Clean Reads discussion

I just tried a book by Jenny Colgan and there was a lot of content I was not comfortable reading. I won't be reading any more of hers.

I had a few books I had edited for friends - by putting washi tape over the bad words - and I had thought about selling some of them online but didn’t really know if that would be something people would be interested in buying.

For me, it's not simply the presence of a bad word, it's the spirit of the work. I don't mind reading a curse word here or there, if it makes sense with the story and characters and doesn't distract from the quality of the book. Does that make sense? If an author constantly interjects curse words into dialogue in an effort to sound modern, or just because it reflects that author's own language, I find it super distracting and it comes off sounding more ignorant, like they can't express themselves without those words. So, for me, washi tape wouldn't help. It can't make the story any better, and superfluous swearing, in my opinion, tends to be a symptom of poor writing in the first place.

My sentiments exactly. I so wish more authors would understand this.

As a "clean reads" reader and author, I'm so happy to read these comments. Sometimes I feel alone in thinking that bad language and sex is "filler" and totally unnecessary to move the plot of the story along. No everyone in the world talks that way so the argument that it's how people say things doesn't hold water. I use heavy ink or a marker over words in my nonfiction books. I don't mind censoring them and usually don't read any more books by that author. The fiction books get thrown in the trash or dumped from my Kindle.

C.S. wrote: "As a "clean reads" reader and author, I'm so happy to read these comments. Sometimes I feel alone in thinking that bad language and sex is "filler" and totally unnecessary to move the plot of the s..."
I think many authors feel "grown up" and in the big leagues when they can use liberal sprinklings of the f-bomb. For me it shows a lack of vocabulary and education.

'Southern Lady Code'
Book recommendation but hey, I don't find humor in profanity.
Book closed and shelved.

C.S. wrote: "As a "clean reads" reader and author, I'm so happy to read these comments. Sometimes I feel alone in thinking that bad language and sex is "filler" and totally unnecessary to move the plot of the s..."

I am of the same mindset. When authors feel the need to insult their readers with profanity and vulgarity I stop reading the book. If I own a hard copy I cross out the profanity. If it happens to be a book group discussion and Kindle was my reading method I always share how many 'f' bombs were used in that months selection. Some people shake their heads, laugh, or say they didn't notice. But I do. I wish books were censored like they are for movies; or a filter to remove profanity on ebooks.

I just had to put down Pledge of Silence. I was very interested in the storyline, historical fiction is my favorite genre. But this book was more of a trashy romance book, somewhat graphic unnecessary sex scene at the beginning of the book. Disappointing!

It seems like I put down more books than I finish these days. However, I just finished a book called One For The Blackbird, One For The Crow by Olivia Hawker. I really enjoyed it. It was clean and well written.

Marilyn wrote: "I am of the same mindset. When authors feel the need to insult their readers with profanity and vulgarity I stop reading the book. If I own a hard copy I cross out the profanity. If it happens to be a book group discussion and Kindle was my reading method I always share how..."

Me too! Sex is a filler, and so is swearing!! XP I always try to have "content" reviews to let the other readers know what they are getting into. I have three main categories: language, sexy stuff/romance, and violence. Sometimes I put "other" if there is something that I need to warn people about that doesn't fit those categories.

I was given a copy of "The God of Small Things" and shelved it for awhile. It was given the Booker prize and has great ratings so I recently picked it up. Reading along, liking it ok, and then suddenly I am reading graphic pedophilia. I was so disgusted I felt like I had been assaulted. Closed it immediately. I needed something soothing after that, so I started reading "At Home in Mitford" for the 3rd time!

Coming of Winter (Jeremy Winter Thriller #1)
by Tom Threadgill

Serial killer (subject that's always hard for me) and too descriptive of the killings. I finished the book but skipped many parts.

Carol and Florence, you'll both find Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62 a refreshing change. Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62 Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Lynn
www.writeradvice.com

Marilyn wrote: "C.S. wrote: "As a "clean reads" reader and author, I'm so happy to read these comments. Sometimes I feel alone in thinking that bad language and sex is "filler" and totally unnecessary to move the ..."

There actually was a small publisher that was filtering swears from books (I bought some of the Jack Ryan novels by Tom Clancy that way), but of course, they were sued and made to cease and desist.

Amanda wrote: "For me, it's not simply the presence of a bad word, it's the spirit of the work. I don't mind reading a curse word here or there, if it makes sense with the story and characters and doesn't distrac..."

Said so well! I so admire authors who manage to write engaging books avoiding trash .fillers like action/adventure/thriller authors~ Dan Brown~ Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, and Michael C. Grumley-the Breakaway series, and romance authors~Debbie Macomber,RaeAnne Thayne, Debra Clopton,Marcia Lynn McClure,Rebecca Winters,Cindy Roland Anderson, Susanna Kearsley, for example, manage to do.

Karen wrote: I have often wished there were redacted versions to buy!."

I've seen a few authors say they've done something like that.
And I've often looked at movies, wondering why they couldn't put out a G or at least a PG version so it could be more generally enjoyed. I know most of my family has to edit stuff for her kids, which indicates to me there's definitely a market.

Amanda wrote: For me, it's not simply the presence of a bad word, it's the spirit of the work. I don't mind reading a curse word here or there, if it makes sense with the story and characters and doesn't distract from the quality of the book. ..."

That makes sense to me. I adore Louis L'Amour books, which have some swearing, but it's not a crutch for the story.

Marilyn wrote: "a filter to remove profanity on ebooks."

That is brilliant!

I just now found this group and joined so I'm pretty late to the party. So happy to know there are so many other readers who hate to read language, violence, language, etc. in books. Just a couple of books I quit reading even though they came highly recommended:

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Holly wrote: "The Book Thief by Markus Zusak"

I know!! It came so highly recommended, so I was excited to read it. But then when I started, I literally could not get through it. It was really a disappointment.

Amanda wrote: "For me, it's not simply the presence of a bad word, it's the spirit of the work. I don't mind reading a curse word here or there, if it makes sense with the story and characters and doesn't distrac..."

I agree 100%!

Folks, A dream and goal I have had for years was realized on 11 May when digital2draft published my novella. Then Goodreads accepted it. It's clean. Search for Ken Alger, "The Kidnapping of Shelby Wear". I would love to see reviews from you.

Regards,
Ken Alger

Holly wrote: "I just now found this group and joined so I'm pretty late to the party. So happy to know there are so many other readers who hate to read language, violence, language, etc. in books. Just a couple ..."

I also quit these books. I love to follow reviews of reading kindred spirits if you make that option possible on your profile. =)

Every Note Played by Lisa Genova

I was so excited to see another book by Lisa Genova as her books are so intellectually stimulating and well written. However when Every Note Played turned to sex in the third chapter I had to put it down. I wish good authors would just keep it clean.

So disappointing.

I didn’t put down Dead Simple by Peter James but I should have. Tons of bad language including f the F word and some sex scenes and dirty talk. I just kept wanting it to get better but it didn’t. I won’t be reading any more by this author, which is too bad because I’m looking for a good crime/mystery author to read- but it needs to be clean.

Have you read any of Mary Higgins Clark's books? They are clean mystery books with a little romance.

Last week I had to put down "The Woman in the Window." I can't remember who recommended it to me, but I'm pretty sure it was someone who should know better. :)

Thank you Nikki^^. I have read maybe one or two of hers a long time ago. I’d forgotten about her- I’ll try her again. Thanks!

Just stopped listening to The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware- it had two F words in about 5 minutes. I’m so sick of authors ruining a perfectly good story with terrible language!

I stopped reading 'The Turner House' by Angela Flournoy, a book group selection, as the profanity (specifically the f bomb), exceeded my tolerance level. The premise sounded worthy of a good discussion, but 23 f bombs is insulting to the reader. As we know, a true wordsmith can weave a story without the use of vulgarity.

I quit listening to The Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth within a minute. There were 3 F Bombs during that time. I guess “adult” to some people means swearing. This was billed as an adult novel from the author of the Divergent series. Big disappointment.

Adult often means foul language.

I guess that’s good to know. I guess I’ll stick with young adult. It shouldn’t be that way. 😕

I have had to put down both the Cherub series by Robert Muchamore (first book is too crass for YA in my opinion so I did not bother and it's dark), and Sarah Lockard (sp?) first book toward the end has the word B%$! and for a YA book that's a no for me.

I have noticed that some of my favorite authors have resorted to gross language and I have had to put the books down. Jeanne M. Dams was one of my favorite mystery writers. I have noticed the newer the book - the worse the language. I wonder if it's a "publishing thing." Crass language and sex sell books? Regardless it's a pity.

June wrote: "I have noticed that some of my favorite authors have resorted to gross language and I have had to put the books down. Jeanne M. Dams was one of my favorite mystery writers. I have noticed the newer..."
Agreed.

I have also noticed that language as a whole in society is much worse than it used to be. For instance, the F word was rarely used twenty years ago as it was seen as vulgar, now people use it like a punctuation mark. Sad IMO.

Open And Shut (Andy Carpenter Series) by David Rosenfelt. I liked the author's style, it was quite humorous However, about 30 minutes in the S word became the F word and I was done.

Beartown by Fredrick Backman. I thought A Man Called Ove was pretty good, not a clean read as I recall, but still a good book. Beartown is so vulgar I could not handle it. It's a depressing, hopeless feeling story, too, but that wasn't even the main issue. I won't subject myself to this kind of language so I just skimmed the book to get the gist and closed it up. If you like clean reads, stay far away from this one.

Lisa Lutz The Passenger has F-bomb in the first chapter.

***SPOILER ALERT ** The Queen's Secret.... at the beginning of the book the Queen's father basically tells her he and his wife wanted more kids and since his wife could not have more he had sex with some village woman and had her and her sister. That was it for me. Destroyed any interest I may have in the book. Kind of convoluted.

Hand of Evil (Ali Reynolds, #3) by J.A. Jance because she talks about a 14-year-old doing sex acts It is not said in detail but I just can't.

In the Shadow of the Glacier
Constable Molly Smith Series, Book 1

Vicki Delany

F bomb within first few pages

I tried out Diane Kelly last month and there were a number of f bombs in it. Guess I won’t be trying more of hers.

I've read on my Kindle device(s) for the last decade. A bonus feature to reading electronically is the search function. Whenever our book group picks a book, I download it from the library and the first thing I do is search for foul language. If anything shows up in the search, I return the book on Overdrive and advise the group I won't be going them for discussion. No time wasted in disappointment.

I've reached out to publishers, author's, and Amazon asking them to consider a rating system for books, much like movies and music. Three years have gone by and only one person who I actually spoke with responded . . . with laughter. Yeah. That utterance said a lot.

Marilyn wrote: "I've read on my Kindle device(s) for the last decade. A bonus feature to reading electronically is the search function. Whenever our book group picks a book, I download it from the library and the ..." Genius idea! It never occurred to me to do this. And I greatly dislike starting a book only to discover it was a waste of time. I will be doing searches from now on. Thank you for such a clever tip.

You're welcome, Florence!

Marilyn wrote: "I've read on my Kindle device(s) for the last decade. A bonus feature to reading electronically is the search function. Whenever our book group picks a book, I download it from the library and the ..."

I do the same with my Kindle and am so glad I can find out immediately if I want to continue reading the book. An awfully lot get returned.

Marilyn wrote: "I've read on my Kindle device(s) for the last decade. A bonus feature to reading electronically is the search function. Whenever our book group picks a book, I download it from the library and the ..."

I do the same thing with sexual content. I have a set group of words I search. Love that about Kindle search too.

I put down Gallows View by Peter Robinson. Description of a peeping Tom watching women and masturbating and more. Just want to get it out of my head now! Yuck!