Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

Haha. I feel like I'm always trash-talking you. Don't know why it's so fun to tease you in particular :p

Virginie wrote: "Haha. I feel like I'm always trash-talking you. Don't know why it's so fun to tease you in particular :p"

Haha that’s EXACTLY what my friends and family say to me. I’m not sure why I’m such a fun target lmao. It’s probably partially due to my comebacks. I be like “yeah, I totally agree with all the shade you just dished. Well said. Suck it.” XD

Hahaha, that's one way to deal with it! :D

Virginie wrote: "Hahaha, that's one way to deal with it! :D"

😁

I need to revamp this to include a section for planning out new series I want to start. Maybe make a game of start 1, finish 1. I'm really happy with how low my number is, and I'm tired of trying to zero out. So I'm going to change it up a bit!

Here goes:
Niki's New Series/Focus Challenge:

Series I want to dig into (soon):
[0/3] Sins of Empire Brian McClellan (Technically a continuation)
[0/4] Clean Sweep Ilona Andrews (BR 10/26)
[0/5] The Thousand Names Django Wexler (BR 10/30)
[0/5] The Black Prism Brent Weeks

Started Series I want to mix in:
[1/6] The Blade Itself Joe Abercrombie
[2/6] Spellslinger Sebastien de Castell
[12/15] Glass Houses Rachel Caine (omg to hurry and finish it already)

Schedule [a/o 10/25]:

Unfinished Series (UTD)

Scheduled:


[11/05] Little White Lies [1/1] - Jennifer Lynn Barnes
[11/12] Leviathan Wakes [8/8] - James S.A. Corey [Short Stories 6/7]
[12/10] The Shadow of What Was Lost [2/2] - James Islington
[01/07] Ship of Smoke and Steel [1/1] - Django Wexler
[01/28] Child of a Mad God [2/2] - R.A. Salvatore
[03/10] Moon Called [11/11] - Patricia Briggs

I figure if I can stay on top of new releases, I wont add to my problem. Luckily I don't have that many to keep track of.

I've been going rogue lately - starting a whole bunch of new series. But now I feel like I need to update my lists so I don't lose track of all the new books I've added. I've also been finishing a bunch, so it will feel good to check some things off too.

As it turns out, I haven't finished as many as I thought since my last update (2), but I did abandon a bunch (7). My goal is to continue with high-priority titles and I made it easier on myself by separating those out from the rest.

This challenge was wonderful for the first year - I got organized and reduced my total outstanding series from 129 to below 20 at one point. But then it hit a point of diminishing returns where I started to feel pressure to get that number to 0 and began planning my reading around a goal, rather than enjoyment. It led to a pretty significant reading slump (there were multiple life factors that added to it as well).

Now, I don't particularly care what my outstanding total is, but keeping this list UTD will help me keep high-priorities in mind when planning out my months I have a whole bunch of series I want to start this year. :)

Nice! I feel you on the pressure to get to 0 series (heck, that's why we did our little race back then). Once I arrived at 0, I felt guilty every time I started a new series (especially if it was a long one).

Planning is only useful if it makes you excited about your choices (and keep you from staring at your shelves for hours when trying to pick your next read lol) :D

Agreed... I reached that point, last year and this year, pushing to read things just because it would finish another series...

Especially series with only 1-3 books left... it’s your Riftwars and you Malazan-verses, that end up taking up 10% of your series but 90% of your books to read...

I’ve stopped pushing to get down to zero too. Found I need a little chaos to keep me motivated.

Bill wrote: "I’ve stopped pushing to get down to zero too. Found I need a little chaos to keep me motivated."

I'm never going to truly reach 0, but it's great to have a reference, so I can easily check in on it, and see if I'm interested in catching up, occasionally...

Virginie wrote: "Nice! I feel you on the pressure to get to 0 series (heck, that's why we did our little race back then). Once I arrived at 0, I felt guilty every time I started a new series (especially if it was a..."

That race was so much fun - no regrets! Working that hard at it definitely had some unforeseen consequences lol. I still kind of feel guilty starting new ones. I mean, I said I felt like I've been going "rogue" and it turns out that I'd only started two new series ::facepalm:: It's a weird contrast to when I used to start new series every week and it was a struggle to get to the sequels. The goal now is balance haha.

Timelord Iain wrote: "Agreed... I reached that point, last year and this year, pushing to read things just because it would finish another series...

Especially series with only 1-3 books left... it’s your Riftwars and ..."

It kind of sucks the joy out when you feel like you're just going through the motions to finish something. Those long series still give me a little challenge PTSD lol.

Bill wrote: "I’ve stopped pushing to get down to zero too. Found I need a little chaos to keep me motivated."

That's good. I need the variety too. The discovery process of starting new series fuels my reading, and the sequels end up being just comforting fillers. Plus there are always going to be those series in the mix that are too interesting to abandon, but will kill your reading mood if you have to get through them quickly.

Timelord Iain wrote: "Bill wrote: "I’ve stopped pushing to get down to zero too. Found I need a little chaos to keep me motivated."

I'm never going to truly reach 0, but it's great to have a reference, so I can easily ..."

Yeah, it's nice to have when I'm actively searching for something to read and realize I'm one book away on a bunch from UTD...

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Agreed... I reached that point, last year and this year, pushing to read things just because it would finish another series...

Especially series with only 1-3 books left... i..."

I've started a TON of them...

Riftwar = 13/31~
Inspector Thomas Pitt = 11/32~
Inspector William Monk = 1/17~
Hercule Poirot = 17/33
Malazanverse = 4/19~
Realm of the Elderlings = 4/16
Polity Universe = 4/14

Timelord Iain wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Agreed... I reached that point, last year and this year, pushing to read things just because it would finish another series...

Especially series with only..."

Ack!! haha that's a lot. Some good ones though! If I don't count Pokemon, I think I've only got Stardoc (1/10) and Malazan (1/26 <-i think i counted short stories). It's nice to know I'm already through some really big ones haha. And all the new ones I'm looking to start are 3-5 books max.

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Agreed... I reached that point, last year and this year, pushing to read things just because it would finish another series...

Espec..."

I can't remember what I'm not counting... I thought it should be closer to 27... I might have shrunk the list to Malazan BOTF, Malazan Empire, and the short stories... ignoring the prequels and sequels for now, since they were unfinished...

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Agreed... I reached that point, last year and this year, pushing to read things just because it would finish another series...

Espec..."

Nearly 100 of my books there are just long-running mystery series... my full sheet is a little over 300 books...

Not too bad, considering my GR shelves of read books are approaching 2500...

Timelord Iain wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Agreed... I reached that point, last year and this year, pushing to read things just because it would finish anot..."

Wow, that's a lot! I have a bunch of those mysteries that I got from my grandmama when she passed, but I've been hesitant to read ANY of them because I'm such a completionist and they go on forever...

Truth be told, I'm at the point where I'll probably reduce Malazan down to 10, then consider the Esselmont books as a separate series later if I decide to read those. In fact, doing that now lol.

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "Agreed... I reached that point, last year and this year, pushing to read things just becaus..."

Yea... starting Anne Perry feels like a mistake... I don't love the books, and there's like 50 of them, between Inspector Pitt & Monk... once I read all those, there's a couple newer books about a lawyer nephew of Pitt...

Pendergast & Joe Ledger have been much more interesting...

I do have a few Perry in the collection. A lot of them are cat-themed stories or crafting-themed stories. I’d read one or two when I was younger and thought they were cute. But I don’t know that I’ll want to read that many haha.

Niki Hawkes wrote: "I do have a few Perry in the collection. A lot of them are cat-themed stories or crafting-themed stories. I’d read one or two when I was younger and thought they were cute. But I don’t know that I’..."

The best thing I can say about Inspector Pitt, is the books have varying formats... some are primarily Thomas... others are more his wife interacting with higher society to help... and some involve the wife's sister quite a bit... but there are real bad ones, too... the fact the author was an accomplice to murder as a teenager was an interesting selling point...

Holy crap! That’s crazy. Talk about writer’s cred lol. That’s good there’s at least a bunch of variety. I think a lot of those would’ve been more fun to follow if you started early and only had new releases to look forward to every six months or so. Maybe I should pretend my collection is full of unreleased titles haha.

I took some time to enter my updates. Since the last one:
Started:
The Betrothed - Kiera Cass [Then Abandoned]
Ashes of the Sun - Django Wexler [Series UTD]
Death and Relaxation - Devon Monk [2/4 Read]
Rosemary and Rue - Seanan McGuire [1/14 Read]

Along with making progress on a handful of series and reading a few standalones. This challenge helped me SOOO much at first, but now I've still got it around just so series don't slip through the cracks. Plus it makes it easier to abandon series with finality if I can track it somewhere lol.

I totally agree, Niki! Starting my series thread and tracking them has made me so much more aware and willing to consciously abandon.

Siobhan wrote: "I totally agree, Niki! Starting my series thread and tracking them has made me so much more aware and willing to consciously abandon."

Right?! Not to mention it gives weight to starting new series. Like, do I really want to stare at THAT 16 book series on my list for the next 5 years? lol

I abandon with reckless abandon now as well.

Scott wrote: "I abandon with reckless abandon now as well."

That's great Scott! It's liberating!

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Siobhan wrote: "I totally agree, Niki! Starting my series thread and tracking them has made me so much more aware and willing to consciously abandon."

Right?! Not to mention it gives weight to sta..."

Yes it definitely makes you consider it more! I still have a ridiculous number of open series though 😅 think I may need an abandon spree soon.

It helps me think twice about starting new series too, especially if they are really long ones. I've never had a problem abandoning, lol

I have a bit of a problem abandoning... sometimes I consider UNabandoning some series, it's so bad...

Haha does it make you feel guilty? "I'll just give it one more chance..."

Siobhan wrote: "Haha does it make you feel guilty? "I'll just give it one more chance...""

Sometimes I just want to see how it ends... or experience the story arc I spoiled... or I decide to finish it in a BR...

I think I unabandoned the Twenty-Sided Sorceress series, then reabandoned... you could say I abandoned the Elemental Assassin series AND the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, three times... I know I went back and finished the Georgina Kincaid series because of a BR (was a quick BR tho, 3 books in a week)...

I pushed myself to read the Kara Gillian series, to the point I'm waiting for the release of the finale in a series I never particularly loved... and don't even get me started on Sherrilyn Kenyon's trainwreck of a 50 book mega-series where everything is connected and there's no end in sight...

Just Say No!

LOL

I think three people recommended the In Death series to me in the last week. I like JD Robb. Well, I like most of the Nora Roberts books I've read.

That said, the writing for Naked in Death is bad and the audio doesn't make it sound better. Yet, three different people recommended that series to me. LoL

Eh, I have the first three books on audio. I may try it again at some point but it's harder to make myself read "bad writing" by an author that I know can write well. In Death series is currently on my Purgatory TBR. But! I do keep my eye out for new Nora Roberts books & usually read those as I can get to them. =)

I read the first 5 In Death books... then I did audio for the next 40 books... I loved books 5ish to 33 (end of the original backstory arc) and was maybe fine until I caught up around 40... but now that I just read a book or 2 a year as they release, I find the "JD Robb tropes" of the series quite annoying... but I continue anyway for a slice of nostalgia...

Scott wrote: "I abandon with reckless abandon now as well."

Such a great change. My entire life feels lighter by extension lol. It took a while for me to get used to doing it, but now I'll never go back.

Siobhan wrote: "Scott wrote: "I abandon with reckless abandon now as well."

That's great Scott! It's liberating!

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Siobhan wrote: "I totally agree, Niki! Starting my series thread and tracking..."

Haha hey as long as you're enjoying all of them, then there's nothing to do. It's about improving quality not lowering quantity (although one usually leads to the other). I do get to a point though where my average ratings go down if I have too many going because of lag times between picking up sequels. I think that's my main motivation for keeping it relatively low.

Tammie wrote: "It helps me think twice about starting new series too, especially if they are really long ones. I've never had a problem abandoning, lol"

Haha you've always been my abandoning guru. ;P

Timelord Iain wrote: "I have a bit of a problem abandoning... sometimes I consider UNabandoning some series, it's so bad..."

I have a category that allows me to "set aside" series I'm not sure I want to abandon. So far I haven't touched any of them again lol. But I could see myself getting to a point where I'd try them again if I read as much as you do. Those long perpetual series are the worst. I always feel compelled to complete them if I enjoyed the first several books. It helps me tremendously if I can pick them up as published because once I get behind I'm screwed.

Soo wrote: "Just Say No!

LOL

I think three people recommended the In Death series to me in the last week. I like JD Robb. Well, I like most of the Nora Roberts books I've read.

That said, the writing for ..."

I love "Purgatory TBR" haha. So fitting...

Niki Hawkes wrote: "I have a category that allows me to "set aside" series I'm not sure I want to abandon..."

I have that shelf too, my on hold/may abandon shelf.