Tips for Readers of Serial Fiction

Have you ever had the frustration of trying to figure out whether a book you’re reading is part of a trilogy or other series before starting it? Have you ever accidentally started reading a book only to discover it was part of a story continued from another book? Do you always want to start with the first book of a collection, or maybe not read any in a set until you know you will be able to find all of the books that complete the storyline? This is a dilemma for readers of all ages.

The book itself may offer some clues. Some book covers and spines are designed to make it obvious. For example, a cover may say, “Book Three of the “In the Garden Trilogy” as does “Red Lily,” the last title of a recent popular Nora Roberts series. Some books are more obvious about this than others. Another clue may be similarly named books in a set. In the Nora Roberts trilogy the books are called “Blue Dahlia,” “Black Rose,” and “Red Lily.” Often individual titles will follow a theme which goes with the name of the collection as these “In the Garden” titles did.

Some sequenced titles are obvious as to which was written first, such as Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum stories which begin with “One for the Money.” Each book has a number in its title; the second book is “Two for the Dough,” then “Three to Get Deadly,” and so on through “Twelve Sharp” which will be released in June.

A second source of information from the book itself is a listing on one of the first pages of the book. Sometimes books will simply list other books by that author, but often the reader will find a list by series as well.

Another convention often used is a preview chapter of the next book included at the end of a book. This may be preceded by a “coming soon” type of message that will identify the next book as “second” or “next.” Some won’t identify a series as such, but will indicate that the story continues by featuring another member of the same family.

Unfortunately, not everyone agrees what constitutes a series. Some readers feel that any tie that binds books, such as characters in common, qualifies. Others feel that a series is more like one story in several volumes. It is argued whether a book that can stand alone outside the set is really a true “series” novel.

There are juvenile collections like “Spongebob Squarepants Chapter Books” which consist of books that stand alone and do not need to be read in order. I recall reading the “Hardy Boys” and “Bobbsey Twins” books as a youngster. Even though I didn’t read them in order, I had no problem following the plots. Other times I did read linearly as when I read the Laura Ingalls Wilder “Little House” books….which brings us back to the question, “What is a series?” Each reader will have to decide for him or herself, and whether a “series” has to be read “in order.”
As serial fiction has become more common, the Columbus Public Library staff has taken some steps to help readers identify books that are connected. First, if it isn’t already clearly identified on the cover of the book, we put a label on the first page inside the cover that has the sequence number of the book. This sticker also identifies the set to which the book belongs.

Second, most series are now cataloged to be searched by name. Our catalog may be accessed from our computers in the library, or from any computer with an Internet connection. Go to: http://www.columbuslibrary.info and click “Catalog.”

In addition to our library’s catalog, you can try KDL’s What’s Next (searchable) Database which was put together by a Michigan library system and can be found at http://www.kdl.org/libcat/whatsnext.asp. The thing I most appreciate about this electronic tool is the way it lists the target audience of a book as well as the genre. Did you know there are now 450 Nancy Drew books? “Nancy Drew Casefiles” books are listed as YA (Young Adult), “Nancy Drew Notebooks” books are listed as JE (Juvenile Chapter Books), and the “Nancy Drew Girl Detective” books and the Nancy Drew books I grew up with are listed as J (Juvenile Fiction).

Clues inside the books themselves, our catalog, and Websites like “What’s Next” will help us sort out all these pleasurable, but sometimes confusing, reading opportunities.

Of course another resource patrons have available at Columbus Public Library is our staff. We’ll do our best to answer your questions.

Recent donations to the Columbus Library Foundation include those in memory of Esther Campbell from Jan Osten, Mr. and Ms. Dennis Waggoner, Fred Beiermann, Maci Ernst, Jamie Ernst, Sondra Hoadley, Carolyn Siefkan, Mr. and Mrs. William Olk, Mr. and Mrs. David Schmidt, Mr. and Mrs. Herb Honke, Evelyn Ellsworth and Richard Otterpohl. Donations were also received from Mr. and Mrs. Dale Nelson in memory of Harold Van Diest and from Betty Hamernik in memory of Grace Oppliger