Tell Me Something Tuesday is hosted by Rainy Day Ramblings and discusses a wide range of topics from books to blogging.
Question: What are some popular series you haven’t tried or have stopped because they just don’t appeal to you?
Answer: My desire to read popular series has changed over the years.
Popular series I read until they became popular:
I read (and re-read) the BDB * Sookie Stackhouse series frequently before my blogging days but once I started blogging and hype became a thing – I trailed off and quit reading them both years ago.
Popular series I doubt I’ll ever try:
The Throne of Glass and A Court of Thornes and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas
Some of this has to do with them being from the fantasy genre – which rarely works for me - but also there is so much hype and drama surrounding this series that I’ll probably just avoid them.
Popular series that I’ve read and loved! but aren’t as crazy as everyone else is about them - or at least won’t re-read.
DON’T THROW THINGS AT ME….
Stand alones that I caved into the hype but thought were meh and probably won’t jump at the author’s next releases (and make me fearful to give The Kiss Quotient a try):
Basically, I learned that I don’t like hype.
I do love to talk about books and hear what other people love and recommend but I don’t like to obsess about it. I take each book as it comes. I have auto-buy authors but I don’t like to debate and dissect what is going to happen in the next book in a series a year from now.
A lot of this is due to how I’ve changed as a reader since blogging. I used to just read and enjoy a book then move on. I was reading several series like The Hunger Games and didn’t even realize there was a love triangle lol That kind of obsessing over a book wasn’t on my radar back then.
Once I got caught up in book hype it kind of ruined reading for me. There are the cover reveals, the endless pondering of what will happen next, the *teams* if there’s a love triangle - just this intense publicity machine that kicks in that kind of scares me off tbh.
And obviously, as a book blogger, I love certain books and contribute to that - so do as I say not as I do lolFor a hyped book that I LOVED there’s Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett. Of course, she’s one of my auto-buy authors so I would have read it no matter what but it’s also one of my top reads for 2018.
So, I get that hype works to sell books, or else they wouldn’t do it, but for me, it makes me back away and wait until the hype dies down so I can come at the book without expectations or avoid it entirely.
What are your thoughts on book hype? Does it make you want to read the book or avoid it?
What are the popular series you've avoided or stopped reading?
Book hype only somewhat works on me. I feel like it's done a lot with fantasy books or books that will be a series - and I don't necessarily read a ton of those. I mean, I've eventually gotten to some of these and loved them (Shades of Magic, The Raven Cycle) but it's because I think I'll actually like them that I finally read them. Like Maas? Not interested in her books either. But for stand-alone books that eventually get hyped, I think it's helped me give them a shot (or read them quicker than I otherwise would have) and it tends to work out for me: Dangerous Girls, Anna and the French Kiss. I love both of those and they were hyped by bloggers for the most part. But in general? I don't necessarily read books in a series right away so I'm seeing the hype but I don't really get into because I haven't read the book yet. haha
ReplyDelete-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net
OH! And I totally DNFed The Hating Game, so it's all good. And I've never read the Percy Jackson books. haha
Delete-Lauren
If people I know and trust love a book I will definitely look at it more than random hype and I've found a lot of great books that way - but I still mentally have to scale back the expectations before going in or wait until it dies down.
DeleteAnd Yay! I'm not alone lol
I read the Sookie books for a while and then stopped too. I'm still reading the BDB books.
ReplyDeleteIt (sookie) was going in a weird direction and I just stopped where I was happy with things lol
DeleteSigh I can NoT think on the spot. I did give up on Ward too
ReplyDeleteALL of those story lines with little payoff gave me headache.
DeleteI didn't even realise there was such a huge drama angle about series. Of course, I don't read hyped books, but still...do people really discuss future installments and obsess over them? I didn't know that was a thing...OK, you might think I'm probably doing the same with Doctor Who, except I prefer to fangirl over the past seasons than wonder what the new one will bring...I like the little reveals and stuff, but it's not like I spend much time musing about the upcoming new season. And when it comes to books, even with series I really like (e.g.: Deadgirl), I do the same.
ReplyDeleteUsually, too much hype has a counter-intuitive effect on me - not only when books are involved. But the ones I don't read are those whose premise I can't buy, or whose genre is not my cup of tea. Simple as that...
Most of it is either about new covers, (lack of) diversity, a love triangle outcome as far as drama...
DeleteMy first case of anticipatory book hype was THG. I had just read the first two on my own - pre-hype and blogging but then I got into blogging and EVERYTHING was what will happen. Who will die...who will Katniss pick...etc and by the time the book got here I was a nervous wreck lol And I ended up not liking it which was my first brush with book disappointment on a big scale like that.
I think I'm fairly resistant to it these days. I pay attention when people I trust are raving about a book but if it's too many people - I like to wait a bit so my expectations have leveled out some. And I'm much better at knowing what will work for me and skipping something even if everyone else loves it.
I still haven't finished up the Sookie Stackhouse series lol I think I left off 2 or 3 books back. I have them but haven't read *sigh*
ReplyDeleteYou're probably better off that way lol
DeleteHype is such a funny thing. I mostly stay away - at least for a while. I do cave sometimes. I stopped reading BDB at like book 8 maybe. I finished the Sookie Stackhouse books but should have stopped. I gave into the hype and really liked The Hating Game and Starry Eyes. I only read HP last year but I kind of love them.
ReplyDeleteI know what happens with the Sookie series but I stopped around book #8 I think. No regrets lol
DeleteSome books are hyped and I love them - like The Winner's Kiss trilogy is a good example. But most are because I chose to read them not just because of hype. Whenever I second guess if the book is for me and read it anyway - I should have trusted my gut.
I am glad Starry Eyes was a positive read for you, because it was one of my favorites this year.
ReplyDeleteI would have red that regardless of hype. I just love her books!
DeleteI am right there with you. I finally got her first book, and I cannot wait to read it!
DeleteIt took me forever to read The Hunger Games trilogy, because of the hype but when I finally did I fell in love with it and my heart wibbled when it ended, because GAAAAAAAAAAAAALE! That's all I'm going to say about that. Funny enough I have the first two books in the Divergent series on my shelf and I have only read the first book and don't plan on finishing the series. I feel like since I've watched True Blood, I don't really need to read about it. I remember when the series was ongoing and still in syndication, people would say the books were better for the first half of the show and then the second half of the series they would say the books weren't as good and would prefer the show. It was just a bit odd to me in that respect and I always love to dissect and discuss things to pieces, I don't know why. But, it's just fun to me. I really need to read Starry Eyes, it's only Kindle. I want an actual pretty physical copy for my shelves that are groaning under the weight of all the other books that I have and I really do need to read the Percy Jackson series as it was a gift from one of my bff's for Christmas this past year. lol.
ReplyDeleteIf you get the chance, come by my blog and check out my TMST post.
Suz @ Bookish Revelations
I had started THG long before blogging and book hype but by the time the 3rd book came out I was drowning in hype and speculation and it kind of ruined the whole series for me.
DeleteI agree with that Sookie books vs the TV show assessment. lol
I found that I can't get tooooo into books like that or I'm crushed when it goes another way or doesn't meet my expectations.
Starry Eyes was so good! And the HC is gorgeous! One of the few books I have on my keeper shelf.
And Percy is so much fun!
You made the right choice giving up on Sookie Stackhouse, I stuck with it till the bitter end and I wish I had just abandoned it. I loved The Hating Game, but I also read it way before all the hype (I'm a big contemporary romance fan anyway).
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started blogging I did fall for hype several times, but I've gotten over getting caught up in it, as it typically diminishes my love for the book because I feel pressure to LOVE it.
THG should have worked for me. I love contemp romance and humor - hate to love is one of my favorite tropes. I think it was all the hype. I was expecting BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR and it wasn't that for me.
Delete😲 I LOVE the series you gave up on (BDB & Sookie... I even liked how Sookie ended!), I LOVE the series (both of them) that you'll prob never try and I will probably re-read Percy many many times (as well as HP).
ReplyDeleteA series I gave up on is House of Night. One I'll prob never read is A Song of Ice and Fire. 🙂
Don't hate me!!!! lol
DeleteI read the first HoN but heard it went downhill and just stopped there.
I have read one of Ward's BDB spin off books and enjoyed it but there were too many plot lines in BDB for me to continue.
I've had that Dark Lover in my tbr pile since the thing was released. I fear I'm going to hate it now so I keep putting it off.
ReplyDeleteThat's not my favorite one but it's good cracky fun. It's later int he series where she's juggling 5+ pov's and plots that it gets super annoying.
DeleteYup I'm anti book hype. lol I did the Ward and Harris pre-blog, too :)
ReplyDeleteAt some point in my life, I may read just to see what the hype is all about with the Harry Potter books but there are so many others I’d rather spend some time with. That said, it’s hard when there is a lot of hype surrounding a book because it hardly ever lives up (in my opinion anyway!).
ReplyDeleteHope you have a lovely weekend, my sweet!
Hype can be a terrible thing for a book and I notice a lot of people avoid hyped books like the plague. I fall into the hype trappings sometimes but I think I can be quite oblivious to hype too. I read the Sookie Stackhouse books before blogging and honestly... I wasn't in love with them but there was something about them that kept me reading. I have tried reading the BDB books since blogging and that's just a whole world of nope, the books do nothing for me. I can't even get into the first one JR Ward's writing isn't for me it seems.
ReplyDeleteThe Hating Game is on my TBR. I loved the Percy Jackson series but haven't reread it. I read the first there HP books and stopped. I didn't like them much. ACOTAR is one I tried this year and it was just okay.
ReplyDelete