Mediocre books being popular

[Anonymous]

I may be a bit of a weirdo but reading a good book/author review from a legitimate source can entice me to read a book.
Even if those reviews are written on the cover or inside.
Also if a celebrity has enforced it - - I will also take that as a sign the book is a good read (like from Oprah or Reece’s book club.)

Zero logic I know.

[Anonymous]

*endorsed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BookTok (the original site that got younger readers reading Colleen Hoover, as an example) type videos are now all over Instagram and even Facebook. A lot of regular readers are driving reading right now.

I've also noticed that a lot of reader promoted books are diversity and/or progressive pushes, more than simply a great reads.

+1M clearly there is an agenda with the books being published these days.

And no obama doesn't read these he endorses whom ever pays him the most to.

I hadn't heard anything about Obama being paid. But he, like many, have an agenda on what he (his team) thinks people should read that furthers their beliefs. And many of the young editors who are buying these days are progressive. As a result, they are buying progressive and/or diverse manuscripts.

yeah but I dont think Kirin Desai is included in the diversity push- she was famous way back in the dark ages of when I was in high school in the late 90s. same with Salman Rushdie, jhumpa Lahiri, Chinua Achebe, Jamaica Kincaid. there have been writers of color who get popular and have been for decades- I dont think its fair to include them in the 'progressive agenda'. and all of these others wrote about colonialism and color. id argue that a non Urdu speaking reader wont grasp 30% of a Rushdie novel without annotation. he is having side convo with North Indians in all of his novels that English only readers cant pick up on and he's been writing for decades! Achebe and Kincaid are dead and ppl read them in high school lit classes in the 1990s. I know what you all are referencing b/c it is very evident in booktok for kids- lists of "diverse" books to replace children's classics that aren't nearly as well written.

[Anonymous]

I thought the DaVinci Code was incredibly over hyped. When I read it I was surprised at what a huge hit it was.

[Anonymous]

Don’t talk there are people on this sub forum who talked about reading books that are a “struggle.” A lot of people read books that they think they ought to.

[Anonymous]

I feel this way about every Frieda McFadden book. These are awful cookie cutter books that seem to be written by and for 8th graders. I know about the author - she is a doc. However, she is a terrible storyteller. Yet, book clubs full of drolls read these books and are prolific social media posters.

[Anonymous]

I’d love to hear more from the bestselling authors who have posted on this thread! Would love to hear recommendations and about your own books.

[Anonymous]

I think 3.76 is actually a pretty good rating from good reads. It’s pretty hard to have a universally loved book. And when a book is particularly popular, it gets a lot of ratings which tends to drive the overall score down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think 3.76 is actually a pretty good rating from good reads. It’s pretty hard to have a universally loved book. And when a book is particularly popular, it gets a lot of ratings which tends to drive the overall score down.

It's mediocre for Goodreads, but what is popular on Goodreads isn't super straightforward.

Also, I do personally like break books. I've read plenty of classics, sometimes you just need an easy relaxation book. It doesn't even have to be that good to scratch that part of your brain.

[Anonymous]

I have noticed the recent genre of Immigration Trauma Lit. There are so many trauma dumping stories in the American story market. These books are not getting international publishing rights because very few people outside of yhe US is interested in it.
I also would not call them writers. They are very much story-tellers. Good writing has a way with words that transports and lends depth to the narrative. Storytelling is just that - this happened, then that happened....as if writing a screenplay draft.
Amy Tan & Edwidge Danticat are prime examples of well known Immigration Trauma Lit storytellers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is far from "mediocre." I read it, and would not only put it as #1 of the books I read last year, but maybe #1 of all of the books I've read the last several years.

And I have an MFA in creative writing with a fiction concentration that I got in a 3-yr program with a lit-heavy component. And my mentor was a relatively famous lit critic. So I feel like I know when a novel could fairly be described as "mediocre."

But to put Sonia and Sunny aside ...

In case you aren't trolling ... why are mediocre books often popular? Because people like an easy read. And brilliant literature is often not an easy read (although sometimes it is).

I'm a NYT bestselling author. I think "good fiction" frequently only shines a light on an experience, rather than taking the reader on a journey from start to finish. Good fiction that does really well not only shines a light, but grabs the reader and takes them on a journey that has some sort of payoff at the end -- be it good, bad or sad. Beyond that, in a social media world filled with constant dopamine hits, most readers don't have the patience anymore for good fiction if it isn't written with a driving narrative.

I'm not saying this is good or bad, just accepting what I have found to be true.

Plenty of readers have "the patience" for books that aren't "written with a driving narrative." People still read Proust, FFS. But I can see where a "NYT bestselling author" might be confused about that.

This made me smile. Plenty of us who are NYT bestselling authors come out of highly regarded MFA programs. I know all about people reading Proust, "FFS." But you are kidding yourself to think that "plenty" of people are reading Proust for enjoyment. That cohort is older and mostly no longer buying books. Some? Sure. Plenty? No. Beyond that, we are talking about popular books that are deemed literary in this thread. Not classics. Those are two very different categories of books. This is a discussion about why some people rave about Sonia and Sunny and others think it's boring. That has nothing to do with Proust.

So did you, a "NYT bestselling author" (along with the "plenty of you" that "came out of highly regarded MFA programs" lol), read The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny or not? Perhaps if you had you would understand why it was shortlisted for the Booker even without what I think you mean by a "driving narrative" (which in my experience most in "highly regarded MFA programs" aren't too concerned with, and I have more experience with MFA programs than you could guess at, but whatever). Oh, and it's a NYT bestseller as well. Kinda like Fifty Shades of Gray and everything written by Colleen Hoover (and you?).

Other people on this thread: If you like literary fiction, especially sweeping narratives that explore cultural inheritance and the lasting effects of intergenerational trauma, loneliness and the human drive toward connection, or the contemporary immigrant experience, you should read this beautifully crafted book. If you normally can't handle anything longer than 250 pages and need a "driving narrative" such as is found in a James Patterson novel, the Sonia and Sunny probably isn't for you (or the PP here).

WTAH is wrong with you, PP? It’s cool we have a bestselling author on here and she (?) wrote nothing deserving of your ire.

Author PP: did you participate in the Bad Art Friend thread on here? There were so many great posts from published writers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BookTok (the original site that got younger readers reading Colleen Hoover, as an example) type videos are now all over Instagram and even Facebook. A lot of regular readers are driving reading right now.

I've also noticed that a lot of reader promoted books are diversity and/or progressive pushes, more than simply a great reads.

+1M clearly there is an agenda with the books being published these days.

And no obama doesn't read these he endorses whom ever pays him the most to.

I hadn't heard anything about Obama being paid. But he, like many, have an agenda on what he (his team) thinks people should read that furthers their beliefs. And many of the young editors who are buying these days are progressive. As a result, they are buying progressive and/or diverse manuscripts.

yeah but I dont think Kirin Desai is included in the diversity push- she was famous way back in the dark ages of when I was in high school in the late 90s. same with Salman Rushdie, jhumpa Lahiri, Chinua Achebe, Jamaica Kincaid. there have been writers of color who get popular and have been for decades- I dont think its fair to include them in the 'progressive agenda'. and all of these others wrote about colonialism and color. id argue that a non Urdu speaking reader wont grasp 30% of a Rushdie novel without annotation. he is having side convo with North Indians in all of his novels that English only readers cant pick up on and he's been writing for decades! Achebe and Kincaid are dead and ppl read them in high school lit classes in the 1990s. I know what you all are referencing b/c it is very evident in booktok for kids- lists of "diverse" books to replace children's classics that aren't nearly as well written.

Agree, read all of those ages ago.

Also, no, Obama does not craft his own lists (nor does he get paid to endorse).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have noticed the recent genre of Immigration Trauma Lit. There are so many trauma dumping stories in the American story market. These books are not getting international publishing rights because very few people outside of yhe US is interested in it.
I also would not call them writers. They are very much story-tellers. Good writing has a way with words that transports and lends depth to the narrative. Storytelling is just that - this happened, then that happened....as if writing a screenplay draft.
Amy Tan & Edwidge Danticat are prime examples of well known Immigration Trauma Lit storytellers.

Amy Tan isn’t recent. I remember reading her when I was in college in the early 90s.

[Anonymous]

Mediocre as in not great literature or mediocre as in you didn’t enjoy the book?
I personally am a huge fan of science fiction from the 40s through 70s and sometimes up to the 90s. Some of it is total junk but I love it, it’s like eating candy. I’ve been reading this stuff since I was a teenager and my husband laughs when he sees me with another paperback with a lurid cover of two planets smashing into each other or some such.
If you have to force yourself to get through the book, forget it. Read what makes you happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People like an easy read.

And that's totally fine.

There's lots of popular literature that I could not force myself to read, and I'm sure true literary snobs would look down on things I've enjoyed. If people read and get something out of it, all good as far as I'm concerned.

Word. Just read what you like.