Go Fug Yourself Book Club discussion

I started a favorites list, hopefully that will be the busier topic, but we are all sure to read a dud or two (or more) this year. Let us know all about it.

Well the favorites list was the busier topic this year -- this got no comments at all! But of course, I read books I sort of hated this year so I thought I would share a few:

People loved Such a Fun Age but I was not in that majority vote. I didn't hate it, but I was not a fan https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

People also loved Well Met. I really truly did not https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Days of Distraction failed to distract me https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Perhaps All This Could Be Yours but I have no idea who would want it https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I almost never like Austen reworkings, and I don't like a lot of YA, so Pride was a bad choice for me, but also I think it was just pretty bad https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The problem for me is that the bad books don't stick in my mind!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... this was pretty bad - and worse because I had high expectations.

The only books I 1-starred so far this year were:
A High Wind in Jamaica - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Wives - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

There's still time I suppose! But mostly when I'm reading something I'm not enjoying, I have no problem quitting to read something else.

I tried In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren, because I really liked The Unhoneymooners, but it didn’t grab me and I ended up giving up about 50 pages in. I feel like I should try it again sometime; it had some stiff competition this year because I read and really enjoyed the American Royals books, and Red, White and Royal Blue was SO GOOD.

Alicia wrote: "The problem for me is that the bad books don't stick in my mind!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... this was pretty bad - and worse because I had high expectations."

Too bad! Great subject matter. Sounds like fun but its clear from your review and the very few others there that it doesn't live up to the potential of the premise.

Allie wrote: "The only books I 1-starred so far this year were:
A High Wind in Jamaica - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Wives - https://www.goodrea..."

I had some 2-stars on my list. Sometimes I am not mad enough for a 1-star, but the book really did not work for me. Well Met and Such a Fun Age were that for me, I know a lot of people loved those books and I understand why so I could not 1-star, but it was still a 1-star for ME. I also had a few books i abandoned that I despised, but because I DNF'd at less than the halfway point (that is my arbitrary rule, no star rating if I don't make it to the halfway point.) Books I hated too much to finish:

The Fallback Plan this was just soo bad. I hate when I want to walk into a book so I can smack the protagonist. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

You Had Me at Hola - I was so bummed about this because I love the LatinX representation in romance, but the writing was terrible. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Timbuktu I know better than this. Anthropomorphized wise dogs never work for me. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Backstage Pass No. I say this as someone whose hidden past includes sleeping with more than a couple musicians, this book it awful and nothing rang at all true. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Donna wrote: "I tried In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren, because I really liked The Unhoneymooners, but it didn’t grab me and I ended up giving up about 50 pages in. I feel like I should try it again sometime; i..."

I find I either love or hate Christina Lauren books. Almost nothing falls in the middle.

I really wanted to love The Starless Sea, because I so loved The Night Circus, but I had to make myself finish it. It was actually depressing to me.
My IRL book club read Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping, and it was also depressing. I consider myself very educated with an expansive vocabulary, and I had to use the dictionary function in Kindle MINIMALLY once a chapter. That’s a lot like work. If your writing is that challenging to comprehend, perhaps you need to reconsider who your audience is.

Kris wrote: "I really wanted to love The Starless Sea, because I so loved The Night Circus, but I had to make myself finish it. It was actually depressing to me.
My IRL book club read Marilynne Robinson’s Hous..."

See I love doing that work. I am reading Pynchon now after a hiatus, and it is jazzing me. Not every day, reading lots of lighter things alongside Mason & Dixon, but loving it completely.

Kris wrote: "I really wanted to love The Starless Sea, because I so loved The Night Circus, but I had to make myself finish it. It was actually depressing to me.
."

I've been avoiding Starless Sea because I just didn't think it could be as good!

Alicia - your mileage may vary, but it was just really a heavy book. The Night Circus felt mystical. This felt more... gothic.

Thank you! That's a helpful distinction.

Alicia wrote: "The problem for me is that the bad books don't stick in my mind!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... this was pretty bad - and worse because I had high expectations."

By the way, this sounds like a superpower. Bad books always stick in my head and wish they would not!

I've started giving up on bad books rather than ploughing on to the end, on the basis that wasting time on a bad book is stopping me reading a good book. But somehow I made it to the end of A Finnish Grammar Probably because it weighed in at only 200 pages.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
It should have been a great story! Refugees in the second world war, questions of identity, and belonging. But there were entire pages of Finnish mythology, and tracts on shamanism, and so much on linguistics!
I gave it two stars, but I think one of those stars was for me for finishing it.

Macy wrote: "I've started giving up on bad books rather than ploughing on to the end, on the basis that wasting time on a bad book is stopping me reading a good book. But somehow I made it to the end of A Finni..."

I love that you use stars to reward yourself!

When it was revealed that Dr. Fauci was the inspiration for a romantic lead in a late 1980s/early 1990s Sally Quinn novel, Happy Endings, a group of friends and I improvised a one-off quarantine roman-a-clef book club. We all found used copies online and dove in; in my case, I didn't know much about Sally Quinn (the drama-est of drama queens on the DC cocktail circuit during a time theoretically we're all supposed to want to get back to in American politics...har) but man, this book (and then a Vanity Fair deep dive later) was quite a way to find out.

The discussion itself was really fun because the group included some friends with PhDs in American Studies and English, as well as friends who grew up in DC in the era the novel took place. It was fun to both hoot over how bad the book the was while also critiquing it as a text for understanding American culture in a particular moment.

The book was SO BAD. It is shocking that this person was handed many book contracts, probably for wildly outrageous sums of money. It was deliciously fun to trash this book, especially with a bunch of smart women, but it is far and away one of the worst books I've ever read.

Among elements that were gobsmackingly bad:
-the most Mary Sue of Mary Sues who ever graced the pages of a book
-incredibly stupid ideas about AIDS, Colombia, drugs, Judaism, "the ghetto," and political assassinations
-having to picture Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn's sex life
-depicts a world of newspapers/journalism that is so far different from our current media landscape that you wonder if it ever did exist like this?
-really stupid late 1980s/early 1990s ideas about politics as a game that gets played in Georgetown cocktail parties with very little stakes for real people
-weirdly, not *enough* Dr. Fauci
-only good character is a political wife who seems to be modeled on Dolly Parton, married to a sleazy Bill Clinton type (who becomes president! who gets AIDS! after being implicated in a drug smuggling scheme with Colombians!), but author is completely unaware that Dolly Parton is a national treasure and therefore dismisses character as a dumb, backwards southern floozy

Leah wrote: "When it was revealed that Dr. Fauci was the inspiration for a romantic lead in a late 1980s/early 1990s Sally Quinn novel, Happy Endings, a group of friends and I improvised a one-off quarantine ro..."

This sound AH-MAZING! Scrambling to find it. Fauci as a romantic lead is definitely not what one expects, but I love it!

Sally Quinn was quite famous. She had a newspaper column that was super dishy. I believe she was also rather well educated and sophisticated (she came from an OLD family) so it is surprising her writing was so terrible. Fun fact, for those of you familiar with Grey Gardens, Sally Quinn actually bought Grey Gardens from Little Edie! I was living in DC in the early 90's and her dinner parties were the most coveted invitation at the time. My circle was Clinton focused and Quinn and the Clintons had a serious hate fest, and I was no megadonor, so I never attended one of her parties but I heard tell that they were filled with dull people, heavily sauced food, and great whiskey.

Cannot wait to read this. Thanks for the post!

Leah wrote: "When it was revealed that Dr. Fauci was the inspiration for a romantic lead in a late 1980s/early 1990s Sally Quinn novel, Happy Endings, a group of friends and I improvised a one-off quarantine ro..."

THIS IS AMAZING! How did I miss this revelation?!

Leah wrote: "When it was revealed that Dr. Fauci was the inspiration for a romantic lead in a late 1980s/early 1990s Sally Quinn novel, Happy Endings, a group of friends and I improvised a one-off quarantine ro..."

Thank you for bringing this book to our attention. I'm not going to read it, but my life is better for knowing this glorious mess exists.

Alicia wrote: "Leah wrote: "When it was revealed that Dr. Fauci was the inspiration for a romantic lead in a late 1980s/early 1990s Sally Quinn novel, Happy Endings, a group of friends and I improvised a one-off ..."

Hahahaha, Alicia and Bonnie, GOOD LUCK. If you do read it, please, please check back in here--I'll be so curious what you think. I found it completely bonkers on the level of plot/writing, as well as its larger idea about American politics and society circa 1990, and the idea that a book this bad could get the green light, so when you fill in the whole Little Edie, Ben Bradlee, Who's Who of it all...well. For those curious, this 2010 VF article is a good start to understanding Sally Quinn. One detail that is kind of revealing of the entire messy, entitled, narcissist who wrote this novel: she got fired from her plummy Washington Post column for basically using it to wage war at her husband's ex wife using the scheduling of her son's wedding as her weapon of choice. Like, next level bonkers, I tell you.

(Sara, I think you ultimately have made the right call.)

I really don't think I will read it, I am just very glad to know it exists.

I, on the other hand, am absolutely going to read it!

Bonnie G. wrote: "Well the favorites list was the busier topic this year -- this got no comments at all! But of course, I read books I sort of hated this year so I thought I would share a few:

People loved [book:Su..."

I feel two ways about Such A Fun Age. It did not thrill me or really hold my attention but it really made me think.

All my blah books were book club reads. I also quit SO many books this year- I've tried the latest Hillary Mantel book 4 times and quit every time. I also quit Starless Sea like others- but then again, I was not a fan of Night Circus the first time I read it. My book club has picked it for next year, so I'll give it another go

Pamela wrote: "Bonnie G. wrote: "Well the favorites list was the busier topic this year -- this got no comments at all! But of course, I read books I sort of hated this year so I thought I would share a few:

Peo..."

Absolutely loved the Mantel. Did you enjoy the two earlier books in the series? Also though, I really disliked Night Circus, and I thought I was the only person who did, so I just wanted to say its good to have company.

The Starless Sea has a very slow start and it's not until you're well into the book that the puzzle pieces start clicking. I wanted to go back to the beginning once they did and collect all of the ones I had missed. I think approaching it from the game angle is the way to go. The Night Circus had a more cohesive story, but a similar style. I liked both, but I can see how the appeal is limited.

I just finished a horrible book. I'm a middle school English teacher, so I read a lot of YA. I love it 90% of the time. But oh boy. I just read Redemption Prep which was marketed as a mystery, Riverdale meets Twin Peaks sort of thing. I loved the Truly Devious series which had a similar premise (weird private school; potential murder mystery) so I was excited to read it. Biggest letdown. Poorly developed characters, weird plot sequencing, and a weird alien cult thing at the end. I'm not sure if there are ya readers in here, but just in case, stay far, far away.

Back to the Bridgertons I go!

Macy wrote: "I've started giving up on bad books rather than ploughing on to the end, on the basis that wasting time on a bad book is stopping me reading a good book. But somehow I made it to the end of A Finni..."

I;m with you, I got so good at quitting, I've started a DNF shelf

I had such high hopes for this one, but I was utterly disappointed. Instead of well researched criticism, it was the author's thinly veiled memoir : /

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

I hadn't even heard of that one, Cait. Based on your comments I am going to try to forget I now know it exists ;)