I’ve been busy getting ready for ALA and missed several TMST posts, so I’m going to play a little catch up and then get to this weeks question.
June 19th
Cliffhangers: Do they compel you to read more or steer you away?
In my early reading days I didn’t mind them and they might have even compelled me to pre-order because I HAD to know what happened but now I steer FAR FAR away from them. I can’t be bothered.
I’ve been burned by disappointing outcomes, I forget the details over the year long wait and, for a while there, I was reading so many series at the time I couldn’t keep up.
June 26th
What is worse: cliffhangers, abrupt ending or open ending?
Above, I’ve already commented on how I feel about cliffhangers but I also HATE abrupt endings…*flips though pages…helloooo…Ending. Where are you????* and don’t get me started on open endings…
I like nice tidy, wrapped up endings. Even an epilogue!
I love how my friend Brooke described open endings though…a future of possibilities. But for me I need to SEE how it all turned out. I don’t want to imagine anything. That’s why I spent all this time reading - to see how it all turns out. If I had to guess, I could have made up my own stories. lol
July 3rd
Vacation reading: What books would you pack for a vacation?
This is going to be a boring answer. Nothing. I have a hard time reading away from home or in public. I always bring my Kindle, just in case, but I never use it.
On vacations I’m either out doing something or too tired once I get back to the hotel and fall asleep.
*Fix for email notifications for comments
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I will take any horrible cliffhangers anyday over a bad, open, or abrupt ending. Hell to the no am I putting up with that. At least with cliffhangers, the story is not over yet so there's still hope.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I don't like any of them but the cliffhanger is the least horrible out of all of them lol
DeleteQuote: "I don’t want to imagine anything. That’s why I spent all this time reading - to see how it all turns out."
ReplyDeleteLOL, you're a lazy girl.
Then again - it's not like I do make up stories in my mind when a book has an open ending...I just get a certain feeling right on the spot. But even if I don't...I'm OK with that, because it's more life-like...usually, in life, everything is in flux (except for little old me, I suppose, living the same life since 1995 or something 😶).
I think you're right - open ended stories are more realistic but I guess I read to escape and want that happy ending (even if it's not romance).
DeleteAlso, I think you said you feel that cliffhangers were lazy writing and I think that open endings are in a way. (although I don't believe that's truly the case to the writer in either case). But anyway, without an end - it's just following someone around for a day, week, whatever. I feel like there's no point...to me anyway lol
I'm typically okay with open endings, but you make a good point about reading them because you want to know how they turned out! D: Now I'm looking at things differently. xD And I feel the same about vacations, mostly, but it depends on how long we'll be on vacation. If it's a quick one, I won't read, but if it's a looong one, I would pack a book or two, just in case!
ReplyDelete- Aimee @ Aimee, Always
What's weird is that I used to read cliffies, open endings...the whole thing. Now I'm a solid HEA kind of gal lol
DeleteI don't mind open-ish endings, like happily for now type of things, but those are usually books that just don't have epilogues. I'm like you though - I'd usually rather have a set ending so I know the book is finished, even if I don't love the ending! I'm so bad with series in general, but even if I have all the books to read at once, I'm still a bit tired of the cliffhanger. Unless it's just a gentle push for the next book...but it's usually this huge "what the heck?" that tends to annoy more than inspire to read the next one! lol
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
I'm ok with happy for now endings but not the drift apart and you never know when they see each other again - or we had one good night but now we go our separate ways.
DeleteI agree about abrupt or open endings. Sometimes they're okay, depending on the book, but by and large... I want a conclusion lol!
ReplyDeleteMy vacation reading is usually nil too, although this year I did actually get some reading in, and finished a book! Yay me ha ha
I get the open ending and I understand that it's probably more realistic but I like to see how people work things out. To me real life is already annoying and open ended - I'm living vicariously through them lol
DeleteI always bring my Kindle thinking I'll read in the afternoons but I fall asleep lol
I am sorry Brooke, but you are wrong! ;)
ReplyDeleteI hate possibilities! I want some who clearly says that this happened and then this and then this. Not one single thread left untold :D
Wrong Brooke WRONG lol But I do love how she worded it. But yeah - I'm a clear ending kind of person.
DeleteI don’t usually mind cliffhangers - especially if the next book is already out. Waiting a year is torture!
ReplyDeleteOpen ending are The Worst!! Oh my gosh, huge pet peeve of mine. I feel like the author broke some unspoken agreement with me. I bought your book, I read your book, but you didn’t give me a whole story. LOL
That's exactly how I feel!! I trusted you to tell me how it all turns out. Why did I follow you for 300-ish pages only to be left hanging? lol
DeleteAhh, I hadn't realised I wasn't being notified. Usually I get an email once a comment has been approved but just realising I haven't been in the last few weeks actually. Thanks for the heads up. Ugh, I feel you. I loathe open ended books. John Green for example. There's a difference between an open storyline where nothing is solved or learnt and a book wrapping up but leaving the potential for a sequel further down the track. I need a conclusion though too and it's something that really peeves me. It can just feel as though it's a cop out from an author not wanting to commit.
ReplyDeleteI thought you were on WP. It happened after the GDPR thing.
DeleteSequel open endings are ok(ish lol) At least there's a promise of an eventual conclusion.
I get too emotionally invested and when I'm left hanging like that I worry about the characters. It's not healthy Kelly!
I don't do cliffhangers. If I come across a book that has one that author goes on my never read again list. Cliffhangers just piss me off.
ReplyDeleteAgree!
DeleteI agree I like ending wrapped up and love me an epilogue. I do like to read on vacations though just depends on what kind it is. Disney never allows for me to read.
ReplyDeleteI can live without an epilogue but oooh they make me happy lol
DeleteIf I find out there's a cliffhanger and I'm interested in the series, I'll wait until all the books are released before picking it up. Like you said I forget details and then I completely lose enthusiasm for a series with a year long wait in between. I can't tell you how many series' I've never finished for that reason alone. I know myself so it's better for me just to wait until I can binge read. I HATE open endings! I want it wrapped up, nice and tidy and I don't care if that's not real life. If I wanted real life I'd watch the damn news and not read a book. I need my fiction to take me away and make me happy! Depends on what type of vacation I go on. If I'm just relaxing by the pool/beach/lake then yes books. If I'm touring, sight seeing like mad I usually crash at the hotel, but I may want to read for an hour or two when I'm rested. I rarely watch TV anywhere so that'd be my evening entertainment. Great post, Karen! :) And thanks for the comment tip! It's been awful not getting the email notifications!
ReplyDeleteMe too and I know authors hate that because they can't write the series if no one is reading the books but grrrr
DeleteAnd YES!! I read to escape. I want happy and clear endings.
What interesting topics. I'll be sure to check out this Meme with a view to playing along.
ReplyDeleteI hope you do! A lot of us are doing this feature lately.
DeleteI guess I don't actively avoid cliffhangers? But I don't like them either. And I'm not going to continue a series I'm not interested in, regardless of how big the cliffhanger is.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind open endings though! I just don't like open-to-interpretation endings where you don't even know what actually happened.
Yes, that's the kind of open endings I mean. I don't need every detail wrapped up but I don't want things to drift off and you don't know what happened.
DeleteI didn't use to care about cliffhangers but, like I said, I was reading too many and I think because of blogging there's more hype, dissecting what will happen next and chance for spoiling...it gets to be more stressful.
I meant more like in SFF books where the ending is some weird thing that you're like, "So was it all a dream???!!? Did that thing really happen?!?!!!" Those are frustrating to me.
DeleteI like stories that are mostly wrapped up, but I do love a little openness... it makes me feel like their stories are still going continue long after I've read them. I don't like for them to be so open that I'm left with a lot of questions, but even an epilogue showing them months or years in the future is nice. It allows you to fill in the blanks yourself.
ReplyDeleteL @ Do You Dog-ear?
I don't mind a HFN but if it's a romance - then I need them to end things together. Not a this was a nice time together ...maybe we'll meet again lol I don't need the whole married with kids thing though.
DeleteI can only read short things like magazines or something when I'm on vacation. it's so weird! lol
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's pretty much where I line up on cliffies, abrupt endings, and open endings. Although, if I had to choose out of them all what I would tolerate best, I suppose abrupt as long as all threads were tied up.
ReplyDeleteI think I feel the same. Even if it's abrupt I would have closure.
DeleteCliffhangers drive me nuts. As do series with no next book in sight. I read the Jane Auel books (Clan if the Cave Bear, but I may have misspelled her name), I really liked them but those books were a commitment and I could never remember where I left off!!
ReplyDeleteHope you had a great time at the ALA conference!! Can’t wait to hear about it :)
I've lost track of a lot of long running series I was reading. Once I in behind, it feels too daunting.
DeleteAnd I'm pretty cautious starting new series. I investigate the hell out of it first lol
YIKES! I don't like cliffhangers in books or movies. I want the whole story right then.(lol) When I go anywhere, even for vacation, I take along the book I'm already reading, and two more just in case I get finished. Happy Saturday and Hugs...RO
ReplyDeleteMovies are even worse! No, no, no! Lol
DeleteI used to not mind cliffhangers but now they drive me up a wall. Mainly because I feel like it's a ploy to make me buy the next book. I just spend days reading this book and I want to feel complete, not like you cut the story off just as it was getting interesting. LoL That's my thought on it anyways.
ReplyDeleteSame! There were so many things that didn't bother me before.
DeleteI don't know if it's because i read more or because of reviewing but I'm much pickier now
I also like tidy endings, except in series I'm way more forgiving, and I think it's a great way to keep someone interested in a series
ReplyDeleteTori @ In Tori Lex
I'm the same with series. As long as there's another book to wrap it up I'm ok.
DeleteI have a hard time reading in public but it never stops me from packing an absurd amount of books. Guess how many books I brought to ALA. 3! Guess how many I read. NONE.
ReplyDeleteI know it's kind of a cop-out, but my preferences for the style of ending really depend on the genre. If I'm reading a romance, you'd best believe that I want a tidy ending and I certainly wouldn't say no to an epilogue! Throw a cliffhanger in there and I'm gone. That actually happened to me a few months ago when I didn't realize that books 1 and 2 in a romance series actually follow the same couple -- they don't get their HEA until book 2. INFURIATING.
ReplyDeleteI'm good with open endings in more thoughtful work though, because they leave me thinking. The more I love the characters though, the more I want to know *exactly* what happens to them lol.