I just read 5 books in D.L. Cross’s Astral Conspiracy series. First of all, I’m not a sci/fi fan. BUT, her characters are so strong, they lift sci/fi into the suspense category for me, because I cared so much about the major AND minor characters in her books. Not an easy thing to achieve. I mourned deaths (because these books didn’t spare people we cared about) and victories (because the characters who were left got to live to fight another day. And maybe the one after that. Fingers crossed.).

BUT these books were purposely published close together. And I have to tell you, by the time I finished book 5, I was tired. These books were so jam packed, I needed a breather each time I finished one. Which is good. Usually. Except the next book came out pretty soon after I finished the one before it. And I COULD have just bought the next book and waited to read it, BUT she left me with so many cliffhangers at the end of each book, I couldn’t make myself wait THAT long before I started the next one. Which means the cliffhangers worked:)

I love series. I loved each and every book in it. And I usually complain when I have to wait months for the next book in my favorites to come out. But now, I’ve changed my mind about that. A three month wait, for me, is a good thing. Four months is fine. I can read a few other books while I wait. A year…well, that’s a long time. More than a year (like Elizabeth George’s Thomas Lynley mysteries) is hard. But, as much as I loved flying through D.L. Cross’s books, I never want to do it again.

And I think that makes me a rarity. I have friends who once they find a favorite book, TV show, or movie series, binge watch them. They fly through the stories, back to back. That’s why so many people loved how fast D.L. Cross’s books came out. I don’t binge on anything. I like moderation and variety.

O.K., I binged on D.L. Cross, but it’s my first time. And I loved the books. But I felt drowned in them. It’s not my thing. I like to read a cozy, then maybe a thriller, then an urban fantasy, then a historical, and finally back to a cozy. I like to switch it up. But I don’t think I’m in the majority. I think, when most people find something they like, they delve into it.

What about you? Are you a binger? When you find an author you like, do you read everything else she’s written? I’ve noticed a lot of my friends are hooked on Jim Butcher right now. They’re flying through the books in his series. I recently found him, too, but it will probably take me years to catch up to what he writes now. Same goes with J.D. Robb. There are some drawbacks to being a reader like I am. Are you hooked on anything now? What is it? Do you find a new author, then devour her work?