Reading & Rambling discussion

Do you prefer series or standalone books? What’s your reasoning?

Series:

Between the two, I almost always prefer reading series. I enjoy standalone novels too, but usually only when I’m in the mood for a quick read or need a bit of a “palette cleanser” between long series. But overall, if you catch me reading, there’s a good chance it’s part of a series.

I tend to get attached to characters pretty easily—most of the time, at least—so having multiple books to follow their journeys is amazing to me. One book just never feels like enough. Plus, there’s a certain comfort in coming back to familiar characters and settings.

Series and standalone novels have their distinct strengths, so in my heart they're equal, but if I HAD to choose, it would be standalone.

Given that a complete story is told within the confines of 2 covers, it is less likely that loose ends will stay lost and hiccups will occur in the pacing. Additionally, the decision of where one book ends and another begins doesn't have to be made, and the story doesn't have to suffer from a pause caused by waiting for the next volume to come out/be acquired.

However, the story decides whether it is told across multiple books or just one. The strengths of series lie within character development and world building--Harry Potter couldn't have been told in one go, and the "each year a book" system worked to the story's advantage. While standalone novels are more efficient at discussing themes such as racism, poverty and other afflictions of the human condition; powerful points are best made and understood when concise. Cath-22 is one of my favorite books--no amount of therapy will help me to better understand PTSD, no history class will help me to better understand that there is no glory in war--but I will NEVER read the sequel Closing Time* (no matter how much I may love Yossarian as a character), because the story is complete. Anything added will detract from the point. (I've got a whole philosophy about the "noble ending" often attributed to westerns; the "quit while you're ahead" strategy, where maybe it leaves you desiring more, but the story is complete--it's over--don't add more, because anything else will read like a tacted on after-thought.)

*To be fair to Joseph Heller, the reason he wrote Closing Time was because he had leukemia, and he needed something to act as a cash-cow so he could pay for his treatments. The only noble cash grab.

Ratdaddy wrote: "Series and standalone novels have their distinct strengths, so in my heart they're equal, but if I HAD to choose, it would be standalone.

Given that a complete story is told within the confines of..."

This is such a well-reasoned take! :)

Ray wrote: "Ratdaddy wrote: "Series and standalone novels have their distinct strengths, so in my heart they're equal, but if I HAD to choose, it would be standalone.

Given that a complete story is told withi..."

Thanks. I accidentally clicked out of the window when I was doing a quick read-over for grammar, so my comment had the benefit of being rewritten (and I still used 'tacted' instead of 'tacked') 🙃

Ratdaddy wrote: "Ray wrote: "Ratdaddy wrote: "Series and standalone novels have their distinct strengths, so in my heart they're equal, but if I HAD to choose, it would be standalone.

Given that a complete story i..."

I didn't notice the spelling at all! That's happened to me too—accidentally clicking out of a window and having to rewrite. Half the time, I don’t even remember what I wrote. Other times, I'm just trying to take out a couple words and end up erasing too much of a sentence. I’ve started using my notes app to write whatever I have to say. I can use the undo button if I make a mistake. Then I just copy and paste. 🫣

Absolutely doing that next time. I also had to rewrite the previous weeks discussion prompt, because I'm a fool who repeats mistakes.

Ray wrote: "Do you prefer series or standalone books? What’s your reasoning?"

It's close but I personally prefer standalone books. One problem I have with a lot of book series is that after the second or third book there's a major decrease in quality. I'm usually happy with a story's ending being in one book. On top of that, I find that there's less filler in standalone books because the author has less time to wrap up a story. I also think that the fact that I read a lot of mysteries, thrillers, educational books, and etc adds to the reasons why I prefer standalone books. I do love a good book series though.