I suppose the short answer to this would be: sci-fi, fantasy, 50 shades of anything, stuff written by Ann Voskamp, the Elsie Dinsmore saga, books featuring the words “dystopian” or “paranormal, ” or having werewolves or zombies in the story. Finally, I won’t be reading [most] Oprah’s Bookclub of Depressing Human Experience selections. But that’s oversimplifying this week’s list! So, here are some of the specific books I’ve supposedly wanted to read that I no longer plan to bother with as well as a few more general classes of materials I will skip. Sorry if any of your favoirtes on here. Remember, too, I’m free to change my mind at anytime.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Done. Just done with trying to get to it. The same friend led me to believe I would “enjoy” the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy because I enjoy British humor. He was wrong. Very wrong.
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Ok, this probably was an Oprah pick at some point. I get extra points for TRYING–really trying, to read this. I’m done. She writes beautifully. It’s the story matter that does me in. Yes, I’ve read reams of depressing real life stuff. But this one just sends me over the edge.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Not even with Jeremy Irons reading it to me will I listen to or read this book. And, yes, I do get it–its about obsession. It frustrates me no end that some of the best looking picutres of Jeremy Irons are stills from that movie, too!
The Famished Road by Ben Okri
I have even owned a copy of this. I sold it to Half Price Books when I needed gas money several years ago.
Anything by Charles Dickens
There. I’ve said it. No more attempts at Dickens. I liked Picwick Papers. I’ve never finished anything else except A Christmas Carol. I’ll watch PBS instead.
Manga, Anime…and Graphic Novels
I’m just not into this format. That’s all. Creative–sure. Interesting–possibly. But at almost 55 life is too short to waste on it.
The Hobbit
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are my brother’s all–time favorites. Meh… I might give LOTR another try, but I’m done with the Hobbit. I’ve tried multiple times, different editions, audio, and fell asleep each time. Done.
Kilted time-travel books
Outlander, tome 1, was more than enough. I prefer my kilted love-intersts to be gentlemen and to live in one time period. And no forced sex. Above all, I prefer the kilted gentleman whose story I’ve written. That’s enough kilted goodness for me.
The Love Comes Whatever Way franchise
Now if love came with a kilted highlander and the audio was read by Jeremy Irons and there was no forced sex, no quilts or buggys on the cover, then MAYBE I’d give those two genres another shot. Maybe. Neither print, audio, kindle or video have kept me awake. Even in Malawi with no other entertainment I had a hard time staying awake for Christian romances. Just no.
Modern Poetry
I don’t get it and don’t care. And, NO, it doesn’t mean I voted for…..it just means I’m honest.
Bonus
And, for the record, NO I will not be giving WILD another try….ever.
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Top Ten Tuesday.
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You can read all of this week’s posts here.
Ha, how fun! And how freeing to know there are at least SOME books out there I have no interest in reading (side note: recently on FB a friend did one of those question memes. One question was “name an interesting book you read recently” and she wrote “I think reading books is so boring!” Wow). Love Comes … yeah, they don’t interest me either. Ditto Toni Morrison. Honestly I have enjoyed some books Oprah recommended, but I stopped at some point because every one I read was uniformly depressing. I heard WILD was awful. And ha on Dickens — he is definitely wordy. I’ve never tried the LOTR stuff, but I have a feeling I wouldn’t be into it either.
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Oh, Wild. I opened the book when my mom gave it to me, saw the small print, and immediately skipped it. Guess that might have been a good thing?
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Unless you worship heroin, yes
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LOL
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I definitely don’t do that.
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Good to hear! Thanks for stopping by.
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Haha I loved how you wrote your reasons 😂 though I definitely want to read Hobbit, God knows when that time will come 😂 And Lolita? Umm I’ll pass that.
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lol… life is short, keep putting it off!
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Haha thanks 😂
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I am pretty sure some of your AO/CM friends just died a little inside….and the Janette Oak books….loved them as a girl…and as an adult as I have reread them many times. Light reading, to be sure, but I love them!
And, I keep telling you, you have to give some dystopian stuff a chance, haha! Wool….it needs to be read, lol!
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NOOOOOOO to dystopian! I WEAR Wool….that’s it. And, if my AO/CM friends are REALLY my friends they’ll respect my decision….I hope….but I’m 55 this year. I don’t have time left for some of those. As I said–I reserve the right to change my mind later. For now, it’s a load off my conscience!
LOL
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Your list is fun! Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are my husband’s favorite books. I’ve read The Hobbit twice, but never made it through the LOTR trilogy. However, I do love the movies. I did go through a stage of reading some graphic novels (or comic books as I think of them). I enjoyed it, but likely won’t do any more of them. Love your Oprah tagline. That’s pretty much true. And it was true with her earlier book club too. I read several of those.
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Glad you enjoyed it. Please stop by again!
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Omg same on Dickens…I had to read Tale of Two Cities for freshman English in high school (not sure I could even get through it now haha) and I think that was enough Dickens for life
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Ha ha, I don’t do poetry at all, modern or otherwise. Ugh, I did not like Wild, which I know puts me in the minority, but I didn’t get the deep meaning so many people found in it. I am fond of Dickens, though, or at least the bits I”ve read. I decided to read Great Expectations this past year, and ended up loving it! You’re so right about the depressing Oprah books. I’ve read some… and some is enough!
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Read a couple of these – loved A Tale of Two Cities but it was a big commitment. I sometimes try to like poetry but it’s not really my thing, although haiku is pretty cool. I had to study so much poetry in college and I don’t think I ever fully understood it. Good to see some opinions here! 😉
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I read Beloved back in college – definitely one of the more challenging ones for the course on many levels.
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I hated The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I think it’s my least favorite book of all time. I’ve tried to read Ann Voskamp’s books more than once but I just can’t get into them. And I agree with you so much about Oprah’s book club picks. It seems like every book she picks involves poverty and abuse. It’s so depressing.
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Thank you, thank you, and thank you! I might try one more time to get through A Tale of Two Cities…but otherwise I really just can’t make it through Dickens. The stories are great, so I want to watch more of it…but I can’t do it. A Christmas Carol is on my TV every year though, and I will stop everything to watch it.
I don’t think I could ever really bother with The Hobbit, and I hesitate with The Fellowship of the Ring…but I want to read The Two Towers and The Return of the King, so I guess I have to pick up the first one, haha. And no, I don’t get modern poetry either, but I love The Romantics.
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Kindred soul!
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Reblogged this on Hopewell's Public Library of Life.
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I hope you feel liberated having turned your back on these. I struggled my way through a good deal of The Famished Road but had to give it up in the end.
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I’m right with you on anything containing zombies! Zen wouldn’t be on my shelf either. As for the Famished Road I think I lasted about 10 pages – what a complete load of rubbish that was. How on earth did it win the Booker??????
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That’s about as far as I got. I think it was timely that the author/story was set then. Too long ago to remember. I bought it when it came out.
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I wasn’t looking forward to reading it and only opened it because it was on my booker list. I can’t get into magical realism so this was never going to be a book I would love but I didn’t think I would dislike it quite so intensly
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I have already joined you in the club that will not read The Famished Road. What a dire book – I think I lasted about 20 pages. I have read Lolita but it left me with a very queasy sensation
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