I try to read them in order, but I have so many books that it's hard to keep track, and so if it's an older trilogy, I might read it out of order just to get the books read and moved along. I do much better with newer trilogies, and I've read the J. D. Robb books in order. I've been waiting for months for the third book in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy, which is going to be made into a movie. It's a YA novel with a very interesting premise, and I can't wait to see who will be cast.
I made a couple of resolutions this year that I hope will help me and my obsessions. One is that I have to clear ten books out of the house before I can buy another book. My TBR pile numbers in the thousands, and at the rate of 150 or so books a year, there's no way I'll ever read everything. Well, not at that pace, anyway...
I also resolved not to take any more books from the various swap shelves I visit unless I'm actually swapping 1 for 1. I've already broken that one, though. Sigh.
My final book resolution of the year is to finish the books I started and put aside. I have at least three stacks of them taking up space on my TBR case, and it's been driving me crazy. I've had to trick myself into this one, though, so what I've been doing is reading two books at a time. I alternate a chapter in one then a chapter in the other until one of the books really grabs me, then I finish that one and add something new into the rotation. I still have my bathroom book, my purse book, and an audiobook in the car, so I have lots of choices. I actually started the alternating chapter thing at work (I'm a substitute teacher) because it helps me remember to look up and walk around in the classroom when the teachers have left seat work for the kids.