Do You Read Series Books?

 My first experience with series books was when I read my way through Trixie Belden as a pre-teen.  I don't know why, but I made up my mind at some point (without ever opening a book) that Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys were not for me, but a friend talked me into trying Trixie.  I loved following her and her friend Honey on their adventures.  

A few years later, I discovered Cherry Ames, a WWII era nurse and followed her from nursing school to Army service in the Pacific to post-war adventures as a visiting nurse, cruise nurse, private duty nurse and more.  Cherry made me want to be a nurse until high school chemistry convinced me I did not. 

As a young adult I devoured Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear books and even bought the last one so I didn't have to wait my turn at the library. 

Later I discovered Debbie Macomber and her multi-thread soap-operaish Cedar Cove and Blossom Street books.  

And then I began a Kindle Unlimited subscriber and found series after series after series.  Some I've read are:

While a lot of series books are complete junk, Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia are in that number too.

So what is it that makes series books so appealing?  In my experience many do not generally have sophisticated plots and in fact some of them are downright absurd.  Why do I keep reading from one book to the next on Kindle Unlimited, or smile when I find a library shelf full of numbered books?  

One advantage to series books from an author's perspective is the ability to build a sophisticated world with many characters.  

For me  as a reader, it comes down to the characters.  Most series tell one complete story in a book but carry characters over from one book to the next, so as a reader I see them progressing through life, whereas in most conventional books I make a friend who either walks out of my life or is killed off at the end of a book.

On the other hand one thing that really annoys me with series fiction is when there is too much carryover from one book to the next--when I feel like I have to read the next one, whether I want to or not, to finish the story. 

The Hart's Ridge books above all tell the story of Taylor Gray, a female police officer.  In the first book she solves the mystery of what happened to the mother of a small girl found at a gas station.  In the second book she solves a family mystery.  Each of the books had a complete plot arc focused on the mystery but the plot arc dealing with her personal life is carrying over from book to book and I don't like waiting to find out who she ends up with.  

What about you?  Do you like series fiction?