Friday, February 03, 2006

The Autobuy - revisited

A couple of blogs back after reading Cranky Reader’s blog, I did one on the autobuy. Ag left a comment and had some thoughts and questions. Rather then take up space in the comment section, she blogged about it herself. They were very good questions – be sure to check them out. I left a reply and then started thinking some more about it and decided to piggyback from Ag who piggybacked from me who piggybacked from Cranky Reader. Quite a circle it’s getting to be.

My thoughts were - what does it take to drop an autobuy author from that mental list I carry around. There are a number of reasons that cause me to turf an autobuy author. One of the main reasons is too many books in a series. With the lone exception of JD Robb, I loose interest in a series after a max of four books. One of the authors who has fallen into this category is Julia Quinn (I would probably still be reading her if Mama and Papa Bridgerton hadn’t been so prolific. I shudder to think what might have happened if that bee hadn’t flown by).
Celeste Bradley has suffered the same from the same affliction. If she had stopped at four spies I would more than likely still be reading her. But she didn’t *sigh* . Instead, she is going into spy levels now. There is your regular spy and now we have the spy bosses. I suppose after that it will be spy underlings and spy wannabe’s. But the voice rises up in me and shouts “Enough with the spies already”. Brings up that old joke - how many spies does it take to change a lightbulb? None - they prefer to work in the dark.

(that's not really an old joke - I just made it up)

Mary Balogh is another example of too many in a series. For me it became Slightly Tomany.

A few authors who knew when to end a series and thus are still autobuys include Jo Goodman (Compass Club - 4), Wendy Lindstrom (Grayson Brothers – 4) and Danelle Harmon (I know she’s no longer writing – but if she were she would be an autobuy.) I know there are many readers who can’t get enough books in a series and to them Krisite would like to say “for the love that is all that is good in this world people, please let them let them go!”

Sherrilyn Kenyon falls into this one in a unique way. Not only is there too many Dark Hunter novels, as well we now have Were Hunters, Dream Hunters, Star Hunters, Time Hunters, Day Hunters, Nature Hunters – well – you get the picture. As I’ve said before, she is so busy setting up future Hunter stories, for me, she’s lost focus on the story she is currently telling. I’m a simple girl and there are just too many characters and hunters to follow. And I know this will be a totally blasphemous statement and I will duck now but before I do, hear me roar “I AM SICK TO DEATH OF ASH AND I DON'T GIVE A FLYING FIG WHO HE ENDS UP WITH.
There – that feels better.

I should point out that the authors I’ve named are very good authors – they must be – they used to be on my autobuy list and their styles haven’t changed. It’s just too much of a good thing for me I suppose.
I was going to get into more reasons for dropping an autobuy but since I’ve rambled enough for the evening, I’ll save them for another day.


Thought for the day. This really is an addiction isn't it. The new Tara Janzen and Vickie Taylor books should be on the shelves now. I've been waiting impatiently for them to come out since the beginning of January. On my home from work I wanted so bad to drive out of my way to get them I got itchy - seriously itchy. And I have a huge pile of books I just got.



'til later

16 comments:

Mad said...

Stephanie Laurens' Bar Cynster series has lost me. I was very good about reading the first 4 or 5 but when she went on to the nieces/cousins/friends, etc, I lost interest.

Kristie (J) said...

I've never really read her. I tried the first one and thought "Woa this guy is too alpha for me" and wasn't interested in any more. There is a cousin - or half brother or someone outside the immediate family that I bought on a whim - but it's still sitting in the rather frightning TBR pile. But I can see she would be a good one who suffers from toomanyinaseriesitis.

Mad said...

I just realized I didn't comment on one thing you said...Danelle Harmon isn't writing anymore? When did that happen?

Anonymous said...

The only series I wish could have continued was the MacGregor series by Nora. Since she left Silhouette she couldn't, because they own the name. *sigh*

On the other hand, there are a lot of series out there that just make me want to grind my teeth. I think it's because once they get past a certain amount of books, they just keep rehashing the same storylines over and over again.

In all truthfulness, I've never even been able to read Sherilyn Kenyon's books and I like vamp novels. I think it's because her writing style and my reading style are two separate things.

ag said...

You cracked me up with that Krisite roar.

Speaking of 'serial killers', Madeline Hunter's 'The Romantic' was a little trying for me. I think it would have been better if she'd ended the Seducer series at Dante 'The Sinner'.

I'm sorry the Bridgertons tested your patience. Yes, thank heavens th bee got to B Sr. after Hyacinth.

Anonymous said...

I'm with you Kristie. I can only take so much of a series before I get utterly bored. Anita Blake, Stephanie Plum, Eve Dallas? I'm dunzo. Laurens and Kenyon? Ditto, although I barely even got started with those two.

The family series I'm hanging in there for are Gaelen Foley's and Julia Quinn's, although I haven't taken that much joy in Quinn's last couple of books.

Tara Marie said...

Well, out of all the series you mentioned, and others have mentioned here in your comments the only one I'm still reading is the Bridgerton's--dammit, I've gotten this far I expect to finish it. Gregory is the only one left.

Wendy said...

Two words: Christine Feehan

I only read one of hers and my eyes started to bleed. From what I can gather from Internet scuttlebutt, if you've read one Feehan, you've pretty much read them all....

Kristie (J) said...

Mad: *sigh* her last book was published in 2001. She has(had) a website and in her latest update - which was in itself quite some time ago, she said that due to personal events, she had lost her drive to write. We, her fans, can only hope that someday she get's it back.
Kaitlin: it is a shame that Nora Roberts isn't writing for Harlequin anymore - they blew that big time methinks. I overdosed on her single titles some time ago (haven't read Blue Smoke)but I would still read any series she might have written.

Ag: funny how we readers can have different tastes. Although there is one book I'm sure most of us can agree on (heh heh)I really liked the Romantic. He was such a great hero although I didn't care for her that much.
p.devi: *smackin' the forhead* Gaelen Foley. I forgot about her. She's another exception to the "4's the limit in a series" rule. I'm still liking her although I am kind of glad the next one will be the last brother. Time to move on.

Tara: I gave up on Quinn after the letter D (Daphne wasn't it?) I really didn't care for either B or C.

Wendy: Funny (ha ha) story about Feehan. For some odd and peculiar reason, I bought 4 of her books without reading a one. After I read the first one, I realized it was a "what the hell did you do that for for????" kind of thing to do. Although I did like Wild Rain.

Anonymous said...

My problem with series books is I usually don't like the characters enough to want to see them show up in another book. And if I do like them, I want the next story to be a continuation of their lives, not them hanging out in the background while new people dance around each other. Also theres a good chance that if an author makes reference to a previous couple in her current story, I'll have no idea who she's talking about. My mind is sieve-like that way.

sybil said...

Laurens had me at hello... LOVED the first book. And really I would say I enjoyed at least the first 10.

But I haven't read the last two MM I have and it I just keep thinking... WHEN do you STOP!

Love Gaelen Foley!

Kenyon's move to hardback and Feehan moveo to the funky shaped TALL MM have just about killed me for them.

Hunter amuses me how she ties the books together but they don't really have to be a series. Like the last two I think are 'spin offs' of The Sinner one.

Never read Quinn, Roberts or Plum but Anita Blake I might finish the last two books if LKH would finish the thing.

ag said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ag said...

Tara and P.Devi, I'm also holding out for the Bridgerton's last tale.

Kristie, I don't care that much for the The Romantic heroine too. She has no spunk, although she found her courage in the end. But she's already lost me. Her sister, Charlotte, is a lot more admirable to me. Her story is due out soon.

Anonymous said...

i LOVE long series. i have all the mary balogh books (or i will on friday when my mom brings home the final one), all the cynsters (and brothers-in-law, etc), and i might just start to collect jd robb...when i love a family, i want to know about ALL its members, not just four. like, i would love another round of Quinns (nora roberts) or bedwyns.
just my opinion.

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