Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that posts the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month, where book bloggers "confess" and vent about topics that are unique to us. Feel free to share, vent and offer solutions. Just keep it respectful - no bashing authors or other bloggers!
Hosted by two bloggers, Karen at For What it's Worth and Tiger from All Consuming Media, the Confessions are a great opportunity to have some conversation --- and this Monday's question is: Everyone LOVES that book! Why don't I? How do you handle being the one reviewer who doesn't like a book that's taking the blogosphere by storm? Do you write a review? Pretend you didn't read the book?
It has happened where I pick up a book that everyone is raving about, and when I start reading, I feel like I've somehow missed something. At first, I wonder if there's something wrong with me. And then, I start wondering about all the people who say they like the book ---- do they really like it, or are they going along with everyone else who likes it? It's kinda like when you like a guy ..... and maybe he really likes something that you don't happen to like as much (like a certain sport, or a certain sports team) ... but you say you like it because you like him, and you want him to like you. And don't say this kind of thing hasn't happened, in even a small way, to a lot of us....
Anyway, getting back to the question -- if I really don't like a book, I just don't write a review. That's not to say that every review on my blog is of a book I completely love. I have written reviews of books that I didn't like a whole lot, because I feel like I do my best to write a balanced review. However .... if everyone out there is loving a book, and I read it and don't like it, I just make a note of it .... and then maybe come back to it later. I've had it happen before -- I read a book and don't like it, then come back to it after a few months and totally enjoy it. Maybe at that point, I'll get what everyone had been raving about, and will feel more comfortable writing a review. Reading is a funny thing -- everything else going on in your life when you're reading can totally have a bearing on how you react to a story, or a character, or anything else in a book.
That being said, there are some books that I have tried to come back to, and have tried to like, and just found that I don't like them. These include She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb (which my one cousin raved on and on about), and Catcher in the Rye (which I have now read 4 different times, at different points in my life, and still completely despise every time I read it).
I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else is saying. Happy Monday!
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8 comments:
I think people tend to soften the blow not so much as lie when they don't like a book. I could be wrong but that's what I have found.
I do write the review anyway but I find lately that I just stop reading the book (I don't review in that case) I've wasted a lot of time forcing myself to try to like a book just because everyone else does.
Not all books are for everyone. I remember I loved Wally Lamb when he was popular ...but also my reading tastes have changed over time.
I had a couple of mini-panic attacks when it came to books that EVERYONE loved and I was left going wha . . .? I usually travel into Goodreads to see if there's anyone else in my boat. Usually there are. And I review them even if they go against the grain. I'm not a big believer in having to read a book multiple times in order to like it. Like it's an acquired taste. If it tastes like shit to begin with, why am I going to consume more? There are far too many books in my pile to give one a second chance so I don't have much choice but to move on. What I like to read has changed a bit but what I strive to read really hasn't over the years.
I sometimes get tired of a particular genre and need to step away from them and read another genre for awhile. Then when I come back, it's like I'm renewed. I originally was like that with dystopian but now I love them.
I go for the "soften the blow" option. Usually I can find something positive to say about a book that didn't do it for me, and I'll usually honestly say that it didn't do it for me, and maybe point readers to some positive reviews.
me dislike a book that everyone else seems to be going crazy for? I'd be lying if I said it had never happened.
Ah that happens to me all the time! When I don't love a book that everyone is raving about I start wondering what am I missing here? Should I read it again, amd I missing comething completely obvious? But at the end of the day I know that I'm not going to like everything that everyone else is loving on.
Cloud Atlas, The world according to Garp and Middlesex are my three. I reviewed them, I didnt hate them I just didnt see what all the fuss was about, to me they were only ok.
All three reviews got loads of responces which was good and at least there was a couple of other ppl that came forward and said 'me too'
I completely understand what you mean about other aspects in your life affecting how much you might enjoy or not enjoy a book. If you're stressed a book could be a nice refreshing escape or you might struggle to get through it because you have so much on your mind and not because the book isn't interesting. I often find contemporary reads for the most part refreshing because I mostly read paranormal/fantasy books so when I pick a contemporary it is quite different from the norm for me but that wouldn't be the same case for someone who mostly reads contemporaries.
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