Books you "should" love, but just don't

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know those books that everyone raves about .... "must reads". And try as you might, and as intellectually stimulating as they are, you just cannot read one more page.

For me it's A Prayer for Owen Meaney (John Irving). I just found it so tiresome.

What's yours?

Funny you mention this. So many people recommended A Prayer for Owen Meany to me. I finally read it a couple months ago and I hated it.

A Gentleman in Moscow is the book everyone loves but I hated. I read it as part of a book club otherwise I probably wouldn't have read more than 100 pages. It was much too wordy and descriptive for my taste. I did not need long descriptions of furniture in a hotel room.

I hated A Gentleman in Moscow and I've gotten so much sh--from everyone else in my life who loved it.

[Anonymous]

A little life
You should have known

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A Little Life. I put it down before page 50. I'm detention to read it some time in the future. I just hope my impression of the writing style is wrong (seemed really basic, and I'm no literati.)

Is that a book that we “should love”, though???? That book is beyond gruesome and disturbing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh Jonathan Franzen ugh.

I can read Irving, 100 years of Solitude, but this guy is just awful. I think he has some weird hangups that I'm just not interested in entertaining as a captive audience.

I honestly don’t know anyone who likes Franzen. Lots of readers have bought his books, but most seem to agree they’re whiny garbage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really hate everything that I've read by Ian McEwan, including Atonement, Amsterdam, The Comfort of Strangers, and others. It is unfathomable to me that he is a Man Booker winner. His work comes across as a 15 year old trying to be smart and subversive. However I happen to agree with many of his controversial political statements.

I really liked Atonement but I probably read it 15 years ago. I wonder if I would still like it.

This thread reminds me that I dislike most modern trendy books, especially the ones on some famous person's book club list.

[Anonymous]

Gentleman in Moscow. Tried 3 times and got to about page 200 the last time. Just couldn’t and I feel like the only one!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A little life
You should have known

I loved it- but hated Gentleman in Moscow

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where the Crawdads Sing, a typical book club book.

Yes! So many people raved about that book. I found it disappointing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A Little Life. I put it down before page 50. I'm detention to read it some time in the future. I just hope my impression of the writing style is wrong (seemed really basic, and I'm no literati.)

Is that a book that we “should love”, though???? That book is beyond gruesome and disturbing.

That could be said about any book that you don't personally want to read or find not to your taste. There are plenty of difficult books that people love.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Art of Racing in the Rain
Eat Pray Love

Me too! Such different books but really hated them both

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Untamed by Glennon Doyle! Unreadable.

So much this! It was intolerable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crossing to Safety. I like other Wallace Stegner, and my book club thought I was nuts, but I hated the people in that book so much (which is fine if the author is trying to write people who are unlikeable, but Stegner clearly wanted the couples to be sympathetic). I suppose my strong reaction means the book isn’t bad, though—I certainly want indifferent to it.

Oh, I loved this book. Wallace Stegner is one of my favorite authors. the Angle of Repose is just about the perfect book.

So enjoying this thread— amazing to see so many different perspectives on books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A Little Life. I put it down before page 50. I'm detention to read it some time in the future. I just hope my impression of the writing style is wrong (seemed really basic, and I'm no literati.)

Is that a book that we “should love”, though???? That book is beyond gruesome and disturbing.

That could be said about any book that you don't personally want to read or find not to your taste. There are plenty of difficult books that people love.

I have been 1/4 of the way through the book for a couple of years now. I love the writing, but can’t go on because each time I start to get into it I start crying and end up awake for hours feeling sad about this guys life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh Jonathan Franzen ugh.

I can read Irving, 100 years of Solitude, but this guy is just awful. I think he has some weird hangups that I'm just not interested in entertaining as a captive audience.

I honestly don’t know anyone who likes Franzen. Lots of readers have bought his books, but most seem to agree they’re whiny garbage.

OMG - totally agree. Never picked up anything after the Corrections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where the Crawdads Sing, a typical book club book.

Yes! So many people raved about that book. I found it disappointing.

It read like it was written by a middle or higher schooler.