Here's my list.

[Mary]

The Lovely Bones
Eat Love Pray
Bridges of Madison County
Divine Secrets of YaYa Sisterhood?

[Celeste]

That's funny! Your list almost exactly mirrors mine. I either couldn't get through these books(The Lovely Bones and Eat Pray Love) or I hated the ones I finished(the ones that are left).

However, I would have to add to this list Suite Francise(not sure about the spelling, but I didn't make it through the book) and The Kite Runner, just too depressing.

[GoldenjoyBazyll]

Lately, I have had this experience a few too many times.... I have to wonder why I keep going back for more! ;) Hopeful maybe?

OK.... here are two of the books I am really raising an eyebrow over:

Time Travelers Wife: The man didn't stay in one place long enough for me to even relate.

Life of PI: One word: DREADFUL!

I was drawn to your group because I have often thought to myself.... "Why do people I know think this book was good... and why on earth did they recommend it to me???" The funny thing is I do ask them... they justify their point but.... I know what I read and it WASN'T good- at least by my standards. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, no????

[Trevor]

I definitely think that one must give some ground to different tastes. I for one really enjoyed Life of Pi, though it's far from my favorite book. Still, there are some of these bestsellers that are simply trendy and really have no aesthetic or philosophical substance. If you're looking for a blog that tries to sift through the dross to get to what is excellent, I recommend The Asylum and my own The Mookse and the Gripes. (for some reason the links above aren't working properly, but if you click on them you will get to the pages; when you get there just click on the home button to go the cite's main page.) There are some excellent discussions going on about all sorts of modern classics and contemporary literature. And we mostly try to steer clear of what's just trendy. (I hate to make this feel like a push for my own blog, but one of the reasons I started it was to get a lot of recommendations from people I thought had similar tastes, and so far it hasn't let me down!)

[Jill]

cute group and that is why i joined. i used to have a long commute so i would listen to books. there were a few that i tried reading and couldn't but when i got them on CD, they were so much more enjoyable.

i agree about eat pray love, though i did enjoy the beginning, it was tedious towards the end. i was so happy i could skip tracks

i thought life of pi was fantastic. is was broken in 2 parts. the first part was unbearable and i would have stopped reading had i not been listening. when the second part of the book came, i was so glad i stuck with it, it more than made up.

recently i read catcher in the rye. i never read it as a kid and heard it was a classic. i finished it rather quickly, but wonder what the point was. i thought i missed something.

i'm sure i could come up with a million more, but i am going to leave it there for now.

[GoldenjoyBazyll]

Has anyone read the book: Tales of a Female Nomad- Livng At Large In The World????? I did a number of years ago and adored the book! So.... this past summer I bought her next book Friends of A Female Nomade.... what a disappointment! I guess just because one is GREAT it is not really an indication that the next will be as well! It is sort of like Dan Brown Books- Love the DiVinci Code/ Angels and Demonds/ Lost Symbol but what was up with Digital Fortress.... what a sleeper!

[Melissa]

For me, the books where I wondered what all the hype was about were the Twilight series, Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum, and James Frey's book A Million Little Pieces. Those Who Save Us and A Million Little Pieces lacked proper punctuation, which is a huge pet peeve of mine. As for the Twilight series, I never got into Bella or Edward. I made it about twenty pages in before I put the first book down, bored.

[Teresa]

My list comprises of the entire Harry Potter series. I read them because the students teach loved them. Needless to say, i didn't. And what's up with the Old Man and the Sea? Why do boys love this book? Just catch the fish.

[Teresa]

Oh, add Kite Runner to tht list.

[Caroline]

My List:

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Middlesex
Bel Canto
My Sister's Keeper
The DaVinci Code
The Handmaid's Tale
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
The Hour I First Believed
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
Speak
Firefly Lane
Bonk
My Antonia
Crazy for the Storm

[Amanda Sue]

My most recent book for this discussion would be Gone Girl. I was on the waiting list at the library for this one for ages. I got lucky one day and just found it on the shelf. Don't worry I double checked that I was allowed to check it out - library error in my favor! I was so excited... then I tried to read it. WOW, just wow. I don't need perfect characters in a story but they should have SOME redeemable qualities and these people had NONE. I had to return it to the library the next day. I just couldn't have it in my house any longer than necessary. Ugh!

[Susan]

I would agree with the people who didn't care for The Life of Pi; I couldn't finish it. I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy and in that genre I couldn't finish Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell which is highly thought of by most folks. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood. I DESPISED My Sister's Keeper and after reading it for a book group I swore I'd never read anything by Jodi Picoult again. This is a pledge I have kept.