Yesterday, I finished reading the novel, Sand Omnibus, by Hugh Howey. One of his previous novels, Wool Omnibus, was my favorite book last year. But then I read the other two books in that trilogy, which didn't measure up at all IMO, and felt I'd appropriately lowered my expectations around Sand.

I was still disappointed.

Which got me thinking about expectations. I don't usually read reviews before watching a movie. If the trailer or even the premise look promising, I'll gladly watch without finding out more. I definitely don't read reviews of books before I read the books themselves, although if my reading queue is full, I might scan star ratings at Goodreads and Amazon to prioritize.

It's probably common practice to read a book you love, and then get your hands on everything else the author has written. But I'm finding that, for me, this can create expectations and invite comparisons to the author's other work that are difficult for me to leave at the front door.

Do you ever experience this? Any advice for me on how to let go of my (perhaps) unreasonable expectations?

[In case you're interested, here is my review of Wool Omnibus, and my review of Sand Omnibus.]