The Next Best Book Club discussion
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A compilation of embarrassing, horrifying and dreadful books that you love.
I love you all, it doesn't matter that I don't know you or that you don't know me. Don't ever be ashamed (:I also love some pretty horrendous Australian fantasy which I keep tucked away in my bookshelf, they soothe my soul.
I have been given a book for Christmas with the Title 'Fish who answer the phone'. This is a book of book titles. If that makes sense. Here are some of the less risqué. "Joyful Lays" by the Rev. R Lowry & W Howard Doane. "How Nell Scored" by Bessy Marchant, " How to be Happy Though Married" Edward J Hardy, and such gems as "Salted Peanuts:1800 Little Known Facts" by E C McKenzie. Finally "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Metal Lunch Boxes by Alan Woodall & Sean Brickell.
This is so funny! I read anything and everything. The only time I worry about what I'm reading is if the cover is really racy. I don't like to read those books in public or when my kids are around.So here is a question back at you--reading is supposed to be a form of entertainment in the same way movies are a form of entertainment. Do you feel guilty or embarrassed when you go to see a romantic comedy, sci-fi, fantasy or action/adventure, etc?
Why should your reading be censured by a sense that the words on the page aren't good enough if they are romance or fantasy? A good story is a good story is a good story....
I'm blushing here...I love Emma Holly. If you don't know her, well, she's a dirty girl!
I'm not truly embarrassed by reading most of the books listed in this thread, but I have read some that I wouldn't want to leave around for my 13 yr. old daughter to read. Mostly the romances that border on erotica. I wouldn't want to read them in a public place where others could read over my shoulder!I don't worry too much about what others think of my reading, since many people read very little or next to nothing! Why should I care what they think, since they obviously don't do too much thinking anyway!
rebecca wrote: "I'm not truly embarrassed by reading most of the books listed in this thread, but I have read some that I wouldn't want to leave around for my 13 yr. old daughter to read. Mostly the romances that..."Rebecca: Well said. It always amazes me when people say "I don't read THOSE books" and I ask, "What books do you read?" and they say, "None, really."
Well geez, how can you judge THOSE books if you've never even read them. sheesh.
It always bothers me when people look at you weird for reading and then claim they don't like to read. How can you not like to read? I don't even care if it is Twilight, Goosebumps, or the newspaper. How can you not...read? Admitedly I wasted a lot of time with R.L. Stine as a child, but I got over that and now read a bunch of different stuff. But they got me to enjoy opening a book and finishing it. I just can't imagine a life without books...
I have a bookmark that says "A room without a book is like a body without a soul." That pretty much sums up how I feel!
For me this says everything I think about reading. It goes something like this, but not sure if it is 100% correct. 'People say its life but for me its reading'. That is so true for me.
My absolute worst my horrifyingly embarrassing reads: (I call them "fluff")1. Twilight (gargh)
2. Gossip Girl & the spin-off series, It Girl
3. Matthew Reilly
4. Steven Saylor's ancient Roman mystery series.. I am not into crime at all but these are my weakness, absolutely addictive.
Also lots of other trashy young adult stuff, which is completely forgettable, so much so that I can't really think of any examples right now - stuff like The Luxe.
E.E.(Doc) Smith - The Lensman series et al. He is probably the father of the space opera, and while he is little known, numerous authors reproduced his ideas -- all be it -- a little better. His writing was camp, audacious, and grandiose, and I read every single one of them. He was around when eugenics and racial purification were being discussed openly, and he was probably the first to see the problems with it, though his exaggerations were often amusing and not as serious as he intended. His version of Superman is far more believable than any comic book out there.
His version of Superman is far more believable than any comic book out there.Considering that it took a race of near-Gods most of the lifetime of the universe to create him. I love that series, although I wish it didn't end so quickly, but that's the problem with any lowering of the boom, the lowering is so slow and deliberate, the boom so quick and final.
Just today, I updated my list of already-read books to include those 10 or so James Bond books Ian Fleming wrote, mostly in the late nineteen fifties.I read these when I was sixteen and seventeen (I am now 59). My snobbery has to-date made it difficult to admit that I really enjoyed these books when I was an adolescent male.
Today, these seem to me to be rather juvenile and adolescent. But at the time, I was an adolescent and a juvenile. Of course, I loved them.
I don't LOVE them, but I do like the Gossip Girl series. I know, I know, it's embarassing. I know that they're basically trash and that there's absolutely no substantial plot, but I can't help but reading them. Not all the time, but if I've just finished a serious novel and then all I have ahead are other thought-provoking novels, then I'll pick up a Gossip Girl book. I don't like them enough to actually pay for them, so I just get them from the library, though.
M. Andrew wrote: "E.E.(Doc) Smith - The Lensman series et al. He is probably the father of the space opera,Gosh, That brings back memories, as a child I was given stacks of old issues of 'Astounding Stories'. This hooked me on Science and Science fiction. The kind that no longer exists.
We were pretty poor as kids, so most of our reading material was old, used books from family and friends. Fortunately, my Dad's family all read science fiction/fantasy, so we actually got hooked on it rather early. It's still my favorite genre!
I am greatly ashamed to say this as an adult, but I loved the Series of Unfortunate Events. I have all 13 of them. *hangs head in shame*I'm not much of a book snob anyway. I say that as long as you read, then read what you want. Reading is about pleasure and imersing (sp?) yourself in a world not your own. Enjoy yourself or don't bother.
Hven't read Lemony Snicket, but I must try... any other Snicket-ers out there?
I read several of them when they first started to come out, but stopped around 8 or 9, must read the rest. Guess they go on the TBR list!
My children and I DEVOURED them! I would, literally, buy them the day they came out, read it myself that same night (they are so easy!) and hand them down, oldest to youngest. We liked the movie, but a lot of people seemed not to.
I have to confess that at 22, I still read mainly young adult/teenage books...and probably still will when I'm 40. But after joining the GR group 'Young Adult Fiction for Adults', I've realised that there are more people like me out there than I thought!PS. I think I got up to book six or so of the Unfortunate Event series before the predictable turning up of the villain, Count Olaf, in every. single. book. became too annoying. Quite liked the movie though - the costume, set design and the overall look of the film were excellent.
Does S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders count as a shameful secret? My wife thinks so, but I quite enjoyed the book at one time.
My dirty book secret is reading the V. C. Andrews Flowers in the Attic series. The subject - incest - is so ewwwwwww. But I did enjoy the books.
This is really embarrassing, but I was in a book club last year and we had to read the first book in Vampire Academy and since then I love them! I read the latest one rapidly and just wished and prayed for the next book to come! Let's just say Dimitri is pretty irresistible...
Must admit, I also like the Twilight books and am embarrassed... I try not to advertise.And I didn't like New Moon the first time I read it, but I re-read it recently and it seemed a lot better the second time. I think because I knew what was going to happen, I didn't feel quite so mired in the dullness of the first 2/3 of it. I knew it was going to get more interesting.
I believe, for this, I will have to say my Golden Book collection is literally in a box under my bed. With The Poky Little Puppy right on top when I feel the need to read it!So, maybe that isn't a dirty little book secret, maybe the secret would be the fact that I still buy these books at the 'antique' shops in town!
I liked the Series of Unfortunate Events quite a bit. I thought they ere funny. I only read the first two and that stand alone "biography" one though.
I am horribly embarrassed to admit that I truly did enjoy the Twilight series. I devoured the first book, and even though the second two weren't great, I finished the series in about two weeks. When prompted to discuss them I usually go on about how the writing is pretty subpar, half the series could practically be cut out if she would limit the number of times she talked about how beautiful Edward was, and from my inner feminist perspective there were sooo many things that bothered me.
I really did have a good time reading it though.
I think most grown up Twilight lovers are in the same boat as you Lisa A. I enjoyed reading them as well, but I still have many complaints against the series.
DevonAlyse- I totally understand that one, I still look for the books we enjoyed the most as kids at used bookstores and sales! I have several of the Happy Hollister books, Curious George books, Little Miss and Little Men series, Dr. Suess classics, etc. in my collections. I think of them as comfort books to share with the younger members of my family.
Twilight, guilty as charged :o) Read the complete series in a week and couldn't get enough. Far from being a teen, I still loved them.
My bad books would be the Harry Potter series. I dearly love them, but my extremely christian mother loathes the idea of the books and starts praying over them, me and my house if she sees them. So I used to hide them. I finally took them out of hiding and put them on a bookshelf, although one in my bedroom. I'm an adult who can read what I want, but it's still easier to avoid this "discussion" with my mother. lol
Brenda, I also love Emma Holly - naughty and funny at the same time! No hanging your head in shame...
I didn't feel guilty about my books until my 13 yr old daughter wanted to read my paranormal romances - now she is on a "ask Mom or sister before reading" guideline to those!
I was reading Paris in April on the bus back from work and noticed the girl next to me was reading of the right page....but the frist lines where having word like thights, curves, sex......while the book is really not about that and it was like one page and nothing more. But I was thinking she msut think I was reading a book all about sex!
ok here goes, when I was about 14-15 I read Peyton Place and loved it. It seemed so racy and grown up. Can't remember much of it now though..
Like everyone else Twilight was so silly but it grabbed me from the fisrt book.The Shopaholic sereis i also just love.
but my really guilty pleasure are the Dexter books.He is just so wrong but you just have to love him.
Carly wrote: "It's kinda hard for me to read "bad" books now, but I did have bad taste as a kid. I used to devour Animorphs and Goosebumps books...."Oh my gosh. I LOVED the Animorphs series as a kid! (And I use the term "kid" loosely, because I was like... 17 when the series ended... the May before I went to college...) I was embarrassed even back then! I would pretend I was buying them for my little brother, for obvious reasons... ;) A bunch of my church friends read them. We were very stealthy about it though. We never talked about them in public; only the people who read them knew that we had that secret Animorphs "group"... Ugh! The ending was TERRIBLE! It very nearly ruined series books for me.
Maybe I'm the only one, but I loved the Twilight series, and I'm not embarrassed to admit it in REAL life, although I feel like I SHOULD be embarrassed on here. But, then, I'm a huge YA fan--not a literary snob in the slightest. I love Twilight, I loved New Moon, Eclipse freaked me out (I don't do love triangles very well), Breaking Dawn was LOVELY! I've met the author. I have signed books. I went to Eclipse Prom. I'm a die-hard fan.
No, I willingly admit to anyone that I read YA. Anyone who knows the kinds of movies I love and own isn't the LEAST bit surprised by this. *lowers her voice to a whisper* It's the romance novels that I'm pretty ashamed of. But I LOVE them! And I know all sorts of things about the early 1800's in England now... ;)
I read Twilight and was addicted but very ashamed. I also read the Anita Blake series by Laurell K Hamilton. I am ashamed to admit that I have become one of the people who are addicted to vampire books.
*blushes* I read a Mills & Boon book once and I liked it!
I have to put out the Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard. I teach MS- and almost was embarrassed to put them in my library. Then, I thought, I read the whole series in like 4 days- how can I deny my students? We talk about candy and nutritious books- ones that are fun reads, ones that help you be a better reader (and yes- some nutritious taste like candy!)
I hate to admit it but i'm with some of you with the LJ Smith books. I was addicted to Vampire Diaries and Secret Circle when i was in middle/high school. Then when i read twilight i had to reread Vampire Diaries because Edward and Stefan had so many similarities. I was sadly disappointed when i reread it though. The writing was not as good the characters annoyed me but then what did i do i went out and bought the new Vampire Diaries that just came out (over 15 years later from the 1st 4) and read it all. All the while though i was annoyed and just... Ugh! But will i read the next one when it comes out. Probibly. I still reread Secret Circle though. That was one of my favorites when i was young. Even though I'm 30 now i can reread that series and remember feeling so excited for the characters like i did that first time i read it. It's sad.I did get into the whole twilight thing but the fourth book cured me of stephanie meyers for good i think. Now the books, the movie, stephanie meyers herself, it all annoys me. I can't even reread the host anymore and i loved that book (except for the last few chapters).
Oooh this looks like an older thread but I'm new to the group and wanted to chime in! I loved the 'V series' romance novels by Jane Feather - Vixen, Valentine, Velvet, etc. I used to devour trashy romance novels but never bought any to actually stay on my bookshelf - except for this series! I loved it. I also have a section of bookshelf space reserved for books dealing with love, erotica, intimacy (novels, not self-help), and infidelity.
Erin wrote: So here is a question back at you--reading is supposed to be a form of entertainment in the same way movies are a form of entertainment. Do you feel guilty or embarrassed when you go to see a romantic comedy, sci-fi, fantasy or action/adventure, etc?lol! Yes, I would. I know it is wrong, but I do. I don't like the chick lit genre so don't read it (anymore - I used to when I was a young teenager). But a friend of mine nagged me to see the Sex and the City film with her. I went but didn't tell anyone I was going lol! I don't know why I get embarrassed because I know there is nothing wrong with them. I just can't help it.
I can't think of any books that I love but am embarrassed about really. I do get embarrassed by a cover that has "Now a major motion picture" or such like emblazed on it. I'm not embarrassed by the book, I just don't want people to think I'm reading it just because it was made into a film! Silly really. I do try to find alternative covers of the books I want to read though!
The Princess Diaries, no not just the first one the whole series. Those books make me laugh out loud though, so I guess you shouldn't regret something that once mad you laugh (or something along those lines).And I'm pretty sure everyone in the world has read twilight (except my grandmother, but she still thinks it's 1901, so it would probably get confusing for her). So don't be ashamed, we all did it, and loved it.
A Handmaid's tale was a waste of time? Pardon me?
What I found most interesting about your comment was that you put it in the "guilty secrets" reading thread. As it evidently is not one of your "guilty pleasures" in reading.
Richard wrote: "embarrassed to get caught reading book club selections-like recent M. Atwood"s A Handmaid's tail-what a waste of time-also trying to overcome avoidance of current YA trend-as i was thoroughly booed..."why Richard, Dahling! - how nice of you to drop in and leave your pile of...
...blinkered views...
...steaming on rationale's doorstep.
Richard wrote: "Dear? Bettie-and you spell it like my own personal goddess? did not know people were so nasty on this site-thanks for tipping me off to quality of members-p.s the real Bettie would never say Dahlin..."lol - I WAS trying hard
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~hanging head in shame~