The Next Best Book Club discussion
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Top Ten Books to Avoid
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Jul 21, 2008 10:44AM
Thanks Kirsty. I fear the wrath of English majors everywhere...haha.
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Jesse...I had the impression that you were an English major!
Jeremy, I was/am. My undergrad degree is in English and I'm currently working on a Masters of Literature. As a full-time worker, I'm on the 10 year plan to graduation...haha.
Jesse at least you will have a Master's. I've been going to school part-time since 2001 with the exception of a year and I'll hopefully be graduating with an Associate Degree in Early Childhood in May of 2009. Hopefully is the key word.
The only book that I've ever read all the way through and didn't care for was Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Wait...I also tried to read Luanne Rice before and couldn't do it.People don't hate me...But I also do not care for Nicholas Sparks. Don't know why but just don't care for him.
I love Roger Ebert's take on the Odyssey-- he said it was just "one damn thing after another"
Kasi - I agree about Nicolas Sparks. I've read a couple and they are just a bit too touchy feely for me.Kataklicik - I think I may be the only one on here, but I actually enjoyed Catch-22. I didn't always have a great idea of what was going on, but overall I thought it was amusing and a very interesting change to the general "war novel".
Catch-22 is a funny version of what I think the old television show M.A.S.H. was trying for. I actually laughed quite a bit while reading it, especially the section where Yossarian gets the job of censoring soldier's letters home.
Macy - there doesn't seem to be a general direction where Catch-22 is going. Is there one? Will there be a point in the story where all is revealed and/or I'm hit by a bolt of lightning and comprehension dawns? And there must be something wrong with me - I don't find anything hilarious in the book! Is there a cynical tone to it? Am I jaded? what?what?what?Can't you tell I'm just soooo tired of trying to figure this out. Next book I read has GOT to be some chick-lit fluff haha
Logan,reading your post reminded me how much I loved Catch 22 and how funny I thought it was.I think you're dead on about the Mash series.
Kata, sorry there's no overarching point. Which may be the point- to highlight just how pointless it all is- war/death/destruction, etc. It's all just inane BS that leads innocent people to die. I think it's satire at its most biting.
Logan, almost exactly what I was going to say about Catch-22! I think I understood it better in the weeks after finishing it. I would find myself thinking about it and realize that it all made a lot more sense than I understood while I was reading it.Kata, I don't see a point in struggling through a book that I hate, there are too many that I really want to read. But I do usually try to get at least halfway in before putting it down. Most of Charles Dickens doesn't interest me until about midway and then I get really into it. I think Catch-22 is worth it, but it's not for everyone!
I can't believe I am saying this, but the movies inspired by Nicholas Spark Books are better than the books. Ahhh..A walk to remember had the whole entire theater in tears. It was funny to see the women (myself included) crowded into the bathroom so they could find tissue to wipe at their eyes!!
Go ahead and add the Twilight series to the books-I'll-never-be-caught-dead-reading list. Can't see them as anything I'd be able to get into. As of now the list looks like:1. All Dan Brown
2. Twilight and the rest...
Ohhhh Charity, you are my book hero. I once made a promise to never read any of the Harry Potter books but that unfortunately crumbled during a week long binge right before the one before the last book came out. Still haven't been curious enough to pick up the last one to see how it ends. I. Just. Don't. Care.I wish I can say that I've never read Dan Brown or that I will never read the Twilight books, but I know that someday I'll be somewhere with a limited selection of English books and I will swallow my pride, self-esteem, and the lump of vomit that will inevitably arise and walk to the register with them in hand.
I am so sad that I actually did read them. But I had no clue how awful they were, actually, the only reason I heard of them was because I was at a writer's workshop and the author recommended them. The author's writing was so good, I decided to check Meyer out. Thank god I read The Gemma Doyle Trilogy before. Read some good YA literature.
Also, I've been thinking about starting a Harry Potter pact. I know how it ends anyways.
Oh, I'm always so sad when people don't like Harry Potter. They really are some of my favorite books, for so many reasons! Oh well, we all have our own tastes...
Book hero? Oh please. I read some terribly trite pieces of trash (how ya like that alliteration?)...but I DO have some standards. :-)
Unfortunately, I do not. I liked Eclipse. And might actually BUY Breaking Dawn. That is a serious problem. I suppose I'm just extremely heartbroken that The Gemma Doyle Trilogy ended. Such an awesome piece of YA. An amazing piece of YA. I will miss it so much. I would re-read it, but its one of those books that cannot be re-read, but re-lived, and you can't re-live anything, no matter how much you want to. (That was my profound comment for the day)!
Oh no, there's always plenty of room for trash on every book shelf. The three ridiculous pieces of SciFi that I'm tearing through right now should be evidence enough of that. I just like the idea of making an oath to avoid a book. It makes it sound like you have a personal vendetta against that book- which is fun because reading is personal.
wow, emma! heeeeeaaaavvvy! ;-)what is gemma doyle?
It's an simply amazing, fantastic, awesome, piece of YA. If you love YA, screw Twilight and go for The Gemma Doyle Trilogy. It's amazing.
Oh yes. Well, I have the same vendetta against the movie 'A.I.'...my love for Kubrick knows no bounds and I will NEVER watch that 'tribute'.
But if your just starting YA, go for Stargirl, then work your way into The Gemma Doyle Trilogy. It's fantasy, it's also in the victorian age. (One of my favorite eras to read about)!
I was a big fan of the idea of A.I. but shuddered once I heard that Spielberg took over production after Kubrick's death. I watched it. I wish I had eye bleach so I could unsee it. Awful. So awful. Stanley should be rolling in his grave over that travesty.
I can only imagine (although I try very hard not to). Poor Stanley.
I might have to look into them, Emma. I'm not too familiar with YA...especially the series lit. (Excluding Harry Potter, of course.)
Stargirl first though, it's really great, and Stargirl can appeal to anyone. Then maybe some others, Flipped is quite good, and work towards The Gemma Doyle Trilogy. If you forget about Harry Potter and Twilight, oh good lord Twilight, YA can be really good. And some of it is really amazing, though less popular.
Ok, Emma - I just requested Stargirl and the first Gemma Doyle book from the library. Not that I've been reluctant to read them (always fun to read things that others are so passionate about!) but I've just got so many TBRs! Now seems like as good a time as any though - I'll let you know what I think.
:D. I'm sorry I'm so in your face about it, but I just can't help it. They're two amazing books! The Gemma Doyle Trilogy really changed me. And I love Stargirl. I'm so happy to see that your trying them out! :D.
No worries, Emma! Just out of curiosity, why didn't you like Harry Potter?
I didn't, never read it, not planning on it. I really have nothing against the books, when I said Twilight and Harry Potter, I just meant the huge popularity.
I know what you're saying Emma...it's just like the last line of one of my favorite quotes:"In the shop window you have promptly identified the cover with the title you were looking for. Following this visual trail, you have forced your way through the shop past the thick barricade of Books You Haven't Read , which are frowning at you from the tables and shelves, trying to cow you...And thus you pass the outer girdle of ramparts, but then you are attacked by the infantry of Books That If You Had More Than one life You Would Certainly Also Read But Unfortunately Your Days Are Numbered . With a rapid maneuver you bypass them and move into the phalanxes of the Books You Mean To Read But There Are Others You Must Read First , the Books Too Expensive Now And You'll Wait Till They're Remaindered , the Books ditto When They Come Out in Paperback , Books You Can Borrow From Somebody , Books That Everybody's Read So It's As If You Had Read Them, Too ."
— Italo Calvino If On a Winter's Night a Traveler
That's exactly how it is! Harry Potter probably comes into the: Books That If You Had More Than one life You Would Certainly Also Read But Unfortunately Your Days Are Numbered category.
Lol...thats pretty good Emma.I'll have to remember that one.
So many categories to organize, so little time.
I'm not a Harry Potter fan. But it's just not my thing.
Charity, that is such a perfect quote! I've had Calvino on my to-read list for quite a while but think that he'll just have to move up the queue a ways. Isn't there a book of his on the 1001 list?
That is one stellar quote, Charity!
One hundered Years of Solitude - how does everyone manage to love this when it's impossible to get past page 5. What the hell is it about?*lol* I wholeheartedly agree. I started reading it twice already and put it down.
I've seen a few bets against Margaret Atwood. What's up with her books? I've been meaning to read one, just to see what the fuss is about. The bookstore shelves are packed with her books. And The blind assassin caught my eye.
Emma, you convinced me with Gemma Doyle trilogy *lol* I have already ordered the first book (which will arrive in about a month, damn it!), but now I'm thinking of ordering the other two, so I won't have to wait another month for them. But I kinda loved 'Twilight'(the first book, especially), so... ;)
Oh, and I have a further non-recommendation for you: Anais Nin's 'Fire'. I couldn't get past the first 20 pages.
Bleuciel I just finished the first two books in the trilogy... the first one is good, but the second book really gets into the storyline, which means I cannot wait to read the final book.
Okay, here are a couple on my part:- Atonement -- so boring. I forced myself to read the book, as I heard the movie was coming out. It took forever. There were numerous occasions that I fell asleep reading it. I refuse to pick up another Ian McEwan book.
- Drowning Ruth -- it might have gotten a decent review on my shelf, because I felt like the idea behind the story was good. I was sorely disappointed with it, by the end.
- Memory Keeper's Daughter -- might be the worst book I ever read. I went on a huge rant about how horrible this book was, when I finished it. I felt like I lost a couple of weeks of my life reading this crap! The story sucked and was incredibly unbelievable. I TiVoed the made for TV movie on Lifetime, but couldn't even bring myself to watch it when I finished the book. HORRIBLE!!
Now, in regards to some other people's books -- it took me a while to finish The Lovely Bones, but I enjoyed it to a point. I also am a fan of Dan Brown (though not necessarily his writing style), Harry Potter, and am getting into the Twilight series. I said in another post that Emma has sold me on trying out The Gemma Doyle series, so I will be starting those after I finish all of my Challenge books.
I know this is going to make me incredibly unpopular with alot of people, but I hated the Stephanie Meyer Twilight series. A friend of mine bugged me ruthlessly to read them so we could talk about them.. and I thought they were horrible.I didn't find anything redeeming about them. I thought the characters were all a little whiney and I felt like she kept trying to build them up to something that never happened. The hugest waste of my time ever.
Needless to say, my friend is now struggling through Austen as punishment.. muahahahahaha
I am glad to see alot of my other suspicions confirmed about books people have been bugging me to read ... Thanks for that! =)
Melissa,
I disliked the Memory Keeper's Daughter too. What was all the hype about?
I also hated Wicked. I don't understand why it was so popular.
I also am not a fan of Jodi Picult.
It feels good to vent!
Kim
gone whit the wind: I've picked it up 2 times and then just gave it up for good. scarlett is just to annoying. why see read the book when you see the movie!the curius incident of the dog in the nigth time and the cathcher in the rye (this 2 are on my category. what is all the fuss about?!)
under the skin by michael grubber. weird and silly
and i was thinking of somethinh else, but now its gonne
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ETA: the old man and the sea, this book just spoiled hemmingway for me. I cant start to explain how much I hate it.
The Next Best Book Club
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