Books I Loathed discussion
Loathed Authors
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authors you keep reading even though you have no idea why
message 51:
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Neil
(new)
Mar 19, 2008 02:41PM
My author is Tom Clancy. I liked his first couple of books and then found them repetitive.
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I've gotten better about this, but I do tend to "stray" with mystery series. My thought process is something like "everyone has a 'bad' book, so let's just see if the next one is up to the previous standard"; the problem is that usually it's not the quality, it's my tastes (Rhys Bowen's Evan series, Parnell Hall's Puzzle Lady, The Cat Who..., etc. all spring alarmingly to mind). I usually don't do that with any other writers, possibly because there are few series beyond mysteries that I read.
Oh, dear. Someone may have posted about him already, but I just finished You've Been Warned by James Patterson, and..oh, dear. I keep reading him though, even after every book makes me wince, even with his horrible characters and hackneyed writing, even when the uninspired ending makes me scream. Why can't I quit you, James Patterson? Why?
I never read fight club but I was at a new hairdresser while on vacation and she pulled out the Haunted book and had me read the story where the boy goes to the bottom of the pool. Sorry if I brought back a bad memory but I can't get it out of my head!!! I'm about as liberal as most people get but I was still quite suprised she handed this to me to read!!!! If the book is full of that I dont think I could handle all the ewwwws :).
V.C. Andrews. I don't know why. I don't even keep them after I read them. They go straight to the used book store pile. I think she became a habit in high school that I just haven't shaken.And sadly, Anne Rice, from Vampire to Belinda to Beauty to Jesus. I wish I'd stopped after the Mayfair witch book. It's been downhill for me ever since.
And I'm also one of those hapless Laurell K. Hamilton readers. I keep hoping that Anita will step out of the shower one day and realize that all the books after Obsidian Butterfly were just a dream.
james patterson until i hit my late 20's!
Oh, absolutely agree with you. I was so, so taken up by the Spenser series early on. I found them quirky and charming. Now, like you, I see the "fill in the blank" storylines. And I am so.sick.of.Susan. A man in a less rewarding relationship would be hard to find, either in life or fiction. Sheesh!
Dana, I keep hoping that Susan will sit down and eat a huge meal and get up from the table groaning because she ate too much. I want Spenser to have a coke one day and say, "Gee, I think I've been drinking too much; I better stick to coca cola."
I hate to admit I went through a Mary Higgins Clark phase -- I was in school at the time, and they served as quick brain candy. Now I have all of them listed on Bookmooch!
Has anyone said Piers Anthony? I've read like every Xanth book, and pretty much all of his other series, but WHY?? He's terrible, repetitive, sexist, unimaginative. What is wrong with me?And btw - I LOVE Susan and Spenser. And Hawk? How can you go wrong?
Dana, Gail, and Clare, thank you.I keep wondering when Parker will let Susan eat more than one-half of a club sandwich, eaten tiny bite by tiny bite, layer by layer, during half an hour of tedious, bird-like picking.
For Christ's sake, let her have something to eat!
Not to mention that Spenser must be 70 at this point, and the whole thing has just gotten weird and icky.
Pat Conroy. Someone please tell high school teachers that the Lords of Discipline & Prince of Tides are terrible books. Particularly if you are a woman. You live in the South. You eat food. You breathe air.
Hadn't thought about Spenser's great age. When I first started reading this series, which was when they first came out, I loved it. Just couldn't get enough of Spenser's humor and Hawk's, er, Hawkiness. Now I get the feeling that Parker's just writing short stories, no new plots, pretty boring. And please........could we have a realistic relationship with a woman? Why, I know women who actually eat entire lettuce leaves at a single bite! However, that's not just Spenser...his other guy, Jesse Stone, is hung up on some woman who doesn't want him now. Huh. Just seems to be on autopilot.
if i could figure out robert parker's formula for writing, i'd do it too. he is soooo rich.
Mine is T. Jefferson Parker. I really liked "Silent Joe" but everything else is just so uninteresting and trite and full of characters that I don't care about. Yet, I keep picking up his books and reading them. Maybe I should go to TJPA - T. Jefferson Parker Anonymous...
Jennifer Weiner. Her books and characters never change. Instead of having 10 different books she should just have one dictionary sized book with 1,000 chapters. but i read her almost always--why? because she keeps publishing and i must be sick!
Jean Auel's Earth's Children series. If she published more than one book every 10 years, I might quit her, but since she's not prolific, it doesn't take up much time. She's one that actually started out good and then gradually got worse and worse with every book.
Almost every author you read a lot will eventually repeat himself in characters and plots. I think Parker (Robert and TJ), Kellerman, Cornwell, all begin to remind you of the last book he wrote. Stephen King and Grisham too. I do think that Updike, Conroy, and Irving are are still a cut above. The point is that they are all good writers. It's just natural to tire of reading the same thing over and over.
oh heather, i'm so sorry she sprang that on you with no warning (in the afterward, he says how that's the story that caused at least one or two people to faint at every single one of his public readings). i have to say, that was probably the most gut wrenching (in the literal sense of the phrase, hahaha) of the stories in there, although there were a few moments that got just as ... shudder inducing. some of the stories were quite good though (like the one with the bowling ball), so i just kept on reading, in spite of the occassional accidental cannibalism and ooky descriptions of hot springs and frost bite, etc. i think that collection is pretty much what pushed me over the edge with regards to palahuniuk though. i haven't picked up anything of his since then. although i'm sure eventually i'll give in and give him another try.
Ha that makes me laugh. When I was in 7th grade I was reading sweet valley high by the dozens and my teacher told my mom that I should be reading more challenging stuff. So what do I pick up? Danielle Steel and all those other "Harlequin" Novels. Looking back I bet she wondered where she had gone wrong in her parent teacher conference!!!
Douglas Coupeland. I don't hate his books but they don't do much for me either...And yet I've read at least 4 of them.
I read a few extra Stephen King I could have done without. Grisham too, his ego is too large on every page. Thank goodness I drew the line at Baldocci after one book. Every time I start another Patricia Cornwell (she is pretty popular on this thread), I remember why I promise each time not to waste my money or time.
Ditto for John Glatt, Aphrodite Jones, Joseph Wambaugh (misogynist)(how can I forget that?).
I gave up on John Irving years ago. Setting Free the Bears, 158 Pound Marriage I loved. Garp I thought was okay. The rest, drivel.
I did that for Robert Olen Butler for a while too.
I read a great book and I just keep reading hoping I find another. Do the same thing with music.
For me it's Stephenie Meyer. I don't find her books technically "good" but they are freaking addicting. I promised myself I would only read the Twilight series and then would be done, but I went ahead and read The Host anyway. *sigh* I guess at least they only take about a day to read.
It's funny some of you mentioned John Irving. My dad gave me Garp when I was 14. I think he forgot about that scene where the wife bites her lovers' penis off... (and you know, I forgot about the incest in Hotel New Hampshire. Actually, that was quite a touching scene, now that I am remembering it.) But, I have a pretty sick sense of humor so I have no problem with that kind of stuff. Which is probably why I like King and Palahniuk a lot too. My problem author is Niel Gaiman. Every time, I read his novels I look for the pictures. I did like Anansi Boys, but I listened to the audio and maybe that made the difference. I was stocking cloths at a department store, so I didn't have time to wonder where all the pictures were...
I really used to love Douglas Coupland (in the Generation X and Shampoo Planet days), but I'm sad to say his work has been steadily going downhill. I wasn't able to even finish JPod his second-to-the-last novel. I did read his most recent book, The Gum Thief which was good, but not great.I tried to read A Portrait of the Artist by James Joyce 8,000 times and finally gave up.
I do like Owen Meany and Garp, but what's up with John Irving and bears, incest, wrestling, and boys' prep schools? A little bit of that stuff goes a long way.
Perhaps I just read Generation X at the wrong time. Had I been a Gen-Xer myself I might have 'gotten it', but by the time I read the book most of it seemed a little redundant and old-hat.
Yeah, I am a Gen X'er and read it right when I got out of college (in '95) and it was exactly the right book for the right time in my life. It's definitely a "zeitgeist" novel, though. I can see it not meaning much to many people.
I did LOVE "The Shining" years ago, but successfully broke the King habit after reading just an excert of "Misery." I would like to add Dan Brown, who's merely had a mention here: all the leads are taller, smarter, more charming and more attractive than everyone else...and they're humbler! Gosh, isn't that a coincidence. Makes me meanly wonder if Mr. Brown is, in fact, not very tall and not really very popular. He'd better pull it together, because he's already lost this reader.
Meghan wrote: "ooh, the chuck palahuniuk mention reminded me i did this with bret easton ellis. after "less than zero" (or was it "rules of attraction"?) i finally told myself how ridiculous it was and quit readi..."I went through this too, I read Rules of Attraction (love it) went for Less than Zero and kept waiting for something to happen. I dropped Ellis...
Emma wrote: "Douglas Coupeland. I don't hate his books but they don't do much for me either...And yet I've read at least 4 of them."AHHH, I just picked up Shampoo Planet and am struggling to finish. I added like four of his books to my to read list...
My author is Laurell K. Hamilton. Both the Meredith Gentry & the Anita Blake series are just sex scene after sex scene. I used to really enjoy both series, but I can't even bring myself to read the latest Meredith Gentry, and probably not the new Anita Blake when it comes out. At this rate, it's just torture...
I keep reading Jonathan Kellerman's "Alex Delaware" series even though he is just phoning it in at this point. The first dozen or so books were so good! But lately I'm just not convinced by Delaware's "pyschological consultant to the LAPD" routine. Seriously, his supposed insights aren't really that...insightful. And yet I have all ready pre-ordered the latest installment. *sigh*
LinBee wrote: "My author is Laurell K. Hamilton. Both the Meredith Gentry & the Anita Blake series are just sex scene after sex scene. I used to really enjoy both series, but I can't even bring myself to read t..."I have to agree with you here on Merry Gentry (havent read Anita Blake). I only keep reading because I love the mythology so much.
A friend of mine (who will never admit to disliking anything about a book) defends it by saying 'oh its because Merry is a fertility goddess'. Pfft, that doesnt make it any less ridiculous and obnoxious.
Jerry wrote: "I have to agree with you here on Merry Gentry (havent read Anita Blake). I only keep reading because I love the mythology so much. A friend of mine (who will never admit to disliking anything about a book) defends it by saying 'oh its because Merry is a fertility goddess'. Pfft, that doesnt make it any less ridiculous and obnoxious.
"
Yeah, I truely enjoy the non-sex scenes. In both series. I love the characters and the situations. Her writing is wonderful. I just wish she wouldn't through in so much sex this and sex that. Merry is a fertility goddess, and Anita feeds off of sex. So, a small amount is expected really. But when the last couple books have nothing else but, I get a bit turned off honestly. I'd rather see more action, not that sort of action.
For me it was Lemony Snicket's books. I kept hoping that the plot would get better, but it never did. It drove me freaking nuts!
LinBee wrote: "Yeah, I truely enjoy the non-sex scenes. In both series. I love the characters and the situations. Her writing is wonderful. I just wish she wouldn't through in so much sex this and sex that. Merry is a fertility goddess, and Anita feeds off of sex. So, a small amount is expected really. But when the last couple books have nothing else but, I get a bit turned off honestly. I'd rather see more action, not that sort of action."Ikr it's probably more than 90% sex. And then when some kind of exciting drama starts happening, it usually ends in sex. *sigh* I keep going but it truly is tiring.
Another thing that bothers me about the Merry books is that most of them seem to occur over a couple of days. I feel like Im watching some kind of 24/7 surveillance camera and nobody knows how to fast forward it. Is it that way in the Anita books, or not?
Pretty much. They take place over about a week, give or take a few days, depending on the case she is working on. So you get that same feeling. Though, Anita tends to travel more. So it seems you have some strange camera following her around everywhere...like a reality tv show or something. I don't know why Laurell feels the need to give all of her female characters more than 5 boyfriends at once. It's hard at times to keep everybody straight...
LinBee wrote: "I don't know why Laurell feels the need to give all of her female characters more than 5 boyfriends at once. It's hard at times to keep everybody straight..."Oh god, and at the end of Swallowing Darkness, Merry had like 6 dads for her babies or something :| it was such a copout
It was a total copout. She just wanted to make sure the main men stayed around, and she didn't have to limit herself to just one guy. And yes, you were right. Pregnant with twins, with 3 dads apiece. Eww.
LinBee wrote: "It was a total copout. She just wanted to make sure the main men stayed around, and she didn't have to limit herself to just one guy. And yes, you were right. Pregnant with twins, with 3 dads ap..."It was a lot like the way that Stephenie Meyer made everybody happy at the end of Breaking Dawn >_> so anticlimactic
I never got past Twilight, but I have been hearing a lot about bitter disappointment at Breaking Dawn. It's horrible when there are so many books in a series, and you follow along, and nothing really major happens. Everyone just gets what they want. It kinda makes you feel like, what's the point...
LinBee wrote: "I never got past Twilight, but I have been hearing a lot about bitter disappointment at Breaking Dawn. It's horrible when there are so many books in a series, and you follow along, and nothing rea..."I really disliked all the books, but I kept reading them to see if they were get better....they didnt. Breaking Dawn was just a big joke.
I dont mind if characters get a happy ending, but not if the author builds it up like OMGEVERYBODYISGOINGTODIE!!!!1!!!shiftone!!! beforehand >_>
Jerry wrote: "I really disliked all the books, but I kept reading them to see if they were get better....they didnt. Breaking Dawn was just a big joke. I dont mind if characters get a happy ending, but not if the author builds it up like OMGEVERYBODYISGOINGTODIE!!!!1!!!shiftone!!! beforehand >_>"
That is too funny!
When I was about 18 (a loooooooong time ago!) I kept reading Kerouac books, despite immediately recognizing how poorly written and, to me, meaningless they were.
Nearly 40 years later, its James Patterson. I can't stand his ridiculously short chapters and the way he chops up his stories, but he comes up with good plots early on and gets me hooked.
Most recently, I read Dave Eggers first book--I hated it after about 3 pages, but all the rave reviews I saw kept me going until the end. It seemed like it had promise--but just never really did it for me.
Kerouac: Ahha! A fellow spirit. I live in Central Florida, along with the Jack Kerouac House and the Kerouac fellowship. As a poet, I run with poets, and I'm always hearing about the amazing Jack Kerouac. Can't stand him. Absolutely unreadable. My best effort didn't get me in five pages. I admire your endurance for finishing anything he ever wrote.
Patricia Cornwell & Stephanie Meyer. The former used to put out quality books, the latter hasn't yet.
I forgot about James Patterson...yes, his short chapters drive me nuts. If combined, the books would be half as long so maybe that's it? You write half a book but get paid for a whole one?
I keep trying the Dresden files by Jim Butcher. I love the premise, but the books themselves leave me bored and irritated.
Books I Loathed
Books mentioned in this topic
Bag of Bones (other topics)The Eyes of the Dragon (other topics)
Men in Kilts (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Karen Marie Moning (other topics)Kerrelyn Sparks (other topics)
