A Month of Books :: Series vs Stand Alones

Last updated on 27 February 2017

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I’ve always thought this comparison is kind of like TV shows vs. movies. My best friend likes movies better, while I like TV series better. I think it’s because you follow the characters for longer, and they don’t just suddenly disappear from your life. When it comes to books, there are series, and then there are those books that are just hanging out by themselves. If I had to choose, I don’t think I could. With TV shows it’s easy, I
know that I like them over movies, but books are harder.

As you know by now, the Harry Potter series are my favourite books, and that’s most certainly a series. Alongside Harry Potter (see all the dystopian and fantasy series I mentioned the other day for a start), there are so many other series that I absolutely love to bits (literally, they’re stuck together with tape), and while waiting for the next book is agony (Harry Potter nearly killed me every year waiting for the next instalment) it’s also so exciting to know that the story goes on. There are more exciting things on the horizon and it’s the most exciting thing to pick up book two and continue on.

Having said that, there is something really nice about picking up a book and knowing that that’s all there is; there is nothing after this book. Books like Jodi Picoult’s incredibly well written novels are individual books, and that’s all they need to be. You wouldn’t need a continuation on those stories. John Green, too. I loved The Fault in Our Stars, but, even if the ending wasn’t how it was, you wouldn’t need, you wouldn’t want another book after it. Some stories are meant to end sooner than others.

So I can’t really choose between series and stand alones. What about you? Do you have a favourite, or a preference? Would you rather the story and after one book, or would you rather follow your characters further on their adventures?