In Need of Standalones

There once was a time in which I only tried to find standalone novels to read. I didn’t want to be sucked into a long series that would take forever to get through.

At some point that philosophy went right out the window. Though I do currently have quite a few standalone novels, I’m looking for more. Why? Because I don’t think it’s necessary for an author to devote multiple books to the same character in order to write quality stories.

I think a good mix of standalone and series books helps equalize one’s reading. So tell me, tell me! No genre or author limitations.

New ‘Game Change’ Book, Miniseries to Document 2016 Presidential Election

Remember Game Change? The HBO movie adapted from the book about the 2008 election. I’ve probably seen that movie a few dozen times.

The authors wrote a second book in their series after the 2012 election. And now they’re continuing after the most recent election. HBO has already contracted the rights to adapt the forthcoming book into a miniseries.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie that followed the 2008 election. HBO typically does these types of projects quite well. My expectation is that the new miniseries will be no different. I anticipate several books, movies, and documentaries will come out in the years to come about what happened on election night and in the months leading up to the election.

Have any interest in the book or HBO miniseries?

Top Five Wednesday: Books That Need a Sequel

Today’s topic is standalone books that NEED a sequel. But it’s time we take a trip down memory lane.

I first began buying my own books in high school and college. I know at that point in time I’d started reading a handful of series, but I always tried finding standalones. At the library. At the bookstore. Or online. I’d search for hours to find a standalone I wanted to read. I often successfully found one. I discovered several of my favorite authors this way.

But as time has passed on I’ve had to change up my strategy. Now whenever I happen to be looking for something new I’m searching for the first book in a new series. This isn’t inherently worse, just different.

All this to say that once upon a time I wanted to read as many standalone novels as I could, but now I’m reading a million series at once. I’ve never read a solid standalone I felt needed a sequel. Not once. And some of the best books I’ve ever read have been standalones.

So my answer to today’s topic is simple: A good standalone shouldn’t need a sequel. What do you think!?

On Completed Series

Have you ever stopped to think about all the series you’ve read? Especially the ones you’ve finished. Well I just did. And guess how many I came up with? Two.

There’s always a chance I’m missing some, but I think I’m pretty spot on. Merci Rayborn and The Hunger Games. Those are the only book series I’ve read from start to finish. It probably sounds crazy, but it really isn’t.

I’ve written on here before about the length of series you’re willing to read, and I remember several people saying that four or five books is just too many for a series. I thought it was garbage back then and I still think so today.

The majority of the series I read are 10+ books. Spenser. Bosch. Alex Cross. Jesse Stone. Elvis Cole. Alex McKnight. And several I started and never finished. Mystery writers tend to write long series, and I have no issue with that as long as the writing stays top notch.

Do you have any idea how many aeries you’ve completed?

My 2015 Reading Biography

I did this last year. Now I’m doing it again this year.

2015 was rather rough on the reading front. 10 books. Just ten. I have no excuse. I started off relatively strong with four books in January and then it was all downhill from there. Here’s the breakdown:

Best month: January
Books in a series: 4
Rereads: 0
New-to-me authors: 5
Books from Amazon list: 4
Most common genre: Mystery
Authors read multiple times: 0

I think that’s it. I don’t really have much to pick from when I’m only looking at ten books. I’ll do better in 2016, right? I sure hope so.

Also, I’ve added a new page to the blog titled “2016 Reading Challenge” that’ll show the progress of my challenge throughout the coming months. So don’t forget to take a peek.

How was your year of reading?

There’s a new Harry Potter Book

No, there is not an eighth book in the series that you don’t know about. There isn’t a spin-off for one of the characters. And there isn’t another book that takes place at Hogwarts that has nothing to do with Harry and company. But there IS a new book. It is a fully illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. And it looks great!

I first saw the book on display at my store maybe last week? And I didn’t know what it was. I thought it was some kind of condensed, lower reading level edition. Then I opened it up and realized that it is the ENTIRE book! I didn’t buy one. And I’m not going to because I have the whole series already and I don’t need my copy to have fancy illustrations, but I bet you know someone who would appreciate how nice this book is. I think it’s the sixth best selling book on Amazon right now. And it’s sold out. But if you want to get a look at these pretty books, then go into your neighborhood Half Price Books and take a look!

What do you think of the first book in the series being fully illustrated after almost two decades?

PS: The reason some of my posts focus on what’s happening at Half Price Books is because I see so many things during the course of the week that I think are perfect for the blog. No one is paying me to write these. Like I found out yesterday that Rick Riordan has started a new series. I find things like this out all the time. Sometimes I share them with y’all and sometimes I don’t.

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On this day in 2014 I published A New Writing Project?.

 

Auto-buy Authors

I’d never heard this particular term until I got on WordPress. But to me auto-buy authors are the authors whose books you buy without thinking about the series or reviews or anything. You just buy the book because it’s something new you haven’t read from one of your favorite authors. If I’m using this definition, then I have none.

I don’t buy books as authors write them. And I don’t think I own every book written by any particular author. I started most of the series I read long after they initially began. Even my favorites like Harry Bosch and Alex Cross were started more than a decade after the first books in the series were published. But I understand that if you’re caught up with an author’s series, then you’ll likely pre-order or buy their new book on release day. I can understand that. I think it’s a little different story when people do that for every James Patterson novel because you’re talking multiple books a month rather than one or two a year.

The one thing I do have in common with everyone else and their auto-buy authors is that if I’m reading a series I enjoy, then I won’t be checking to see what the next book is about before buying it. So I guess I auto-buy the next in the series? Which is what I imagine most people do. What if you read Half Blood Prince and didn’t much care for it, was there any chance you weren’t going to read Deathly Hallows? No. Of course not.

Do you have any auto-buy authors? I think I auto-buy series, but not authors.

Guest Post: Rejection is coming…(and dragons…maybe)

So for my first guest post in my blife (blogging life) I have decided to talk about rejection (Gasp!)

No, wait! Keep reading! It’s not all that bad…..I promise!

Rejection is inevitable as a writer…I’m sorry…it just is. Let’s all take a moment to deal with that, deep breath, and move on! Whether you’re rejected by a literary agent, a publisher, or your mum (yes! Even your mum might hate your writing! – What? She might!) it’s pretty much a done deal that someone is going to reject you once you start putting your work out to the general public – even popular authors have people who hate their books, you just can’t please everyone.

And to be honest….who cares! Screw everyone who hates what you write. You love it! I know you do! Or you wouldn’t have spent all that time writing and rewriting and rererewriting until all your hair fell out and you had to buy a wig! (This didn’t happen to me…or did it? Ponder away)

I strongly believe that if there is passion in your work then someone will love it. And I know that the ultimate dream is to make a career out of your writing, but I think accepting whatever may happen is the best option. If you truly love to write because it’s your passion then your motivation should be wanting amazing people to read your work and love it like you do! Whether that be literally five people in the whole world or a thousand or ten thousand or ten million. The point is, you want to share your writing because you want people to love it as much as you do and making any money out of it would just be a bonus!

And remember! Don’t give up! If you get rejected don’t throw your computer out of your window! (I mean, by all means go ahead but then buy a new one!)

And here’s why…. Some of THE BEST authors of our time were rejected…like, A. Thousand. Times. Seriously…

– Beatrix Potter had to publish Peter Rabbit HERSELF because no one would do so! (Peter…fluffing….rabbit, people)

– C.S. Lewis was rejected quite a bit before he sold anything! (Would you want to live in a world without the Narnia books? Who didn’t spend time as kid (or an adult) climbing into wardrobes and pawing desperately at the back of it – just me?)

– An editor once told F. Scott Fitzgerald, “You’d have a decent book if you’d get rid of that Gatsby Character.” – (Seriously!!!!)

– The Diary of Anne Frank was commented on by an editor saying, “This girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the curiosity level.” (ARGHHHFFF!!?)

– J.K Rowling was told, quite seriously, “Not to quit her day job.” (Bet that person will be crying for the rest of their days…) And if all else fails, self-publish! If you really, truly, honestly, passionately believe that your work is good enough to be out there for the world to see. Why not?

Caroline Peckham

What’s a Book Hangover?

Wrong question. What I’m really asking is if you’e ever experienced one. According to Urban Dictionary, the definition is:

“When you’ve finished a book and you suddenly return to the real world, but the real world feels incomplete or surreal because you’re still living in the world of the book.”

Now consider if you’ve ever experienced one. If you have, you can call the following number because you likely need professional help. Just kidding. There is no number for you to call. Oh well. Good luck.

But really, I like books just as much as the next person. Actually, I probably like them more. I’ve talked about my future intention of getting multiple literary-inspired tattoos. I’ve posted on here around 500 times. I have my little library of books right here next to me. And I have a few series that I’ve loved just like any other person. With all that being said, I’ve never experienced this book hangover nonsense. It’s called being a mature individual, if you ask me. I can imagine a seven-year-old talking about a book hangover (in other terms, of course) or even a 12-year-old. But I can’t see an adult talking about being lost in the world of the book they just finished the night before. That’s what I call an excuse.

In the minutes immediately following the completion of a good book I might think to myself about how great it was or I might write a post on here it if it’s from the Amazon list, but that’s it. I usually forget about the books I read after a short time because I move on to read something else. I could maybe describe the plots of ten books I’ve read because the stories were that great, but I’d need a gentle reminder for just about everything else.

Have you ever experienced a book hangover? I’m seriously hoping this post gets 25 Likes and zero comments.

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On this day in 2014 I published World’s Ten Bestselling Authors Since 2001.

 

Finding new Books to Read

Just about every one of you reads more than I do. At least I think you do. Which means you likely have to find new books and authors pretty often, unless you’re one of those readers who reads the same books over and over again like you’re living your life in circles. Then I have no idea what to tell you.

But for those of you who like some variety in your reading, I’d like to know how you go about finding new authors. I have maybe 20 different series on my shelves, which means I’m not running out of books in those series any time soon. And even when I do I have plenty of others that I usually have my eye on. Besides the books I’ve read from the Amazon list, I honestly can’t remember the last time I went out searching for a new series to read. Definitely wasn’t in 2015, and perhaps not even last year.

So how do you find new series or authors to read? Goodreads? Amazon? Ask your neighbor? Other bloggers?

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On this day in 2014 I published The Handwritten Letter. I wanted a pen pal when I wrote that post and I think I found one. But I ultimately stop replying to the letters because I’m awesome like that. I still think it would be nice to have a pen pal who I don’t communicate with regularly via any other medium. But oh well.