Here we are at Wednesday again. Today’s weekly blog topic for Long and Short reviews is Reasons why I stopped reading a series I loved.
This is a hard one because I haven’t. I still read the Stephanie Plum series, almost 30 books in, and I’ll never NOT read a JD Robb IN DEATH book – and she’s at 51!
I have, though, stopped reading authors who I adored once upon a time, so I’ll go with that today.
- Danielle Steele. I was a devotee of her work in the 1980s and 90s. But then every single new book she wrote was just like every other book she wrote. The heroines were the same character with different facial features and jobs, but they were all from a. poor backgrounds, b. abusive relationships, or c.amnesiacs. After reading three books in a row where the same plot line in a different location occurred, I gave up. Some of her heroines were really too stupid to live. She’s still publishing books 30+ years after I stopped reading her, so what do I know? People still like her stories. Go figure.
- Michael Crichton. Loved the first few books, but after Jurassic Park it felt to me like he was phoning in his novels. Ridiculous plot lines that even I couldn’t suspend my disbelief over, and one dimensional heroes. Some people just don’t know when to leave the party. But again, what do I know?
- Robin Cook. Same thing. Loved the earlier books but then every new book was another pandemic, or outbreak, or the world’s gonna implode if not for this regular guy hero who just happens to be a doctor in some capacity. Enough. Time to call it a day.
Let’s see what some of the other authors in this blogging challenge have to say ( and let’s hope they’re nicer than I was!) L&SR
I’ve got a new release dropping on 5.20.2020. VANILLA WITH A TWIST is one of the new One Scoop or Two books in the Wild Rose Press summer series and it’s up for Preorder right now at the sale price of just 99cents.
Tandy Blakemore spends her days running her New England ice cream parlor, single-parenting her teenaged son, and trying to keep her head above financial water. No easy feat when the shop’s machinery is aging and her son is thinking about college. Tandy hasn’t had a day off in a decade and wonders if she’ll ever be able to live a worry-free life.
Engineer Deacon Withers is on an enforced vacation in the tiny seaside town of Beacher’s Cove. Overworked, stressed, and lonely, he walks into Tandy’s shop for a midday ice cream cone and gets embroiled in helping her fix a broken piece of equipment.
Can the budding friendship that follows help fix their broken spirits and lead to love?
Until next Wednesday, peeps ~ Peg
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Peggy Jaeger, Author 
Yes, I recall leaving my favorite series after reading a quickly thrown together book left me empty. Sad.
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I loved reading series as a kid. The Bobbsey Twins, Judy Bolton, Cherry Ames, Sue Barton, and of course, Nancy Drew. But as a teen I moved away from characters series and on to author studies. I Ioved Sherlock Holmes first. What a clever sleuth and my first male crush My favorite then became Daphne duMaurier and her Cornish tales, beginning and ending for me with Rebecca. Justly haunted by Rebecca and her austere nemesis, Mrs. Danvers, I have brought her back to life in my first suspense novel for TWRP, The Girl from the USO now in edits. Recently I joined the group Sisters in Crime as I wrote my novel. My current must-read authors are Ruth Ware and Clare MacKintosh. And I certainly waited for years to finish Hilary Mantel’s historical trilogy with The Mirror and the Light. As a teacher, I have seen my students gripped with Harry Potter so much so that as adults he is a constant presence as they reread his magical adventures over and over. We may outgrow authors, but some characters live forever in the backs of our minds, coming out to play on rainy days and staying for tea.
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I noticed the same thing with Danielle Steele’s work. But to each their own!
My post.
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Thanks for coming by earlier. re: Stephanie Plum… I did love some of the characters. Maybe I will give the books a go again sometime. And I’m with you on In Death. Marianne and I were talking about that this morning… one reason I love that series is that everyone (even the secondary characters) grow and change in realistic ways. With Plum…they don’t seem to do that and it’s very frustrating.
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I agree about the In Death books.. Every new addition you learn something new abt a character or someone grows. I’ve always said that Nora should teach a master class on how to write a continuing series. I feel like these characters are my friends.
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Yep, not a fan of the phoning it in thing. Especially when it sure seems that obvious. Good post!
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I have liked many series, but my favorites are ones with the same protagonist–hey, Trixie Belden! Even then, I seldom follow through. I stopped with Stephanie Plum probably 10 books ago. Even Sue Grafton’s alphabet mysteries, which I loved, I found myself skimming. This doesn’t speak to the skill of the authors, but maybe to my attention span. I love when there are two books that connect, or trilogies. Even some quartets–I loved Nora Roberts’ Boonsboro ones. But I think I want them to have real ends.
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Agree with you on Danielle Steele’s work, yet my sister adores her stories and still continues to read them. We often discuss our differences. Great post, Peg.
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WOw, you and I are on the same wave length. I said almost the same thing only different authors or series. Great minds think alike! LOL Thanks for sharing, here’s mine. https://www.tenastetler.com/lsrs-wednesdays-blog-challenge-reason-why-i-stopped-reading-a-series-i-loved/
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That’s basically why I did a series in three books. It starts to be the same old, same old after a while. And you’re right, some authors have the same plot they just go over and over with.
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Some writers create a formula and then hire ghost writers from an outline. I think Danielle Steele may be doing that.
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There was an article on line about her recently in which DS stated that she writer 22 hours a day, 7 days a week. I questioned it then, and still do.
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If a series gets repetitious, someone, like maybe an editor? should be kind enough to say something to the author. I get that they all want to be paid, but if you’re not proud of the books you put out, why are you doing it?
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That makes perfect sense. I can see where some people would the repetition comforting, but I’d probably have gotten bored too.
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I’m still reading Stephanie Plum, too! I won’t give up on that series.
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Totally with you on dropping books with too stupid to live heroines. They’re so frustrating!
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The formula novels can be quite a drag. Great post!
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