What do you stubbornly refuse to read, and why?

[Janet]

I read the Dave Pelzer ones years ago - when every other person didn't have a story to tell. I read one of the Torey Hayden ones when I did Psych AS Level but thought it was dire.

 

I have to read Escape some time this year for my 'bookworms' group.

 

In the closed world of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, Carolyn Jessop was forced to obey her controlling husband's every demand. She had no money, no power and existed as one of six wives battling for her husband's attention. For seventeen years Carolyn suffered for the sake of her children. She tried to protect them as the cult's new leader, Warren Jeffs, started marrying girls off younger and younger. But when Carolyn discovered that her twelve-year-old daughter had spent three days at Jeffs' home, she knew she had to do everything in her power to take her children and flee. At 35 Carolyn escaped. This is her harrowing - and ultimately triumphant - story.

[~V~]

Janet, any chance you could poke your eyes out before you have to read that?

[happyanddandy]

It certainly sounds grim Janet!

[Janet]

Janet, any chance you could poke your eyes out before you have to read that?

I wish! I will attempt it because I really enjoy my night out at bookworms! The lady that picked it did so because we haven't read that type of book before (as a group).

 

It certainly sounds grim Janet!

It does, doesn't it! I won't drink gin whilst I read it or I'll end up doubly maudlin!

[~V~]

 

I won't drink gin whilst I read it or I'll end up doubly maudlin!

 

Is gin not a necessity before attempting this type of drivel?

[Nici]

I have tried in the past to read real life child abuse books but find them just too harrowing so I don't go anywhere near them now.

 

I also don't like the Catherine Cookson type books either and I do tend to stay clear of Chick Lit books unless someone has recommended one to me.

 

Oh and I don't tend to go anywhere near Biographies either (apart from Slash) as I find them pretty boring....

[RedAlligator]

I wont read Danielle Steel or Marion Keys. Any chick lit basically. Dont like horror either or sci fi. Also do my best to avoid Salmon Rushdie as well - have given him one go but I just cant do it!

[~V~]

I wont read Danielle Steel or Marion Keys. Any chick lit basically. Dont like horror either or sci fi. Also do my best to avoid Salmon Rushdie as well - have given him one go but I just cant do it!

 

 

Marian Keyes isn't chick-lit

[Guest]

She's certainly not literary fiction either!

 

Even if she doesn't write chick-lit now (which I think she does), her earlier books were far fluffier and definitely within that category, though she wrote about serious subjects. I mean, Watermelon was about someone's husband leaving her, so she went off and got a toy boy.

[supergran71]

Oh and I don't tend to go anywhere near Biographies either (apart from Slash) as I find them pretty boring....

 

There are biographies and there are biographies Nici!! Try John Peel's Margrave of the Marshes which had to be finished by his wife because he died just before he finished it.

[megglesface]

yup I agree with you all there, I cant stand chick lit at all, but apart from that Im quite varied in my tastes, although I dont tend to read biographies either. I think john peels would be very interesting though, and I once read a really good biographie of hendrix, cant remember what it was called though....

[chicken]

I cant read those abusive childhood stories either, and I cant read Pratchett (I have tried) I even tried an audio book but it didn't make any better sense! I read losts of different stuff but those I cant manage.

[megglesface]

aw thats a real shame you cant get into pratchett, i love his books (apart from the trucker/digger series), I always find them perfect comedy relaxation.

[shehed]

When i was in grade 7, I used to hate HP and the hype it created. Everyone around me seemed to love it. But then in grade 9 I read it for the first time and since then...

[shehed]

Oh and yeah... Danielle Steele, only read one of her books and never dared touching another!

[chicken]

aw thats a real shame you cant get into pratchett, i love his books (apart from the trucker/digger series), I always find them perfect comedy relaxation.

 

Well I did try - but its just not for me

[Kirstykat]

I absolutely refuse to read chick-lit. As a teenager I read a lot of Danielle Steele just for something to read and chill out to during my studies, but I wouldn't touch her now with a barge pole. These books, I think, are for people of limited reading ability and limited imagination. For people who can not go beyond what is typed on the page to what the author may be suggesting through metaphors,similies etc. I lose patience with such books very quickly indeed!

[Janet]

These books, I think, are for people of limited reading ability and limited imagination. For people who can not go beyond what is typed on the page to what the author may be suggesting through metaphors,similies etc. I lose patience with such books very quickly indeed!

I think that's a bit harsh.

 

ETA: And yet, I see you have Maeve Binchy on your To Read pile!

[Guest]

Oh man, that's gonna cause a ruckus...

 

*ahem*

 

Anyway, I always say Danielle Steel is soap opera rather than chick lit or straightforward romance.

 

As to her style, and Kirstykat's post? Let's just say I find Steel to be overfond of telling rather than showing and I prefer books which leave the reader some room to use their own imagination and work things out for themselves.

 

(I was just polite in a post. Something's wrong...)

[Janet]

Isn't that what she's saying though? That DS is vacuous and she no longer reads them? That was my understanding, anyway.

[Guest]

I'm staying out of this one. The last person on Earth to lecture someone else about subtlety and tact is prospero!

[Echo]

Let's just say I find Steel to be overfond of telling rather than showing and I prefer books which leave the reader some room to use their own imagination and work things out for themselves.

 

(I was just polite in a post. Something's wrong...)

 

Having never read Danielle Steel, I of course can't comment on her books, but I really agree with what you just said. I know you said that The Lord of the Rings is something you'll never read, but I believe that Tolkien does a great job showing rather than telling, which is what I really love about his books. I think a romance novel especially would do better showing instead of telling...it would actually allow the reader to "experience" the story! Great point!

 

And yes, I think something's wrong. Are you coming down with something?

[Guest]

I fear for my bile. Can I be losing my powers?!

 

(It's that stomach virus that did it. I puked all the poison out of me...)

[ValenCina]

After having to read Foe for a literature exam, I vow never to touch any of Coetzee's novel again!

[Michelle]

These books, I think, are for people of limited reading ability and limited imagination.

 

Sorry, but that really is out of order.. people read different things for different reasons, and I don't think any of us can judge that because someone enjoys a particular type of book, that they have limited ability.