Challenge: 50 Books discussion

Have you ever had a good friend press a book into your hands that you know you're just not going to like? How'd you deal with that?

Have you ever read one heartily recommended by a loved one one that was, well, just plain bad? How did you handle their inevitable query into what you thought?

Is there more to the story?

I had a good friend lend me 2 Jodi Piccoult books and gush about how she just knew that I was going to love them. I have nothing against Jodi Piccoult, but she's just not my cup of tea. I put the books on my bookshelf for about six months and then gave them back to my friend and told her that I hadn't gotten around to reading them yet but wanted to get them back to her so that they didn't get lost in the piles of my books and accidentally disappear.

It always makes me nervous when people ask me for book recommendations also. In my opinion, reading is such a personal thing that unless you really know someone, it is very difficult to give a good book recommendation. When people ask me for book ideas, I usually ask them what the last two of three books that they've read and enjoyed were, and then base my recommendation off of that. I try as hard as possible not to accept books from other people unless I already know that we have similar taste in books, usually I use the excuse of already having too many unread books at home (which isn't a lie, there's currently over 50 waiting to be read!).

OMG! All the time!!! In fact one of my bff's just handed me something with a tiger on the cover that is apparently about dealing with trauma & loss. GARG! She doesn't get that I don't need a book written for the masses by a stranger to help me keep my head on straight. I have her for that. So she gushes about the book and I nod and smile and say thank you. It's at the bottom of my ever growing TBR pile, and it'll stay there. I feel no guilt about it. I gave her "Local Girls" for her birthday, & it took her two years to read it - after which she became a big Alice Hoffman fan.
In fact both of my bffs spend A LOT of their time with their noses in self help &/or Christian nonfiction books. Totally not my cuppa. Blame it on my happy childhood. And they roll their eyes at my PNR series addiction - although, evidence to the contrary, I have a pretty varied reading history. The problem is that they keep tossing me books nearly 40 years of friendship should tell them I'm taking to be polite, and I only recommend what I think they'll actually like.

It's been some time since I last borrowed a book from a friend or a family member. But the last time I remember clearly was when a friend borrowed me Motherless Brooklyn and I loved it.

But if a friend gives me something to read and I do read it even if I'm apprehensive, and if I don't like it, I'll tell them so. This happened with the first book of the Dexter series. It just wasn't as good for me as it was for my friend but I kept reading the series nonetheless.

But they're my friends: they know by now that if you ask my opinion, you'll certainly get it :)

i had a similar experience like susanna. a friend reccommended and gave me Dead Until Dark and i promised to read it even though at that point i thought all people who read vampire stuff were just short of being tragic. turns out i absolutely loved it and since then i've been reading loads of fantasy stuff - thanks to her i've discovered a whole new genre for myself now. and as for opinions - i'll give them regardless. although usually diplomatically using idioms in the vein of "not my cup of tea".

Geez, I tell the truth! "I tried; couldn't get into it . . . not my kinda read . . ."

My grandma has been trying to get me to read A Tale of Two Cities for my entire life. And I have no intention to read it. My mom was forced by her as a kid. I literally have 10 copies that were gifts for various occasions. Ironically I am reading Great Expectations for school right now. And I kind of love it. And I told my parents not to tell my grandma that!