Active GoodReaders discussion

This section is for books or parts of books that really irked you. Whether you just didn't enjoy the book itself, or you were annoyed by something in the book, feel free to get it off your chest here.

I have an author I can't stand....Joseph Conrad. I was required to read both Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim. I was surprised how an author could take plots so intriguing and completely destroy them by the way they are written. Only The Historian by Kostova could give Conrad a run for his money.

I read Lord Jim awhile ago, but don't remember much. I think this was one of those books that they author writes a lot to tell a pretty simple story...but I might be off.

My most recent REALLY annoying book was ROOM! I guess it is one of those love or hate books and I hated it! I almost never give a book a one start review but I did that one.

I couldnt stand Cassandra Clare's City of Bones. It annoyed me from the very beginning. I struggled to finish it and decided that I'm not touching another book of that woman ever again.

Jeshu wrote: "I couldnt stand Cassandra Clare's City of Bones. It annoyed me from the very beginning. I struggled to finish it and decided that I'm not touching another book of that woman ever again."

The first one I thought was ok, but then the second annoyed me so bad I didn't even bother finishing it. It just felt like a fantasy teenage soap opera to me and I was over it.

I agree with the soap opera thing. The twist between Clary and Jace reminded me of the plot twists of mexican/venezuelan soap operas; something like that always happened between the main characters. I grew up watching those shows thanks to my grandmother and, trust me, those twists are NEVER a good idea.
Ew.

I have not read either Lord Jim or Heart of Darkness yet, but both are on my challenge list, so I'll eventually get around to them. I read the Mortal Instruments trilogy. I have to admit, it was more interesting than the Twilight series, which was just plain idiotic. I read Room, & I liked it. I LOVE The Historian, I own the book. I get something new with each reading :)

I couldn't stand Slaughterhouse Five, I absolutely DETESTED Naked Lunch, I couldn't get through it, it was graphic & downright disgusting in parts. Another author I can't stand personally is Rushdie. I've read 2 of his books so far, Verses & the one about the Princess or something of Florence. I just didn't GET him, but there are others of his on my challenge list, which I'm avoiding like the plague at the moment.

Dierdra wrote: "My most recent REALLY annoying book was ROOM! I guess it is one of those love or hate books and I hated it! I almost never give a book a one start review but I did that one."

I heard it was really good so glad to see a negative comment on it!

Christina wrote: "Dierdra wrote: "My most recent REALLY annoying book was ROOM! I guess it is one of those love or hate books and I hated it! I almost never give a book a one start review but I did that one."

I hea..."

Yeah I read it because of all the 5 star reviews! I think these people are insane because I just don't get it! The book was HIGHLY annoying.

I hate when authors throw in random political comments/insults that don't have anything to do with the storyline. Even if I agree with them it seems like an ambush. I'm usually to aggravated to enjoy the rest of the book.

Melissa wrote: "Heather wrote: "I hate when authors throw in random political comments/insults that don't have anything to do with the storyline. Even if I agree with them it seems like an ambush. I'm usually to a..."

I agree. Wicked just got on my nerves, and this was one of the reasons. I'm here to read a good book, not to be preached to with your political/religious/whatever leanings. Just let me enjoy this.

I'm afraid I can't defend the book as I haven't read it but the musical is excellent!

Oh I've heard that the musical is amazing, but from friends who have both seen the musical and read the book, I understand that they are completely different

Well, I'll just have to read the book and find out for myself :)

Melissa wrote: "Rachel wrote: "Oh I've heard that the musical is amazing, but from friends who have both seen the musical and read the book, I understand that they are completely different"

They are! One of my ve..."

This I agree with. The musical Wicked is one of my favourites, it's a heartwarming (and maybe slightly Disney-like) story that does have a good moral but no real political agenda.

There are a few things I like in the book (like, Fiyero with his diamonds, aww) but overall I think the play is the better story.

I saw the play and it was wonderful! I quit the book about half-way through. I just had no desire whatsoever to continue on.

I still have trouble giving up on a book even when I
don't like it.I'm currently reading and I'm really not getting into it, but it's hard to put aside..I keep hoping the
book improves but sometimes it doesn't.

Alans wrote: "I still have trouble giving up on a book even when I
don't like it.I'm currently reading and I'm really not getting into it, but it's hard to put aside..I keep hoping the
b..."

I had heard a few good things about that book but it was never something that looked overly interesting to me. I hope it gets better tho, how far into the book are you?

No one seems to have mentioned The Lovely Bones yet, at first glance I thought yeah this is an okay book, then I just thought about it and the ending just really pisses me off. It's like, okay fair enough the author was raped and I guess writing TLB was a way for her to deal with it, good for her. But what I don't understand is how she can be okay with the ending when isn't that rape too? but during the time it's not shown as rape, just "love" in a ridiculously strange way.
I don't know I just have a really big problem with that.

I'm currently reading Little Gypsy: A Life of Freedom, a Time of Secrets and so far it's doing nothing for me.

I didn't know the author of TLB was raped. No I agree that ending was just too weird for me.

Yeah, after it had happened (I'm not sure how long after) she walked past him in the street and he said something to her/eyed her up and down and she recognised who it was and managed to get him sent down.
Something like that anyway.
I agree, the book up to that point was good though, but it just ruined it for me.

Oh wow that is intense! Yeah I agree I liked the book except for that, and how the family just accepts the mom mistakes and the sister names her daughter after the mom.

wfpoppet wrote: "Re: Heart of Darkness and Slaughterhouse Five - I did not enjoy either of these when I had to read them for high school literature classes. They are both on one of my challenge lists; I'm curious ..."

I have decided to never read Wicked because I LOVE the musical and with what I have read about the book I think it might ruin it for me.

I have never seen the musical, but I have read all of Maguire's books. I ignored the political agendas & just enjoyed the stories, they are definitely imaginative twists on old fairy tales we grew up on, LOL.

I have not yet read either of the 2 Conrad books, & all the negativity makes me very hesitant to try them, LOL. I suppose I'll get around to them eventually, because they are on the Boxall's 1001 list, which is my challenge list, as well as the banned/challenged book lists, & I'm also trying to read through those.

Linda wrote: "wfpoppet wrote: "Re: Heart of Darkness and Slaughterhouse Five - I did not enjoy either of these when I had to read them for high school literature classes. They are both on one of my challenge li..."

I was never able to get into Gregory Maguire's books but I also LOVED Wicked and would love to see it again and again and again. Funny but we were listening to the album yesteray on our way to see another fave, Godspell.

Dierdra wrote: "Alans wrote: "I still have trouble giving up on a book even when I
don't like it.I'm currently reading and I'm really not getting into it, but it's hard to put aside..I keep ..."

I listened to Away and really loved the book. While it was somewhat reminiscent of tales I've heard about people coming to America, the characters were quite unique, especially the mother. I also recommend reading Inventing Memory by Erica Jong which chronicles the lives of three genrations of women- the first of whom came to this country.

Lauren wrote: "No one seems to have mentioned The Lovely Bones yet, at first glance I thought yeah this is an okay book, then I just thought about it and the ending just really pisses me off. It's..."

I am so glad someone shares my views on this, I thought the 'sex' part was terrible, because she is still only a 14 year old girl - ok, she has grown up in heaven, but has she? I haven't seen the film, I couldn't after really hating the book. Disappointing, as after the first few chapters I was hooked and thought it would be brilliant. so wrong.

Gemma wrote: "Lauren wrote: "No one seems to have mentioned The Lovely Bones yet, at first glance I thought yeah this is an okay book, then I just thought about it and the ending just really piss..."

Haven't read the book, but hated the film. I felt they really sold it wrong - the trailers made it appear to be a paranormal thriller and that was not at all what we got! Hugely disappointing.

Bookboy wrote: "Gemma wrote: "Lauren wrote: "No one seems to have mentioned The Lovely Bones yet, at first glance I thought yeah this is an okay book, then I just thought about it and the ending ju..."

That's interesting, I won't watch the film because I hated the book, they sometimes do change the film but that has made my mind up!

Gemma wrote: "Lauren wrote: "No one seems to have mentioned The Lovely Bones yet, at first glance I thought yeah this is an okay book, then I just thought about it and the ending just really piss..."

Yeah I don't think she ages in heaven either cause she is still imaging and creating the things she wanted that she wanted as a 14 year old...

The Bell Jar may appear to be pretentious in the year 2012 and perhaps you read it at a younger age. But when it was written and the eventual demise of Sylvia Plath was hardly pretentious.

I initially skimmed through House Rules and didn't much like it. But then I got the audio and what a difference. I have lots of kids in school who suffer from Asperger's Syndrome and this gave me a slight look at it from different points of view. I thin k the crime segments may have come from some book or tv show but Jacob might have written them.

Crazy what different people think of a book. House Rules was my first and will be my only Jodi Picoult book. I hated it.

I would hate for anybody to judge an author by one book. Jodi has written some spectacular novels with unforgettable characters. Read The Pact, Sing You Home or Handle with Care.

I never would have read this book except I was told that the was no child death or pain in it, so I gave it a try. I don't get into the depressing type of books that Picoult writes.

To tell the truth, Jodi writes about some very challenging issues, children dealing with suciidal thoughts, a school faced with the aftermath of a Columbine type event and a child who suffers from brittle bone disease are among her subjects. But she handles them well and while you may find her b ooks sad there is an element of learning from them which I enjoyed.

Over the past week I was reading Blue Sky Days. I got it free in exchange for a review. The book was truly awful. I knew a few chapters into it that this was one of those book that I was going to really struggle to finish. I basically had to speed read through most of the book, promising myself I'd treat myself to a really great book afterwards.

I don't find its a lot of YA books but I see an awful lot of vampire, witch etc, books filling up the folders.

I agree! Ya is accomplishing its mission of taking over the world, or teens are accomplishing their mission of taking over goodreads. Or both.

I've enjoyed some Ya titles, and I still enjoy them becasue they're a light read, and when I'm full of stuff to do at uni, a light read is a blessing. However, I don't think the genre is THAT great as publishers want to make us believe.

I love YA books but only the ones that try to do their own thing and aren't pale copies of another book (in other words you almost never catch me reading any YA vampire book that's come out in the last 5 years, except for the Blue Bloods series)

I have seen a lot of YA around GR but I've always figured that's because I belong to several YA book clubs and do have several YA books on my to-read and read lists.

It's just what's popular. Personally, I think it's a good thing that young people are reading at all with technology & such the way it is.

Plus, I think on GR adults are more likely to admit/talk about their like of YA books because it's such a common interest.

That, I'll give you. I have observed on the more adult lit lists that YA books are showing up, and that is a bit annoying.

& no offense taken. I'm 20 & love both YA and adult genres. :)

Chenoa, totally get that. I just went to look at the Most Popular Books Published in May 2012 and at least the first 20 or 30 places were taken up with YA. I get that they're popular, and I like YA as much as the next guy (last book I read was Insurgent) but it would be nice to see some other age groups represented!

My new pet peeve: self-published Kindle books. Yes, I'm a cheapskate and pick-up a lot of cheap books on their give-away day, but even so.

The spelling, the grammar; there is a reason that books need editors people!

The most basic grammatical errors ruin the flow of a book for me as each one grates on my nerves. These same authors always seem to have trouble writing dialogue to. Wooden as a tree - how hard is it to imagine a conversation in your head and put it down on paper.

Yes, I am being overly critical, but a lot of these would be good> books if it weren't for these deficiencies.

Ellie wrote: "Over the past week I was reading Blue Sky Days. I got it free in exchange for a review. The book was truly awful. I knew a few chapters into it that this was one of those book that I was going to ..."

I haven't read that one - I did once get a free book although they only asked me to review it if I liked it (which I did). I know the sort of book though; my Kindle is full of them as I had no reason to keep on trying to read them.

If those that are sick of YA, which I fully admit I am, want to read adult books, start by looking through Listopia at the lists that have classic novels, greatest novels, etc. Or, you can start working on the 1001 Book list. That is ALL adult lit, with VERY few exceptions, unless you want to classify some of Dickens as YA. I'm also completely sick of the paranormal romance(it's really soft porn) crap taking over all of the lists. They are all Twi-Tard knock offs.

I did eventually get around to reading Heart of Darkness, & I'll have to agree, the story could have been SO much better if he'd left a lot of the extraneous stuff out & just told the story. The story itself was actually very good. Dark, but good.