Go Fug Yourself Book Club discussion

Does anyone have authors whose work they hate, and everyone else seems to love? I keep trying with some of these, but I need to stop. Clearly the problem is me, but I just can't. Mine are:

Liane Moriarty
Laura Hillenbrand
Tom Perrota
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Gillian Flynn
Paula Hawkins
Lori Notaro
Jenny Lawson

I am not alone, right?

Admittedly, if I hate a book, I'm unlikely to ever read anything by that author again. It doesn't matter how universally beloved their other books are, I just lose all interest. Which is maybe really petty of me, but I just can't get excited about these:

Zadie Smith
William Styron
Jonathan Franzen (although I know he's polarizing anyway)
Joan Didion
Jennifer Egan
Colum McCann
Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Allie wrote: "Admittedly, if I hate a book, I'm unlikely to ever read anything by that author again. It doesn't matter how universally beloved their other books are, I just lose all interest. Which is maybe real..."

LOL, you should read all my authors listed above because this is a list of some of my favorites (other than Garcia Marquez, can't stand him.) It is so surprising how different taste is! I actually have a friend who I do that with, when she hates a book she gives it to me because I will generally love it (and vice versa.)

David Sedaris. Nope.

Kris wrote: "David Sedaris. Nope."

And there is another one! I actually don't love reading Sedaris, I do the audio, but I love the audio. (not counting Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk which I hated.)

Bonnie wrote: "Allie wrote: "Admittedly, if I hate a book, I'm unlikely to ever read anything by that author again. It doesn't matter how universally beloved their other books are, I just lose all interest. Which..."

I've read some of yours already! Like (not love) Lawson/Flynn/Moriarty. But I've never read Perrota. Based on descriptions I could either love or hate him... guess we'll see! Added a couple new options.

@Kris, Sedaris is definitely a particular taste. I happen to think he's funny, but my mother in law went to see Santaland Diaries last year at a local theater and HAAAAATED it.

Allie wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Allie wrote: "Admittedly, if I hate a book, I'm unlikely to ever read anything by that author again. It doesn't matter how universally beloved their other books are, I just lose all ..."

When I lived in Atlanta (up until last year) Santaland Diaries was our Christmas tradition!

Louisa May Alcott
Jonathan Franzen x 1000

Thank you for Louisa May Alcott! I feel so guilty that I do not love Little Women.

Rainbow Rowell
Emma Cline
Nicholas Sparks

Re: Sedaris - Love him! It really does come down to the voice, I attended a show first, so I had that wonderful voice in my head as I read his stories. I cannot image the fun of growing up with both Amy and David Sedaris.

Gigi wrote: "Thank you for Louisa May Alcott! I feel so guilty that I do not love Little Women.

Rainbow Rowell
Emma Cline
Nicholas Sparks

Re: Sedaris - Love him! It really does come down to the voice, I att..."

I read Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim and loved it, then stumbled across Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk and was so traumatised I could never bear to pick up one of his books again...

I really want to like Zadie Smith but all of her books post-White Teeth make me roll my eyes so hard I get a headache after two pages..

Gigi wrote: "Thank you for Louisa May Alcott! I feel so guilty that I do not love Little Women.

Rainbow Rowell
Emma Cline
Nicholas Sparks

Re: Sedaris - Love him! It really does come down to the voice, I att..."
YESSSS on all 3 authors. I simply do not understand what people saw in The Girls. Rainbow Rowell I don't hate, but I also don't like -- for me it is by the book YA, even when she is writing for adults (though I think her books might make fun movies.) And speaking of movies, not only can't I read Sparks, I can't watch the movies. My other confession is that though I know every woman is supposed to love it, I have never been able to get through The Notebook (though an ex-boyfriend and I once had it on the background with no sound while we cuddled and talked, and it works great for that -- that movie is filled with pretty.

HJ- Re Sedaris, yeah, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk was unreadable. I fully understand your trauma! Try to push through and read When You Are Engulfed in Flames. I listened to that in the car, and once I laughed so hard (it was his essay about going to a dentist in Paris for the first time) I could not go in the green light because I couldn't see through my tears.

H.J. wrote: "I really want to like Zadie Smith but all of her books post-White Teeth make me roll my eyes so hard I get a headache after two pages.."

LOL. I suggested White Teeth for my book club a couple years back because the description called it a "dark comedy," but no one liked it, it wasn't humorous in any way, and I think I was the only one who finished ...

Bonnie wrote: "Gigi wrote: "Thank you for Louisa May Alcott! I feel so guilty that I do not love Little Women.

Rainbow Rowell
Emma Cline
Nicholas Sparks

Re: Sedaris - Love him! It really does come down to the..."

I know EXACTLY what you're talking about! Happy, good-time teeth! XD

Allie wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Gigi wrote: "Thank you for Louisa May Alcott! I feel so guilty that I do not love Little Women.

Rainbow Rowell
Emma Cline
Nicholas Sparks

Re: Sedaris - Love him! It really does c..."

Yes! Seriously, I had to pull over. Hilarious!

H.J. wrote: "I really want to like Zadie Smith but all of her books post-White Teeth make me roll my eyes so hard I get a headache after two pages.."

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk was . . . not good. Thankfully I had read a few other books first and just tried to ignore it.

Zadie Smith is hard for me. I really want to like her, but On Beauty was the only book I can say I enjoyed. I did not read White Teeth.

Bonnie wrote: "Gigi wrote: "Thank you for Louisa May Alcott! I feel so guilty that I do not love Little Women.

Rainbow Rowell
Emma Cline
Nicholas Sparks

Re: Sedaris - Love him! It really does come down to the..."

I am with you regarding The Notebook. I detest both the book and the movie, it is just too much!

Gigi wrote: "H.J. wrote: "I really want to like Zadie Smith but all of her books post-White Teeth make me roll my eyes so hard I get a headache after two pages.."

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk was . . . not good. Th..."
I liked both On Beauty and White Teeth quite a bit, but the last two have been very meh for me.

Emma Donoghue
Charles Dickens
Jack Kerouac

Loved Kerouac when I was 15. Changed my life. Tried to read it again in my 30's and I hated it. Ditto Catcher in tjr Rye.

Bonnie wrote: "Does anyone have authors whose work they hate, and everyone else seems to love? I keep trying with some of these, but I need to stop. Clearly the problem is me, but I just can't. Mine are:

Liane M..."

Jeez! How could i forget Bill Bryson. I got yelled at yesterday by some rando woman at the bookstore for saying I don't enjoy his books when SPECIFICALLY asked by someone.

Another non-fan of Zadie Smith's books here. I've also not enjoyed Neil Gaiman, except for Neverwhere, which I absolutely loved. It was the first Gaiman I'd read, and I've been disappointed by everything else of his.
I read a lot of YA, but I just can't even with the 5th Wave series. Ugh.

I'll say on Louisa May Alcott, loved her books as a kid but reread as an adult and OMG so sappy!

Even though I an watching the White Princess as I write this, Philippa Gregory. Love her subjects but can't stand her writing style. Grates on my nerves.

And lots of the popular authors: Stephanie Meyer, Diana Gabalon, EL Grey

And thank you all for Zadie Smith- I always think I should like her but always quit her books quickly

Little Women is definitely harder to read and like as an adult. I had a similar problem with Tamora Pierce.

I also reject Neal Stephenson. I gave a few books of his a shot, since he's such a big figure in SFF, but his endings are a mess and the women have no agency/are massive Bechdel test failures.

Johnathan Safran Foer. I read Everything is Illuminated, and after 50 or so pages of growing disbelief, I hate-read the rest of the book.

James Joyce. Granted, I've never read Ulysses, but Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was so excruciatingly bad I'm not willing to take the chance.

Dllauer wrote: "Johnathan Safran Foer. I read Everything is Illuminated, and after 50 or so pages of growing disbelief, I hate-read the rest of the book.

James Joyce. Granted, I've never read Ulysses, but Portra..."

I guarantee you if you did not like Portrait of the Artist you will despise Ulysses. Portrait is a cakewalk compared to that, and Finnegan's Wake is the most convoluted and needlessly challenging of them all. I love JSF down to his narcissistic little soul, he is a must-read for me, but he is one of those writers where I entirely understand why he doesn't work for many other readers.

Can you tell me why you like JSF? In Everything is Illuminated, which I expected to like, I went from amused to incredulous to disbelieving to impatient to actually annoyed in the first 50 or so pages. I don't generally get annoyed at authors; if I'm not grabbed by their writing I just don't read their books, but JSF somehow rode my every nerve. I was so mad at him that it made me laugh.

Dllauer wrote: "Can you tell me why you like JSF? In Everything is Illuminated, which I expected to like, I went from amused to incredulous to disbelieving to impatient to actually annoyed in the first 50 or so pa..."

That is a hard question. I will try. I love JSF's writing because he does magical things with language, flips and swirls and totally unexpected combinations of words and phrases that add so many layers of meaning to every sentence and which are also just flat out gorgeous. Every book is like a prose poem. I love JSF's writing because he connects every event and thought into the protaganists' multi directional relationships to family and tribe and God and self, and that is no mean feat. By doing that JSF always evokes in me an internal conversation about the complicated and fundamental questions. I learn so much from him. Also, I think he is funny as hell. He can get to precious for his own good, sometimes in Everything is Illuminated, but even more in Extremely Loud. (This is the reason his books are generally 4-star reads for me rather than 5, even though I think they are amazing. If he would kill a few of his darlings his books would be even more wonderful and he would get that fifth star from me.) I jsut went back and read my review for his last book, and it probably explains this better than I would here, so if you are interested https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...