Musing Monday

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

My choice for the week:

• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!

I'd like to muse about series books.  When reading a series with a continuing story, I love the cliff hanger endings that have me desperately waiting for the next book.  The Mortal Instruments series, the Divergent series, etc. I love putting the next installment on my wish list and watching the release dates get closer and closer.  I love thinking about all of the various ways the story could turn out and then seeing if any of my predictions become reality.  Then, there are the series books that have the same characters where each story builds on what you already know, but also have a unique plot of their own.  I love those too.  However, sometimes when a series continues on and on into the 6th, 15th, or sometimes even 20th or more book, I find myself asking, "When is enough enough?  When does it become too much of a good thing?" 

This is where I get frustrated.  There are a few series that I have devoured and then as they go on and on and on.... I've found myself becoming disappointed for several reasons.  The writing just isn't as original as it began and the stories become predictable.  Sometimes, the intensity is lost, whether it be within the relationships of the characters or the action/main event of the story.  It's like a balloon that is really full and fun to play with for the first few days and then it gradually starts to deflate and it just isn't any fun anymore and you wish it would go back to the way it was when you first got it.  I won't mention specific authors and, of course, this isn't always the case.  I've just had it happen several times and I have wished that I stopped reading before the series puttered out.  I often wonder if we would have enjoyed the 15th Harry Potter book as much as the first seven?

I'm in the middle of a few good series currently and I am hoping and praying that these immensely talented authors know when to stop and leave us with book series memories we will cherish forever.