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Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Finishing A Series

Finishing an entire book series or trilogy is not something I have accomplished often (according to Goodreads I have only completed five series/trilogies). For me to want to read a whole series I need to be highly invested in the book and its characters. Or sometimes if there is too long of a gap in between when I read the first book and the second book...or if the other books just aren't out yet, I'll obviously forget details and need to reread book one but there are SO MANY BOOKS I want to read that I never get around to doing a reread. This is one problem.

My other issue is that when I finish a series I feel...lost. The world that I've grown to love and felt like I've been a part of is over. There is no more. That makes picking up a new book to read hard! I still feel stuck in the mindset of the characters that I just left behind.

This leads to my question:

WHAT DO I READ AFTER HARRY POTTER?

I've picked up books from the library, browsed for books online to buy...but nothing sounds interesting or like it'll hold my attention anymore. I think I'm suffering from a Harry Potter hangover. Help me find a cure!

24 comments:

  1. Marathon a TV show, and then pick up a book. I loved Attachments by Rainbow Rowell, it's light and cute, but amazing also a different enough book where you shouldn't be comparing the two. Or maybe a murder mystery to clear the palate and then Attachments?

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  2. I can relate to this so much! I agree with the previous commenter to marathon a tv show after a book hangover. I was so depressed after reading The Hunger Games trilogy and Harry Potter as well. I have found a lot of great books, but nothing can hold much of a candle Harry Potter! If you're open to more mature themes, I recommend the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin; it's the only other series I would compare to HP in terms of being so epic and for the author building such a realistic yet fantastical world.

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  3. I'm totally like that too! I have a hard time finishing series either because I forget details waiting for the books or because I just seriously am not ready to let those characters go.

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  4. I found that happened to me after reading Harry Potter. My solution was to read a laugh out loud hilarious book that wasn't a series but would put me a in a great mood while reading it. My two choices for you (hoping you haven't read them already) would be:

    Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore (thank me later)

    OR

    Let's Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

    The first I read immediately AFTER I finished Harry Potter series. The second one came out recently and like the first I laughed till I was in tears!

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  5. I think I re read the first Harry Potter right after finishing the last. I was seriously invested in that series. It might actually be the only series I've finished, woops! It's just so hard; like you I always need to go back and re-read or I forget the details or sometimes I just don't care enough after time has passed.

    I really love the other commenters' suggestions of watching a tv show.

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    1. I did the same with HP!
      I wasn't ready to let go and I felt when I reread them again after finishing the last book, a lot of things that I missed the first (few!) times around are much more important and you understand the meanings of tiny little details scattered around.

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  6. this happens to me so many times!
    I just came out of a long relationship with the Game Of Thrones book series. It was really hard to finish reading (the books that are published) and I know i'm going to have trouble going back into it when the 6th book is released (if ever!).

    Fortunately, I wanted to read the new JK Rowling book (The Cuckoo's Calling) so I bought it before I finished with GoT and started it immediately after.

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  7. Series are pretty hard to read. They span such a long time and I'm notorious for forgetting all about what happened in the previous book. I tend to mostly read series though. And nothing will ever replace Harry Potter. That being said, I'd recommend trying Melina Marchetta's Lumatere Chronicles. It starts with Finnikin of the Rock. :)

    -P.E. @ The Sirenic Codex

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  8. My blog post on Friday is about my HP hangover!

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  9. Try the Shadowland series by Meg Cabot. The series is finished so you can read them all, and they're YA so you'll get through them quick. Enjoy!

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  10. I am trying to remember what I did after I finished reading the Harry Potter series. I think I may have stopped reading for a while. This wasn't because I was sad about Harry Potter being over, more due to being swamped in grad school. I would recommend reading something completely different, because you are going to compare everything to Harry Potter. On the other hand, you might want to reread the series. When I did my rereads, I noticed details that I hadn't noticed before.

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  11. You should read one of Diana Wynne Jone's standalone books. She was JK Rowling before JK Rowling was even born -- just without the wide recognition. It might be a good way to avoid jumping into another long series, but also take baby steps away from Harry Potter! She is delightful to read and was who I got hooked on once I finished HP back in the day :)

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  12. I love series, if I like a book I never want it to end so series are perfect for me. I recommend Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson's Wheel of Time series

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  13. I totally understand how you feel. I read the Harry Potter series a few months ago and after finishing it, I almost felt hollow. I was really scared to get into another series but the bulk of expectations. I ended up reading The Hunger Games series after it which was also very good.

    Still haven't gotten around to reading another series after that, though. Still scared to dive into one. Maybe you should start with a Duology, not a full fledged series. Or maybe stick to good stand-alones for a while?

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  14. When I finished Harry Potter I told someone that I felt like I lost a bunch of friends so I had Harry Potter hangover depressed mode.

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  15. If you are ready for a new series I would suggest Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan, followed by the spin-off series. For more magic maybe the Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix. For characters you will fall in love with, I recommend The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan. Maybe try some contemporary fiction before diving back into a series? Oh! How about The Diviners by Libba Bray? Can't wait to hear what you pick!

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  16. I'd recommend His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman -- it's a completed trilogy, with an amazing world to sink into. I love the Game of Thrones series by George R. R. Martin, but since it's not complete yet, there's no need to rush into it!

    Lisa

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  17. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead because all of the books in the series are already published so there will be no real down time in between the books coming out. Richelle Mead's foreshadowing reminds me of JK Rowling. That's my two cents.

    Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know

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    1. I'm reading this series right now, and I'm loving it! It's really quick and easy to read and you'll never feel like you're forcing yourself to read. And as Sandy said, all the books are out so there would be no waiting. The other alternative is to stick to a TV show or stand-alone books for a while as some people mentioned above. Good luck!

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  18. Maybe listen to an audiobook. You just need something different to do/read. I watch a show, or listen to an audiobook or read something completely different from whatever I'm hung up on.
    Most times it works - otherwise you will just have to resort to re-read Harry Potter. :D

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  19. as someone else suggested, you could go with something light in a completely different genre. (i like a chick-lit book in between heavier-themed ones :p) or you could go read "the Wheel of Time". that series is so freakin huge, it'll take you at least a year to finish even if you read them all back to back! (probably less for you since you're probably a very quick reader, but still :p) it's also my favorite series! yay!

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  20. Have you read J.K. Rowling's Potter companions? Maybe they will ease you out?

    Otherwise, maybe something completely different which you can't compare to Potter?

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  21. Fanfiction!!! I know it sounds stupid but some of it is surprisingly awesome. I read an AWESOME one about lily and james falling in love, ending when they got married so its entirely happy haha, it was almost as long as the first harry potter book and sooo good! I also second what someone said about diana wynn jones, her book "the merlin conspiracy" was soo good! Or try hunger gams- the second book was particularly amazing :)

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