I always forget what happens in a series!

[Pickering]

Does this ever happen to you? You read the first book of a series, then when the second book comes out, you have forgotten everything in the first book! James Dashner's Death Cure came out this week, and I know I read the first two books, but only have the barest idea of what happened. So what do you do? What are the best websites that recap the first book, but don't spoil the new one?


I don't want to re-read the entire Game of Thrones series every time a new book comes out.

[CRussel]

I re-read the earlier ones if I find myself missing stuff, not understanding what has gone before, etc. But usually, the author manages to put enough of the back story in the first 50 pages that I don't need to. OTOH, if it's been several years since I read the earlier work(s), I'm very likely to want to reread.

[Chi Cygni]

my personal experience is that if I forget what the book was about it was not worth reading and remembering in the first place.

[Shimarenda]

This happened to me just last month. I skimmed the last few pages of the first one to remind myself what had happened moments before the prologue of the second. Then I just let the book jog my memory about past events as I went along.

[Sydney's Mom]

I don't bother, unless there is something in the book that relies on the prior book - like Harry Potter. I reread the 6th book right before the 7th came out. But most, I can pick up enough in the current book to get along.

[carpetmojo]

Sadly, that's the problem for me with George Martin - if I had to go back to familiarise meself, I'd be under the ground before I worked out which episode I'd forgotten, got a grip on, or given up on.
And that's without the silly Book 5 - I couldn't remember an awful lot of the character, story lines and sub-plots, because they were completely new, and you need to pretend you know what he's going on about before you can proceed.......

[Bricorn]

Unless it's something I REALLY want to read, I now wait until a series is complete, then go through the lot in order. It lets me "immerse" myself in the plot/characters.

[RDaneel54]

Originally Posted by carpetmojo

Sadly, that's the problem for me with George Martin - if I had to go back to familiarise meself, I'd be under the ground before I worked out which episode I'd forgotten, got a grip on, or given up on.
And that's without the silly Book 5 - I couldn't remember an awful lot of the character, story lines and sub-plots, because they were completely new, and you need to pretend you know what he's going on about before you can proceed.......

A Song of Ice and Fire is in a special class: extremely complex and diverse story lines with a wealth of characters; together with years between books. Makes for an almost insurmountable series to maintain interest in.

If the books are written so far apart I have to reread them to remember the story, characters and important events, then eventually I'll drop it.

The Foundation Series was another one. After the trilogy was written, decades went by before the next book in the series. Isaac Asimov had to reread his own books before he could continue with the next one!

[ekster]

It happens to me too. Only solution I found so far is to not read the series before it's done.

But in the past, I found that summaries didn't do it for me, I would actually reread the previous book.

[Kymmmm]

Originally Posted by Chi Cygni

my personal experience is that if I forget what the book was about it was not worth reading and remembering in the first place.

That is exactly my take on it too....though it might change as I get older.

Kym

[pidgeon92]

I often forget what happened immediately after finishing a book, any book. Because of this, I do try to only read a series that is complete, so I can read all of the books in a row. I've been avoiding Fall of Giants for just this reason.

I also have a tough time remember what happened in movies and shows that I have watched. My husband has a far better memory for these things than I do, and he manages to fill in the blanks.

[Phogg]

I reread books just for enjoyment a lot anyway, so I am in the skim or reread camp.

[TFeldt]

Originally Posted by Pickering

Does this ever happen to you? You read the first book of a series, then when the second book comes out, you have forgotten everything in the first book!

Uhg, does it ever.. This might sound silly but i used to take notes when reading longer series. These days I've pretty much given up, won't start a new series until it's completed in its entirety.

[Keryl Raist]

I hit wikipedia and usually they've got a summation. After reading that, I usually remember the important bits.

If they don't have a summation, I hit the author's website and get caught up there.

[FizzyWater]

I remember reading Stephen Donaldson's "Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever" series back in college and one of the things I thought was handled well was that each book (after the first) had a summary of "what had come before".