Why is so much of adult literature awful?

gold21

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 4:47 am

Miri7 wrote:

I’m an avid reader. I scrolled through the first half or so of of the first link DrMom posted. There are a lot of good books there.

“All the light you cannot see” - I really loved this novel. Great WWII book that isn’t holocaust-based (those are really hard for me).

Also loved “the Goldfinch”.

A lot of the others that I saw are classic fiction.

I enjoyed a science fiction book “Seveneves” recently.

I’m reading Lincoln in the Bardo now but having a hard time getting into it. But that may change.

Do you like fantasy fiction? If so, Name of the Wind is good. Great character development.

It sounds like you like historical fiction. Have your read Ken Follet? The Pillars of the Earth?

I’d be happy to keep you in the loop about what I’m reading. Just pm me

Thank you!

I had heard of the title All The Light We Cannot See, but wasn't sure if it was worth a shot. Now I'm gonna give it a try.

Thanks for the suggestions.

gold21

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 4:49 am

DrMom wrote:

I find lots of great books to read. You can get some ideas by googling things like "must-read books" or "100 best books" etc.

https://www.bookbub.com/blog/2.....-read

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.....-read

Etc.

There's bound to be something there that you haven't read and that is of good quality.

K, I guess I can try that. Thanks Tongue Out

Ruchel

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 5:15 am

I'll tell you what happened: I stopped reading for years because of a spat of bad books, recommanded to me as "faaaaantastic". Then I discovered a couple good groups (FRench) and now BH reading again. I had decided modern lit was ****. I was wrong.

Maya

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 5:47 am

Squishy wrote:

Can you share ?

If you're on Goodreads, you can check out my reading lists. I keep track of everything.

It's funny, I haven't read any of the books that are listed here. I rarely read "popular" books, and usually only if it's a book club pick.

My favorite literary fiction authors are Paul Auster, Willy Vlautin, Kent Haruf, Haruki Murakami, Michael Cunningham.
Nonfiction is Randy Shilts, Joan Didion, James Baldwin, Paul Farmer, Francine Prose - but these are on very specific topics.
And then there are authors which I like one of their books but not others.

I'm happy to give title recommendations, if anyone is interested.

lfab

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 6:23 am

Maya wrote:

YES! Please share. I'm always looking for good book recommendations. Not that I mind reading a shallow, easy, mindless read now and then but it's nice to have a good book to read.

Dandelion1

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 8:09 am

I'm so glad I opened this thread! I totally agree! I know that there is amazing stuff out there. I just have not found a reliable source of how to find it!

A book that I just tried to read that came to me highly recommended had dialogue along the lines of the following :

Man and woman are getting to know one another early on in relationship, sharing life problems and experiences.

Man: (shares some enormous life tragedy in which everyone he knows died, he lost his life savings, he was falsely imprisoned, his house burned down.... )
Woman: "Don't worry, I just know everything will turn out fine."
Man: "Thank you.... I knew when I met you that you were unique. Your optimism keeps me going."

And that was on page three. I was this close to literally hurling the book across the room.

I'm not an intellectual snob! I just want to read a good, well written book, with some depth of character and insight. Help!

amother

Orchid

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 8:22 am

saralem wrote:

Try authors like Alice Hoffman, Jacqueline Winspear, James McCall Smith. Or Anne Tyler.

Margaret Atwood, Pat Conroy, Chris Bohjalian, Anita Shreve. Amy Tan. Donna Tartt. Celeste Ng.

Try Tayari Jones' An American Marriage.

Or hundreds of others.

Some books are mindless. I enjoy an easy mindless read. But there are thousands of excellent books out there. Go to the library. Explore.

gold21

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 8:31 am

amother wrote:

Interesting, I actually have the book Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, I recently purchased it based on recommendations. I'm about 1/4 of the way through it, but at this point I don't think I'm going to continue reading it.

The plot seems to develop so slowly. She writes very well, but it kind of comes across as dry and tedious to me, like she sat there with a thesaurus developing her storyline instead of just letting her thoughts flow naturally. All the descriptive details are great but where's the plot? Where's the emotion? Why aren't the charachters more well developed? Yes, her literary technique is good, but her story doesn't come to life. The charachters are one dimensional. The plot takes too long to develop. Did u find it to be a good quick read? It didn't work for me.

amother

Emerald

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 8:45 am

I just finished Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult and I couldn't put it down.
The Help by Kathryn Stocket.
The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe.
I'm about to read Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.
Every Man a Slave by Sender Zeyv is a fascinating book. Its unlike typical Jewish literature.

Iymnok

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 11:07 am

I have always liked Louis L'amour. He wrote clean westerns with lots of action, strong characters, character development and beautiful prose.
I just don’t enjoy the wrestling fighting short stories.

Does anyone know of a good iPad app for free books? I’m more willing to take risks that way.

amother

Puce

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 11:52 am

thunderstorm wrote:

I like almost all of Jodi Piccoults books. She writes on various topics and taps into emotions really well. I think her books are very relatable and interesting.

And I found one book by her interesting, and the rest I couldn't read - they are all the same.

Guess different strokes for different folks.

amother

Brown

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 12:05 pm

amother wrote:

And I found one book by her interesting, and the rest I couldn't read - they are all the same.

Guess different strokes for different folks.

Me too. Thought I was the only one!

amother

Orchid

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 12:24 pm

amother wrote:

Me too. Thought I was the only one!

They're formulaic, a la the old After School Specials, with a "shocking ending" just to shock.

That said, they can be fun light reads if you haven't read one in a while.

amother

Orchid

Tue, Apr 24 2018, 12:29 pm

amother wrote:

Me too. Thought I was the only one!

They're formulaic, a la the old After School Specials, with a "shocking ending" just to shock.

That said, they can be fun light reads if you haven't read one in a while.