Musing Mondays: Book Series

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about book series…

Do you prefer to read stand-alone books, or books in series? Do you stick with a series the whole way through or stop after the first instalment? Are there any particular series you enjoy? (question courtesy of Elena)

Generally speaking, I would prefer stand-alone books over series. That said, I don't dislike series either but it is just that (i) I have to remember all the names of the characters considering new characters might be added in each installment; (ii) I have to be very patient to wait for the next installment to be released, (iii) by the time the next installment is released, I might have forgotten some of the plots, and finally, reading a book and then realized it is part of the series! Urgh! Despite these, I still love reading books in series (life is all about contradiction!).

I think I tend to stop after the first installment (because there are so many books waiting to be read) but I will jump into the next book if the story is really good and that I happen to have the book on hand.

Here are just a few series which I love:

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
The Gardella Vampire Chronicles by Colleen Gleason
Annie Seymour Mysteries by Karen E. Olson
The Black Jewels by Anne Bishop
Ice series by Anne Stuart
Jack Caffery series by Mo Hayder
Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris

What about you? Do you prefer stand-alone books or books in series? Which are your favourite series?