The other day I was in the book store and I picked up book #2 in a series. From page #1, I was lost. It wasn’t because the action was confusing or even the concept, it was the multitude of characters that boggled my mind.  They shared history, they shared jokes, they shared angst. What they didn’t share was who they were and why should I care about them.  If I had read the first book, I think I definitely would’ve been excited about the second book – as it was, I didn’t even look for it.

Have you ever entered a room where a bunch of long-time friends are chatting away?You know you’ve been brought into something special, with special people – but you feel awkward and kind of clueless? That’s how I felt when I opened up that book.

So, this leaves me with the question – can you really jump into the middle of a series and slip right into the universe the author has created?

I say…it depends.

Some writers write stories that are loosely connected, and the publisher wants to clump them together in a “series” in order to brand and sell more books. Those I can deal with, because essentially, they are standalone books – until the last few novels when it seems like authors want to reaffirm how each heroine – and hero – in the books are connected through friendship, kinship or friend-enemyism (I made that word up, but you get the gist). The gilded group always seem to be at a ball or  a tea and someone is always pregnant (historical romance is my thing) and keeping it a secret, but that magic is slightly tarnished if the author is trying to bring new readers into into the proverbial fold.

So what is an author supposed to do? I dunno.

Maybe it’s more of a reader thing. I know sometimes in reviews it states very clearly “make sure you read the previous book first” or “no need to read the first book, jump right in!” Could it be reviews are sometimes more helpful than we think? Seems like it!

#AmReading