Clean Reads discussion

I just returned an audiobook to Audible.com ... "The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue" because I was depressed reading it. A woman makes a stupid deal with an evil "god" of some kind and is turned immortal but everyone forgets her as soon as she's out of sight. I found out from Goodreads reviews there are sexual scenes. The book is over 17 hours and I didn't want to spend that much time with this unlikable character.

I keep trying to read Michael Connelly's books featuring Harry Bosch but invariably having to quit after a few chapters. His frequent and gratuitous use of f-bombs is so disappointing coming from a gifted author. After my latest attempt at reading The Night Fire, I have decided to no longer make the effort to read his books. I'll stick with John Grisham and David Baldacci.

I hate books with the F bomb on every page. When I rate a book on Goodreads I will always put that on my review.

I always note the amount of profanities in my reviews. I just finished one that had them everywhere. I was a beta reader so I had to finish it. I probably won't volunteer to be beta reader for this author again. Hurts my eyes to read them.

I totally agree. They hurt my eyes too.

That's my list of books I have had to put down and why >> https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Please forgive if this has already been covered in this group, but I'd love to get a good list of favorite books from group members, as it seems like it would probably be a great source of worry/hassle-free fantastic books. Thanks!

I have read most of these and they are all fun clean reads from a variety of genres (though they all have romance involved). https://shadowmountain.com/proper-rom...

Michelle wrote: "Please forgive if this has already been covered in this group, but I'd love to get a good list of favorite books from group members, as it seems like it would probably be a great source of worry/ha..."

This is not a complete list but it is a good place to start >> https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

or https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

This thread has inspired me to make a clean reads shelf.

Also this group has a list, click on "bookshelf" at the top right of this page. You can also click on "browse" at the very top and check out the lists or do a list search.

I haven't had a lot of trouble with this in the past. I would check books out of the juvenile and middle school sections of the library almost exclusively. I figure if a book is in the adult section, it's there for a reason. There was one occasion where I got a book from middle school fiction and by the second page of the book she was groping some guy in an alley while explaining to the reader that she didn't like him at all. I stopped reading and took it back to the library and told them that it was put in the wrong section.

Sadly the “young adult” shelf at the library, which is meant for 12 and up oddly enough, is downright dangerous for kids. I was appalled when i saw some of the books. Gone are the days of allowing a child to just find a book when they go to the library. I have to research them and find decent ones. Grateful for this group!!

Only made it through the first page of When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole before the second f-bomb caused me to delete it from my ereader.

I put down The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell. I should’ve put it down WAY before I did. I listen to boons so when I hear the F word it’s hard to ignore. This book is full of that word. Then there was a lesbian relationship which was a little descriptive and I wasn’t comfortable with that. I didn’t like the characters- no one was being honest with the people closest to them. I decided to put it down and read the spoilers online because I did really want to know what happened. It was just really messed up. Pretty icky and dark.

Kim wrote: "I put down The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell. I should’ve put it down WAY before I did. I listen to boons so when I hear the F word it’s hard to ignore. This book is full of that word. Then ..."
I will no longer attempt to read any of her books also and for the same reason. Does an author use f-bombs because it makes them feel grown up?? Just totally unnecessary.

I put down The Things We Cannot Say because of language. It was kind of mild at the beginning so I tried to keep going and then it just got worse.

Kim wrote: "I put down The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell. I should’ve put it down WAY before I did. I listen to boons so when I hear the F word it’s hard to ignore. This book is full of that word. Then ..."

Thank you, Kim. So unfortunate - if people only knew F bombs and other topics don't necessarily encourage people to buy or read their books. I'm glad you have informed us of this before we invested time or money. So grateful to be able to reference this clean reads source.

I should have put down Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I keep trying to branch out to more "popular" literature and regretting it. :( This one just left a bad taste all around. I had hopes that it had somewhat redeemed itself until I hit the last chapter- nope.

It wasn't all bad. I thought it was amazing what Kya was able to accomplish given her circumstances and I loved that she was able to learn and grow despite a formal education. That was all drowned out by the content.

The Unsinkable Greta James could have been such a good book, but the language is terrible. If you don't like bad language, also avoid the book, The New Neighbor. So disappointed when potentially good books need to be set aside, but it isn't worth having that stuff in my head.

I just read a very good book. It is about a newspaper writer who takes a job interviewing former slaves to get their story. It is a clean read, no swearing, sex or bad language. It is very sad at times but worth the read. "Under the Tulip Tree" by Michelle Shocklee

Haley Annabelle wrote: "I put down The Things We Cannot Say because of language. It was kind of mild at the beginning so I tried to keep going and then it just got worse."

There are several books with that title. Could you please tell us the author or give us a link to the book page?

When you quit reading a book because of language, violence or sex - do you leave a one-star review to let people know why you DNF'ed it? I always look at the one-star reviews for clues on whether or not a book is clean.

Here's one I DNF'ed recently: Hour Glass.

I will stop reading if the book is offensive, dirty or has too much swearing . Yes, I will give it a low rating because to me it is just not a good read if it doesn’t appeal to me for those reasons. But sometimes I give low ratings if it is just written badly or bores me too much.

Linda wrote: "When you quit reading a book because of language, violence or sex - do you leave a one-star review to let people know why you DNF'ed it? I always look at the one-star reviews for clues on whether o..."

No I don't leave any star rating at all because it may otherwise be a very good and well written story but for the objectionable material but I would never find out since I wouldn't finish it. However I will still leave an opinion in the review box.

I've mentioned it before, but I look for clues in the "shelved as" section (which is harder to find in the new beta page).

eta: actually, now that the beta page is now alpha, it looks like they improved it so the "shelved as" list is easier to find.

Linda wrote: "When you quit reading a book because of language, violence or sex - do you leave a one-star review to let people know why you DNF'ed it? I always look at the one-star reviews for clues on whether o..."
For me, my reviews depend on the writing and how good it is. As a school library assistant, I can appreciate good writing while putting my moral objections aside. I can tolerate a “f-bomb”or two, though draw the line at gratuitous sex or graphic violence that is thrown in for the shock value. And I always give a star (or two) less on my reviews explaining why. But just because an author has different values regarding what I believe is “bad language” doesn’t mean he is a poor author. So, in my reviews I always include what, in my opinion, is questionable content to help others with like values, but if the writing is good I like to give the author his due by still giving more than a star or two. If I do not finish a book it is usually because of poor writing skills (those are the authors that throw in garbage to try to sell the book) and they do get a one star review from me. But, as I usually thoroughly research books before I buy, I have only given abt. 3 books less than 3 stars in the past 15 years.

I stopped listening to When the Crawdad Sings due to sexual content. I will not read or listen to something I would not want my children to partake of. I stopped the First Pentergast book becausecod language.

Tanya wrote: "I stopped listening to When the Crawdad Sings due to sexual content.

I didn't like that one either, it just left a bad taste in my mouth all around.

I tried several Karin Slaughter's books because they have high ratings. I winced at all the F bombs. The sexual abuse scenes are horrible. Won't be reading anymore of her books.

I started Westering Women by Sandra Dallas. It started out interesting, but I put it away when it talked about a father molesting his daughter.

I just put down Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone. Seemed interesting but then the f-bombs began. Used my ereader to see the extent and there were approximately 60. That's about 59 too many so I'll never know how that story turned out.

Sandy wrote: "I started Westering Women by Sandra Dallas. It started out interesting, but I put it away when it talked about a father molesting his daughter."

WOW! I would not expect such content from Sandra Dallas.

Karen wrote: "I just put down Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone. Seemed interesting but then the f-bombs began. Used my ereader to see the extent and there were approximately 60. That's about 59 too many so I..."

Ditto!

It wasn't detailed, and I am not sure if there is any other content I'd worry about after that as I stopped reading at that point.

I just have a very visual brain that tends to get fixed on traumatic images. I don't like having those images running around in my brain if I can avoid it.

Marilyn wrote: "Sandy wrote: "I started Westering Women by Sandra Dallas. It started out interesting, but I put it away when it talked about a father molesting his daughter."

WOW! I would not expect such content ..."

Linda wrote: "Haley Annabelle wrote: "I put down The Things We Cannot Say because of language. It was kind of mild at the beginning so I tried to keep going and then it just got worse."

There are several books ..."

I just now saw this! Sorry! It was the one by Kelly Rimmer.

'What My Bones Know' by Stephanie Foo
This is a memoir of Ms. Foo's life, and the abuses she suffered emotionally and physically, at the hands of her Asian parents.
The contents are psychologically traumatic. However, when the F-bomb started making its way into her body of work, I stopped and searched my Kindle for how many times this particular vulgarity was mentioned. Sixty-four. This is when I stopped reading and deleted 'What My Bones Know' from my Kindle library.

Thank you for letting us know. I for one appreciate it.

You're Welcome

Reading comments here makes me feel so good. Sometimes people make me feel that I am being overly sensitive to care about cuss words and sex in my reading. It is so great to know how many others feel as I do and also make the decision to stop reading offensive books.

Agreed

Ditto 👍🏻

Amen!

Same here!

Amen! I Concur!

So true. I've had comments that have literally thrashed my reviews, but I ignore them. It's my own preference and values I care about; not theirs. In my reviews, I add the content of what I've read so people know if it is a clean read. I wish Goodreads did! Does anyone know if there is a book tool or app that rates books like movies are rated? I belong to CommonSenseMedia.org but wondered if you've found something else that you love. Please share!

Joan wrote: "I hate books with the F bomb on every page. When I rate a book on Goodreads I will always put that on my review."

Me too! I want people to know the contents so they know what they are getting into. It's so bothersome when I get into a book I love, then it ends up having illicit sex, or a huge database of swear words, and so I end up shelving the book.

Karen wrote: "I just put down Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone. Seemed interesting but then the f-bombs began. Used my ereader to see the extent and there were approximately 60. That's about 59 too many so I..."

Hi Karen. I'm interested in the e-reader you talked about. What is it and how can I find it? :)

Jeni wrote: "Karen wrote: "I just put down Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone. Seemed interesting but then the f-bombs began. Used my ereader to see the extent and there were approximately 60. That's about 59..."

I referred to it as my ereader but it is actually an Amazon Fire tablet. I read on it through the Kindle app and can search the book for whatever words/phrases I'm looking for.

Ratedreads.com is a helpful resource that reviews and rates books.

Absolutely agree. I often feel like I have stumbled into a high school hallway where authors AND reviewers think talking about sex and using strong language are badges of maturity.

Darlene wrote: "Ratedreads.com is a helpful resource that reviews and rates books."

Awesome! Thank you!