Anti-recommendations: Read any terrible books lately? - Page 4

sbin · 11-02-2009, 10:41 AM

I second everything said here about Twilight. I just wanted to know what all the fuss was about. I must say I haven't read a book so puerile and superficial since I was in kindergarden.

About Stephen King... I tried various books and the only one I'd save so far is The Shining. The worst of all: Hearts in Atlantis. Sometimes I did not even understand what he was writing about.

I recently tried Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison. Everyone was talking about it and it was recommended in so many places that I decided to give it a try, but I fell asleep before the end of the first chapter

kennyc · 11-02-2009, 11:51 AM

With all the 'backlash' against the Twilight books here and elsewhere I've see, I'm wondering if they are actually hitting the target market. I would bet so, since they seem to be selling and making money. I think maybe that target audience is not the 'average' book reader/buyer, but maybe the non-book reader/buyer. It's more of a dumbing down and marketing than an attempt to create good (not even great) literature. In much the same say TV is playing to lowest common market.

An aside: As I was sitting on a park bench reading two walkers came by and were complaining about how hard some movie was to follow (unfortunately I didn't hear the name mentioned). The one lady was going, "I just wish they'd make it understandable! I don't want it too simple, but I don't want it to be confusing!"

astra · 11-02-2009, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbin

About Stephen King... The worst of all: Hearts in Atlantis. Sometimes I did not even understand what he was writing about.

If you ever read his 7 books series The Dark Tower and like it, then try to read Hearts in Atlantis between book 5 and 6 [The Wolves of Calla and Song of Susannah], or 6 and 7[Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower]? (I don't remember, sorry

) Maybe someone can help?
Also, Salem’s Lot between book 4 and 5 [Wizard and Glass and The Wolves of Calla]
You might change your mind

kennyc · 11-02-2009, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astra

If you ever read his 7 books series The Dark Tower and like it, then try to read Hearts in Atlantis between book 5 and 6 [The Wolves of Calla and Song of Susannah], or 6 and 7[Song of Susannah and The Dark Tower]? (I don't remember, sorry

) Maybe someone can help?
Also, Salem’s Lot between book 4 and 5 [Wizard and Glass and The Wolves of Calla]
You might change your mind

I'm not sure I understand that....

MaMiller · 11-02-2009, 09:57 PM

I was quietly lurking and reading this thread (because I am the quintessential shy, eccentric writer

) and just seeing a reference to "IT" gets me all nervous again. To this day, the sight of Tim Curry in the sewer gives me nightmares.

PennyPie · 11-03-2009, 05:42 AM

Quote:

The worst of all: Hearts in Atlantis. Sometimes I did not even understand what he was writing about.

Ahhhhh...I loved Hearts in Atlantis! Sometimes he makes references to past events in other books, sorta insider stuff that long time readers will 'get'. Maybe that's what you didn't understand? Anyways....it's interesting to see 'one man's trash is another man's treasure' as it applies to reading preferences!!

Snowychik · 11-03-2009, 04:17 PM

Night Life (Nocturne City, Book 1)
by Caitlin Kittredge

So terrible I actually considered throwing it away rather than donating it so that no other innocent bystander would be injured while falling into plot holes.

Seriously,

the positive reviews on LibraryThing start with: If you don't care much....

MaMiller · 11-03-2009, 04:21 PM

My greatest fear is to see my own book on this thread!

If so, I'm making a new 'paper bag over your face' smiley.

kennyc · 11-03-2009, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaMiller

My greatest fear is to see my own book on this thread!

If so, I'm making a new 'paper bag over your face' smiley.

That thought has crossed my mind about authors in some the the book discussions that have come up..

Trubu · 11-03-2009, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by owlrigh

Sony had City of Pearl, by Karen Traviss, book one of the Wess'Har series, available for free a while ago.

...

... avoid.

Couldn't disagree more. I really liked that whole series. I think she's a polarizing author, though - people tend to love her stuff or hate it, without much middle ground.

ficbot · 11-14-2009, 01:09 AM

I just finished a multiformat read at Fictionwise that was terrible. It was called 'Permed to Death' and was about murder in a hair salon. The heroine was spunky, if a little stupid, and I would have enjoyed it except that it was riddled with typographical and editing mistakes (e.g. random dashes in the middle of sentences; the word 'die' where 'the' was intended, in at least five places; 'Marla' being written as 'Maria' etc). And furthermore, the ending was extremely sloppy, with a main character all of a sudden 'realizing' who the killer was, a few pages before the ending. This was one of the costlier multiformat books they have (although of course I got it on sale) and no WAY is it worth what they are charging. I have already emailed customer support about the numerous and obvious editing mistakes. I am hoping they'll issue me a refund. This book was of a completely unacceptable level of quality, especially given the high-ish sticker price.

wayrad · 11-14-2009, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

I just finished a multiformat read at Fictionwise that was terrible. It was called 'Permed to Death' and was about murder in a hair salon. The heroine was spunky, if a little stupid, and I would have enjoyed it except that it was riddled with typographical and editing mistakes (e.g. random dashes in the middle of sentences; the word 'die' where 'the' was intended, in at least five places; 'Marla' being written as 'Maria' etc).

Those are common OCR errors; they must have scanned a hard copy to produce the ebook. Odd that an electronic version wasn't available...

WT Sharpe · 11-14-2009, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgentBEATS

... Twilight series by Stephenie ... formulaic, cliched, and in terms of plot nothing really happened ... It only got worse ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superlucky

LOL. ... I made it through the first (barely), but could go no farther ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by melbournian

... At best it was formulaic and predictable, at worst it was like the worst fanfiction that a 16 year old sex crazed catholic schoolgirl could write in her livejournal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgentBEATS

More like an overrated writer with a thesaurus and a need to sell her sexual desires to teenage girls, thus adding sparkly vampires.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbin

I second everything said here about Twilight ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

With all the 'backlash' against the Twilight books here and elsewhere I've see, I'm wondering if they are actually hitting the target market ...

Maybe it’s me, but there seems to be something a bit perverted about a man at least a hundred years old who has the hots for a teenager. I used to get the same vibe watching Buffy and Angel. Jeeze, Sweet Cheeks – this Angel guy was around when Washington was President. Don’t you think he’s just a wee bit old for you? Edward Cullen isn’t quite that old; only a hundred and some when he meets Bella Swan in Twilight. I guess when your main concern is folks who want to drive a stake through your heart, you don’t worry too much about how they’ll feel to discover you’re dating jailbait.

Perhaps the lead roles should have been played by Woody Allen and his wife/daughter Soon-Yi.

mgrunk · 11-14-2009, 08:11 PM

Yes - like the tv series - Vampire Diaries - for one thing, why would anyone want to go back to high school? And, then what does a 200 year old vampire have in common w/ a 17 year old high school student? Ok, other than sex and then that's ugly too - he's old.

JeremyZ · 11-14-2009, 09:21 PM

Started to read The Trial, by Kafka. It started out pretty terrible, but I thought I would give it a chance.

50% of the way through, it is still terrible, and I'm done with it.

Sorry for posting this in no less than three threads. But I sure can't see how this beat out any other books for Nov. Book Club. Someone must've registered for multiple accounts to vote this in.

11-03-2009, 04:17 PM	#52
Snowychik Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Murecula, CA Device: Nook	Beware! Night Life (Nocturne City, Book 1) by Caitlin Kittredge So terrible I actually considered throwing it away rather than donating it so that no other innocent bystander would be injured while falling into plot holes. Seriously, the positive reviews on LibraryThing start with: If you don't care much....

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11-02-2009, 10:41 AM	#46
sbin Voracious reader Posts: 56 Karma: 14644 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kobo Aura One, Sony PRS T2, iPhone 6, Cybook Orizon, Cybook Gen3	I second everything said here about Twilight. I just wanted to know what all the fuss was about. I must say I haven't read a book so puerile and superficial since I was in kindergarden. About Stephen King... I tried various books and the only one I'd save so far is The Shining. The worst of all: Hearts in Atlantis. Sometimes I did not even understand what he was writing about. I recently tried Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison. Everyone was talking about it and it was recommended in so many places that I decided to give it a try, but I fell asleep before the end of the first chapter

11-02-2009, 11:51 AM	#47
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	With all the 'backlash' against the Twilight books here and elsewhere I've see, I'm wondering if they are actually hitting the target market. I would bet so, since they seem to be selling and making money. I think maybe that target audience is not the 'average' book reader/buyer, but maybe the non-book reader/buyer. It's more of a dumbing down and marketing than an attempt to create good (not even great) literature. In much the same say TV is playing to lowest common market. An aside: As I was sitting on a park bench reading two walkers came by and were complaining about how hard some movie was to follow (unfortunately I didn't hear the name mentioned). The one lady was going, "I just wish they'd make it understandable! I don't want it too simple, but I don't want it to be confusing!"

11-02-2009, 09:57 PM	#50
MaMiller Author Posts: 179 Karma: 300002 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: North Carolina Device: none	I was quietly lurking and reading this thread (because I am the quintessential shy, eccentric writer ) and just seeing a reference to "IT" gets me all nervous again. To this day, the sight of Tim Curry in the sewer gives me nightmares.

11-03-2009, 04:21 PM	#53
MaMiller Author Posts: 179 Karma: 300002 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: North Carolina Device: none	My greatest fear is to see my own book on this thread! If so, I'm making a new 'paper bag over your face' smiley.

11-14-2009, 01:09 AM	#56
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	I just finished a multiformat read at Fictionwise that was terrible. It was called 'Permed to Death' and was about murder in a hair salon. The heroine was spunky, if a little stupid, and I would have enjoyed it except that it was riddled with typographical and editing mistakes (e.g. random dashes in the middle of sentences; the word 'die' where 'the' was intended, in at least five places; 'Marla' being written as 'Maria' etc). And furthermore, the ending was extremely sloppy, with a main character all of a sudden 'realizing' who the killer was, a few pages before the ending. This was one of the costlier multiformat books they have (although of course I got it on sale) and no WAY is it worth what they are charging. I have already emailed customer support about the numerous and obvious editing mistakes. I am hoping they'll issue me a refund. This book was of a completely unacceptable level of quality, especially given the high-ish sticker price.

11-14-2009, 08:11 PM	#59
mgrunk Zealot Posts: 130 Karma: 96 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: metro Atlanta, GA Device: Sony Reader PRS-505	Yes - like the tv series - Vampire Diaries - for one thing, why would anyone want to go back to high school? And, then what does a 200 year old vampire have in common w/ a 17 year old high school student? Ok, other than sex and then that's ugly too - he's old.

11-14-2009, 09:21 PM	#60
JeremyZ Addict Posts: 303 Karma: 1000702 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Chicago Device: Nook ST, Kindle 2, Samsung Galaxy Stellar phone	Started to read The Trial, by Kafka. It started out pretty terrible, but I thought I would give it a chance. 50% of the way through, it is still terrible, and I'm done with it. Sorry for posting this in no less than three threads. But I sure can't see how this beat out any other books for Nov. Book Club. Someone must've registered for multiple accounts to vote this in.

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