You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

I actually have two they are the Twilight series and 50 shades of Grey. I have kept my promise. I will read almost anything else. My reasons were the hype around it and because I am not really into those types of books. The only reason I would even consider reading Twilight is so that I could make a more educated criticism.
So have you sworn not to read a particular book? What was the book? Did you actually read it in the end? Why/Why not?

Message removed by moderator for breaching the rules. We have so few rules... but promotion of books, Companies, blogs, etc (no matter how veiled) are not allowed.

I tend to be more focused on all the great books out there that I'd like to read. There are definitely books I won't read mainly because they don't appeal to me. If a book is highly hyped, and it appeals to me, I will read it. But, I will also quit reading, if it fails to hold my interest.

Especially when the plugs aren't coherent!

I have in the past read highly hyped books to see what all the fuss was about. I thought I was unable to comment unless I had at least tried to read them. So I have read The Da Vinci Code Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone & Twilight even though I swore not to. Dan Brown was enjoyable and great procrastination from studying from an exam, Harry Potthead was a bit meh but I will eventually read them all, and Twilight was abysmal. If anyone wants to set me off, give me a couple of drinks and tell me that Bella is a great role model. You may not survive with your head.

I have drawn the line at 50 Shades. It's never going to happen. Besides not wanting to hear about how someone's inner goddess is dancing different dances every page, it just all seems a little... off. I'm all for getting people to read, but god I wish they would read something worthwhile!

Oh Anna! You backed me up and used "tosh" in the same post. You're never going to be able to get rid of me now!

I'd heard that about 50 Shades.... well not that it was tosh, but the equivalent in Canuck-speak. LOL!

I refuse to read anything by Stepehen King. I've tried to read his novels over the years and lets just say that in my mind he's a horrible writer. I also have a dislike for anything by Nicholas Sparks. *shudder* I don't see the appeal in his books either.

There's not much I refuse to read (although I don't buy best-sellers unless they actually interest me), but I'm on the anti-Twilight-50Shades team. And considering 50 Shades is Twilight fan-fic, my reasons are even stronger :)

I have a friend who reads very rarely that bought 50 Shades just because it was a best-seller. When she told me it was rubbish, I couldn't help but mutter 'told you so'!

Rusalka wrote: "If anyone wants to set me off, give me a couple of drinks and tell me that Bella is a great role model. You may not survive with your head."


Hahaha--love it!!!

My refuse to reads are Fifty Shades of Grey despite the "you have to read it brigade" badgering me and Twilight simply because they don’t appeal to me. Having said that what I read is not everone's cup of tea either, but thats fine with me. I only read what I enjoy.

I read almost anything, including the back of the cereal box, but I generally do not read best sellers unless there is something really interesting in the line-up. I have no desire to read 50 shades or the Twilight books...just no appeal to me when there are so many other books I could be enjoying.

Personally I don't read zombies, or dystopia. They just don't hold any interest for me. Each to their own, life would be boring if we all liked the same.

I have the first 50 shades on my kindle. I haven't read it yet but I probably will just to see whether it is utter tripe or partial tripe. I'm not holding out for it being 'ok' and definitely not that it will be 'a great read'.

Never going to read the Fifty Shades series.

Nicholas Sparks and Richard Paul Evans (I always get them mixed up, but doesn't seem to matter), Debbie Macomber, and Nora Roberts. I know they're all very popular authors, but I just can't take the sugar overload.

I said I would never read Nora Roberts, but her last name ends in R and she has a book with a red cover so... lol

You know how the rainbow challenge goes! Always looking for books to fit in certain categories. haha

There are a few. No desire to read anything Twilight. No Hunger Games. No Bible. No more Danielle Steel-- one was enough. Very little of that werewolf/vampire stuff that is so popular now-- just can't stomach it. No more of some authors I was forced to read in school-- Joseph Conrad, Herman Melville and George Eliot come to mind. (Don't get the impression I'm anti-classic, though. Nothing could be further from the truth!)

Judy wrote: "Conrad can get a little longwinded, huh?"

You are SOOOO right. Oddly, though, Dumas gets long-winded (what do you expect from someone who got paid by the word) but in him I don't mind it. Weird.

URGH! Conrad and I are not friends either. He's my brother's favourite author and I literally threw Heart of Darkness across the room when I finished it. Then wrote a ranty blogpost... ah the 21st Century.

I had no desire to read Ken Follett either but then my best friend throughout high school and primary school told me I had to read The Pillars of the Earth. So I have it on my groaning shelves.

Oh and as everyone may have guessed. Never again will I give Paulo Coelho any more of my time *grumbles names in his direction*

Rusalka wrote: "URGH! Conrad and I are not friends either. He's my brother's favourite author and I literally threw Heart of Darkness across the room when I finished it. Then wrote a ranty blogpost... ah the 21st ..."

I've read a few of Ken Follett's books, but I have to say that The Pillars of the Earth is very different to his other books and I actually really enjoyed it (although it does wax a bit too lyrical about architecture, the actual story-line is riveting!)

Snoozie Suzie wrote: "Personally I don't read zombies, or dystopia. They just don't hold any interest for me. Each to their own, life would be boring if we all liked the same.

I have the first 50 shades on my kindle. ..."

:-O no zombies?! Just kidding, I can completely understand why some people don't like 'em. And yes, it would be so boring if we all liked the same things!

This thread is cracking me up. Now I'm tempted to read some of these to see why they are not any good! ☻

Almeta wrote: "This thread is cracking me up. Now I'm tempted to read some of these to see why they are not any good! ☻"

I see we are cut from the same cloth Almeta. I had the same thought.

Also Kat, sounds like I need to pick your brains for a decent zombie novel to read sometime.

... pun not intended.

I swing wildly from one extreme to another when I read-- I'm likely to go from reading a classic to picking Victorian period historical fiction, and then following that up with a fast-paced zombie thriller! So I hesitate to cross anything off the list..BUT, if the title is a ridiculously made-up word that was created by squishing two words together like Neverfairy or Shadowmore I will NOT read that!!

As a side note, if you do like zombie and monster stories, I highly recommend books by Jonathan Maberry. I just discovered him this summer and he's a great writer!

Mandy wrote: "I swing wildly from one extreme to another when I read-- I'm likely to go from reading a classic to picking Victorian period historical fiction, and then following that up with a fast-paced zombie ..."

Me too Mandy - I'm reading a young adult dystopian, a Kurt Vonnegut and a romance at the moment!

Jonathan Maberry is awesome and he writes both YA and adult.

Mandy you must make an allowance for Stardust. Not his best, but still Neil Gaiman wonderfullness.

I'll take you up on that Judy. Even if my read is twice as long!

How did it end up being 1am again? Night!

Kimberly... no Stephen King? Sacriledge! LOL!

I have been surprised by a couple of paranormal romance books lately. I turn up a nose at a lot of the Twilight-wanna-be's out there right now, but I did quite enjoy Daughter of Smoke and Bone and the first two books in the A Discovery of Witches trilogy.

I won't read a harlequin romance ever again. I read a whole whack of them when I was a teenager. But, I've grown up since - in my reading tastes too.

You can always gloss over the long bits about architecture. Well, that will only work if you are reading a print version. I listened to the audiobook and had to hear it all in painstaking detail. LOL!

Rusalka wrote: "... pun not intended."

My brains are always available for picking.

Janice wrote: "You can always gloss over the long bits about architecture. Well, that will only work if you are reading a print version. I listened to the audiobook and had to hear it all in painstaking detail...."

That's exactly what I did with my print copy 'architecture...blah blah...arches and windows...blah blah...' also helps with such a doorstopper that you can skip a few pages and feel like you're actually making a dent in it!

50 shades, Dan Brown and American Psycho - it just sounds horrid.

No vampires, no Nicholas Sparks (too sappy). Not sure about 50 shades. I'm somewhat intrigued. Hmmmmm.

Judy wrote: "LOL!! Hey, agree it makes a wonderful doorstop if you have the print copy. I'm guessing the audiobook wasn't exactly thin and perhaps contained close to 20 cds?"

It was about 40 hours of listening pleaure.

Nicholas Sparks are perfect beach reads or flu reads (so I've read a couple over the years!). I enjoy an occasional cheese-fest ;)

Alison wrote: "50 shades, Dan Brown and American Psycho - it just sounds horrid."

That's the reason why I do own a copy of American Psycho - I liked being horrified!

Bodice Rippers.

Multi-generational sagas. Yawn.

One more book where a grown offspring returns home and in the course of the visit forces an emotionally distant blood relation to explain them self.

Books touted by the publisher’s blurb as “a read to discover what it means to be human”. I've never found out. What does it mean?

Almeta wrote: "One more book where a grown offspring returns home and in the course of the visit forces an emotionally distant blood relation to explain them self."

Omg I completely agree! Apparently people are incapable of self reflection at any other time in their lives.

Looks like I missed out on good discussion this weekend with you girls! I've been out of town.

I have to laugh at the anti-50 Shades and anti-Twilight.....I did read both and enjoyed them very much! :) Fluff, YES...but sometimes I need some fluff. :)

I'm racking my brain trying to think of a book that I absolutely refuse to read. I use to say NO to Harry Potter, but now I've added the entire series to my TBR list. Partly for professional reasons (teaching) and partly because I want to be a part of the Potter History. However, I'm dragging my feet on this one. I have yet to read book 1.

I have a friend who continually lends me Danielle Steel books. In the past I have felt obligated to read them. Last summer I made a deal with myself.....NEVER AGAIN! Why waste my time when there are so many good books on my shelves just screaming to be read? If you've read one Danielle Steel, haven't you read them all?

A few years ago I read a trilogy by Nora Roberts. I've never picked up another Nora Robert's book. I HOPE I never will. Same philosophy....why?

I just read a horrible book by Jeffery Deaver, The Sleeping Doll. From what I understand, this wasn't his best. I take that to imply that he actually has books out there which are worth reading? I will probably never purchase another Jeffery Deaver book. If a friend shoves it in my face begging me to read it, I might.

In summary....I would have to say, "Never say Never".

OH.....James Joyce. After reading A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, I felt as if I had run a marathon! Such a tiny book, but such HUGE bore!!! I felt like it took me forever to read it! Just the thought of reading another James Joyce is enough to cause violent flu-like symptoms!

April wrote: "I take that to imply that he actually has books out there which are worth reading? I will probably never purchase another Jeffery Deaver book. If ..."

I thought The Bone Collector was good. Not for the squemish nor for anyone that really wants to solve the mystery before the climax; too obscure.

April wrote: "Looks like I missed out on good discussion this weekend with you girls! I've been out of town.

I have to laugh at the anti-50 Shades and anti-Twilight.....I did read both and enjoyed them very mu..."

I had to laugh at this. I read one Danielle Steel, and when I got to the passage that basically read: "She thought he was taking the situation too lightly. 'I think you're taking this too lightly,' she said to him. She felt it was important for him to see he was taking the situation too lightly." -- almost that repetitive in almost that few sentences-- I closed it and said NEVER AGAIN.

Jennifer, after reading your comment Danielle Steel just went from "maybe if I was desperate" to "not even if it was the last book on earth".

Thankyou.

Judy wrote: "Almeta wrote: "Bodice Rippers.

Multi-generational sagas. Yawn.

I agree with you about all of these except I do like a Edward Rutherfurd about every five or six years. :-)

I like the idea of Edward Rutherfurd (I own four of his books after all), but they are hard going for me - I think I got about 200 pages into Sarum: The Novel of England before putting it aside and haven't yet been back to it.

Judy wrote: "I agree with you about all of these except I do like a Edward Rutherfurd about every five or six years...."

I actually put The Forest (un-read) in a box to give to Debra for some charity auction thingy. Should I be pulling it out?

Kat wrote: "I like the idea of Edward Rutherfurd (I own four of his books after all), but they are hard going for me -..."

When the publisher's hype compared him to James A. Michener, that was my cue to turn and run.

I have to say, the bit I read of Sarum I did really like - it was just too heavy for me at the time. By the time I was ready to go back to it, I knew I'd have forgotten too much to continue and would have to start again - and at 900+ pages I just couldn't face it.

Amber wrote: "I will say that I was adamantly against reading Fifty Shades of Grey, but my RL book clubs wanted to read them and they were receiving such a huge amount of hype (and somehow have become the best s..."

The only reason I'd read it is to make fun of it if I'm completely honest. But then again, I could have fun reading something I like instead!

I love James A. Michener and have read several of his books.

Edward Rutherfurd is no James Michener! I started Sarum: The Novel of England for an online book club a number of years back, abandoned it, and will never read another book of his.

Oh we've got a split decision on Rutherfurd vs. Michener!

LOL

Look out! We may have our first YLTO war. *running and hiding*

Kat wrote: "Oh we've got a split decision on Rutherfurd vs. Michener!"

Janice wrote: "Look out! We may have our first YLTO war. *running and hiding*"

When a generational saga starts at the Triassic period...you're in for a looong bumpy ride!

I mean, it felt like I read for the full 230 million years before even getting to a character in Hawaii.☻