Top Ten Tuesday, over at The Broke and the Bookish, is a freebie today. I got inspired by some of the snark going around two weeks ago, when the theme was Ten Books I Almost Put Down But Didn’t, and decided to join in.
The topic is Books Everyone Loves, Except Me, and I’m breaking it down into a few sub-categories. Feel free to disagree with me, and tell me why I’m wrong, but keep it civil. 😉
I Refuse to Read:
1) The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. This encompasses everything written by Meyer, as well as fan fiction masquerading as real books. Yep, I’m a book snob.
I Did Not Finish:
2) The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. I’m sorry, but when there’s an alien invasion, millions die (including your mother), and the aliens kidnap your little brother, are you really going to focus on your virginity? I think not.
3) A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. The first character I loved in this book was Bran Stark. He reminded my so much of my own little boy. The fate he suffers early in the book was too much for me.
4) If I Stay by Gayle Forman. Stefani @ Caught Read Handed just reviewed this book. Her review says exactly what I felt.
I Wish I Hadn’t Read:
5) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It doesn’t matter how beautifully written a book is – if the plot is depressing, and all the characters are horrible excuses for human beings, I’m just not going to enjoy it.
6) Julie and Julia : 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell. I loved the film, but book Julie (a. k. a. real Julie) is truly unpleasant (I would use stronger language here, but my mom reads my blog, y’all).
7) The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I wanted to love this book (Doctor Who connections!) but instead, I hated it. IMO, Henry and Clare are pretentious, selfish, self absorbed snobs who deserve each other.
8) Micro by Michael Crichton. This book isn’t necessarily popular, but Crichton certainly is! Ugh. ugh, ugh!
I Liked But Not Loved:
These last two are books I thought I was going to LOVE, but I only found them mildly enjoyable. In both cases, I honestly preferred the films.
9) Stardust by Neil Gaiman. I probably should’ve stuck to the novel. The pictures in the graphic novel are beautiful, but they threw me off.
10) Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. The book was just okay, but it did inspire a great outfit!
I’m linking up: 
Since this post fits perfectly with the topic, I’m linking up with: 
A BIBLIOPHILE'S STYLE 
Blargh. I still stand by If I Stay and the Brit Lit snob in me really does have a soft spot for Gatsby only because it’s the only American Lit novel I can stomach to teach. I loved Stardust but only because I’m a huge Gaiman fan (really, your first Gaiman foray should’ve been the Sandman series), and Ender’s Game rocked my world. The only one I can truly, whole-heartedly, irrevocably agree with here is your #1. I guess we’re not book soulmates, but that’s okay. We fill other compartments in each other’s lives. It does give me pause, however, in sharing some of my own ficlet dribbles for fear of missing the mark with you. 😜 (Can you tell this is my favorite emoji?)
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It would be boring if everyone agreed on every book. I don’t think there’s any such thing as book soul mates – I don’t even agree with my little sister on every book. 😉 Its really up to you whether you recommend books to me or not. I still take recommendations from the book blogger who recommended Time Traveler’s Wife, Stardust, and Ender’s Game. She also recommended Tooth & Claw, which you know I LOVED. Remember, I did really enjoy Sabriel (Lirael is on my Summer TBR). I love that emoji too, but it doesn’t work on my iPad, just on my iPhone.
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i love it!!! hi im a newbie so it will mean alot if you checked out my blog- i follow back. kisses! ps thats real great 🙂
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Thanks, Patricia! I checked out your blog, and it looks like you’re making a great start. 🙂 I see in your header that you’re interested in books and fashion – you should check out my Thoughtful Third Thursday page. It’s a monthly fashion / book link up, and we’d love to have you! Link ups are one if the best ways to “advertise” your blog. 😉
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Wow! thank you! comment on my latest book review? yep its so hard starting out but it’s great 🙂 nice meeting you!
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Thanks for linking my review!
You didn’t like The Great Gatsby? Hmm. I understand where you’re coming from, but I like it because it’s depressing, I guess. It’s just a great commentary on that time in history and can still be applied to our time.
I’m sad you didn’t like The 5th Wave. I have it on my TBR. Bought a used copy a couple weeks ago. I’ve heard so many good things!
I haven’t even tried A Game of Thrones.
-Stefani @ Caught Read Handed
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You’re welcome!
I can handle a depressing book, but I have to connect to at least one of the characters, and in Gatsby I just didn’t.
The 5th Wave started out really strong, but I got annoyed with Cassie’s boy angst. It could’ve just been because I’m old. 😜
The friend who recommend The Hunger Games to me also recommended GOT, which is why I tried it. My reason for not liking it is very personal / specific to me.
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Yeah, I can get that with Gatsby.
Hmmm. Well, I still want to try The 5th Wave, but teen angst is annoying. Lol.
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Oooooh no!! So many of my books listed here!! 😦 I read Twilight, I thought it was ok, much better than the movies, MUCH. It was around 3 years ago I read it, so not sure what I’d make of it now. The 5th Wave, A GOT and If I Stay are all on my TBR pile. But now I;m doubting all of my life decisions! Bit late, as I’ve bought the 7 book GOT set (impulse purchases!). The Great Gatsby is one classic I’m really looking forward to, I’ve heard such good things about Fitzgerald’s writing style, and I LOVED the Time Traveler’s Wife (I read it when I was 18…), but still… sob, sob. Great post though 🙂
My TTT: http://confessionsofabookgeek.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/top-ten-tuesday-remembering-alfie/
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As the title says, most people love these books, so maybe I’m just weird. 😜
I do think age can have a huge affect on how I feel about a book. Most teen angsty books just don’t appeal to me (I’m 35), but I’m finding a resurging appreciation for Middle Grade books (I’m reading them from a mom’s perspective now).
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Fascinating. I only read the first book in the Twilight series and she is such a terrible writer, I stopped there. I have to admit that I do love The Great Gatsby; I just do. And the Game of Thrones books are some of my favorite. In part because bad things do happen to good people, like Bran. Martin doesn’t go with the typical good vs. evil that you see in fantasy novels. Instead, it’s more like real life, where the “good” guys don’t always win and sometimes the “bad” guys are the richest and most powerful.
The only book I’ve read that everyone else seemed to love and I thought was only okay was The Fault in Our Stars. I can’t say why, but it just didn’t do it for me.
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I think I got really wimpy about bad stuff happening to good people after I became a mom. It just feeds my worry wart tendencies.
I haven’t read The Fault in Our Stars, and I doubt I will. I’m just not that interested.
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I didn’t like If I Stay either. I finished it, but I didn’t like it. Where She Went was better but still not all that great. Great topic!
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Thanks for stopping by! I’m glad Stephani and I aren’t the only ones. 😉
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Great picks. I have to admit to having read and enjoyed a few of these myself – The Great Gatsby, but I do agree that a lot of the characters were completely horrible. If I Stay is one that I really enjoyed. I also love Game of Thrones, I’d seen the first season before reading it so I knew what was going to happen to Bran before I started reading it. And I totally love The Time Traveller’s Wife. But, definitely agree as far as Twilight is concerned. Not really sure why that is as popular as it is, the characters are all awful and the writing is terrible. Great picks, here’s my post.
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Yep, I completely understand WHY other people enjoy these books (except Twilight – I don’t get that), I just didn’t enjoy them myself. I’ve also seen books I LOVE on other people’s “hate” lists (Hunger Games and Narnia). Such is life, I guess. 😉
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I know exactly where your coming from with this list. There are some books that I should like because they have all the things that I like and everybody else loves them but for some reason its a no go. It makes me wonder what’s wrong with me! I do love a lot of the books you have on your list (GoT, Gatsby, Stardust, Ender’s game) but I totally respect whatever made them not for you!
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Thanks Stephanie! I think Stardust and Ender’s Game might have been victims of hype (and I did enjoy them). GoT was a strictly personal reason, and The Great Gatsby just wasn’t for me. I’ve really appreciated how civil everyone has been – I was a bit apprehensive. There are so many great books in the world that we can all find some we don’t care for, and others that we LOVE. 😉
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