Terminalcoffee discussion

Are there any authors you refuse to read? Feel proud for never having read?

I have never read/have no interest in reading/feel like I could go this entire life without having read:

Dan Brown
James Patterson
Danielle Steel
Janet Evanovich
Jodi Picoult
Paulo Coelho
Gregory Maguire
Ken Follett
Agatha Christie
Dean Koontz
Louis L'Amor

Clearly, I have something against contemporary writers/romance & crime.

What about you?

Danielle Steele. Never never NEVER

Faulkner...NEVER. AGAIN. I'll read the Cliff's Notes if it comes up in a class I take. I second Rowling, too. Or 99% of the "Lost Generation," especially Hemingway. Dickens and Tolkein, unless I'm having trouble sleeping.

I read a lot of the Evanovich books in college because I was sick of all the scholarly junk I was reading in my other lit classes (I think the only good class-assigned book I read that year was Oryx and Crake) and I wanted something light and fluffy that I didn't need to actually think about. Some of the other authors on your list, Angie, I'd pick up to see what the hype is all about (Patterson, Maguire).

Ditto on Angie's list. However, I must say my list should include, "Will never read another book by the author again because it was an epic waste of time and much like going home with someone and then seeing them in the daylight....chewing off arm, I feel so dirty that I took this horrid walk of shame." I was weak, I gave in to hype or was it alcohol?

#1 Dan Brown. The worst book I've ever read. I think the best use for it is as a drinking game. Every time someone at the table reads a cliche, DRINK!

#2 Twilight. I kept reading because I had to unlock the mystery of why this was selling, why was this popular and what was it's literary value. Still, I can not answer these world-shattering questions. As a story lover, I didn't know whether to slit my wrists or call my PCP to up my medications because I was depressed-- what is the world coming to when Mormon vamps. rule the literary universe?

Welcome to TC, Charlie!

Evanovich, Steel,
and that guy who writes supposedly uproarious crime fiction set in Florida who just sounds like a sexist dick.

Danielle Steele and Stephanie Meyer.

Hiaasen.

Danielle Steel's books even look ugly.

They scare me! But I think she's dead now, and not writing anymore.



She IS dead, isn't she?

Oh, shoot! She's still alive, and still cranking out the books. She's the Barbara Cartland of America...

King Dinösaur wrote: "Maybe Danielle Steel is like V.C. Andrews...just a "name" but actually written by an endless succession of hacks! It'll never end!!!"

Oh! Like the Nancy Drew or Babysitters Club books! Or a lot of the ya series I read, where a new book comes out every six months. There's no possible WAY those authors are writing those books so fast!

On the other hand, the "two books per year" thing makes for some halfway-decent light reading...

Jodi Picoult.

Hahaha. I mean, he's getting a lot of press today by everyone commenting and liking, and it showing up on their feeds, and their friends seeing it... But apparently the hippie is missing, so I don't think the world shall be hearing from him again.

There are many authors whose books I am not interested in reading (JK Rowling, Stephanie Meyers, Nora Roberts, for example) but one I refuse to read is James Patterson, because back in the days before I refused to read him, I read him (well--one of him), and it SUCKED.

i have said i would never read james patterson again but i still do and i am liking him less and less. i think the more prolific a writer becomes, the quality of their work drops dramatically. patterson has too many series and characters out there.

not sure who i would not read again. recent book by dan brown disappointed me but i like his others.

Yeah, Patterson is creepy - how many books per year come out under that name? It's weird.

I will likely never read Faulkner. I also have no interest in Agatha Christie or Louis L'Amour. I must confess to having enjoyed Angels & Demons and also Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. The Lost Symbol I'm tempted to read only because of the masonic connection (lot of family masonic connections). I agree that he is VERY formulaic.

Mike Huckabee

my Hemingway.

James Patterson does NOT write his own books. He has a team of ghost writers whom he dishes out ideas, and they turn around and write the book for him. It's the worst-kept secret in the publishing industry, and a reason why he comes out with a book every six weeks or so.

Everyone here knows my feelings towards Dan Brown; there's an entire thread based on my complete disdain for the *cough* author *cough*.

I will never read Orson Scott Card. Aside from his Ender's Game works (which I skimmed through and disliked for how Ender was treated), he's pretty notorious around here - he lives in Greensboro - for his idiotic political rants, in which he too joins the Obama-is-the-Antichrist rhetoric that seems to pass for "dissent" these days, along with calling out writers like Cormac McCarthy for their "immoral" works. Pot, meet kettle.

I enjoyed a lot of Card's work before I discovered what political maniac he is. It kind of taints all of it, doesn't it?

Political maniac is one thing. Racist, sexist, homophobic, paranoid conspiracy theorist is another.

Yup. I agree.

You don't necessarily need to give Card royalty money by buying the books, but Ender's Game is a great read, and I've never noticed any sort of brainwashing dogma in it (I won't lie or make cases about his others; see story below). Believe me, blatant use of "Trust in God, for He is the Way" is the kind of thing that earns 0 stars from me, but in Ender's Game, if he's got any sort of political/religious agenda, it's over my head. I think that refusing to read his works because you don't like his personal politics or religious beliefs is like saying you won't listen to Elton John's music because he's gay or refusing to watch Hairspray because John Travolta is a Scientologist.

That being said (this is the story part), I do think it's kinda funny that one of Card's other series, Homecoming, is essentially a SF, "obvious-God-left-out" version of The Book of Mormon. I only know this because my mom went LDS when I was in high school and forced me to read The Book of Mormon (there were threats and tears, trust me; I was 15 at the time). I read the first chapter, handed it back to her saying I'd already read it, and offered her the first book in the Homecoming series.

She was not amused.

I have never read/have no interest in reading/feel like I could go this entire life without having read
+ wish I'd never read:

Dan Brown
Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider series
Hitler's Mein Kamf
Danielle Steele
Stephenie Meyer
Philip Reeve

Other authors I have thoughts about including on this list are still....tolerable.

Ms. Anderson, my point to not reading Card isn't his politics, although they're bat-shit crazy enough, but it's his insistence on calling other authors out (especially Cormac McCarthy) for their "immoral" fiction (apparently, Card doesn't like Blood Meridian), yet his fiction has been pretty rife with "immoral" subjects itself; his odd fascination with pedophilia in the Ender books is pretty distressing in itself. I think it's pretty hypocritical to call Quentin Tarantino "disgusting" when you're no stranger to violence in your own works.

Hence me not wanting to give Orson Scott Card any of my time.

Ms Anderson wrote: " or refusing to watch Hairspray because John Travolta is a Scientologist.

How about refusing to watch Hairspray 'cause it's lame? Divine did a much better job in that role.

I'll usually bypass any author who has a shelf or two of books at the library with some type of formulaic title scheme.

Am I alone in thinking the more copies of books by an author that my library has, the less likely it is that I will be interested in reading any of them?

Hm. Zola has a lot of books at my library and I'm interested in reading all of them. So does Dickens.

But "formulaic title scheme" does set off alarm bells.

Sally wrote: "Hm. Zola has a lot of books at my library and I'm interested in reading all of them. So does Dickens.

But "formulaic title scheme" does set off alarm bells."

Yeah, it's probably not that good of a rule of thumb. There will be very important exceptions.

Oh yeah. I'll never read a Newt Gingrich book.

I won't read any more Harry Turtledove, either.

Hey! I know a Harry Turtledove! Is he an author?

Harry Turtledove

Most of the authors mentioned above and probably many more. I can add Gregory Maguire to the never read again category, along with Andrew Neidermeier (in his name or as "V.C. Andrews"), Diana Gabaldon, Laurel K Hamilton, Anne Rice, Christopher Rice.
Interesting that I never knew anything about Orson Scott Card. I just picked up two of his books recently. And now, I think I'm interested in his book Homecoming. I know a lot of Mormons and they're all great people but some of their ideas are odd to me.

I really liked Card's "Alvin Maker" series. But I just can't abide the stuff he spouts these days.

http://www.nauvoo.com/library/card-hy...

Different Turtledove. Phew.

I don't like Diana Gabaldon either, Jaimie.

Mary wrote: How about refusing to watch Hairspray 'cause it's lame? Divine did a much better job in that role.
..."

That's an acceptable reason. The rest of the cast hardly begins to make up for how horrible Travolta is in that role. It's not like there aren't real drag queens they could've chosen.

And Gus: so maybe you don't like him for what he's said about other authors. Fine. But you don't get to play the "pedo" card until you've actually sat down and read from cover to cover one of his Ender novels and can point out examples. Skimming doesn't count. Pedophilia implies a sexual intent, and yes, there is nudity in his books, but we're not talking the 120 Days of Sodom or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings or Oryx and Crake here. None of the nudity in Ender's Game, which is the only one I can reliably speak to since I've read it so many times, is sexual at all. Otherwise, the teachers at the middle school where I sub wouldn't even begin to consider using it in the curriculum (which it currently is), forget about having it on the library shelves. My father never would have loaned it to me when I was ten if it had been filled with raunchy scenes or inappropriate language.

And admit it: there's a difference between "I'm going to punch your living daylights out, and then I'm going to dump you in the river" and "I'm going to punch your living daylights out, and then I'm going to carve a swastika into your forehead and let everyone see the blood spurting, and then I'm going to let this other dude with an axe scalp you, and then we'll consider killing you." While Inglorious Basterds was a fantastic movie, there were some parts that were stomach-churningly gruesome. Even Disney movies have violence in them, but there are different levels of violence out there. Some people consider certain levels appropriate and certain levels out of line; other people don't care how violent something is. But let me ask you this: would you let a five-year-old watch a Tarantino film?

In other words, read books that you hear are controversial. Really read those books, then make up your own mind about them, whether it's all hype or whether there is something that concerns you about them. Discover knowledge for yourself. Don't be a sheep and listen to the braying of the ignorant, hysterical masses.

Besides, he wrote Ender's Game over thirty years ago. Maybe Card's a nutcase now, but if we avoided everything created by people who ever said or did stupid stuff, we'd probably still be living in caves. Naked.

The point about Ender's Game being written 30 years ago is valid. People change. Authors, being people, change also.

For example, there is a huge difference between Robert Heinlein's early works and his last few books.

It's early here, so I can't being any others authors to mind, but I had several authors who I loved twenty yeas ago, and today I pick up their best seller and I can't imagine why I thought it was so great.

Ms Anderson wrote, In other words, read books that you hear are controversial. Really read those books, then make up your own mind about them, whether it's all hype or whether there is something that concerns you about them. Discover knowledge for yourself. Don't be a sheep and listen to the braying of the ignorant, hysterical masses.

Please don't make any assumptions regarding my reading choices. It insults and angers me. Nor should you make any assumptions on what I would and would not allow any 5-year-old child to read or watch. That's condescending. I wouldn't chastise you if you found it beneath you to read Stephanie Meyer, so don't call me out because I choose not to read Orson Scott Card. I have my reasons. And I don't have the desire nor the obligation to have to justify my reasons to anyone.

We all have authors we won't ever read or won't read again and we all have our reasons. To each their own.

Sally wrote: "I don't like Diana Gabaldon either, Jaimie. "

Thank you! I just don't get why people (women) love her. I really enjoyed "Outlander" until the very end but I became extremely offended when she wrote about the woman encouraging her husband to beat the crap out of her in order to bring him out of his catatonic state. And it takes a lot to offend me. I've worked in construction for 8 years. :-)

I will never, ever, even under pain of death, read anything by

Glenn Beck,
Newt Gingrich,
Greta Van Susteren,
Dan Brown
Richard Dawkins
Sam Harris

I won't read anything else by (I don't absolutely loathe the existence of these authors, I'm just not really into their stuff)

John Grisham
L. Ron Hubbard
J.K. Rowling
Stephanie Meyer (aka I wish I was J.K. Rowling-- but then again, I wouldn't mind having a few of her paychecks )

I fought my way through the first 50 or so pages of Douglas Adams's "Hitchhiker's Guide" before throwing up my hands. Never again...

I had a hard time getting through Hitchhiker's too. I did finish it, though.

I forgot a couple more authors I'll never read again: Steinbeck, Dickens (except A Christmas Carol), and possibly Tolstoy. I just couldn't finish Anna Karenina, as much as I wanted to.

Grisham's not a bad writer, actually. His legal thrillers are a bit one-dimensional, but he's an ace at creating pace and tension. I remember being enthralled by the last 60+ pages of The Firm. Same with The Pelican Brief.

I haven't read anything else of his since The Client, which I found to be pretty ho-hum.

I like his non-legal stuff, like A Painted House. I think there are more. One about Christmas, maybe?

Skipping Christmas was (I thought) goofy.

I have no intention of ever reading anything by James Joyce or Charles Dickens. I wish I'd never read anything by Stephanie Meyer or Danielle Steel.

Speaking of Stephanie Meyer, am I obligated to read The Host if a co-worker gave it to me for Christmas?

Why would a coworker give you The Host, Dan?