Anonymous wrote:The Devil in the White City. I skipped every chapter about the pervert, it seemed a blatant effort to get a wider audience that enjoys salacious sensationalism. I'm sure the movie will dwell heavily on that plotline.

The serial killer? That’s…what the whole book is about. The serial killer and the World’s Fair. So yes, I’d imagine both of those things will feature prominently in the movie.

I don't understand how book recommendations / similarities work. I liked Hunger Games. How did people think I would like Maze Runner or Divergent? How are those books popular? Why are the considered similar? Why is The Giver good? I think I named 3 bad books here, but I don't know if they count because they shouldn't be popular.

The Red Tent

…and the book that almost cratered my book club and a close friendship—Crossing to Safety. So so hate those patronizing people.

Anonymous wrote:Kite Runner

Really? Thought it was really well written and heartbreaking...not sure I loved the end though.

Anonymous wrote:Atonement. I couldn't even get through a quarter of it. My MIL, who is British and an avid reader, couldn't either.

OMG, me too. I liked other books he wrote but HATED this. Just disliked all the characters I think. Never found anyone else who didn't like it.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a big no on anything by Elizabeth Strout. Really disliked Olive Kitteredge and outright hated My Name is Lucy Barton.

Love all her books. Like candy, so easy to read but some of her sentences just resonate with me....

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Anonymous wrote:100 years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and many Salman Rushdie novels - he is apparently brilliant but I can’t warm to his writing style …

Love in the time of cholera is perhaps one of my favorite books of all time. Couldn’t get through 100 years.

Same about Love in the Time of Cholera. Loved 100 years too...but I read it over a long period of time and just appreciated each excerpt I read for what it was...was hard to keep the overall narrative going. Was the first book of that style I ever read and I was mesmerized by it; I was young... no idea what I would think now!

Anonymous wrote:Goldfinch, ugh was it every going to end. Also The Giving Tree, yeah the kid's book.

Same! I actually never finished Goldfinch. I should have quit it long before I did. What a waste of time!

Anonymous wrote:My Brilliant Friend. This book seemed like it was made up as she went along. They didn't even seem like friends, and their life trajectories didn't even make sense. Totally random nonsense in a Neapolitan setting.

HBO series is great though...acting and visually. Some of the story is soap opera like, but I still loved it.

Anonymous wrote:The Poisonwood Bible. I really like Kingsolver’s earlier fiction, but I couldn’t get through this one.
Ditto for the Crawdads book and The Goldfinch — which was disappointing, since I really liked reading the Secret History.

I liked the Poisonwood Bible...not as much as her others but definitely was engaged in it.

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Anonymous wrote:the Bible

fair enough. But there are actually 39 books in the OT and 27 books in the NT, and some of them are pretty good

Agreed … plus so much of both western civilization and colonized societies have endless cultural and artistic references to Bible stories … it is not kumbahyah reading

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I've been hesitating on Where The Crawdads Sing. Usually if it's really raved about I end up disgusted that I wasted my time.

I was disgusted by the book itself and that I wasted my time on it.

Agree, it completely fell apart in the second half.

My Brilliant Friend. This book seemed like it was made up as she went along. They didn't even seem like friends, and their life trajectories didn't even make sense. Totally random nonsense in a Neapolitan setting.

The Devil in the White City. I skipped every chapter about the pervert, it seemed a blatant effort to get a wider audience that enjoys salacious sensationalism. I'm sure the movie will dwell heavily on that plotline.

Anonymous wrote:To Kill a Mocking Bird
The Death of a Salesman
Twilight

A lot of others I can't think of.

I've been hesitating on Where The Crawdads Sing. Usually if it's really raved about I end up disgusted that I wasted my time.

I was disgusted by the book itself and that I wasted my time on it.