Reading habits
My previous book review post got me thinking about my reading habits. (I may have posted some of these thoughts before, but I honestly can't remember.)
I used to say that it was rare for me to not finish a book. Like, once every two years. Not so anymore, really. The more I read, and the more I branch out in my reading, the more inclined I am to toss something aside if I honestly have no interest in it. It's still not the norm; I'm still more likely to finish a book just to see how it ends. What's different is that I've learned to recognize when I really don't care anymore, or I just plain dislike it. When that happens reading further would be a waste of time, so I don't. There are plenty of other things to read instead!
Which is why I use the library so much. I enjoy having a local independent bookstore (Schuler Books, woo!) and I want to support them. And I've met a ton of cool authors and I want to support them, too. But I can't afford to buy everything I'm interested in reading. And also, as much as I love to fill my shelves with books, I'm not enough of a bibliophile to buy something I may not enjoy and may never read again just to fill said shelves. There are exceptions to both of those statements, of course, but 90% of the time if I see something interesting in the bookstore I'll make a note to get it from the library. In general if I like it then I'll buy it, if not then that's money I can spend on other things, books or otherwise.
In the case of a series (books or comics), my habit is to read through an entire series before I decide whether to buy it or not. I'm pretty sure I made that rule only a few years ago, after a few things happened. One, I'd been buying all of Jacqueline Carey's books because I loved her Kushiel trilogy. Well, the Imriel trilogy was just ok, and I didn't like the Sundering duology at all. And then I got Santa Olivia from the library and decided it wasn't my thing. Two, I met jimhines at ConFusion 2008. I liked him and enjoyed reading his blog, but I didn't think his goblin books were my thing. So I went to the library for them. Liked them, bought them. Three, I bought the first of the Night Angel trilogy at ConFusion 2009 based on someone's recommendation. I didn't enjoy it enough to run out and buy the rest, and I finished the trilogy via the library. And lastly, shortly after that a friend recommended the Codex Alera series, and by then I'd learned my lesson - to the library I went!
So yes, to make a short story long, in the case of a finite series I've learned that if I don't like the end, I'll never reread any part of it no matter how awesome the rest of it was, no matter how much I fell in love with it. Last year at this time I finished Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy and was very disappointed with the ending. Books 1 and 2 had me excited and enthralled but book 3 let me down. And then I had the exact same experience with the Hunger Games trilogy. And then I finished up Zahn's six-book Dragonback series and decided that it was good but the ending didn't push it into "must own". So yeah. Recent experience has made me more wary of committing my money to a series before I know how it ends.
In the case of an ongoing series, I keep reading until I reach a decision point. Either I don't like it and I stop, or I love it and I want to buy it and keep reading. Usually that decision comes before I've reached the end of the published material. I made it through four Dresden books, three Sookie Stackhouse books, and four (or five?) Kinsey Millhone books before deciding none of them was for me!
Star Wars books are the big fat exception to pretty much everything I just said. Though even there I have habits and rules. :)
I used to say that it was rare for me to not finish a book. Like, once every two years. Not so anymore, really. The more I read, and the more I branch out in my reading, the more inclined I am to toss something aside if I honestly have no interest in it. It's still not the norm; I'm still more likely to finish a book just to see how it ends. What's different is that I've learned to recognize when I really don't care anymore, or I just plain dislike it. When that happens reading further would be a waste of time, so I don't. There are plenty of other things to read instead!
Which is why I use the library so much. I enjoy having a local independent bookstore (Schuler Books, woo!) and I want to support them. And I've met a ton of cool authors and I want to support them, too. But I can't afford to buy everything I'm interested in reading. And also, as much as I love to fill my shelves with books, I'm not enough of a bibliophile to buy something I may not enjoy and may never read again just to fill said shelves. There are exceptions to both of those statements, of course, but 90% of the time if I see something interesting in the bookstore I'll make a note to get it from the library. In general if I like it then I'll buy it, if not then that's money I can spend on other things, books or otherwise.
In the case of a series (books or comics), my habit is to read through an entire series before I decide whether to buy it or not. I'm pretty sure I made that rule only a few years ago, after a few things happened. One, I'd been buying all of Jacqueline Carey's books because I loved her Kushiel trilogy. Well, the Imriel trilogy was just ok, and I didn't like the Sundering duology at all. And then I got Santa Olivia from the library and decided it wasn't my thing. Two, I met jimhines at ConFusion 2008. I liked him and enjoyed reading his blog, but I didn't think his goblin books were my thing. So I went to the library for them. Liked them, bought them. Three, I bought the first of the Night Angel trilogy at ConFusion 2009 based on someone's recommendation. I didn't enjoy it enough to run out and buy the rest, and I finished the trilogy via the library. And lastly, shortly after that a friend recommended the Codex Alera series, and by then I'd learned my lesson - to the library I went!
So yes, to make a short story long, in the case of a finite series I've learned that if I don't like the end, I'll never reread any part of it no matter how awesome the rest of it was, no matter how much I fell in love with it. Last year at this time I finished Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy and was very disappointed with the ending. Books 1 and 2 had me excited and enthralled but book 3 let me down. And then I had the exact same experience with the Hunger Games trilogy. And then I finished up Zahn's six-book Dragonback series and decided that it was good but the ending didn't push it into "must own". So yeah. Recent experience has made me more wary of committing my money to a series before I know how it ends.
In the case of an ongoing series, I keep reading until I reach a decision point. Either I don't like it and I stop, or I love it and I want to buy it and keep reading. Usually that decision comes before I've reached the end of the published material. I made it through four Dresden books, three Sookie Stackhouse books, and four (or five?) Kinsey Millhone books before deciding none of them was for me!
Star Wars books are the big fat exception to pretty much everything I just said. Though even there I have habits and rules. :)