Streaming services like Netflix have so many great shows to binge, you could spend all your free time watching them and just scratch the surface of what’s available.

Television series these days take their audiences seriously, giving them in-depth characters dealing with moral dilemmas and story arcs that can last an entire season.  Shows of the past did not treat their viewers in this way, trying to wrap up a story in 20 minutes or so between commercial breaks.  Who would have thought a decade or two ago that people would invest their time, and have the patience to follow these stories if given the chance?

For lovers of book series, this comes as no surprise.  Have you ever been hooked on reading series of five, 10…up to 40-plus books?  You might remember doing this as a child with “The Hardy Boys,” “Nancy Drew” or maybe “The Babysitters’ Club” or “Encyclopedia Brown.”

As an adult, keeping up with Stephanie Plum, Stone Barrington or Dirk Pitt can be just as addictive as watching an entire season of “Game of Thrones” over the weekend. In fact, it can be refreshing to turn off the screen and dive into good, old paper and ink.

I’m not sure why this is, but I think it might have to do with utilizing our imaginations to control the experience.  Reading is a mentally active pastime, taking the author’s words and turning them into a story, in your own way. Binge-watching television allows you to passively accept what is being shown to you, without actively engaging your mind.  Also, there is something satisfying about turning those pages (i.e. look at how much I’ve read!).

I don’t think I’ll ever give up binge-watching television completely, and in some cases, it’s satisfying to follow these stories in both formats. My latest binge was on the SyFy show “The Expanse,” now on Amazon Prime, a space opera taking place a couple hundred years in the future with characters from Earth, Mars and the outer planets.

I watched the first three seasons, and in anticipation of the fourth, I started reading the books. Six books in, and I’m ahead of where the show is and can hardly wait to find out what happens next.

Staying ahead of the streaming crowd can be fun, too.  If you’d like to find a book series that will lead right into a new TV show, you might try the following series slated to come out this year or with a new season on the way: “The Dog’s Way Home” novels by Bruce Cameron, “The Magicians” by Lev Grossman, “The Umbrella Academy” graphic novels by Gerard Way, or the “Roswell High Series” in anticipation of the reboot “Roswell, New Mexico.”

All you need now is a longer day to fit it all in.  Happy binging, everyone!

Matt Weston is the library director at the Dowagiac District Library. He can be reached at (269) 782-3826.