You know what series does a fantastic job of letting the reader know in what order they should read the books? The Harry Potter series. See those bright, pretty numbers right on the top? Easy peasy! Please publishers, follow the Harry Potter series' example:
I love reading books that are in a series! I don't have anything against a stand alone book (I love those too!), but book that are in a series are so satisfying. Once I'm done with a really great book, I just can't get enough; I want more! I'm not alone in this, right??
One thing that really drives me CRAZY is when I go to the bookstore and I can't figure out the order of a series. What book is the first? In what order are they supposed to be read?? Many series are not numbered, and many don't have a list included anywhere on (or in) the books. Why not? I don't understand it!
I don't always write down what books I want to check out when I'm at the store, so I usually have no idea what order they go in. Sometimes I'll see a book on the shelves that looks amazing, only I can't figure out where I'm supposed to start.
If the books aren't numbered, then I'll check out the back and the inside pages. Some books don't have them listed there, either.
Why do publishers not put the order of the books somewhere?? Why are we just expected to know the entire order of a series? I'm not going to read the description on the back of the book to try and decipher it because I can't stand spoilers, so that's out. Is it because I'm a grown up and I'm supposed to be able to deduce it from my genius grown up problem solving skills? If I want a mystery, I'll just read a mystery book, thank you very much.
Sure, I can go up to the information desk or the checkout counter, but that is such a pain. Sometimes the lines are really long, or I can't find an employee to help me out. Really, most of the time I'm looking at tons of books while I'm there, and multiple times during my shopping trip I'll wonder what order a series is supposed to go in. Am I really going to go up and ask over and over again? No. Usually I just give up and move on to a different book or series. Not that the employees aren't helpful, but it's a such a hassle. I like to spend my "me time" by spending a couple hours at Powells Book Store, so really, this happens quite a bit. "Me time" is the time I get, usually once a week or so, that I get to spend all alone, doing what I want to do. No husband, no three year old daughter, no chores. It's heaven. :) Not that I don't love them - my daughter and husband that is. I could do without the chores.
My suggestion? Have a way that we can see the order of the series! It's really not all that hard. Add a number to the book! They could even put it on the back, or add a page in the book somewhere that lists them...whatever!
So, is it really all that big of a deal in the scheme of life? No. Would it increase the amount of awesome in the world if it were easy to see what book I need next? Yes. :)
So, does this bother you too? Am I the only one suffering from this? To me this seems like something that would automatically be done. Why isn't it?
