Hello, my name is J.C. and I’m a series-a-holic.

I’d read the odd trilogy or two, but shied away from authors who were known for writing an astounding number of books based on a character or two. I wouldn’t call them one trick ponies, however they sure were getting their money’s worth riding that poor hoofed animal into the ground. Or so it seemed.

Sure, I like Poirot, Miss Marple, and read most of the Little House On The Prairie books when I was younger. But I never made it a point to seek out and read a series – and in order. I mistakenly believed (thank you James Patterson, Danielle Steele, and Stephen King*), that after so many books and scenarios, how in the world could you keep it fresh and exciting without making it formulaic or resorting to collaborating with other writers to ensure you put out more books in a year than any mere human could manage. (*Don’t get me wrong, I like Stephen King, but even he got a little tired of it. I’m looking at you Richard Bachman.)

It wasn’t until that pivotal moment, that tipping point, when I went to check my lists over on FictFact, that I discovered I had a bigger problem than jonesing over my hold list at the library, wondering when I was gonna get my next fix of Sookie.

I’m not sure when you’d consider reading a series a problem, but after re-organizing my lists, I think I have one. Well, more like 134.

Granted, out of all of these, only five are current (meaning I’ve read all the books in that particular series), and twenty-eight are in progress.

Thank you very much Gail Carriger and Charlene Harris. Not to mention George R.R. Martin and Diana Gabaldon.

The thing is, I joined FictFact a long time ago, but thought nothing of it. Not until I was laid up in the hospital for three weeks, did I start down a path that I now realize was fortuitous.

After getting my fill of the Parasol Protectorate, I decided I wanted to catch up on the Sookie Stackhouse books. After I pretty much finished what I could get my hands on, and while waiting for my holds to come through, I went over to my lists online to see what else I could find that might be available for download at the library.

That’s when I finally noticed it. The number of series I had read, that I wanted to read, and were in the middle of reading. I also noticed something else: I’m a series snob. (That and I may have a wee bit of bibliOCD.)

Game of Thrones series? It’s actual name is A Song of Fire and Ice. Sookie Stackhouse books? The Southern Vampire Mystery series. Not that it matters to most, but to me, I feel compelled to use their actual names.

Yep, I’m a series-a-holic . . . and proud of it.

How about you? If you are, and haven’t checked out FictFact, I highly recommend it. It will help you track a series and even send an email to tell you when the next book is coming out.

Now, off to find out what trouble Sookie has gotten into this time.