Every one's Choice discussion
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I Hate This Book!!!
OMFG, let me take the opportunity to mention a book I forced myself through last year but hated:Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities by Alexandria Robbins
I wasn't a sorority girl but have many friends who were. Unlike a lot of ex-sorority girls who read this book it wasn't that the book painted sororities in a stereotypical manner of binge-drinking, hard-partying, lots of sex, eating disorders, non-dedication to studies, et cetera. Stereotypes exist for a reason this book read more like, oh lets say if a bunch of 18yr olds diaries and IM's were made into a book. Interested? Probably not. Interesting and promising book material? Absolutely, but the presentation fell flat and I can't put all blame on the author but whoever decided on the delivery of the book; good God what were they thinking?!
Donna wrote: "I just wanted to start a thread where we can say the books that we hate and as we read book swe hate along the way post it here.We also have a thread of books that we had to stop reading
http:..."
Giggle what a Sad thread for those authors whose books end up here.
Can I throw in The Boleyn Wife ? I cant say I Hated it because I DID finish reading it but it is very close to Hate.
Back in school I took an elective on Virginia Wolf and truly did not like her books at all. I remember one of her Short Stories having some 4 -4+ pages going on and on about a snail crawling over a leaf. I was ready to cry when "What did you think of this book" day came in class.
You can throw in whatever book you like! It's always nice to have threads like this to warn away people from wasting time on a book that is too good to even be wintertime kindling.
I can honestly say that I hated the last three Twilight books. And about the last third of the first book. Couldn't stand the writing or the story (sparkling vamps!! why?????!!!!) after that point. Everything started to get wrapped up in this neat little bow. Another book I had quite a hard time with is The Queen's Mistake: In the Court of Henry VIII. But that is mostly because I'm kinda partial to HFs that are written pretty accurately.
I am sooooo tired of Tudor hf painting Henry's 5th Queen as a stupid wanton harlot, she was so much more than that!Can't say I want to read the Twilight series at all anyway.
Colleen wrote: "I am sooooo tired of Tudor hf painting Henry's 5th Queen as a stupid wanton harlot, she was so much more than that!Can't say I want to read the Twilight series at all anyway."
Giggle in The Boleyn Wife <----not only was Kat Howard painted as terribly stupid and wanton but also selfish and beyond wanton(had her painted as a very debased bisexual that was basically happy to have an encounter with any and all)
That's effing horrible! I will for sure never read that book ever!
Donna wrote: "I just wanted to start a thread where we can say the books that we hate and as we read book swe hate along the way post it here.
We also have a thread of books that we had to stop reading
http:..."
haha! I'm not arguing too much with this list even though I'll probably torture myself with 2 and 3 just to make sure. I didn't HATE Tom Gordon, but I wasn't in love with it.
We also have a thread of books that we had to stop reading
http:..."
haha! I'm not arguing too much with this list even though I'll probably torture myself with 2 and 3 just to make sure. I didn't HATE Tom Gordon, but I wasn't in love with it.
What is the deal KH, why do all the authors hate her so, and LOVE AB??
I know Lyn wtf??? Thank Anne of a Thousand Days for that!
Jeremy, any other King books to keep away from? I heard Rose Madder was another no read?
Donna wrote: "I just wanted to start a thread where we can say the books that we hate and as we read book swe hate along the way post it here.We also have a thread of books that we had to stop reading
http:..."
I agree with The Almost Moon....stopped reading shortly after starting....I don't read Danielle Steel but I must add:
Eat, Pray, Love....I hated it.
Mod
I am not a big fan of Joe Hill or Stephen King. I liked a lot of his old stuff but not much of his newer ones.
I too hated the Twilight Series!
I hated the Vampire Diaries books. Well i say books, i stopped after 100 or so pages of the first one. I just couldn't take it anymore.
Donna wrote: "Awww Man Shelli, That is another on my ABC challenge! I may have to rearrange my reads LOL.I am not a big fan of Joe Hill or Stephen King. I liked a lot of his old stuff but not much of his new..."
Sorry Donna...lol...but the author is just TOO MUCH...whiny...selfish....dramatic....and personally I felt like..."who cares?" and now she has written another book....puke...retch!!!
I also did not like The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter...at all!
I did like Twilight for the week that I was wrapped up in it! The movies not so much....I've moved on!
I read a couple S King years ago that were pretty good...but after The Tommyknockers...I was done!
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I am alittle annoyed now about Eat, Pray, Love. I hear a lot of people say that and then tere are others who love it! I doubt I will like it but maybe I will give it a try...?? Now I am unsure!
Donna...try it...it's pretty apparent right away whether you'll be able to stand her or not. I read at least half of each part to make sure I hated it(yep) and also, to be able to complain this much!!!
Mod
I have been debating over The Almost Moon I stayed up late last night reading reviews and spoilers and remain undecided (I love spoilers so I know what I am getting into). I read only two good reviews; one from a man who said it helped him understand the mother-daughter relationship he can never experience for himself not being a woman. Another is from a friend whom I have a lot of books in common with; she has a troubled relationship with her mother and says you "have to be around crazy, and understand crazy" to not hate this book and says she identified with Helen a lot. I read a spoiler containing the yucky line on p.44, and about Helen and her best friend's son. Still on the fence, anyone care to go into detail on why they hated this book?
Mod
I didn't like it right away...could not relate and quit.
Colleen wrote: "Jeremy, any other King books to keep away from? I heard Rose Madder was another no read?"
I haven't read Rose Madder but I was appalled by Gerald's Game. That don't mean others won't like it, but I just despised it, which is pretty rare for me. I like most of his stuff and there were only a couple that were "meh" books. A Buick 8 and Cell come to mind. Oh yeah, I found Insomnia to be a real drag.
I haven't read Rose Madder but I was appalled by Gerald's Game. That don't mean others won't like it, but I just despised it, which is pretty rare for me. I like most of his stuff and there were only a couple that were "meh" books. A Buick 8 and Cell come to mind. Oh yeah, I found Insomnia to be a real drag.
I've yet to hear anybody report of liking The Almost Moon. Which stinks, because I have it at home on my shelf! It keeps moving down on the list with every negative report. Who knows, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.
Mod
I liked both The Lovely Bones and Lucky...although parts of lucky were hard.
Mod
See, a lot of people rave about Lovely Bones but I read it, and in the words of Donna, was just "meh". Jeremy, go to the Almost Moon page on GR and skim the reviews. There are a lot and seriously only two people rated it at about 4 stars. I have a not great relationship with my mother but would never kill her even if frustration. One person gives the spoiler line that gags most people, basically she (as I understand) suffocates her mother then goes to the kitchen to clean her body. She has a bizarre reflection as she looks at her mother vagina then touches her breast and feels a lust she hasn't had since she was a baby and only saw the breasts as a means to satisfy her primal baby hunger. Sorry if that is too graphic Donna, it is somewhat disturbing and speaks to the characters state of mind. That said, since Lovely Bones didn't grab me I am hesitant to try Lucky or Almost Moon. I am rigid on reading an author a second time if the first book didn't suck me in. That's why I didn't participate when Almost Moon was the group read here. Especially since one reader comments on Lucky that it infuriates her that the author thinks she is somehow a better person than her roommate who also got raped. The fact that Sebold testified against her rapist but her roommate didn't? Most rapes aren't reported and every person deals with trauma in a different way; what's best for that person is just that. As far as rape is concerned everyone knows a prosecutor will be nasty when the victim is on the stand which is why a lot of people just don't report the rape and go through with the court trial.
It's definitely a dark and disturbing subject. I suspect that is one of the reasons why it is one of the lowest rated books on GR. But given what you have just said, I could end up not liking it for the same reason I did not like Gerald's Game by Stephen King. Also, a very disturbing subject.
Yet I am still usually apt to still read the book to get my own opinion on it. I just won't necessarily read it anytime soon.
Yet I am still usually apt to still read the book to get my own opinion on it. I just won't necessarily read it anytime soon.
I know a lot of people who felt both ways about The Lovely Bones....some loved it and some hated it. I think that's what's great about reading. However, there are a few books that many more people feel the same way and the Almost Moon was one of them. A lot of people felt that way about The Shack too...really liked, or really didn't. For me, it wasn't a matter of the specific subject matter,(I read lots of books with all kinds of intense/nasty/violent etc etc subject matter) but more the way the character handled it. It turned me off...gave me a bad feeling, and I didn't even want to know what happened after that.
I don't know how much sense that last post made, but I guess what I'm trying to say is...I did want to know what happened in Lucky and The Lovely Bones...the stories kept my interest and even with the difficult subject matter, I wanted to read them.
Mod
Second, I read Almost Moon because it was a group read and I gave Lovely Bones a shot only becuase I was hoping that it was as good as everyone said.
Shelli, you made complete sense and I hope you aren't feeling bad that we are jumping all over the Lovely Bones. If you liked it then great for you on reading a book you enjoyed. This is what I love about GR, we all have our own opinions!!
Donna...thanks, but don't worry about me thinking that at all!!! I agree totally. It's actaully more interesting when everyone doesn't have the exact same opinion....I'm newer so I didn't want to come in like a bull in a china shop! I moderate a bookclub here too and want everybody to feel free to have their own feelings AND be able to share them!!!!
Jeremy wrote: "It made perfect sense."Thanks!
Oh shoot I forgot one of my big book hates! It took me two years to get through The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession it sounded so good but I could read about a page at a time. Then they did a movie on it and somehow they made the movie worse than the book even though it had practically nothing to do with the book's contents!
Mod
I'm another one of those for who The Lovely Bones was a "meh" book. I'm not sure why, but it just didn't do anything for me.
Mod
I was the same way with Water for Elephants. A lot of my friends raved about it, and kept bugging me to read it. Then when I finally did, I was wondering what I missed. I wouldn't say I hated the book, although I did hate a couple of the characters, but I didn't think it was magnificent, either.
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So in the spirit of trying to figure out why I didn't, what was it about the book that you loved? Maybe I am just not looking at it right.
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OO I found one book to put on here. It's been years since I have read it, so maybe I would enjoy it more now that I'm older, but I have such bad memories of reading it that I cringe at the thought of picking it up: The Broken Sword.It was supposed to be an Arthurian Legend book set in more modern times, but it felt weird to me.
I know, Lovely Bones was one of those, "uh okay I read it now what?" books. Water for Elephants was good but not great, I loved the amount of research that went into the book and where she got the idea from but I swapped it as soon as I was done.
Lyn M wrote: "So in the spirit of trying to figure out why I didn't, what was it about the book that you loved? Maybe I am just not looking at it right."I really liked that the story was so different. I like books that are not the same story...just different characters. While I did strongly dislike some characters, that makes a good book for me. To feel strongly about the characters...sometimes good and sometimes bad feelings....just a strong emotion. I also felt it was interesting looking into the world of the circus...that by the way...terrified me as a child!
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See, that is the thing with me. I never liked the circus, either, and I think that is why I didn't like the book. Although, unlike you Donna, it was not that I thought it was boring. I just didn't like the tawdriness and sensationalism of it. It repulsed me. I think the book really brought those out, which should make it a good book, but to me it evoked the same feelings of revulsion that the circus did. Go figure. On the other hand, as you say Shelli, it did evoke strong feelings, and I am still talking about how it made me feel, so it couldn't have been that bad, huh?
I was one of those weird kids who looked at the animals performing and saw it as abuse so I refused to go to the circus ever.I thought the vet and the girl ending up together was too expected, annoying actually. I did enjoy learning little things about the animals like lemonade stealing elephants and Rosie being a Polish speaking-ginger-ale and gin drinking gal. Never knew oliphants liked alcohol so much! The "red lighting" was dreadful but to me I always wince more at animal abuses than human to human abuses.
Donna wrote: "I just wanted to start a thread where we can say the books that we hate and as we read book swe hate along the way post it here.We also have a thread of books that we had to stop reading
http:..."
I started not to look at this thread because I feared finding one of my favorites on it, and, if you love a book, you want everyone else to love it. Then, I found it. Oh noooooooooooooo, Donna, tell me it ain't so. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is one of my favorite books that I love, love, love. Please tell me you had a raging fever of 103 and couldn't tell what you were reading. LOL.
Also, I wanted to add to the discussion of King's Gerald's Game and Rose Madder. They are definitely two of his more twisted tales and not to my liking either. I think a lot of people have a love/hate relationship with Stephen King's writing. As already stated, TGWLTG was a favorite of mine, and I also enjoyed The Green Mile Book Box Set and some others. I tread carefully with King, but I do think he is a consummate story teller.
Every one's Choice
Books mentioned in this topic
The Lovely Bones (other topics)On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (other topics)
Rose Madder (other topics)
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (other topics)
The Green Mile (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Danielle Steel (other topics)Mary Higgins Clark (other topics)
We also have a thread of books that we had to stop reading
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...
Well here is my list of I HATE U books!
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
The Lovely Bones
The Almost Moon
Danielle Steel
Mary Higgins Clark
And a few more that I can't think of right now!