Wednesday, March 28, 2007

10 Books I CAN live without

A few weeks ago I wrote a list entitled 10 Books I Cannot Live Without. I wouldn't have thought of creating this list of books that I could happily live without if I hadn't been inspired by Josette of Books Love Me. They appear in the order that I think of them--not arranged in any specific order.

1. Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson. Quite possibly the world's most boring book. But without a doubt the most overrated book of 2006. I consider this one to be a case of "The Emperor's New Clothes" where people are too timid to say that the winner of the National Book Award (not to mention EVERY other award imaginable) is a boring, difficult, unpleasant read.

2. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. I don't think there are enough words to describe how much I hate this novel. Avoid it at all costs. This is how much I hate it: I would rather read Octavian Nothing again then even think about picking up Jude the Obscure.

3. Wideacre by Phillipa Gregory. Awful. Awful. Awful. Shudder. Awful. Who thinks incest is sexy??? Anyone at all??? Nope. Didn't think so. Seriously disturbing and weird. Full of murder. Incest. Weird Sex. Distasteful on all levels.

4. Favored Child by Phillipa Gregory. The sequel to Wideacre. Still awful. But deceptively awful. The hero and heroine don't know their brother and sister. The novel is devoid of murder, rape, incest, etc. until the last seventy-five pages or so. So you're several hundred pages into the story and thinking...okay...this is much better than Wideacre...I think it's going to be okay after all. She's in love with someone not her brother. Everyone seems like they could live happily ever after. But nope. Rape. Murder. Incest. And the book ends with her giving away her baby to a gypsy woman and going home and dying. Dying AFTER she sees/encourages her brother-husband's murder.

5. The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs by Jack Gantos. Proclaimed to be a "modern Frankenstein," The Love Curse fails to deliver. The thing that made Frankenstein wonderful was the humanness of the monster and the exploration of what it means to be human...to be alive. The Love Curse makes Victor Frankenstein look like he's got morals. A story about a family who thinks they are genetically cursed to stuff their mothers after death instead of burying them. The story is about two middle-aged twins and their niece/daughter who share this 'genetic' bond of insanity. Unless you like the idea of stuffing your mother and pretending that she is a life-size doll and playing with her everyday...then this book isn't really right for you.

6. Deliver Us From Normal by Kate Klise which unexplainably has an equally horrible sequel Far From Normal. (Note: I haven't read the sequel, but a good friend tried to read a few chapters from it and gave up. We both had read the first book.

7. To Catch a Prince by Gillian McKnight. Waste of Paper.

8. Rainbow Party by Paul Ruditis. Poorly written trash disguised alternately as lectures and porn.

9. Romeow and Drooliet by Nina Laden. Doesn't the title say enough???

10. Summer Boys by Hailey Abbott

I could probably think of more...especially if I went out searching and browsing...but I think these shall suffice for now!

New! 11. The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill. Yuck. Double Yuck.

3 comments:

Erin said...

"Romeow and Drooliet"??!! WHOA. Well, at least the title made me laugh. :)

Kailana said...

You read my mind. I was going to do a list just like this! I just haven't sat down and thought it up yet. I sadly think mine would turn into "authors" I could do without.

Josette said...

Octavian Nothing is boring? Oh dear, I just put it up in my Books I Want To Read list!

But, it's okay, I'll still try it out. =D