20 Problems Only Bookworms Will Understand

14. Marathoning A Series

And you do. The knowledge that those characters of which you grew so fond in the first installment are carrying on more adventures is too much of a temptation to ignore. Who will die? Who will fall in love? Will there be a happy ending? A poorly-written epilogue? What will happen?! Past a certain point, it doesn't make a difference whether the sequels are fluffy pieces written to coast on the success of the original or multi-layered works of literary art that far outshine the predecessor. It doesn't matter. You'll read them all, and more quickly than you should. It's a perilous undertaking, made worse by doing something so foolish as beginning an unfinished series.

13. The Wait Between Instalments

As a general rule, reading is good. It enables people of all ages and preferences to use their imaginations in whole new ways. Reading a series can be even better. Following the stories of certain characters through certain arcs for thousands upon thousands of pages can provide immense satisfaction by the conclusion. But seriously, don't begin an unfinished series. You know only too well the curse of being left with nothing but impatience and doubt and unsatisfying rereads as you wait for the next installment. Most bookworms will have learned this lesson the hard way, and there are some prime examples of culprit series. The Hunger Games. Harry Potter. A Song of Ice and Fire. For lucky fans of Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games trilogy was published annually from 2008 - 2010. For the now-grateful yet still slightly embittered Hogwarts hopefuls, the set of seven Potter books spanned the entire decade of 1997 - 2007. Now, for the perpetually self-punishing (and growing, thanks to HBO's Game of Thrones) fanbase of A Song of Ice and Fire, only five of the intended seven installments have been published since the series began...in 1996. It's not fun.