Books I Loathed discussion

I have read four awful books in a row. Am beginning to wonder if my taste meter is out of wack. The titles are "The Friday Night Knitting Club", "Away", "Knitting Under the Influence" and "Thirteen Moons".
I couldn't finish Away, it was just that bad. Thirteen Moons was slogging my way through. The other two were "what was I thinking?" garbage.

So true about Friday Night Knitting Club. I had heard good things and wanted to like it, but noooooo - just Yukky - it was like reading Danielle Steele, one of my non-favorite authors. I haven't read the others, but if you didn't like them, I probably wouldn't either.

I really don't recommend Knitting Under The Influence. I can't believe it was published. Away was just bad. I can hardly find the words to describe it. None of these books were very good.

Hi, Lynette. We didn't have a ton in common when I compared our books, but from what we did both like I recommend The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox. It’s a mystery set in the Victorian era, but it was written a couple of years ago. It's a somewhat complex story with a main character who kills someone in the first chapter and spends the rest of the book explaining his motive for the murder. Needless to say, the story behind it is very involved and includes a number of well-drawn characters. The atmosphere is very moody, rainy late 19-century London and its environs. If that's up your alley, I recommend it. The best part is, there's another book in the series (called "The Glass of Time") which I haven't read but seems good, too. I hope this helps get you out of your bad book slump. : )

Hmmm...perhaps it is best to avoid books with "knitting" in the title?

Even though I crochet, rather than knit, I have read numerous mysteries with 'Knit' in the title and some were better than others, but you do begin to predict some things. One thing is a little shop with a charming bell that rings whenever someone leaves or enters. Something always happens to the bell right before a break-in or murder in the shop. The rest isn't all that hard to predict, but descriptions of yarn, patterns, people, lives and other things will make some of them 'hook' you into reading another.

Totally agree about Friday Night Knitting Club! I just read it for book club and felt like I could've sat there with my check list and marked off every awful chick lit stereotype. Feminist? Check. Wise, older woman? Check. Single mom? Check.

Absolutely nothing in this book was ground breaking, and I was semi offended in some parts at the portrayal of "real" women (only semi because I wasn't all that interested in devoting much energy to such a mediocre book).

And really...can't we get through ONE story about women without cancer killing someone off? What a tired old plot device.

Now that I think about it, all the books I've read that were "women's fiction" had a character that died of cancer. After a while they all feel the same, as if you were reading the same book but with a different title. Which is why I refuse to read women's fiction anymore.