On reading….specifically, binge-reading

One of the best things about Christmas and birthdays are books as presents – such a treat! My recent haul includes two books on writing, two sets of short stories, a non-fiction book on geopolitics and a murder mystery novel – an eclectic mix for sure. However I haven’t yet started any of them, because I am currently mid-binge…

I was lucky enough to be given some book tokens for my birthday a couple of months ago. I got to spend a wonderful afternoon in two different bookshops, picking and choosing a half a dozen titles in a guilt-free (hey, it’s a present!) splurge. I selected two books in a series by an author I’d not previously encountered, and a number of other, stand-alone books. Those others have also remained unread because of the aforementioned binge… Sarah J Maas’s Crescent City series. I love a substantial tome to get my teeth into and these two doorstops didn’t disappoint. I immersed myself into the world of Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar – werewolves, fae, fallen angels, vampires, mer and all manner of magical creatures, including adorable otters that run messages (?). Sublime escapism. The only problem was, once I had devoured the House of Earth and Blood, followed by the House of Sky and Breath – the next book in the series was not yet released – argh!

So, instead of moving on to the pile of unread books – all of which I chose because I want to read them – I went online and found the entire Sarah J Maas back catalogue. Since then I have consumed the entire A Court of Thorns and Roses series (five hefty books) and am now onto a Throne of Glass (eight books). They should tide me over until the third book in the Crescent City series is released on January 30th.

I am going backwards in terms of the chronological order in which the books were written and I can see how Maas’s storytelling has developed over the different series. As I progress through her earlier work – more aimed towards the Young Adult fiction market than a person who is (as has already been established) halfway to ninety – I still love her world-building, character development and ability to spin a great yarn.

I must confess, I do have previous for bingeing on book series. For me, reading is a way to escape from real life. I love nothing more than to suspend my disbelief and become totally engrossed in someone else’s imaginary world. Fantasy is a genre I enjoy immensely – favourites being anything by Charlaine Harris, George RR Martin, Robin Hobb, Ursula Le Guin, Anne Rice, Carol Berg, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams – all of whom I have binged. But equally, I have engaged in binges of bodice-ripping romances, crime whodunnits, courtroom procedurals and even a brief interlude of ‘misery lit’ – memoirs of childhood ill-treatment and abuse.

As a kid, I read so many Famous Five and Secret Seven books that, not only did I want to be George, I could accurately predict the ending of every new book I got – prompting my parents to ask what was the point of reading them? The Chalet School series followed the Enid Blyton phase, and yes, I did ask if I could go to boarding school – because midnight feasts would be ripper! I also had a Stephen King phase, a Jane Austen phase and the obligatory Virginia Andrews phase, amongst others. The pattern has always been the same – I get hooked in and then must read everything else in the series, then anything else by the author, and when that’s exhausted, something else in a similar vein. Every other book goes unread whilst I pursue the binge as far as possible.

I am aware of this tendency to want to remain submerged in the world and style of a particular author, so I usually try to mix it up. I do sometimes force myself to read more ‘worthy’ literature. Not only because when I inevitably reach the end of the book or series, the sense of loss is so acute – a tiny bereavement – that I need something to take my mind off it. I just want the story to keep going, like the urge to watch ‘just one more’ of an engrossing TV show. I enjoy TV and film adaptations of books. I’m not a purist and don’t adhere to the school of thought that ‘the book is better’ or any of that nonsense – they are just different interpretations. I like seeing how other people picture the worlds I inhabit when I’m reading.

Fundamentally, I suppose my inquiry is about the point and value of reading in the way I do. Much like my parents queried when I could predict within a couple of chapters, the plot and outcome of the Famous Five books. Is it entertainment? Diversion? Avoidance? Learning? Or all of the above? I should clarify that there are books and stories that I actively avoid: true to life, gritty, realistic stories about violence and the casual cruelty of the human condition. No ‘Murder death kill’ for me, thanks very much. No real-life war stories, torture or killing. That’s not enjoyable, and I know enough about real life to not want to know any more.

Is bingeing a book series – to the exclusion of all else – mindless consumption and escapism? If it isn’t informative or ‘worthy’ is it a waste of time? And does it really matter?