Amph What do you do during the "icky" period?

Or, a better question would be how do you get out of the icky period.

The icky period, to me, is that feeling you get after you finish reading a book and either it is a standalone or it is the end of the series. I recently experienced it after reading Speaker for the Dead. I thought it was a good book, but it felt like a drag and discouraged me from reading for a while.

Or do you just not get the icky period. Because after I finished Ender's Game I was so hyped up about reading the next in the series that I read a completely unrelated book until I got the funds to get the next book.

-b

 

I get a little sad at the end of a series, evem if it's something I've read half a dozen times - sad because it's over, not necessarily sad because of the ending.

I usually switch my attention to something else - I go talk to someone, or I get online, or I pick up another book. It doesn't last more than a couple minutes (and I'm pretty easy t distract ).

 

My 'icky period' is when an author I really like passes away and I finish their final book. I know there won't be any more. I experienced it when Ed McBain died as I was a great fan of his 87th Precinct series. I also experienced it when Tony Hillerman died as I liked all of his books.

 

My icky period is after I finish a really good series or standalone and I know there's nothing that comes after. I usually console myself by a) re-reading it (and by the time I finish re-reading it, I've had enough, so it gets rid of the icky feeling ), b) thinking about fan fic ideas for it (or if it's something like Harry Potter, then I go along with the ff ideas anyway and write them) or c) forgetting it and picking up something new.

Despite the above, this actually doesn't happen to me too often; by the time I finish, I'm usually pleased with how it's ending and I've come to terms with said ending. For whatever reasons, I get the icky feeling more from TV shows than books or movies.

 

I usually avoid the "icky" feeling by doing what I am doing now. Before I complete the final part of series, I search out another series to look forward to.

This thread and some others have given me some good ideas.

 

I usually wait a few days until she stops bleeding.

 

I had this happen to me with Madeline L'Engle. After she died, I read Many Waters again and cried because she'd never put out another work.

 

It depends, I guess. I tend to get more agitated when a book during a series is awful rather than when it ends. I usually just do other things, be it read another book or write.