Don't You Just Hate When Books In A Series Are Not Numbered?

Discuss writing, including writing tips & tricks, writing philosophy, writer's block, etc. If you have grammar questions, marketing questions, or if you want feedback on a poem or short story you wrote, please use the corresponding forum below.
Featured Topic: How to Get Your Book Published
Forum rules
If you have spelling or grammar questions, please post them in the International Grammar section.

If you want feedback for poetry or short stories you have written, please post the poem or short story in either the Creative Original Works: Short Stories section or the Creative Original Works: Poetry section.

If you have a book that you want reviewed, click here to submit your book for review.
User avatar
Deee
Posts: 1900
Joined: 23 Aug 2014, 18:37
Favorite Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Favorite Book: <a href="http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/shelve ... 18984">The Two Towers</a>
Currently Reading: Second Foundation
Bookshelf Size: 1417
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-deee.html
Reading Device: B00IKPYKWG

Re: Don't You Just Hate When Books In A Series Are Not Numbe

Post by Deee »

Yes! That's so annoying.
"But to find out the truth about how dreams die, one should never take the word of the dreamer."

Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye.
User avatar
bluejay__way
Posts: 24
Joined: 26 Feb 2015, 15:41
Favorite Author: Edgar Allan Poe
Favorite Book: The Austere Academy
Currently Reading: The Green Mile
Bookshelf Size: 70
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-bluejay-way.html
fav_author_id: 4642

Post by bluejay__way »

That's one of the things I loved most about the Series of Unfortunate Events! I loved the fact that is was numbered both on the cover and the spine just to remind me of its chronological order. I hate it when novels don't have that because it removes this sort of potential for intimacy, if that's the right word, between myself and it and it confuses me.
csimmons032
Posts: 687
Joined: 27 Feb 2015, 21:49
Favorite Author: Stephenie Meyer
Favorite Book: Twilight and The Last Song
Currently Reading: Bluewater Walkabout
Bookshelf Size: 706
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-csimmons032.html
Latest Review: "Book Blueprint" by Jacqui Pretty
fav_author_id: 2594

Post by csimmons032 »

I absolutely agree. I hate it when I can't tell what orders the books go in because you don't want to read it in the wrong order.
Latest Review: "Book Blueprint" by Jacqui Pretty
Braktooth
Posts: 62
Joined: 28 Jan 2015, 19:36
Currently Reading: I'm Tired Of Racism
Bookshelf Size: 91
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-braktooth.html
Latest Review: Skills of the Warramunga by Greg Kater

Post by Braktooth »

It's really irritating. For some series it doesn't matter, but for others, it's so vital. At the least, they should publish the list of the other books in the series somewhere in the front. It would help if they put them in order too.
zeldas_lullaby
Posts: 5980
Joined: 27 Mar 2013, 20:01
Favorite Author: ---------
Favorite Book: <a href="http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/shelve ... =3452">The Thorn Birds</a>
Currently Reading: The Last Stonestepper
Bookshelf Size: 79
Signature Addition: View official OnlineBookClub.org review of Forever Twelve

Post by zeldas_lullaby »

What I hate is when you stumble upon a product page for a future volume, and the blurb contains spoilers because you haven't read that far yet. I also hate it when I go to the bookstore and they have the third book, and I decide it looks interesting, but they don't have books one and two because they're not new releases.

And this is a minor pet peeve, but I don't like it when a series winds up being named after the first book. It just makes it clear that the author wasn't thinking ahead past book 1, and it just rubs me the wrong way somehow. I'm not sure why.
cittin5
Posts: 118
Joined: 04 Mar 2015, 13:46
Bookshelf Size: 70
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-cittin5.html

Post by cittin5 »

When I start a series and go on to the next book I like for that book to actually be the next be in the series not the fourth. I have done that before where I read the first then the fourth and I am completely confused because some one has die or someone's married.
User avatar
SharisseEM
Posts: 273
Joined: 30 Sep 2014, 04:32
Favorite Author: Mia Sheridan
Favorite Book: Stinger
Bookshelf Size: 34
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-sharisseem.html
Latest Review: "The Bonding" by Imogen Keeper
fav_author_id: 3312

Post by SharisseEM »

Done that plenty of times. I thought Teresa Medeiros' novel 'The Vampire Who Loved Me' was a standalone but apparently, I was wrong. Only found out two years later. It was good enough to be a standalone. Same with the Dark Hunter series.
“I don't suffer from my insanity -- I enjoy every minute of it.”
Latest Review: "The Bonding" by Imogen Keeper
User avatar
Jesska6029
Posts: 544
Joined: 28 Feb 2015, 09:21
Favorite Author: J.K. Rowling
Favorite Book: The Harry Potter series
Currently Reading: It and Mr. Mercedes
Bookshelf Size: 279
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-jesska6029.html
Latest Review: "Texaners: Eight Short Stories" by T. F. Rhoden
fav_author_id: 1778

Post by Jesska6029 »

When books in a series are not number, it drives me crazy! Sometimes I pick up a book and find out it's a part of a series, and the most frustrating thing is having to Google the order of the books. It really gets frustrating when the titles in the series are really similar.
“Some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default.” ~J.K. Rowling
Latest Review: "Texaners: Eight Short Stories" by T. F. Rhoden
csimmons032
Posts: 687
Joined: 27 Feb 2015, 21:49
Favorite Author: Stephenie Meyer
Favorite Book: Twilight and The Last Song
Currently Reading: Bluewater Walkabout
Bookshelf Size: 706
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-csimmons032.html
Latest Review: "Book Blueprint" by Jacqui Pretty
fav_author_id: 2594

Post by csimmons032 »

A book series not being numbered drives me crazy too. When it's not numbered, sometimes I don't know that I am reading the books out of order because I don't even know that it's a series. That ends up really irritating me because I have to backtrack. So i would definitely prefer the books to be numbered.
Latest Review: "Book Blueprint" by Jacqui Pretty
User avatar
Cyfir
Posts: 10
Joined: 09 Mar 2015, 06:21
Bookshelf Size: 2
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-cyfir.html
Latest Review: "The Seventh Cup" by Nitesh Kumar Jain

Post by Cyfir »

I know, it's just really annoying to read a book and find out that you missed a book and now have to read it from the start to understand the things in the books that were pre-established in the series.
Latest Review: "The Seventh Cup" by Nitesh Kumar Jain
csimmons032
Posts: 687
Joined: 27 Feb 2015, 21:49
Favorite Author: Stephenie Meyer
Favorite Book: Twilight and The Last Song
Currently Reading: Bluewater Walkabout
Bookshelf Size: 706
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-csimmons032.html
Latest Review: "Book Blueprint" by Jacqui Pretty
fav_author_id: 2594

Post by csimmons032 »

Yes I absolutely do. When they are numbered, it is easy to keep track of the order that they go in. Otherwise, i am having to go online to find out the order, unless I know it by heart, which is not the case with a new series.
Latest Review: "Book Blueprint" by Jacqui Pretty
User avatar
WordHound
Posts: 49
Joined: 16 May 2017, 12:32
Currently Reading: The Elf Brief
Bookshelf Size: 52
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-wordhound.html
Latest Review: "Raven's Peak" by Lincoln Cole

Post by WordHound »

Definitely! I don't understand why this is so common. Maybe the author wants each book in the series to be able to stand alone so they can get more readers from people jumping in in the middle of the series? I would think making sure people know a book is part of a series would help them sell more books.
Latest Review: "Raven's Peak" by Lincoln Cole
User avatar
masterhawk88
Posts: 51
Joined: 19 May 2017, 23:50
Bookshelf Size: 73
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-masterhawk88.html
Latest Review: "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon

Post by masterhawk88 »

Depends on the series. Some books like say Goosebumps are all standalone books that share a common theme. Those I'm fine with not being numbered, even though in the case of Goosebumps they were. Other times it's absolutely maddening. Especially if events from previous books are required reading to understand the current plot.
Latest Review: "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon
User avatar
Sushan Ekanayake
Official Reviewer Representative
Posts: 4838
Joined: 04 May 2018, 19:13
Currently Reading: My Wind Therapy
Bookshelf Size: 407
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-sushan-ekanayake.html
Latest Review: My Wind Therapy: Motorcycling Through A History of Child Abuse And Domestic Violence by Queen Five Star
Reading Device: B0794JC2K5

Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

I met with the same problem when I was reading Isacc Asimov's Foundation Series. I had to search online for the order before start reading the series
We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.

- Bill Gates -


:lire4: $u$han €kanayak€ :text-feedback:
Post Reply

Return to “Writing Discussion”