Rushing a read
The "classic" mistake of enjoying a book so much that if you have it there you immediately carry on reading the next in the series rather than stepping back and thinking about the book you just read, thinking it through, contemplating what you thought about it, what it meant for you.
While in Turkey on holiday, I finished the first book in the Mistborn trilogy (The Final Empire) by Brandon Sanderson. Because the ending was so compelling, against my better judgement I carries straight on reading book number 2 (The Well of Ascension) which I devoured in a matter of few days. I then proceeded to book number 3 (The Hero of Ages) and here I hit the wall. Suddenly I am struggling through the book as if wading through mud, I lack the motivation to read and generally just can't be bothered to make the effort. To make matters worse, I don't even feel like reading something else.
What happened was that I've overdone it. I've read a vast amount of great pages all on the same subject, the same people, the same big events and plots, and now my brain just needed a break, plain and simple. The fact that the third book starts out rather dullish certainly doesn't help, but I guarantee you, it would have happened almost no matter the level of interesting things taking place in the plot.
Thinking about it, I think it's a very common thing to be completely submerged in a book series, and after reading who knows how much of it, it's suddenly just *too* much. I actually prefer and strive to read only one book out of a series and then wait for a while before reading the next. I think it generally allows me to get a much better picture, an overview, of the actual bigger plot, and I'm able to, shall we say, digest it more completely. With this series, though I've certainly enjoyed it so far, I've maybe rushed through it. Maybe I've missed out on important clues, who knows?
Any thoughts?
While in Turkey on holiday, I finished the first book in the Mistborn trilogy (The Final Empire) by Brandon Sanderson. Because the ending was so compelling, against my better judgement I carries straight on reading book number 2 (The Well of Ascension) which I devoured in a matter of few days. I then proceeded to book number 3 (The Hero of Ages) and here I hit the wall. Suddenly I am struggling through the book as if wading through mud, I lack the motivation to read and generally just can't be bothered to make the effort. To make matters worse, I don't even feel like reading something else.
What happened was that I've overdone it. I've read a vast amount of great pages all on the same subject, the same people, the same big events and plots, and now my brain just needed a break, plain and simple. The fact that the third book starts out rather dullish certainly doesn't help, but I guarantee you, it would have happened almost no matter the level of interesting things taking place in the plot.
Thinking about it, I think it's a very common thing to be completely submerged in a book series, and after reading who knows how much of it, it's suddenly just *too* much. I actually prefer and strive to read only one book out of a series and then wait for a while before reading the next. I think it generally allows me to get a much better picture, an overview, of the actual bigger plot, and I'm able to, shall we say, digest it more completely. With this series, though I've certainly enjoyed it so far, I've maybe rushed through it. Maybe I've missed out on important clues, who knows?
Any thoughts?
This happens to me too. Now I always force myself to read at least one different book between series books, it works much better.
SvarSletI had this same issue once when I read through a whole series of books by the same author and gave up by the 4th book. My solution is to switch between fiction and non-fiction. I also switch mediums, such as ebook, novel, short stories, articles... even comics.
SvarSletThis happens to me too - I usually need to have a break between books in a series or I get an overload of it. I also like to give myself at least overnight before starting a new book and give the previous book time to sink in. Also, giving my brain a short break somehow makes it easier to choose the next book from my (ever expanding) TBR pile, I usually then have a better idea of what kind of book I'm in the mood for.
SvarSletI totally do that sometimes, and it usually ends poorly... Although I did dash through The Hollow trilogy and didn't get annoyed...
SvarSlet