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Burned once, won't touch again.....


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Peter Hoeg

Paulo Coelho

DH Lawrence

Meg Rosoff

 

My original list still stands, although I've since bought another DH Lawrence book, Kangaroo, which piqued my interest because it's set in Australia.

 

I'd probably add Veronica Roth, James Dashner and Cornelia Funke to the list.

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A few years ago I read Michelle Paver's "Dark Matter" and loved it, but recently I read "A Place in the Hills", an earlier novel, which I really disliked.  Now if I'd read "Hills" first, I probably wouldn't have touched DM with a barge-pole, and would have missed out on a great book.

 

I also wouldn't read any more of Carol Goodman's fantasy novels, such as the Fairwick Trilogy, as I thought the first one was OK, and the second one was absolute tosh, likewise her Black Swan Rising trilogy, written under the name Lee Carroll - again the first one wasn't bad, but I don't think I even finished the second one, and left the 3rd one unread.  I do like her "non-fantasy" novels though.

 

Same thing with Deborah Harkness - loved "A Discovery of Witches", just about finished the second one after being utterly bored (kept hoping it would improve) and didn't bother with the 3rd.

 

I also once read a Josephine Cox novel, a group of us on another forum were sent a copy to review, and nearly all of us loathed it.  She's hugely popular here so maybe it wasn't one of her better efforts, but I haven't tried any of her others.

 

And don't get me started on Gone Girl!

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Interesting thread to see revived.  I seem to have contributed plenty in the past, but two names to add to the growing list (fusspot that I am!) are:

 

David Nichols: hated Starter for Ten, but then had to at least give Us  a  go, as it was a book group read.  Only confirmed my dislike, so won't even try again.

 

I've said this before, but I really enjoyed Starter for Ten, right until the very poor ending (the film version, also written by Nichols, gets it right).

 

After trying A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby (and giving up after reading 100 pages) I don't think I'll ever try him again. 

 

I've heard a few Hornby fans say they don't like A Long Way Down, I think his earlier books are generally considered to be his better ones.  I can personally recommend High Fidelity and Fever Pitch.

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Stella Gibbons.  I got perhaps two-thirds of the way through Cold Comfort Farm before I decided that I'd rather strangle each and every character in it, and set the farmhouse on fire, before I'd read another word of it.  It was about as humorous as festering pancake batter.

 

Charles Dickens.  Yes, you, Mr. Dickens, and your rotten, long-winded, miserable dribble.

 

I'll kick Shakespeare into the ring too, just because I feel like it.  He and Dickens made my English Literature 'O' level an absolute grind.

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I didn't like High Fidelity at all! I did enjoy Fever Pitch but I'm not sure if that speaks to people who aren't as into football as myself and Hornby.

 

Can imagine some non football fans going "you are utterly mental".

 

To be fair, they're probably right.

 

ETA: thanks to a rubbish English teacher, I loathed every book I read at GCSE, but I've since tried and enjoyed several school tomes. One day I will try Shakespeare again. Curse crap teachers and crap syllabuses!

Edited by Alexi
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I didn't like High Fidelity at all! I did enjoy Fever Pitch but I'm not sure if that speaks to people who aren't as into football as myself and Hornby.

 

Can imagine some non football fans going "you are utterly mental".

 

To be fair, they're probably right.

 

I'm not a huge football fan, but I enjoyed Fever Pitch because it is a book about something becoming an all consuming passion, and I think any fan (whether it be of a sports team, TV programme, hobby or author etc.) can relate to the stories Hornby tells - at least on some level - because at their heart they are about obsession, rather than football.

 

High Fidelity is a very different book to Fever Pitch in tone, but again it is really another book about obsession.

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After trying A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby (and giving up after reading 100 pages) I don't think I'll ever try him again. 

 

I've tried a few Nick Hornby novels, and didn't like any of them, but especially hated A Long Way Down. So, he's one I avoid.

 

Same thing with Deborah Harkness - loved "A Discovery of Witches", just about finished the second one after being utterly bored (kept hoping it would improve) and didn't bother with the 3rd.

 

I hated A Discovery of Witches to the point where I have an automatic aversion whenever I see the author's name.

 

Was going to post in here, and then realised I've already posted Hilary Mantel!  I know lots of people loved Wolf Hall, but after Beyond Black, I can't face another of her books, I'm afraid.

 

I've only attempted Wolf Hall, and that has put me off trying another one of her books.

 

Two other authors that I have been put off by are Karen Rose and Tami Hoag. Tried one of their books and they were just dreadful.

 

Oh, and Dean Koontz.....I have disliked so many of his novels that he is another one I've given up on (but I loved Watchers).

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Ooo! A nick hornby discussion. Interesting to see.I love the guy,I read fever pitch and kinda enjoyed it even though I have zilch interest in football but 31 songs is another good obsession book.a few years back he collaborated with my no1 fave musician Ben foldd(check him out) and that was how I got in to him.

Mr hornby did the lyrics,Mr folds the rest=Amazing,easily in my top 5 albums. I'll stop now.

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When I was younger I read Rewind by Laura Dower. I don't want to say it scarred me because that seems a bit harsh but from what I remember it was the first time in my life where the main character was not only unlikable, but their entire life sucked. Until that point most of the books I read had the main character succeed in some way during the story even if it finished terribly for them. At the time I was shocked. On reflection I decided that it was weird and I didn't enjoy it so I should put it out of my mind so I can stop hoping that the main character will find some happiness. (I have a problem where no matter how horribly done a main character is, I will always support them.)

 

But to understand this, I have to explain that the story was told in reverse so we see the conclusion at the beginning before moving back in time every chapter to see what happened before. This is a cool concept but it didn't work with this story because it was predictable and offered nothing more to the plot.

 

Therefore, due to the stress this book put me under, I won't read anymore of Laura Dower's books.

Edited by J. A. Haag
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None too pleased this week, to see the nation Colombia,spelled Columbia as though in zBritish Columbia, in the first novel of hers I picked up.

Book ok aside from that, he says tentatively.

Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, almost made me comatose.

A compendium of crime stories put together by Maxim Jakubowski as editor, was puerile and offputting.

 

Oh God. Ayn Rand. Just the thought of her (very) thinly-disguised propaganda pamphlets about the intense moral depravity of helping the poor is enough to make me want to flip tables. I read Atlas Shrugged more than sixteen years ago and I still get tense and angry just at the mention. Never again. 

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Shaun Hutson. I read a book by him which was pretty awful, and then I went onto his blog and he just came across as the most rude man! I won't touch any more of his books. Also, Ali Smith - I read The Accidental by her which was really highly acclaimed, but I just could not get into it.

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Weird book Kolinahr.I knew there was something totally specious going on but I was uncertain if it was arch conservatism or a type of pro Soviet communism?

Thankfully I never read enough to find out.

 

Definitely arch conservatism. Rand originally came from USSR and after emigrating to the U.S. decisively embraced the most extreme variant of capitalism in all of its brutal, every-man-woman-and-child-for-themselves glory. Atlas Shrugged might as well be sub-titled "the capitalist manifesto." I found it an extremely grinding and rather traumatising read.

 

Sorry for the late response here, btw. Still getting used to manually searching the boards.

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