I have an irrational hatred of the New York Times Bestseller List

[christina_reads]

I'm often grateful to my book-blogging friends for their recommendations of books to read. I've made some great discoveries through LJ and other sites, and often I'll love a recommended book that I would never have discovered on my own.

That said, sometimes good buzz about a book has the exact opposite effect on me. If everyone is raving about how

Comments

[raidergirl3]

I understand your reactions to popular books. I know there are some I've avoided the same way.

Of those books, I've read nearly all of them, although just the first Dragon Tattoo book, and just the first Sookie (not a fan of Sookie, but I've loved other Harris series). I've got a few more Penny's to read as well.

I think because of the hype, I didn't love The Help as much. Don't get me wrong, it was a great read, but not the best in the year, or even on the list. Same as Dragon Tattoo - I read a lot of mysteries, and it wasn't anywhere near a 'best of' list. It was good, but rather long.

[christina_reads]

Hmm...so are you saying I'm justified in my refusal to read these books? That would certainly validate my decisions! :) I agree with you that the hype often ruins the reading experience; you're expecting so much that you're bound to be disappointed.

[raidergirl3]

I didn't necessarily mean you are justified; you might like them or love them. More that due to the hype, I wasn't as interested in them when I read them. I was affected by the hype in not getting the uber-love.
I read The Hunger Games from the start, so I probably contributed to the hype. My 13 year old read them at the same time as me, so that added to my fun, discussing the books with him.

[christina_reads]

Maybe I will get to The Hunger Games eventually...in some cases, I just need to wait for the hype to die down a bit, and then I'll cave in and read the book. That's what happened to me with Harry Potter! I also finally bought Water for Elephants, after everyone else was raving about it years ago!

[catyah]

Interesting question/idea!

How about the 'Twilight' series? I haven't even tried to read any of those, but I don't know if it's because of the hype or because I'm a vampire traditionalist. (The vampires I read about don't *sparkle*.)

In general, I don't shy away from books so much because of the hype, but I do wonder sometimes if I'm not giving some books a fair break. If I can't get past the first page of a book without rolling my eyes or having to re-read the page again because I'm already lost by just trying to figure out what the author (or character) is trying to say, I know it's not for me. I do feel badly that I haven't gotten through any of Jane Austen's novels, or the Bronte sisters, but I just can't do it... not yet, anyway.

[christina_reads]

I actually did read Twilight, but only the first book. That was before it became such a huge deal though (no rabid fans, no haters)! It's not a series I plan to continue, but I didn't totally hate the book either. I'm sick of hearing about it at this point, though, for sure!

If I can't get past the first page of a book without rolling my eyes or having to re-read the page again because I'm already lost by just trying to figure out what the author (or character) is trying to say, I know it's not for me.

This seems like a totally fair point to me. Usually I try to give a book 50 pages or so before I abandon it; but if the first few pages really confuse me or tick me off, I have no qualms about stopping right then!

[caffeinatedlife]

I know what you mean, To be honest it was one of the reasons why it took me so long to get around to the HP series; everyone was reading it, which strangely became a bit of a turn-off to me. *blushes*

The only series I've read from the list you mentioned are the books by Stieg Larsson. Curiosity got to me and friends have strongly recommended it to me. It was interesting, a little frightful (the crimes were just O_O Had me thinking how some of these things do happen in real life) but yeah. Dunno if I'd get around to the others though (never heard of the Louise Penny's mysteries though) but I see what you mean, it can be a bit of a turn-off at times.

Btw, dunno if I'd get around to reading The Hunger Games, especially with the potential movie adaptation and stuff swirling around...

[christina_reads]

I had the exact same response to the HP books! I eventually did read them, of course, and I like them a lot, but I never became rabidly obsessed with them.

Oh, I didn't know The Hunger Games might be made into a movie! I might have to read the books if I decide I want to see the film...but then again, I might not bother with any of it. So many people seem to love the series, but I just can't bring myself to care! Same with the Stieg Larsson books. I gather they involve international finance and crimes against women, neither of which are topics I enjoy reading about!

[rosemaryinwheat]

This. Very much.

It's a hazard of my job that I get a lot of recommendations from customers. Ninety percent of the time, I love it, but when I hear every day (sometimes several times a day) that I have to read X book, I start getting annoyed.

I also admit that as a bookseller, once something is on the bestseller list, also I'm less interested from a customer service perspective. My job is to find those diamonds in the rough, not to simply be another voice in the NYT choir.

(I admit I jumped on the Hunger Games bandwagon and did sell them a lot at first, but now they have too much inertia to really need me.)

[christina_reads]

I can see that it must be very trying working in a bookstore at times! You must get so sick of passing the tables with all the "popular reads of the moment" on them! And I can see what you mean about wanting to find diamonds in the rough. It's got to be fun to use your particular expertise and random book knowledge, rather than just pointing to the table at the front of the store.

[raconteur99]

I can't read Jodi Picoult- my friends have left all her books at my house, and they've just been sitting in my closet for almost a year now. Something about her just irritates me!

That said, I loved the Dragon Tattoo series =]

[christina_reads]

Hm, I have a similar visceral reaction to Jodi Picoult. Haven't even attempted to read her yet!