Anonymous wrote: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.

Reading Crossing to Safety now. Really, really am annoyed by Larry. Will finish this new hate read. Was excited because I am from Wisconsin and went to UW Madison but so far no love from the author there ha.

Anonymous wrote:Who are these people that didn’t like The Kite Runner and The Da Vinci Code???? I was profoundly affected by The Kite Runner. I thought about it for weeks. The Da Vinci Code was such a great blend of history and fiction to tell a fascinating story. The movie couldn’t hold a candle to the book.

I hated Eat Pray Love. She was so lacking in self awareness and was not likeable at all.

The Da Vinci Code read as if written by a high schooler and the "history" has been solidly debunked. I'm not Catholic, and I'm also open to the possibility that Jesus was married, even to Mary Magdalene. But the idea that Jesus and Mary sailed off into the sunset and France and founded dynasty/bloodline there crumbled when the supposed modern head of that dynasty, Pierre Plantard, admitted it was an elaborate hoax. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Plantard

I'm 100% with you on loving The Kite Runner and hating Eat Pray Love. When she arrived in India and walked past impoverished people on her way into her luxurious ashram, paid for by her publisher, I wanted to throw the book.

Who are these people that didn’t like The Kite Runner and The Da Vinci Code???? I was profoundly affected by The Kite Runner. I thought about it for weeks. The Da Vinci Code was such a great blend of history and fiction to tell a fascinating story. The movie couldn’t hold a candle to the book.

I hated Eat Pray Love. She was so lacking in self awareness and was not likeable at all.

Anonymous wrote:The Underground Railroad

Hard-pressed to give this a 3/5

Edward P. Jones' 2003 The Known World is a MUCH better novel concerning slavery

In general, Colson Whitehead is vastly overrated

I really disliked The Underground Railroad, too. Also, The Lovely Bones and The Dutch House.

Anonymous wrote:Gone Girl. Yuck.

+1. Found her so pretentious

Anonymous wrote:The Vanishing Half. But, I dislike the often cold and remkoved narrators of litfic.

Ugh totally agree. Only got the press because of the race and LGBTQ themes. Was not nearly as engaging as other books in the same genre...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:hated the corrections by jonathan franzen - and all other boy wonder books that really just boil down to rotten men behaving badly

LOL. I plowed through it but couldn't understand the hype. I made it through Freedom because I'm a birder like Franzen. Have no interest in his latest trilogy.

I quite liked The Corrections, for all its unlikeable characters. I enjoy male authors who write “domestic” novels with lots of dialogue- sort of a glimpse into the male brain. I find once I read about an author (what is problematic/controversial about them) it is difficult to objectively judge their work. That said, I found Freedom interminable and could not finish.

The Goldfinch. Quite possibly the most boring prose ever written.

The Underground Railroad

Hard-pressed to give this a 3/5

Edward P. Jones' 2003 The Known World is a MUCH better novel concerning slavery

In general, Colson Whitehead is vastly overrated

Anonymous wrote:Hillbilly Elegy. Felt like the author was just aggressively missing the irony of hating his mother and deifying his grandfather while preaching that everything is about upbringing.

I liked the stories of his family. But all that pontificating. And all his poor me examples. He was the worst thing about that book.

Anonymous wrote:The Secret History. I found myself laughing at the ridiculous, overwrought plot. I still don't understand why so many people love it.

True. After all the hype, I was underwhelmed. I didn’t hate it the way I hated The Goldfinch, though.

The Secret History. I found myself laughing at the ridiculous, overwrought plot. I still don't understand why so many people love it.

Gone Girl. Yuck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Overstory. The first part was good, but once the main story started, I lost all interest. My good friend, who reads as much as I do, said exactly the same thing. And yet it spent many weeks on the bestseller list, at least locally. I wonder how many people actually finished it!

I read it for for a book club and it’s one of my favorite books ever. But nobody else in the book club finished it.

I loved it too. I’m not in a book club but I have an email chain with a few other like-minded readers where we exchange book opinions and I could not even persuade anyone else to try it.

Anonymous wrote:I never liked anything by Hilary Mantel. I was sort of astonished by her popularity given how opaque and convoluted her writing style. But then not everything appeals to everyone, right?

Me, too. And I love historical fiction. I couldn’t even get through the first episode of the Wolf Hall miniseries either.