Book Haven discussion
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Anti-suggestion: Do NOT read these books!
Michelle wrote: "Helen wrote: "So many wonderful books are on here - LotR, Hunger Games, I enjoyed Wicked but It did start getting on my nerves. I tried Historian, history and vamps in one read, what could be fin..."
I have to second you on that one. There are a few books on here that I also loved. Some are very complex and not simple reading. So I can understand why many do not like them. I am not one to knock down books because my views are different from others. And I like wide range of genres.Each book is unique and reaches each individual differently.
I agree with those who disliked the Twilight series. Pat-you are right, we are all different. That's what makes it fun :) I didn't mean any disrepect about The Help. Most people feel the same way you do about it.
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My sister loves this serie..."Wow, I'm surprised you didn't like the Lioness Rampant series. I love Tamora Pierce. I think her books are perfect for people going through the transition from child to teenager. I have been reading her books since I was about 13/14 years old, and I still love them. Although, everyone has a different taste in books. So, I understand that you don't like them.
I definitely agree with Twilight being see through - as soon as she had that dream in the first book I pretty much knew where it was going with the vampire/werewolf love triangle thing (by the way, did it bother anyone else that Meyer NEVER addresses that Bella basically had premonitions?). I LOVED The Hunger Games Triology though. I think it's one of the more well developed young adult books. It took me awhile to digest the third book; I originally felt disappointed, but the more I thought about it the more I think Collins ended it well.
I also really enjoyed The Historian. I found the place descriptions to be beautiful and vivid - Istanbul has bumped up on my list of places I want to get to! However, I can see how others may find this book a bit slow.
No problem at all, Nichole! We are all entitled to our opinions, and like I said, that's why there are so many books to choose from, something for all of us.
this book is really bad. i was really disappointed in it. too much scientific stuff, the plot was really horrible & it had the most predictable ending than any book i have read.
Loved the beginning of Dan Brown's DaVinci Code, but 1/3 way through - totally turned off by it, and thought it was laughable at the end. Read all the way through Wicked but HATED the last 2/3 of it. Cop out, imo. If I end up hating a book, I won't try their next ones...
stormhawk wrote: "Oryx and CrakeIt's both nasty and boring.
[spoilers removed]"
LOL The name sounds kinda nasty :)
I posted this on another board here on Goodreads:I just finished The Long Quiche Goodbye. I did finish it but unfortunately didn't enjoy it and won't be reading the next in the series. If I could I would have reached through my nook screen and smacked the main character. She was annoying and too emotional. Also, rather juvenile when it came to the guy she was all gaga over. I actually liked the cop investigating the murder who had gone to school with her. But I ended up thinking he was too good for her. And the whole thing with her best friend was over the top. Sure there was something that the best friend wasn't ready to tell her but the friend's whole behavior, avoidance and not speaking to her, was IMO borderline psycho. There's actually more stuff but I don't want to go on and on. This is a rarity I'm usually not this disappointed in a book.
The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick RothfussIt read like an entire novel of filler. Descriptions are great unless they are overdone. Far too many metaphors as well. I didn't even finish this one.
It's a challenge to come up with books that I don't think anyone should read - most are ones I perseonally didn't like but can see why others might (I also say no to Twilight and The Lovely Bones, but loved Tamora Pierce and Noel Streatfeild's Shoes books as a kid). How about these- don't bother to read:Warlock Rock by Christopher Stasheff (painfully not funny)
Still Life by A.S. Byatt (bland compared to Possession)
thank you thank you thank you for all the anti-Twilight posts. I though I was the only adult in America who didn't like it. Phew. Maybe I'm not so weird after all. Or at least I'm as weird as the rest of you:) (Meg's no on Davinci code was a comfort too.)Baxter Clare Trautman, The River Within
Web site: http://baxterclare.com
Blog: http://baxterclare.com/blog
BonFire wrote: "I have probably mentioned this before, and I'm not sure if it's fair for me to warn people of a classic when there are many that love it, but...I absolutely, positively *hated* [book:The Catcher ..."
Personally, I think "Catcher in the Rye" just didn't age gracefully. Perhaps it was 'quite rebellious' for the time it was written but now it just seems crummy?
Dark Lover by J.R. Ward.I just couldn't get into this book at all. Found the storyline and characters unbelievable even for fantasy/romance.
Only two books have I truly despised.Lucky T by Kate Brian. This was just AWFUL. I have my review for it on my page; only book thus far I've given a one star to and have been able to find NOTHING redeeming of it at all. It was just horrible.
Another book I haven't rated on GoodReads yet; a book called "The Way Home". It was terrible and the story made absolutely no sense. It was like trying to make Twilight Zone into a book, except it was awful and nonsensical to a point where the reader couldn't even comprehend anything happening. I think a character died, but I'm not even sure because the writing was trying to be a huge riddle, except there was no answer.
Rachel wrote: " My sister loves this serie..."I am number4 was SUCH A DISSAPOINTMENT! Read it BEFORE the movie, and you know Urban fantasy: they came from another place and try to blend in. But it never works. But this time, Pittacus Lore wrote a story about a boy who succeesfully blend in, and THIS IS JUST NOT INTERESTING!!! A prove that the line between urban fantasy to reality is so damn thin!
I'm just going to warn you about the books that I couldn't finish, because I always try to finish a book no matter how horrible it may be.
- This book was just way too out there for me. 
- I don't know if it was me, but I found the writing hard to follow and it was boring.
- to gory without the addicting plot.
Michelle wrote: "Helen wrote: "So many wonderful books are on here - LotR, Hunger Games, I enjoyed Wicked but It did start getting on my nerves. I tried Historian, history and vamps in one read, what could be fin..."
I'm afraid I have to agree with Helen, when i read the back cover of The Historian I though i was going to love it. Turned out to be great if you wanted long descriptions of historical settings. Bit of a let down if you were expecting the historical vampire romp advertised.
Cate: Whew, that's pretty bad! I might have to read it someday just to see if a book could be so awful! The examples you provided of just plain bad grammar made me laugh though. "We're moving and that's finale." That's the sort of mistake a second grader would make! It astonishes me how some books get published!
Oh, it's offered for FREE on Smashwords, if you want to see for yourself.http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/... that code is on the page, Smashword's July promotion. This is my main issue with self-publication. I mean, I'm all for it, believe in yourself and all that jazz. But come on! I was laughing at the story for all the wrong reasons.
The one book that I never want to read again is Ulysses by James Joyce I was an English lit major and my professor lived and breathed this book. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had a shrine somewhere for Joyce. He soon learned not to try to teach this book to undergrads.
Baxter wrote: "thank you thank you thank you for all the anti-Twilight posts. I though I was the only adult in America who didn't like it. Phew. Maybe I'm not so weird after all. Or at least I'm as weird as the r..."No, you're not the only one!
My Demon's Kiss by Lucy Blue is awful. The premise is a good one for a paranormal romance. The hero is an Irish knight who is in the Middle East during the Crusades and gets attacked by a vampire, thus becoming one himself. He goes back home to Ireland and meets up with the heroine in her keep. She goes down to the pantry to get some potatoes for their dinner. Potatoes?! In 13th century Ireland?! The author did no research for this book at all.
Helen wrote: "So many wonderful books are on here - LotR, Hunger Games, I enjoyed Wicked but It did start getting on my nerves. I tried Historian, history and vamps in one read, what could be finer? I found ..."
I adore The Historian. It's one of my favorite books.
Patricia wrote: "No problem at all, Nichole! We are all entitled to our opinions, and like I said, that's why there are so many books to choose from, something for all of us."That's what I like about this group so far. We can all say what we like or don't like and no one gets upset over it. We can all agree to disagree.
I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a while ago, and didn't much care for it. I mean I didn't HATE it. Just meh. But that's probably because it's a little too "out there" for me.
Okay, I know everyone is usually all like, "Oh this book is SO great, everybody loves it, it's totally heartbreaking and beautiful", but I'm reading it right now, and I don't see any of it. It's not well written, it's too fast, not enough development, skippy scenes/writing, and just plain bad. At this point, I wouldn't recommend it to anybody, so I'm going to put it on this anti-list.
@Anagha: Yeah "out there" is a good way to describe it. I adored it though, but I couldn't read too much at once or I'd get serious headaches. There are few books that do that too men but the Hitchhiker's series was definitely some of them@Thalia: Really? All I've heard about it is how amazing it is. I can't say I'm surprised though, a lot of those highly praised books tend to turn out kind of bad
I hate this book. The cover is awesome but man does the story suck. I thought the main character, Nora, was a complete idiot. I mean when someone scares you to the point that you think they might want to kill you, do you allow yourself excess contact? NO Do you let them into your house? NO! Not to mention the fact that the main guy is named Patch...PATCH! *bangs head on desk* How utterly ridiculous.
A lot of people love this book though, but obviously it just wasn't for me at all.
Michelle, you're right, I could deal with it a couple pages at a time - I actually kinda liked it...but more, and I wanted to throw the book away. lol
Rachel wrote: " My sister loves this serie..."WHATT??!!?? I LOVEE THE SONG OF THE LIONESS series! THERE'S ADVENTURE AND IT PROVES THAT A GIRL CAN BE AS STRONG AS ANY OTHER MALE. <3
Could you not shout, please?If you would like to talk about why you like that series, why don't you start a discussion about it?
Anagha wrote: "I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a while ago, and didn't much care for it. I mean I didn't HATE it. Just meh. But that's probably because it's a little too "out there" for me."I enjoyed The Hitchhiker's Guide, but I wouldn't recommend at all any past the second in the series. I recently read the second and just felt as if it was trying to hard to compete with the first. The first was original, and kind of fun because of it's originality, but taking the story further than that just screamed "trying too hard". In my opinion anyway.
One I couldn't get in to at all was P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. I just felt that the plot was way too slow and it didn't move along at all. The idea was nice, and I've seen the movie which I thought was quite good, but I wouldn't bother reading it!
Across the Universe by Beth Revis - Good idea but there were way too many holes in the story, the technology stuff was ridiculous (they can build a ship that can fly across the universe and have everyone in cryo status but fingerprint access is new to her?) and the main character, a 16 year old girl, is WAY to obsessed with her daddy! Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton - very badly written (about 50 similes too many), the main character was flat and irritating and it was lacking greatly in romance for a paranormal romance book. I do hear that the others are better but I'm not trying one anytime soon.
The Demon's Lexicon and The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan - The first book was boring but the twist at the end was interesting enough to try the next one. Epic Fail, they both sucked.
Mind Games by Carolyn Crane - I know that some people loved this book but I don't get way. The main character is a super hero who's power is hypochondria!!! Really? She spends most the book freaking out about being sick, in detail. I almost became a hypochondriac after this book.
Anagha wrote: "I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a while ago, and didn't much care for it. I mean I didn't HATE it. Just meh. But that's probably because it's a little too "out there" for me."I read it years ago because my daughters kept quoting from it. I thought it was okay. However, I simply don't like to read stories about the world ending. I find it depressing, but that's just me.
Trina wrote: "Anagha wrote: "I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a while ago, and didn't much care for it. I mean I didn't HATE it. Just meh. But that's probably because it's a little too "out there" for..."P.S. I Love You I actually really enjoyed. However, I have not been thrilled with any of her other books. I thought Love, Rosie was rather flat.
Then I tried A Place Called Here and If You Could See Me Now because they both sounded interesting and different (mixing realistic fiction with low fantasy), but I didn't think either of them worked very well. However, in fairness to Ahern, I think these kind of books can be very difficult to write because you need people to buy into these fantastical events happening in their world. Some creators can make you completely buy into it (has anyone seen the movie "Stranger Than Fiction"? I don't know what it was, but for some reason I completely went along with the idea that an author was controlling this guys life), but I couldn't buy into Ahern's world. I thought the only redeeming factor for If You Could See Me Now was the fact that nothing much changed for the narrator except for her outlook on life, which kind of changed everything, and I thought that was refreshing.
Another book that I totally wouldn't recommend is Zombies Don't Cry by Rusty Fischer. It's a YA zombie romance. It's just so slow and insipid. The few action scenes the author threw in were good, but that's about it. And the book ended with such a disappointing love triangle...
I know some people really love this book, but when I tried to read it so I could compare the story between the play and the novel, I couldn't get past the first couple pages. It was just a bore for me, thankfully, the play exceeded my expectations.
I despise this book. But I have equal respect for the author, who wrote a book that I could have such strong feelings about. I read the book, thinking I would have a strong heroine and a loving, if somewhat troubled romance, but I obviously had the wrong image in my mind. Crude jokes along with crude language made it unbearable for me!
^^ Not a fan of the Wicked book either. My brother loves it but I found it so slow and tedious.
Lisa Anne wrote: "Trina wrote: "Anagha wrote: "I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a while ago, and didn't much care for it. I mean I didn't HATE it. Just meh. But that's probably because it's a little too "..."I've never tried to read any of her other work, and unfortunately after my failed attempt at P.S. I Love You, I probably won't. I enjoyed the movie, but felt that in written form it was slow and took too long to get moving. As a side, I loved the movie Stranger Than Fiction!
I noticed some people mentioned Dickens and I must admit that I'm with them on this...EXCEPT I really enjoyed Oliver Twist. I couldn't get into some of his others and realised that maybe it was because, even though the book is somewhat different from the films, I could still envisage the characters in my head (Oliver Reed's Bill Sikes anyone).
I can't say I love or hate Dickens. It's the specific books- I LOVE Great Expectations, but I can't stand A Tale of Two Cities
Trina wrote: "Anagha wrote: "I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a while ago, and didn't much care for it. I mean I didn't HATE it. Just meh. But that's probably because it's a little too "out there" for..."Personally Hitchhikers Guide is one of my absolute favourite books but I have to agree with you Trina, the second one didn't have the same originality and didn't grab me as much. I couldn't finish it cos it just didn't interest me.
Shiran wrote: "Trina wrote: "Anagha wrote: "I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy a while ago, and didn't much care for it. I mean I didn't HATE it. Just meh. But that's probably because it's a little too "..."I did manage to get through the second one, but I doubt I'll bother with the rest. It's kind of like way too much of a good thing, it just gets spoiled.
Love this thread, LOL. I've always found it fascinating to see what people love & hate & why :) LOTR, Hobbit, all of Maguire's books, & The Historian I have read & enjoyed. I've also read Beloved & Gatsby. I own The Historian, & Wicked.
It tickles me that several people have mentioned the Twilight series. Yeah, I read it too, & yeah, I couldn't agree more. it's ridiculously stupid, see through & utterly predictable. Give me HP any day.
I would add anything by Salman Rushdie. He's so awful that I can't even remember the name of the first book of his I read, or rather, attempted to read. I just hacked my way through The Satanic Verses simply because I wondered what all the hype was about the book. Weird, very weird. I found nothing redeeming about it. Maybe it's not him, maybe it's me. I'm not a part of those cultures, & I just didn't "get" it.
Another book I would add is Slaughterhouse Five, yet another classic. I detest war stories anyway, & this one with the time travel element was just a little too out there for my taste. BUT, if you like time travel & war stories, read it!
Everyone who knows me knows I absolutely adore Hemingway, I've read everything he's ever written, & as many biographies/autobiographies, etc that I can get my hands on. However, 2 of his classics I simply couldn't wrap my head around, no surprise, they were both war stories, For Whom the Bell Tolls, & Farewell to Arms. They were just too DRY.
2 more classics I'd add would be War & Peace, & Le Miserables. I've attempted them several times, ditched them several times, finally ended up determined to finish them, & skimmed the parts I thought were too long winded or boring.
Of Mice and Men was a huge letdown.I don't understand the Twilight hate. Yeah, it's not Harry Potter, but it doesn't have to be. I wish everybody would stop comparing the two of them; they're not supposed to be alike.
I LOVED of Mice and Men - it was such a sweet story
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I tried Historian, history and vamps in one read, what could be finer? I found ..."
I agree there are a lot of great books here (by my opinion of course) I loved a good deal of them, including The Historian. It's one of my favorites actually. It's so funny how people's tastes in books are so different at times.