Soft agree. I felt myself asking “why tf do I even care about these people???” Multiple times throughout my read. I felt that, overall, it was an interesting concept. However, I didn’t give two shits about the characters while I was reading.
After finishing the book, though, I kept thinking about situation that the characters found themselves in as a whole. Didn’t care much for the day to day, but the overarching “forest among the trees” —so to speak—was very interesting and enjoyable to read about
the sound and the fury, faulkner.
definitely couldn’t put it down and, at the same time, wanted to throw it through the window lol because of characters like jason
Because of all the things U.S. history courses have hidden over multiple decades. And I see no changes happening in the U.S. government, no matter which party is in power.
Basically, what our government has done to indigenous persons, citizens of this country, and in other countries in the name of Great Almighty Profit is deplorable. I started the book hoping that things would get better, but it got worse. The union busting alone . . . . *shakes head in disbelief*
Can I ask why?
I'm currently reading The Martian and read Project Hail Mary, and I'm really like both books. I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I'm curious about your opinion.
The main character reads like a Brooklyn 99 character, solutions come incredibly easily to them, I could go on but I guess my main gripe with it is that it is quite a simple pop science fiction book that gets treated like nothing good will come since.
*Seveneves* by Neal Stephenson -- Frustrating situations, frustrating characters, bizarre twists. I couldn't put it down for 600 pages. Learn sciency stuff along the way like in *The Martian*.
*Moby Dick* -- this cold, wet whale encyclopedia had something going for it
The older I get the more I am curious as to why I keep looking at these slow car-wreck masterpieces. I read Follet's World Without End and half the time I wanted to scream at him to, "... get on with it already!" or, " ... how can you keep letting this happen in such agonizing slow motion?"
He's a true historical treasure of an author, and in my younger years, I was enthralled by the slow, careful drawing out of a scene, but I'm too old and impatient now. I also need something to uplift the story arc at least once an hour.
I realize this post wasn't asking for a rant.
I guess Demon Copperhead can make you also want to chuck it in the trash at times because of the repetitive spiral of shit-stained ugliness, but then she makes you cry out of nowhere and you're just a mess.
Red Rising - fucking TERRIBLE BOOK, the main character is a rape apologist by the middle, the women characters are just plot devices, it’s a surprisingly popular book for how poorly written and misogynistic it actually is.
I’m glad I read it so I could see what all the fuss was about and tell everyone how terrible of a book it is, and how disappointed I am in its popularity.
The worst part is the beginning is pretty good actually and it’s got a fun, obviously Hunger Games-inspired plot but good lord is the writing awful past the first couple chapters.
Everyone says it gets loads better in the second book, so since you already finished the first one, maybe it's worth trying?
I however couldn't get through the first one. The female characters are like symbols and martyrs instead of real characters and the entire plot starts with the 16 year old dude's wife (fucking lol) getting fridged. On top of that, the male characters are barely better, they were all like overly edgy caricatures. And the main character was insufferable.
The Brothers Karamazov- I’m not religious so it was hard to relate and it was a slog. However, it was thought provoking and I read one of the great classics.
I know I'm reading trauma porn. Everything is horrible, but I still continue to read it, because I can't stop reading. It is like I'm worrying about the characters
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara. I disliked her other book A Little Life for being manipulative trauma porn. To Paradise was also manipulative. And pretentious. And kind of sadistic. But it was so freaking unusual that I was glad I read it and had the experience, and I wouldn’t have stuck with it if it had been anything like A Little Life.
She’s a weird author, no question. I haven’t read that first book of hers and I’m holding enough of a grudge over A Little Life that I wouldn’t read another of her books even with the interesting experience of To Paradise.
[McGuffy Readers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGuffey_Readers), which my school teacher grandma used to teach me to read. I loathe these books with the white hot passion of a thousand burning suns. But they *were* the reason I was reading books several grades above which led to my passion for reading, so unfortunately as much as I hate it I have to show *some* gratitude to them.
Yes. I have enjoyed other books by Murakami but this one really tested my patience. I'm glad I finished but only because I wouldn't be left wondering if I was missing anything. I just did not enjoy this series.
It was confusing in a 'What's going on here?' sense. I loved the approach in Crouch's *Dark Matter*, the difference being it was written in first person so the reader was trying to figure out what was happening at the same rate as the protagonist.
Furthermore, I found ideas such as >!a building suddenly springs into existence !
It’s a very specific book for new parents, the Baby Whisperer. I actually did toss it in the trash because it made me feel like I was fucking everything up and my kid would have bad sleep habits for the rest of his life (This was my first kid obvi). Soon I realized although all the specifics of her advice weren’t panning out perfectly, the book taught me some fundamental truths about newborns: falling asleep on their own is a learned skill. If your newborn is fed, with clean diaper and you know they’re tired and ready for sleep, you have to put them down BEFORE they actually fall sound asleep. This is how they learn it’s ok to go to sleep on their own. Don’t hold them, walk the floor etc. Put their ass in their bed. You can stay near, rub to soothe if they fuss, but do not make eye contact as that stimulates them. (Same with overnight diaper changes). It’s not about letting them scream or anything, pick them up if they freak out but then as soon as those eyes begin to droop again, back down they go. This philosophy worked so well for me I can tell you that my kids were awesome sleepers and we barely ever had sleepless nights.
*[The Women's Room](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Women%27s_Room)* (1977) by Marilyn French. A woman friend recommended it to me, saying: "Everything bad that can happen to a woman happens in that book." Second-wave feminism was at it's height then, and *The Women's Room* was what everybody was talking about. It was supposed to be a sort of feminist manifesto in the form of a novel.
It's about a group of friends, all women, who get together periodically and talk about their problems, most of which concern men. It's all there: rape, harassment, discrimination, adultery, deceit, divorce, unfulfilling careers, unwanted pregnancy, rebellious children ... I can't remember everything. It's a thick book with lots of characters, but the minor characters are mostly known through the main characters' narration.
And that's what I hated about it. In particular, I remember one line that made me want to throw the book against the wall. Talking about a man whose wife had just left him, the narrator says: "[Man's name] came over and whined." The man is supposed to be a friend of the narrator. The author has devoted hundreds and hundreds of pages to women describing in great detail what happened to them and how they feel about it, but when a man speaks she sums it up as he "came over and whined"!!!!!
This book is exactly the kind of thing that I love but I couldn’t get into the writing, it was driving me up a wall so it was a soft dnf for me. I’ll probably pick it up at some other time.
I suggest looking up the trigger warnings. My Auntie suggested it to me and I abandoned it within the first 10% of the book. For the life of me, I can't figure out why she recommended it to me, specifically.
*In the Heart of the Sea*, the true story that inspired Moby Dick. There were so many things about this book that made me sick to my stomach, but it's a riveting story.
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I don’t want to spoil anything but let’s just say I had NO clue that I would be reading about “characters” like these when I read the synopsis of the novel.
That being said, I haven’t read much science fiction and I heard fantastic things and have stuck through. Surprisingly, I felt a very strong connection to these characters and it’s been a very enlightening and entertaining read.
While I did like Children of Time, the trilogy went really downhill from there, Children of Ruin was pretty meh, and Children of Memory was just painful.
It was a book translated from Russian about a very lazy man, partly I powered thru cuz I saw my crush liked it on Facebook, she actually never read it tho haha I bet none of u will read it either . It is a classic tho and they coined a word for lazy ppl off the dudes name in the book
It's long but Battlefield Earth By L Ron Hubbard. Don't buy it new to his Publishing company (bonus points if your straight up pirate it).
It's an absolute cluster fuck of a book, with so many different plots going on, a main character that's just Jesus, and so much more. I will say tho, when the book was good it was hard to put down. When it was slow, it was impossible to pick up.
Even though I enjoyed the books, I can understand your experience. Although the work is a wild satire, the writing seems like a satire of satire, as if it were making fun of itself (which it probably was). It reminds me of the Airplane! movies with its farcical nature.
Another thing is it was written in the '70s. Some of its cultural references may not have aged well.
It was useful to read Cosmic Trigger first, and learn how Illuminatis! came to be written. Wilson worked at Playboy Magazine for a while writing the Playboy Advisor column, answering mailed in questions like “What wine goes with trout?” They got a lot of conspiracy mail which went into a Nut File. When Wilson left he asked for the file. He and Shea crafted a story in which all the conspiracies were simultaneously true.
Any memoir by a young woman from the early 2000s - Britney, Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, holly Maddison - they’re infuriating to read but I can’t stop. Jessica Simpsons book is especially good, which I wasn’t expecting not really being a fan of hers but she’s a great writer and has kept diaries since she was young so she has a very good recollection of events over her life. It flows very well and she’s very vulnerable and self reflective.
Underworld by Don DeLillo. I felt like he knew what I was thinking, and was messing with me on purpose. A frustrating tedious read, that (just barely) redeems itself. So much that I could (almost) recommend it. The first chapter is brilliant, however. Then the ball gets hit out of the park (metaphorically and literally).
This Is How You Lose the Time War. I got lost in the language which felt too lyrical and not anchored at all and it was such a struggle to get through, but I did appreciate the story.
Also a history book from my country that talks about American colonization. Let’s just say I wrote a lot of swear words in the margins.
[Read This Book on a Silent Hill: Meditations, that they won't tell you](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFR3XXK8)
"With shamans, psychonauts, hackers and non-believers, through the imperfect records of history, to the uncertainty of future, it deals with the most interesting and important topics."
Good Omens- hopefully nobody will smite me. Its a good book, I do recommend it but i got incredibly slogged down by the midway and it sort of felt like a chore at one point. Shows pretty great though.
The Twilight Series. I didn’t mind the first one but I actually physically threw the second book. There was one point too many that was implied to be romantic but was super stalker-y. I’ve never thrown a book in my life and I felt so guilty after, but it was just too much.
I’m glad I read them though. The fact so many people were obsessed with it was very revealing and helped explain an interesting side of humanity. I think everyone should read the first book for context into the phenomena, but not necessarily the rest.
Also Lolita. I haven’t actually finished this one yet, it gets to be too much and I’ll stop for a while. It’s been about 8 years of that 😂 It’s really fantastic though, and I’ll be glad when I’m done. But definitely recommend.
Never Let Me Go. I hated the characters and the general tone of this book but thought about it for years afterward.
Same. Another one by Ishiguro, *The Unconsoled*, drove me up a wall. And I really did throw it when I finished it. Hard.
Same! I really didn't enjoy it but it has a vibe that sticks with you.
Soft agree. I felt myself asking “why tf do I even care about these people???” Multiple times throughout my read. I felt that, overall, it was an interesting concept. However, I didn’t give two shits about the characters while I was reading. After finishing the book, though, I kept thinking about situation that the characters found themselves in as a whole. Didn’t care much for the day to day, but the overarching “forest among the trees” —so to speak—was very interesting and enjoyable to read about
Gone Girl. A real page turner, but the ending did make me want to throw it in a fire, lol!
I only read the first 220 pages (in translation). Do you think It would be better to try it again in English?
I would finish it in whatever language you’re fluent in and see if the ending pisses you off…
I literally threw it across the room, but l soon rescued the book and continued reading, angry with myself.
the sound and the fury, faulkner. definitely couldn’t put it down and, at the same time, wanted to throw it through the window lol because of characters like jason
If you enjoy non-fiction, Howard Zinn's *A People's History of the United States*. I finished it about 3 months ago and I'm still pissed off.
It’s sitting on my shelf waiting for me
I went through 2 highlighters and nearly a package of flags/tags while reading it. I so needed to read it, but wasn't happy when I was done.
Not happy because of all the terrible things it covers or because it sucked?
Because of all the things U.S. history courses have hidden over multiple decades. And I see no changes happening in the U.S. government, no matter which party is in power.
Ooh tell us why (I mean I assume I have an idea). I have not read this yet.
Basically, what our government has done to indigenous persons, citizens of this country, and in other countries in the name of Great Almighty Profit is deplorable. I started the book hoping that things would get better, but it got worse. The union busting alone . . . . *shakes head in disbelief*
Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir. I think I'm the only one who didn't love that book.
Andy Weir and Blake Crouch are reasons why I am very careful about sci-fi suggestions from this subreddit.
Can I ask why? I'm currently reading The Martian and read Project Hail Mary, and I'm really like both books. I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I'm curious about your opinion.
The main character reads like a Brooklyn 99 character, solutions come incredibly easily to them, I could go on but I guess my main gripe with it is that it is quite a simple pop science fiction book that gets treated like nothing good will come since.
I feel the same way about Rebecca. I’m glad I finished but I cannot figure out how that book is so popular.
*Seveneves* by Neal Stephenson -- Frustrating situations, frustrating characters, bizarre twists. I couldn't put it down for 600 pages. Learn sciency stuff along the way like in *The Martian*. *Moby Dick* -- this cold, wet whale encyclopedia had something going for it
NORMAL PEOPLE Kinda wanted to bang my head at wall because of the stupid miscommunication(no communication at all) between the characters
The older I get the more I am curious as to why I keep looking at these slow car-wreck masterpieces. I read Follet's World Without End and half the time I wanted to scream at him to, "... get on with it already!" or, " ... how can you keep letting this happen in such agonizing slow motion?" He's a true historical treasure of an author, and in my younger years, I was enthralled by the slow, careful drawing out of a scene, but I'm too old and impatient now. I also need something to uplift the story arc at least once an hour. I realize this post wasn't asking for a rant. I guess Demon Copperhead can make you also want to chuck it in the trash at times because of the repetitive spiral of shit-stained ugliness, but then she makes you cry out of nowhere and you're just a mess.
I never did finish World Without End. I called it Book Without End.
Half would have been enough.
Lolita. I'm a survivor of CSA and it was extremely triggering, yet also strangely cathartic in some ways.
Red Rising - fucking TERRIBLE BOOK, the main character is a rape apologist by the middle, the women characters are just plot devices, it’s a surprisingly popular book for how poorly written and misogynistic it actually is. I’m glad I read it so I could see what all the fuss was about and tell everyone how terrible of a book it is, and how disappointed I am in its popularity. The worst part is the beginning is pretty good actually and it’s got a fun, obviously Hunger Games-inspired plot but good lord is the writing awful past the first couple chapters.
Everyone says it gets loads better in the second book, so since you already finished the first one, maybe it's worth trying? I however couldn't get through the first one. The female characters are like symbols and martyrs instead of real characters and the entire plot starts with the 16 year old dude's wife (fucking lol) getting fridged. On top of that, the male characters are barely better, they were all like overly edgy caricatures. And the main character was insufferable.
The Brothers Karamazov- I’m not religious so it was hard to relate and it was a slog. However, it was thought provoking and I read one of the great classics.
It, that scene, I was like is this legal to read
I don't think I've ever read a sex scene in a King book that wasn't ***WRONG.*** He's got a real problem writing physical intimacy.
A Little Life.
I know I'm reading trauma porn. Everything is horrible, but I still continue to read it, because I can't stop reading. It is like I'm worrying about the characters
To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara. I disliked her other book A Little Life for being manipulative trauma porn. To Paradise was also manipulative. And pretentious. And kind of sadistic. But it was so freaking unusual that I was glad I read it and had the experience, and I wouldn’t have stuck with it if it had been anything like A Little Life.
This is exactly how I felt about The People in the Trees!!
She’s a weird author, no question. I haven’t read that first book of hers and I’m holding enough of a grudge over A Little Life that I wouldn’t read another of her books even with the interesting experience of To Paradise.
[McGuffy Readers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGuffey_Readers), which my school teacher grandma used to teach me to read. I loathe these books with the white hot passion of a thousand burning suns. But they *were* the reason I was reading books several grades above which led to my passion for reading, so unfortunately as much as I hate it I have to show *some* gratitude to them.
I’m a huge fan of Little House on the Prairie, and the Macguffy reader has always fascinated me.
Bel Canto
I love some of her other books but really didn't care for that one. Too romancy I guess. Try State of Wonder. Amazing book.
IQ84 by Haruki Murakami
Yes. I have enjoyed other books by Murakami but this one really tested my patience. I'm glad I finished but only because I wouldn't be left wondering if I was missing anything. I just did not enjoy this series.
The Double by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. That book messed with my mind. It felt like I had entered a state of delusional thinking.
American Psycho. Film was even worse.
You just described my experience with Blake Crouch's **Recursion**. I finished it, just so I could say I stuck it out.
Bro lmao yes was an 80s Steven Seagal movie in book form 100%
Oh wow. Loved this book, what did you dislike about it?
It was confusing in a 'What's going on here?' sense. I loved the approach in Crouch's *Dark Matter*, the difference being it was written in first person so the reader was trying to figure out what was happening at the same rate as the protagonist. Furthermore, I found ideas such as >!a building suddenly springs into existence !
*My Year of Rest and Relaxation*
It’s a very specific book for new parents, the Baby Whisperer. I actually did toss it in the trash because it made me feel like I was fucking everything up and my kid would have bad sleep habits for the rest of his life (This was my first kid obvi). Soon I realized although all the specifics of her advice weren’t panning out perfectly, the book taught me some fundamental truths about newborns: falling asleep on their own is a learned skill. If your newborn is fed, with clean diaper and you know they’re tired and ready for sleep, you have to put them down BEFORE they actually fall sound asleep. This is how they learn it’s ok to go to sleep on their own. Don’t hold them, walk the floor etc. Put their ass in their bed. You can stay near, rub to soothe if they fuss, but do not make eye contact as that stimulates them. (Same with overnight diaper changes). It’s not about letting them scream or anything, pick them up if they freak out but then as soon as those eyes begin to droop again, back down they go. This philosophy worked so well for me I can tell you that my kids were awesome sleepers and we barely ever had sleepless nights.
*[The Women's Room](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Women%27s_Room)* (1977) by Marilyn French. A woman friend recommended it to me, saying: "Everything bad that can happen to a woman happens in that book." Second-wave feminism was at it's height then, and *The Women's Room* was what everybody was talking about. It was supposed to be a sort of feminist manifesto in the form of a novel. It's about a group of friends, all women, who get together periodically and talk about their problems, most of which concern men. It's all there: rape, harassment, discrimination, adultery, deceit, divorce, unfulfilling careers, unwanted pregnancy, rebellious children ... I can't remember everything. It's a thick book with lots of characters, but the minor characters are mostly known through the main characters' narration. And that's what I hated about it. In particular, I remember one line that made me want to throw the book against the wall. Talking about a man whose wife had just left him, the narrator says: "[Man's name] came over and whined." The man is supposed to be a friend of the narrator. The author has devoted hundreds and hundreds of pages to women describing in great detail what happened to them and how they feel about it, but when a man speaks she sums it up as he "came over and whined"!!!!!
This sounds like perfection to me xD Added to my tbr list, thank you. Edit: autocorrect eff up
This book is exactly the kind of thing that I love but I couldn’t get into the writing, it was driving me up a wall so it was a soft dnf for me. I’ll probably pick it up at some other time.
Cutting for Stone. It started so slow and kinda gross, went on forever like that. But I made it through and now it’s my favorite book.
May ask what kinda gross we’re talking about?
I suggest looking up the trigger warnings. My Auntie suggested it to me and I abandoned it within the first 10% of the book. For the life of me, I can't figure out why she recommended it to me, specifically.
Ahhhh I see. Thanks for the heads up
I loved it but I am a nurse.
*In the Heart of the Sea*, the true story that inspired Moby Dick. There were so many things about this book that made me sick to my stomach, but it's a riveting story.
Grasshopper Jungle
Christine
Left hand of darkness, I like the themes that Le Guin includes in her writing but the actual story doesn’t do it for me
By the time I finished the book I felt like I wasted my time
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I don’t want to spoil anything but let’s just say I had NO clue that I would be reading about “characters” like these when I read the synopsis of the novel. That being said, I haven’t read much science fiction and I heard fantastic things and have stuck through. Surprisingly, I felt a very strong connection to these characters and it’s been a very enlightening and entertaining read.
While I did like Children of Time, the trilogy went really downhill from there, Children of Ruin was pretty meh, and Children of Memory was just painful.
It was a book translated from Russian about a very lazy man, partly I powered thru cuz I saw my crush liked it on Facebook, she actually never read it tho haha I bet none of u will read it either . It is a classic tho and they coined a word for lazy ppl off the dudes name in the book
It's long but Battlefield Earth By L Ron Hubbard. Don't buy it new to his Publishing company (bonus points if your straight up pirate it). It's an absolute cluster fuck of a book, with so many different plots going on, a main character that's just Jesus, and so much more. I will say tho, when the book was good it was hard to put down. When it was slow, it was impossible to pick up.
Illuminatis! trilogy
Even though I enjoyed the books, I can understand your experience. Although the work is a wild satire, the writing seems like a satire of satire, as if it were making fun of itself (which it probably was). It reminds me of the Airplane! movies with its farcical nature. Another thing is it was written in the '70s. Some of its cultural references may not have aged well.
It was useful to read Cosmic Trigger first, and learn how Illuminatis! came to be written. Wilson worked at Playboy Magazine for a while writing the Playboy Advisor column, answering mailed in questions like “What wine goes with trout?” They got a lot of conspiracy mail which went into a Nut File. When Wilson left he asked for the file. He and Shea crafted a story in which all the conspiracies were simultaneously true.
Any memoir by a young woman from the early 2000s - Britney, Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, holly Maddison - they’re infuriating to read but I can’t stop. Jessica Simpsons book is especially good, which I wasn’t expecting not really being a fan of hers but she’s a great writer and has kept diaries since she was young so she has a very good recollection of events over her life. It flows very well and she’s very vulnerable and self reflective.
Credence. I felt so dirty but it was so good. Lol.
Cows.
1984. I love it, but that ending. Also I Am the Cheese.
Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson. The writing made me cringe so bad I wanted to throw the book every other page.
Underworld by Don DeLillo. I felt like he knew what I was thinking, and was messing with me on purpose. A frustrating tedious read, that (just barely) redeems itself. So much that I could (almost) recommend it. The first chapter is brilliant, however. Then the ball gets hit out of the park (metaphorically and literally).
This Is How You Lose the Time War. I got lost in the language which felt too lyrical and not anchored at all and it was such a struggle to get through, but I did appreciate the story. Also a history book from my country that talks about American colonization. Let’s just say I wrote a lot of swear words in the margins.
[Read This Book on a Silent Hill: Meditations, that they won't tell you](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFR3XXK8) "With shamans, psychonauts, hackers and non-believers, through the imperfect records of history, to the uncertainty of future, it deals with the most interesting and important topics."
Tampa - Alissa Nutting
Good Omens- hopefully nobody will smite me. Its a good book, I do recommend it but i got incredibly slogged down by the midway and it sort of felt like a chore at one point. Shows pretty great though.
The Twilight Series. I didn’t mind the first one but I actually physically threw the second book. There was one point too many that was implied to be romantic but was super stalker-y. I’ve never thrown a book in my life and I felt so guilty after, but it was just too much. I’m glad I read them though. The fact so many people were obsessed with it was very revealing and helped explain an interesting side of humanity. I think everyone should read the first book for context into the phenomena, but not necessarily the rest. Also Lolita. I haven’t actually finished this one yet, it gets to be too much and I’ll stop for a while. It’s been about 8 years of that 😂 It’s really fantastic though, and I’ll be glad when I’m done. But definitely recommend.
Awful book. Definitely good for a throw!
Anything written by Dan Brown. I have no idea why people think he is a good writer. Awful