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Books everybody has read except you

Sleepy

Sleepy

Member
Today I tlked to a friend about books and she mentioned a few were I thought, that almost everybody I know has read this one or the other one or both - except me.

It got me thinking, I've never read 'Lord Of The Rings', the Harry Potter books or even a James Patterson book. It never occured to me to read 'The Kite Runner' or 'Water For Elephants'. The topics just weren't interesting enough for me and I usually don't expect much of authors who publish more then one book a year.

Sometimes people ask me why I am willingly missing those books and I always tell them that just because a book is on the NYT bestsellerlist it doesn't have to be good. I probably would be crucified to mention the word favoritism. :D

However, which "mainstream" books did you pass ? Are you planning to read one of those books ? If 'yes', why and which one ?

Do you have those books on your shelf but always prefered to choose another book and than another book ? I'm admitting here, I've got 'Lord of the rings' and the Harry Potter books on my shelf but never touched them.
 
Sleepy said:
Today I tlked to a friend about books and she mentioned a few were I thought, that almost everybody I know has read this one or the other one or both - except me.

It got me thinking, I've never read 'Lord Of The Rings', the Harry Potter books or even a James Patterson book. It never occured to me to read 'The Kite Runner' or 'Water For Elephants'. The topics just weren't interesting enough for me and I usually don't expect much of authors who publish more then one book a year.

Sometimes people ask me why I am willingly missing those books and I always tell them that just because a book is on the NYT bestsellerlist it doesn't have to be good. I probably would be crucified to mention the word favoritism. :D

However, which "mainstream" books did you pass ? Are you planning to read one of those books ? If 'yes', why and which one ?
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I'm with you! I read Water for Elephants and was sorry I did. Also read The Alchemist by Coelho and was very sorry I did. Never read The Kite Runner and, based on discussions I have seen, I am not sorry. Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter were a little late for me, except I went out of my way and specifically enjoyed the last of the HP series. I don't think I'll ever get to Life of Pi. Or Clancy ever again either. Eckhart Tolle is a local rage, that I gladly ignore. A long time ago it was The Lovely Bones that I wouldn't read.
But James Patterson? Yes I enjoyed his earlier books. Lately there are too many to keep up with, so I am now passing him by also. Co-authoring has doomed both him and Clancy for me.
And NYT Best Sellers? You can't believe how long it has been since I last looked at that list. 20 years?
Being in book forums fills out my needs quite nicely, and then some.
 
A very good thread Sleppy
I agree with most of what you say Peder,but life of pi deserve a try.Read it sometime when all the fuss is gone for there is very nice passage in it,and it does not have a message,like alchemist or kite runner(yack !).

I never read the Bible,never could get past a few pages.I eard it's a best seller.

HP in french is the abreviation for Psychatric Hospital,and i never read any.The probleme is not the book,it's the face of the Potter guy.He so remind me of a little facker in school that always sat in front and had all the damn answer to everything.
However had a tough time in the recreation court,and didn't look so harry potter like after a while.
 
I've never read 1984, Catch 22, Brave New World, or Fahrenheit 451. I'm not avoiding any of these books, but for a while they were avoiding me haha. I didn't take honors English until my junior year of college and everyone read these sophomore year, ugh! I do plan to read each of these though, they are all on my shelf right now.
 
Sleepy, you are not alone. The Time Traveler's Wife has been yelling out at me' "buy me" every time I go to a bookstore. I have been strong...:whistling:
 
There is a lot of books I won't read because they simply don't appeal to me.

The Kite runner, 1984, Catch 22, A Thousand Splendid Suns and many more.
 
I've also never read the Harry Potter series or Lord of the Rings.
And as Libra mentioned, I also don't like "The Time Traveler's Wife". It's in my bookshelf, but I could never finish it.
 
So so many.

The DaVinci Code, which I have no intention of reading but which most people expect me to. A lot of the other books mentioned in this thread I have yet to read but most of them I plan to read at some point, with the exception of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. The former interests me not at all and I've read the first three books of the latter but have no desire to read the rest.
 
I'm glad I'm not alome with my opinion. What really bothers me are different online book clubs that concentrate on such books as 'Time Traveler's Wife', 'Thousand Splendid Suns' and so on.

I love discussing about books but it really bothers me.

I've read the 'DaVinci Code' in German and didn't think it is such a great novel either.
 
im not to sure how big these are but i hear many say theyve read them.I have never read A Farewell to Arms or Gullivers Travels.
 
I've never read the Da Vinci Code either. I'd like to, just to see what all the fuss was about, but at the same time I really don't want to waste my time on it. I try to avoid reading whatever's in at the moment, or anything that has an Oprah sticker on it.

I've only read one Stephen King novel, even though my husband badgers me daily to read the Gunslinger series!


You should give Gulliver's Travels a try, it's a great book. I always thought it was an adventure story in the vein of Jules Verne, but it's more of a satire and full of social commentary.
 
I never got around to reading The Lovely Bones. I came close to getting it out of the library twice but ended up putting the book back. Maybe one of these days I'll finally give it a try.

I have not picked up any of the Twilight novels nor do I intend to. YA fiction just doesn't interest me.

have never read A Farewell to Arms
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Same here. I read The Old Man and the Sea for an English class and absolutely hated it. I'm sure Hemingway's novels are fine reading but there are plenty of other books I'd rather read.
 
I feel that most, I can't say all, have read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov before I have. I'll get to it though.
 
I have not been able to get into HARRY POTTER. And I had to put down LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA. I loved THE KITE RUNNER, 1000 SPLENDED SUNS, DA VINCI CODE, and THE TIME TRAVLERS WIVE. I guess thats why there are so many books. I just wish I had more time to read!
 
AquaBlue said:
I feel that most, I can't say all, have read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov before I have. I'll get to it though.
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Same here.

I'll read (or at least try to) pretty much anything, whether it has been over-hyped or not. It's just a matter of having the time to get around to them. I tried Lord of the Rings, because of how much I had heard about it, but just couldn't get into it (loved the movies, though). Same with the Harry Potter series. I think people should just pick up what they feel they would enjoy, whether it's appeared on countless bestseller lists, or none.
 
finally giving in to the urging of about 7 different people,an hour ago i started twilight,just finished it,its pretty good lol XD
 
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