Danielle Steele - Your opinion?

[Joy H., Group Founder]

What do you think of Danielle Steel's writing?

Danielle Steele has a huge fan base. Wiki says:
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"Steel has sold more than 550 million copies of her books (as of 2005). Her novels have been on the New York Times bestseller list for over 390 consecutive weeks and 22 have been adapted for television.
...
"The books, often described as 'formulaic', tend to involve the characters in a crisis of some sort which threatens their relationship. Many of her characters are considered over-the-top, making her books seem less realistic. The novels frequently '[explore:] the world of the rich and famous.'

"Despite a reputation among critics for writing 'fluff', Steel often delves into the less savory aspects of human nature, including incest, suicide, divorce, war, and even the Holocaust.
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"Steel has been criticized for making her books overly redundant and detailed..."
FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danielle...
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Steele is very prolific and has written a long list of books. One wonders how she can write so many books.

She's been married 5 times and her life reads like a novel in itself at Wiki. Perhaps her own life has been an inspiration for her stories.

[Jackie]

I've read some of her novels in the 80s. Very easy to read, predictable romance story, entertaining for a little while but I tired of them rather quickly. All the stories are the same format. Change the name, locations, circumstances but basically her books are similar.

[Becky]

I too read her books back in the 80's & they were fun & an easy read.....I drifted away from her but I have friends who are big fans & I say "go for it", anything that anyone reads is good to someone!!!

We were in San Fran several years ago & my son, his friend & my husband went over to tour Alcatraz & I stayed behind & did a cable car tour & we were shown one of Danielle's homes-wow, it was very elaborate!!

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I wonder how many homes she has.

I also wonder which book Steele's fans would say was one of her best. I've briefly searched around and find that her book, _The Promise_ is considered by some to be one of her best.

At the following web page about _The Promise_,
http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Daniell...
one customer review says: "If you read ONE Danielle Steel book... Read this one!"

Below is a web page entitled: "My Favorite Danielle Steele Novels": ====>
http://www.amazon.com/My-Favorite-Dan...

Below is a Listmania web page about Danielle Steele's books:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/community-co...
One of the lists is called: "Danielle Steele's Top Ten".
_The Promise_ is on that list.

[Jackie]

I think the first novel I read by her was Secrets and it was very popular at the time. I liked it.

[Joy H., Group Founder]

I think I remember seeing _Secrets_ on one of the lists as being very popular with readers. I know I read one of Steele's books a long time ago, but I can't remember which one.

[Jackie]

Do you remember anything about the book? Character names? Setting?

[Joy H., Group Founder]

Jackie wrote: "Do you remember anything about the book? Character names? Setting? "

I don't remember a thing about it, Jackie. It was a long time ago.

[Jackie]

I've got plenty of those, LOL