book), and the chance of severe disappointment for a series that ends badly (or the second-book slump). Some days, I agree wholeheartedly with the series naysayers, it is a lot of effort for seemingly little reward. But most days (especially those few days when I'm reunited with my favorite characters), I feel a bit like this:

I love my book series!!! From Giphy

In the end, it doesn't matter how long I've waited for the next book in the series. It doesn't even matter if the book disappointed me a little after waiting a year or two and spending good money to get it the very day of the release. I'm addicted to the concept of book series: to the ability to follow characters through good and bad times, to be able to watch the author grow as a writer, to be able to watch the story unfold, and to be able to read the final pages of a long-awaited conclusion. To me, the feeling is priceless, and well worth all the time and money (and shelf space) I devote to it.

How I feel after reading the final book of a series. From Reaction Gif

Are you a series reader? Do you find the experience of reading a series more rewarding than a standalone book? Is there a series you've been unwilling to read due to its unfinished status or length?