What Not to Read

[TigerintheShadows]

//shrug If someone doesn't like it, then they don't like it. Being a classic doesn't make a book fun or interesting to read.

Speaking of the Great Depression, I also didn't like Out of the Dust, a book of Depression-era poems about this girl's life that we had to read for sixth grade history.

[ric]

I didn't say anyone has to like anything, I was just making a silly joke

[darcie]

Speaking of the Great Depression, I also didn't like Out of the Dust, a book of Depression-era poems about this girl's life that we had to read for sixth grade history.

My daughter had to read that book last month at the end of 4th grade. (4th grade is California history, there was much westward movement during this time, so it makes some sense.) "Not her favorite" was her review, and she likes ALL THE BOOKS because she is my Hermione-child.

[WindowWasher]

A Tale of Two Cities-Snorefest.

[ric]

Well, I've never read it but then again I would never read anything that proclaims itself a 'snorefest.'

[American Eagle]

Well, I've never read it but then again I would never read anything that proclaims itself a 'snorefest.'

This sarcasm... I like it. Another!

[Amethystic]

Well, since I haven't had much time for reading outside of school in recent months, the only book I can dis-recommend at the moment is The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux. While I'm sure it has some sort of artsy-fartsy academic merit, seeing as they made us read it for grade twelve English, I most certainly did not enjoy reading it. The book is long and the characters are infuriating, especially the infamous Allie Fox, who was the focus of the majority of the action in the book and never failed to annoy and/or frustrate me every time he opened his mouth--which was a lot, by the way. The only thing I took away from the book (other than that the entire Alberta grade twelve reading list must be horrifically dry, since our teacher told us he'd tried his best to select the least painful novel to study) is that you should never allow your family to uproot and move to the jungles of Honduras, especially if your father is a paranoid, manipulative, mentally unstable know-it-all. Also, the only thing worse than the gross excesses of American decadence are people who constantly complain about the gross excesses of American decadence.

[Sparrow]

A couple more of the horrible books I've read lately.

The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima. Starring characters so utterly perfect and generally two-dimensional that it still astounds me that this book ever got published. Probably because of all those people out there who totally relate to being genius supermodels/athletes/major parts of a prophecy.

It's (Not That) Complicated by Anna Sofia and Elisabeth Botkin. ...Which was supposed to be about approaching romantic relationships in a healthy fashion. In retrospect, I have no idea why I ever thought this book would actually be helpful. >_> It mostly consisted of two people with no experience in what they were talking about parroting things that they'd read or heard from other people. And the title makes no sense, considering the viewpoint that actually comes across in the book. I guess maybe it is that complicated?

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. HOW DID THIS BOOK EVER GET PUBLISHED. Seriously. The writing was terrible, the plot was practically nonexistent, and I'm pretty sure large parts of the text come straight from a cookbook. And the ending...anybody who can make it through that ending without wanting to gouge their eyes out...I have no words.


And a few of my favorite books, just because.

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. An amazing book that is far and away better than most stuff released through Christian publishing houses these days. Highly recommended.

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope. A YA book that's actually good! Will wonders never cease? It's sort of like...historical fiction with fairies. Awesome, right?

Auralia's Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet. Be forewarned: this book is not a quick read. But it's a good read. If you have the patience for it, you should hopefully really enjoy it.

At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald. Because this was pretty much my favorite book when I was little, and is still one of the only books that can make me cry.

[Doll]

At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald. Because this was pretty much my favorite book when I was little, and is still one of the only books that can make me cry.

That is a wonderful book. I LOVE the audio drama version Focus put out on it. (In fact, I listened to that many many times before I ever read the book.)

[Monty]

And then a while back I saw "The Compound" by S.A. Bodeen on a bookshelf somewhere, read it mainly because it was advertised as a published NaNoWriMo book, and then realized why NaNoWriMo books shouldn't be published. Bad characters, bad plot, sub-par writing, and kind of creepily disturbing on top of all that. *shudders*

"The Compound" was actually one of my favorite books I have read this year. I mean, there are some major twists that you really don't expect going into it, the story is at the very least intriguing, and the creepy disturbingness of it was a fairly fascinating exploration into the human psyche.

[Amethystic]

And then a while back I saw "The Compound" by S.A. Bodeen on a bookshelf somewhere, read it mainly because it was advertised as a published NaNoWriMo book, and then realized why NaNoWriMo books shouldn't be published. Bad characters, bad plot, sub-par writing, and kind of creepily disturbing on top of all that. *shudders*

"The Compound" was actually one of my favorite books I have read this year. I mean, there are some major twists that you really don't expect going into it, the story is at the very least intriguing, and the creepy disturbingness of it was a fairly fascinating exploration into the human psyche.

Yeah, I'm with Monty on this one; I really enjoyed reading it a couple of years ago. But then again, I quite like books that are marginally disturbing, so maybe that accounts for the differences in opinion. (Also, while I've never read it, Water for Elephants was also a NaNo novel, and that book did extremely well as I recall.)

[TigerintheShadows]

I have to read Ernest Hemingway's The Snows of Kilimanjaro for summer reading for AP English, and it is just about the worst book I've ever read (and I've read Twilight!). Unless it's for school and I have to, I am never again reading anything by Hemingway. When the narrative isn't describing the women with whom the male protagonist inevitably has had sex in an awkward, creepy fashion, it's just plain trippy--in "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place", the protagonist goes from describing the atmosphere of a cafe to contemplating the futility of humanity with no discernable connection between the two. (Aside from that, I find Hemingway's general bleakness of both perspective and subject matter to be irritating and depressing.)

Tl;dr: Hemingway, known for his nihilism, is a terrible writer. Don't waste your time.

[jelly]

... known for his nihilism, is a terrible writer.

Is this supposed to be some sort of synonymous implication?

[TigerintheShadows]

... known for his nihilism, is a terrible writer.

Is this supposed to be some sort of synonymous implication?

No, I just found his nihilism (for which he is well-known, which is partially why I made the comment) to be irritatingly pervasive and his writing obnoxious. I don't care if he's a nihilist; he just presents his nihilism with his terrible writing and it's very grating. He goes from talking about a café to talking about how everything is meaningless and nothing is worth anything within the same paragraph. If he could have bridged it somehow, I would have still disagreed with him, but I could have at least understood the connection. Not to connect it was randomness worthy of Pinkie Pie herself, and since I have to analyze this for English, I found it even more excruciating.

(That is what you were asking...right? )

[jelly]

That's fair; thanks for clarifying. I haven't read a lot of Hemingway, but I have a good idea of what you're talking about. Several of my favorite artists are guilty of the same thing. It's definitely frustrated me in the past.. but frankly, it's a lot of the same frustration I feel when reading the book of Ecclesiastes. There's a value in repetition. By nature, nihilistic dread continually ponders the meaninglessness of it all, so it's only fair that nihilistic art reflects that.

[Woody]

Discussion of the Bible and pagan mythology has been split and moved to Second Church. It may be moved to CCDS if deemed necessary.

http://thetoo.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=33385&start=0

[Petrichor]

I'm shamelessly bumping this thread because I have another book to add to the list.
I read The Fault in Our Stars a couple days ago, and I can't remember when I was so disappointed in a book before. It came highly recommended by people who normally give good recommendations, but I honestly can't understand where all the hype is coming from. It feels like philosophy in the tumblr age... a.k.a., the whole book was meant to be quotable. Maybe people are mistaking angst for depth? Anyways, I'll probably get a lot of hate for saying so, but it really was pretty awful.

[IrishTiger]

Ooo, interesting, Petrichor. I have not read TFIOS, but like you, everyone I know has given it good reviews and encouraged me to read it. Thanks for posting your view of the book.

[Catspaw]

I read a preview chapter via Kindle ( I think) for "The Fault in our Stars" a while ago, because I had also heard that it was good, but the bit that I read did not impress me, including content-wise. I can't recall exactly what I disliked, but there was definitely stuff in the preview that made me think that I would not be interested in reading the rest of it. It's good to read that somebody read the whole thing and that I might not have missed much.

[Caitie]

House by Ted Dekker is not worth reading...it's so...WEIRD I'm not sure where he gets his strange ideas for his book