Books I Loathed discussion
So Loathful I Loved It
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Carol
(last edited Aug 25, 2016 11:48AM)
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Aug 01, 2007 01:45PM

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Here ya go, Sherri!
Akin to the Guilty Pleasures thread, what tremendouly bad books have you secretly -- or proudly -- adored; OR, books you haven't read that you hear are really bad -- but it makes you want to read them even more?
I've already confessed to wanting to read a Left Behind.
Akin to the Guilty Pleasures thread, what tremendouly bad books have you secretly -- or proudly -- adored; OR, books you haven't read that you hear are really bad -- but it makes you want to read them even more?
I've already confessed to wanting to read a Left Behind.
Oh, that's fun; like the dog in Chris Van Allsberg picture books.
Yeah, I'm really picky about what I read -- I do not force myself to finish ANYTHING, and I don't rack up a lot of complete series, even good ones, because usually after I read the first one I'm like, uh-huh, got the gist, next? I wasn't even one of those teens who pored through VC Andrews and Steven King books for fun. I don't know if I just needed to impress people, but I didn't end up reading much trash. THOUGH: I did read some of the R.L. Stine-type teen murder garbage, and a few of them repeatedly.
I am way more inclined to watch movies that look really bad. As soon as I heard that the new Lindsay Lohan horror movie is the worst dreck ever, I was suddenly super excited to go see it. And I own and regularly watch all three -- yes, there are three!! -- of the Cruel Intentions movies.
Yeah, I'm really picky about what I read -- I do not force myself to finish ANYTHING, and I don't rack up a lot of complete series, even good ones, because usually after I read the first one I'm like, uh-huh, got the gist, next? I wasn't even one of those teens who pored through VC Andrews and Steven King books for fun. I don't know if I just needed to impress people, but I didn't end up reading much trash. THOUGH: I did read some of the R.L. Stine-type teen murder garbage, and a few of them repeatedly.
I am way more inclined to watch movies that look really bad. As soon as I heard that the new Lindsay Lohan horror movie is the worst dreck ever, I was suddenly super excited to go see it. And I own and regularly watch all three -- yes, there are three!! -- of the Cruel Intentions movies.




Now everything about this book is loathful. The writing is horrendous, the story is bad, the characters are flat, unrealistic (teenage boys don't work that way) and uninteresting, the ending was way too tidy(emotions don't work that way!), heck even the names are wacky!
But... Jeremy pines for Marit (no I'm not kidding. That's her name.) and I just melt into a little puddle of sentimental goo whenever there's a pining man around. And then there's a scene where he finds out she's seeing someone else and whoa nelly my inner romantic took complete control of my emotions. Thank you, Ms. Wallington, for a little light trashy reading that made my stomach do backflips.

Once its over and done with and Im back into my normal genres, I dont even want those chick lit books on the same shelves touching my regular novels.... Im embarrassed by the thought that someone out there in the world actually SAW ME READING THEM!
I loathe them, but when i need them, I love them!



margo

I read "Interview with a Vampire" at an all-too-impressionable age, and every now and then I just have read some erotica where you don't have to worry about a"mound of Venus," only the "sharp fang of Dracula."
TK Kenyon
Author of RABID: A Novel
which I hope to never, ever find mentioned in this group.
www.tkkenyon.com


Oh yes, and there is also a video game now.
Leaving aside the always-brilliantly-bad short story "The Eye of Argon" (look it up... it's a game at SF conventions to read it aloud until you crack up; we've had one sentence take 5 people), and The Romance Writer's Phrasebook (always a good one for writing performance reviews), I've also hateloved Mister Justice a strange science fiction superhero story with the most unpleasant use of a glass pipette I've ever contemplated.
I haven't made it through any of the Left Behind books, though. My requirement for this kind of book is cluelessness on the part of the author. I have to feel like they're really trying and not cynically milking the audience or counting on a built-in readership because of their connections.
The first three of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files novels are a fabulous source of typos and bad grammar. Clearly the publisher didn't feel they were worth the cost of a copyeditor. After the third (which was probably turned in around when the second hit shelves) they realized they had a hit on their hands and the books get much duller from a grammatical point of view. (Although I do enjoy them.)
Old etiquette, self-help, kid-raising, marriage, and other advice books are great in this kind of way.
If you like this, check out the James Lileks books. In the best one he takes 50's commercial cookbooks (by food manufacturers pitching their products, not ones by chefs) and collects their most entertaining. The one on 60s/70s home decorating books is almost as good. I didn't thing his book of 20s-50s parenting books was as funny, though.

Red Evans author On Ice