Popular books that you dislike...

[Yvonne]

Having everyone trot out their best re-reads got me thinking... what books do you personally dislike that everyone else seems to love?

For me, it's Anne Bishop's. Everyone loves her Black Jewels books but I just couldn't get into them. The characters didn't speak to me and the plot didn't enthrall me. I tried, I really did, but...

Also, unless you're talking about the first two or so books in the Anita Blake series, anything by Laurel K. Hamilton. Too much porn, too little plot!

What about you? Anything that you really tried to like but just couldn't?

[PastMember]

Hmm... the only thing that really pops into my mind is that series of mystery books where each one features a letter in the alphabet in the title by Sue Grafton. Like A Is For Alibi. But thats cause I'm not a huge fan of mystery books and yet my Mimi kept insisting I try them and I was like, "Mimi, I don't like mystery books" and she was all "But these are really good!" and I was like "Fine, whatever" and read them and she was like "Well?" and I was like "Meh."

:jg:

[emma]

Can I confess to hating 'Lord of the Rings'? Loved the films, just couldn't get into the book, and it put me of Tolkien forever

[PastMember]

Can I confess to hating 'Lord of the Rings'? Loved the films, just couldn't get into the book, and it put me of Tolkien forever

:jg:

Funny Tolkien story (well, funny to me anyway!). Before my mother and I wore my dad down and finally convinced him to give Harry Potter a try, the only books my dad EVER read were the Tolkien books. He'd start with the Silmerillian (or however that's spelled!) and read each of them until the end of the series and then he'd start over agan. Over and over. The man can quote entire passages of all the books. I haven't asked, cause I'm halfway afraid of the answer, but I bet the man can even speak a bit of elfish cause he includes the appendixes and indexes in his reading of each book.

I read the Hobbit and the LotR trilogy when I was like ten years old and I really enjoyed it. I even reread em now and then. But do I enjoy it like my dad enjoys it? I don't know if that's even possible! :jg: Not twice in the same gene pool anyway!

[Roxanne]

I love the LOTR movies, but I understand about not being able to get into the books. In a way I understand my sister's thing about not wanting to read Harry Potter because she doesn't want to know what happens before she sees the movie.

I've tried to read the Fellowship of the Ring, but it has way too much detail for me.

I can read Robert Jordan, but Tolkein is unreadable for me. I'll have to try again sometime.

[Rochelle]

Definitely the LOTR for me. I just can't get into them very far. I have heard them on cassette because my father had them, but I fell asleep every time he turned them on. I love the stories when they're retold by others or the movies, but I just can't get into his writing. One of the most motivating comments I ever got about my writing was that I used so much detail and time world building, that I could be another Tolkein -I quickly learned to streamline my writing for fear of other people falling asleep like I do!

Another one for me is Agatha Christie. My family are huge Mystery fans and my mother adores her. I used Murder on The Orient Express to cure my insomnia.

[Vix]

I haven't really been able to get into anything by Tom Clancey -- don't know why.

And though at one time I'd read everything I could lay hands on cover to cover, about 100 pages into a book by C. J. Cherryh, I quit and haven't read that author since.

[Kaysea]

Insomnia curing for me, comes in the form of Georghette Heyer {sp?}.  My mother had probably the whole library of her books, and though I tried and tried I could never get into them.

The other - a Mercedes Lackey book I bought years ago, something about Raven's I think, can't remember.  I flogged it off on ebay for a couple of dollars two years ago.

Sorry to all ML fans, but honestly? The suckiest book I had tried to read since the GH books years ago.

[Paula]

Robert Jordan's wheel of time -series. Sheesh. Talk about megalomania. I fell off the wagon and hadn't bothered to climb back in. Too many persons, to many plot-lines and I couldn't care less what happends to Randl or whatssa name. You would need a whole book of who was who for reference to keep up.

[Eimi]

I couldn't stand the Alchemist.  The story was interesting enough, I just couldn't stand the way it was written.  I wish I could point to something specific but since I was so annoyed with it I kind of blocked it from my mind ;)