Note: This post will also appear tomorrow at Magical Musings.
Earlier this year, I finally subscribed to Netflix. I know, I know. I’m a couple of years behind the times.
But for the first time, I understood why people binge-watch TV shows. Just … one … more … episode!
In the space of about a month, I watched both seasons of Marvel’s Daredevil, along with Marvel’s Jessica Jones. Since then, I’ve tried some other shows, including Marvel’s Luke Cage, which premiered in late September, and I’ve watched some episodes of shows that I already follow.
But I find that I don’t always do the same kind of binging when it comes to reading.
One of my goals over the summer was to finally (finally!) whittle down my TBR pile, especially when it came to all the comics/graphic novels. And I did that. I read a lot of comics over the summer, including Rocket Raccoon Volume 1: A Chasing Tale by Skottie Young and Jake Parker, some Deadpool, several different Captain America series, and more.
But I didn’t sit down and read them all back-to-back-to-back, and I didn’t read just comics. I also read some contemporary and paranormal romances, action-adventure thrillers, and young adult books.
So why don’t I binge on a certain series or a certain genre when it comes to reading?
When it comes to a TV show, I want to know what’s going to happen to the characters next, and the Marvel shows are very good at ending their episodes on cliffhangers to keep you watching. Plus, in some ways, a season of a TV show feels like a book to me, especially the superhero-type shows that usually feature a big bad villain who is defeated by the end of the season. When I get to that last episode, I feel like I’ve finally seen the whole story (at least for the current season), and I can set it aside and move on to something else. Plus, sometimes I just want to laze around on the couch and watch TV. 🙂
When it comes to a book, I still want to know what’s going to happen to the characters, but I also want to absorb the words and story, especially if the characters are really interesting, or the book has some great, snappy dialogue. I tend to savor the experience of reading a good book a little more than I do watching a TV show. And I like to read in one genre, then read something else in a different genre. The variety just makes reading a little more fun for me.
What about you guys? Do you binge-watch, binge-read, or both? What are some of your favorite movies, TV shows, and book series to binge?
