Book freaks discussion

Actually, I find it fascinating what different reactions one book can get. I started Life of Pi not expecting to like it but fell in love with it.

However, Dan Brown leaves me colder than a corpse, no matter how hard I try to like his work. That would be Da vinci code and Angels & Demons (in Simplified Chinese)-which I hope I can count even though I was unable to finish either.

Ellie wrote: "Actually, I find it fascinating what different reactions one book can get. I started Life of Pi not expecting to like it but fell in love with it.

However, Dan Brown leaves me colder than a corpse..."

I'm with you on that. I don't like his writing style and I feel like his plots are way too simplified....

My biggest one would be the Twilight series. I never have understood why that one was so great. I don't know which was worse, the Bella character or the stalkerish behavior of Edward and Jacob that is considered "romantic" in these series.

Arnab wrote: "Hope this isn't going to be too offensive. And this isn't about demeaning any author. Let's face it, we all have discussed something like this behind closed doors. And finally its about personal op..."

It's like you've read my mind! That book was soooooo boring that I couldn't get past chapter 1! Dropped it like a rock!

Melissa wrote: "My biggest one would be the Twilight series. I never have understood why that one was so great. I don't know which was worse, the Bella character or the stalkerish behavior of Edward and Jacob..."

Kevin wrote: "Ellie wrote: "Actually, I find it fascinating what different reactions one book can get. I started Life of Pi not expecting to like it but fell in love with it.

However, Dan Brown leaves me colder..."

Looking back I guess those were some simple plots because I understood them at age 10....and they should be a lot more complicated right?

Twilight stresses the fact that having a boyfriend is the most important thing in your life. It's definitely not a good model for young girls.

I would go along with Twilight. I've never read it and never will, especially after everything I've heard about the books.

David wrote: "I would go along with Twilight. I've never read it and never will, especially after everything I've heard about the books."

You should read it if you want a good laugh!

lol no, that's what Terry Pratchett is for ;)

I pick City of Bones and Divergent. ( I hope I can have two)>_> Both of them were horrid! EVERYONE of the bookbloggers was like "OMG THIS IS AMAZING". But when I read it I was like "huh". I still don't understand how so many people liked it.

Ebony(poppyyukia) wrote: "I pick City of Bones and Divergent. ( I hope I can have two)>_> Both of them were horrid! EVERYONE of the bookbloggers was like "OMG THIS IS AMAZING". But when I read it I was like "huh". I still d..."

Ouch..I must admit that I'm one of those people who loved City of Bones!!! It had obvious flaws like a predictable plot and it was not that amazing but then I read the sequel and it was wayyyyy better than the first book! Never heard of that other one, but now I won't read it :P

Melissa wrote: "My biggest one would be the Twilight series. I never have understood why that one was so great. I don't know which was worse, the Bella character or the stalkerish behavior of Edward and Jacob..."

I LOVE the Twilight series. I guess its all on how the person relates to a book and what parts stand out for them that determines if they love or hate it. It seems like with the series that are SO popular you either love it or hate it no middle ground. 8-)

I'll have to throw in my opinion on Twilight as well. It stresses the importance of having a boyfriend, not to mention marrying young and having children early. Now I'm not saying marriage and babies are a bad thing, I just think it's pushing such an ideal on younger girls that it's really unhealthy.

Granted I read the Twilight series in my mid-twenties but I didn't get those points from the book. If anything I got the opposite as much as Bella fought against the idea of marriage I came away with marriage being a huge commitment and you only take that step when you are absolutely sure. Just goes to show you how different people can perceive the same book. I recently talked about this with a couple of my friends on how we each interpreted the same passage of a book different based on your on life experiences and how that words spoke to us. It is fascinating to me how a book can be interpreted in so many ways yet the words never change.

Tai wrote: "Granted I read the Twilight series in my mid-twenties but I didn't get those points from the book. If anything I got the opposite as much as Bella fought against the idea of marriage I came away wi..."

That's actually a really good point because the first time I read twilight I didn't interpret it negatively at all. I just thought it was this awesome book about a vampire (I was in sixth grade) but the next time I read it I thought "wow this is about a very stupid girl who is so weak she needs strong male figures to protect her" the next time I read it I thought "this is kinda funny..." and who know's what I'll think if I ever read it again!

City of Bones. The first book was okay. I got really disturbed at the end and that made me not like the book anymore. I tried to pick up the 2nd book and I couldn't even get into the first chapter.

The Magic Seed by VS Naipaul didn't do it for me. I like his early work, but in this one, it seemed like he didn't do much rewriting, and his editors just let a lot of less-than-sharp writing slide by. That's too bad because he is a brilliant writer in much of his work.

Gorfo wrote: "Ebony(poppyyukia) wrote: "I pick City of Bones and Divergent. ( I hope I can have two)>_> Both of them were horrid! EVERYONE of the bookbloggers was like "OMG THIS IS AMAZING". But when I read it I..."

Don't let my opinion stop you! That might be the best book in the world to you and I don't want to be the one to separate you from it. I just really...hated it. I liked it better then City of Bones(sorry!) though. lol Everyone has different tastes. I just feel like YA novels today are too focused on Boyfriends and hottness instead of real problems. Don't get me wrong I like a romance every once in a while but if that is all the book is about but yet it had a promising plot I get really FRUSTRATED! So yea you might like it. ^_^

Ebony(poppyyukia) wrote: "Gorfo wrote: "Ebony(poppyyukia) wrote: "I pick City of Bones and Divergent. ( I hope I can have two)>_> Both of them were horrid! EVERYONE of the bookbloggers was like "OMG THIS IS AMAZING". But wh..."


Haha! I understand! The books today in the YA Fiction...let's just say I made a bookshelf pretty much making fun of the ridiculous covers. It's called "where did my face go"

Life of Pi

The Catcher in the Rye

The Brothers Karas ... can't even be bothered spelling it

Lord of the Flies

White Noise - a lotta' noise

The Imperfectionist

As much as I would like to enjoy Christopher Moore, I find myself losing interest within the first few chapters. =\

I agree with Life of Pi. I also this Memoirs of a Geisha is undeservingly popular.

The twilight books. Even though I've read two and a half I just hate it.

I tried reading twilight but I just couldn't do it

I loved Twilight. They and Harry Potter is what got me hooked on reading. I have since then realized that the writing style isn't that great compared to others, but it will always have a special place in my heart for getting me to read.

Thank you Carly! Catcher in the Rye is my top pick. I have never wanted to slap a fictional character more than I wanted to slap Holden Caulfield. I teach and I've had a lot of students complain about the same thing.

Oh! Also The Hunger Games series. I really hated that one.

Gabrielle wrote: "Oh! Also The Hunger Games series. I really hated that one."

I haven't actually read any of them, but there's nothing making me want to read them...

I love the Twilight books. I understand how some people could just pick up on the negatives but those aspects weren't the guy parts I noticed when I read them. Admitedly I also read them in 20s, they're maybe not the best for very impressionable young girls. But it comes down to the individual

Gabrielle wrote: "Oh! Also The Hunger Games series. I really hated that one."

The story and the idea of it is good and I enjoyed it. But I really didn't like the writing or prose. And the last book was just...so bad.

For me the Twilight series was one of those series that I hate, but I am still eager to find out what happened. Do you know what I mean?

The Hunger Games is a whole other story because I normally don't like those kind of books, but I thought it might me an exception. I couldn't get past page 20.

I know what your mean, Gabrielle. The House of Night Series is like that for me. They started out ok and I don't enjoy them that much anymore, but I'll keep reading them just to see how it all ends.

Gorfo wrote: "Looking back I guess those were some simple plots because I understood them at age 10....and they should be a lot more complicated right?"


I've noticed this being said a lot in book forums about a book being too simple and how it can't measure up to other "literary books".
Why do books have to be complicated and be literary works to be a good book? When I read, I read for pleasure. I just want to be absorbed into a really great story. I don't want to have to interpret what I read to get the meaning out of it or be bogged down with so much overdone description. So, to me, a story isn't judged by how simple the writing is but by how engrossing the story is.
....Can someone explain this to me?

The Sookie Stackhouse series. Bill is so dry...who would want him as a boyfriend? I mean he has no personality. I don't get the whole appeal, but then again, I'm not into vampires.

I have the Sookie books but haven't gotten around to them yet. Were they that bad, Tacy?

Well, Sookie's main love interest (Bill) basically had no personality. Charlaine Harris fleshed him out well enough, but it was his dry and boring personality that killed the series for me. He just didn't seem all that into her and seemed kinda cold, actually.
All I kept thinking was how I wouldn't want a man like that (vampire or not) and how I would be looking for someone much more loving and warm.
But if that wouldn't bother you, the action in the story was okay--especially if you are into paranormal creatures.

I can't stand the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I do not know what people see in those books.

A.F.--
Thank you for bringing that one up. Friends swear by that series. Me, not so impressed. In fact, I skipped over whole boring parts.

I'm adding in Catcher in the Rye. I want to punch Holden in the face. And the Handmaid's Tale.

Tracy wrote: "A.F.--
Thank you for bringing that one up. Friends swear by that series. Me, not so impressed. In fact, I skipped over whole boring parts.

I'm adding in Catcher in the Rye. I want to punch Hol..."

oh the handmaid's tale...I think that book scarred me for life...such a messed up story. Really nothing redeemable about it. One of the only book I think I've actually given the dreaded 1!

Hmmm...I picked up Twilight a few weeks ago, having avoiding them, and don't mind them at all (I tend to like the Sookie and Anne Rice vamps/and stories better)...
Let's see, I agree with "The Paris Wife" and "The Postmistress"...but the one book I feel like Gorfo feels about The Handmaid's Tale is "The Kite Runner"...

Understandable. I never really got into the Series of Unfortunate Events. I hated them and never rd past book 3.

I used to love the Series of Unfortunate Events when I was a kid, but now I realize how annoying they are.

Gabrielle wrote: "I used to love the Series of Unfortunate Events when I was a kid, but now I realize how annoying they are."

just never got into them at all

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai - that Booker was so undeserved.

Arnab wrote: "i have another pick. the alchemist. i really dont understand what the fuss is all about. its an extraordinarily ordinary novel. unless i'm missing something big."

Arnab you are :) The big message is in the simplicity.

Tender is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald. I have no idea why this book is such a revered classic. I find Fitzgerald's characters wooden and completely artificial. This book, to me, was unreadable. Gastby wasn't much better.

The Catcher in the Rye. Dull, dull, dull.

this would be The Paris Wife, for me. It is my definition of boring and overrated. I really want to know why it is considered a great book. Hadley was a conservative housewife who didn't really know all the things her husband did. It isn't a book about Hemingway. Hadley is the focus of the book; however she was a boring 'good' wife who despite her exotic surroundings managed to create a simple housewifely motherly homelife and that's all the book describes. Hemingway either comes home to her and eats or invites her to join him in parties where she apparently misses all of the real action or she chooses to relate a PG version of events. This might make an interesting Parent's Magazine article.

I really liked the Paris Wife. I think that Hadley being boring and simple may have been why Hemingway was attracted to her. She was the complete opposite of his mother. Ernest obviously had mommy issues. I was also intrigued by the Fitzgerald's relationship. I'm reading the book Zelda now. Wow, now she had some issues!

The Series of Unfortunate Events... When I started reading the series, I loved it... first two books. I was about 12 or so. But then I started getting this strong ANNOYING vibe and read books as they came in my language... just to know what happens. Then last year I was finally like: okay. 7 books left. You can do it. So I read rest of the 7 books during the course of 1 year... somehow. And I was maybe reading the 11th one? And then the pure genious of this series struck me. It's his style, it's educating and meant for younger people as something to look back at if nothing else.

I read Sookie Stackhouse just because I want to know what happens but it has really lost its touch. Don't really care for the characters, least of all Sookie. Plot is getting more mleh and mleh with every new book too, imo.

I'm currently trying to chew myself through Paolini's books. It took me 7 years to read Eragon. It's an okay book but as soon as I put it down... down it stays. Can't even recall how many times I had to reread first 100 pages. Now I'm on 20th page of Eldest for a month now... and already have Brisingr on my shelf waiting. So... it is not bad. But I don't see why it is So GOOD. :D

I completely agree about the Series of Unfortunate Events, but I can't say anything about the others because I haven't read them.

Gabrielle wrote: "I completely agree about the Series of Unfortunate Events, but I can't say anything about the others because I haven't read them."

Ugh the Series of Unfortunate Events, I don't think that anybody should read those! I really struggled to read the first 3 books (I think) and I didn't garner any satisfaction from them since it seemed that bad things kept happening without any hope in sight, the fact that someone could write an acclaimed series based on the concept of HOPELESSNESS makes me kind of sick!