I was listening to an episode of the What Should I Read Next? podcast, and the guest that week said something that made my ears perk up.
During each episode, Anne, the podcast host, brings on one guest to talk about three books they loved and one book they hated, so that Anne can give recommendations for what they should read next.
In the episode I listened to, the guest didn’t tell Anne the book she hated. She told her about the book she was embarrassed for not liking. As in, a book that seems universally loved, but just didn’t do it for her.
It made me think, are there any books I’m embarrassed about not liking?
I already know that, if I were ever on Anne’s podcast, my “hated” book would be Code Name Verity. (Which has been mentioned as a “love,” as well as recommended by Anne on the What Should I Read Next? podcast.) I still don’t understand what I missed in that book that everyone else raved about. I found it boring and a little over my head at times (there’s the embarrassment). What’s even more crazy is that it’s the one book my entire book club was unanimous in our distaste. Most of them didn’t finish the book. So, what are we all missing? I still don’t understand why that book is so widely loved.
I also get embarrassed when I try to read a business or science book, and it goes over my head. I couldn’t make it through Switch by Chip Heath or Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss. I managed to finish Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes, but the majority of the book was difficult for me and tainted my review. Twice, I tried to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and the science parts were just so dense that I abandoned it. Maybe I’ll just watch the movie instead.
I tried Reading Lolita in Tehran, but only made it past the first few chapters before abandoning it. I feel a bit embarrassed about that, as that’s a book I really want to read, but I think I just tried to read it at the wrong time.
And then there are the award winners. These are the books I’m not even going to attempt to read, and that can be a little embarrassing. Like The Goldfinch. Nope, I cannot see myself settling in for a nearly 800-page book that doesn’t seem to pay off (at least from the reviews I’ve read). I’ve also been hesitant to read All the Light We Cannot See, simply because it won the Pulitzer in 2015. I’m weirdly intimidated by books that have won awards.
I also don’t read the classics. I read Pride and Prejudice for a high school project, but had to keep a thesaurus nearby while I was reading and, after spending a month barely getting through the first 100 pages, I just grabbed the CliffNotes version so I could finish the project. I’m going to attempt another Jane Austen novel this year, so maybe I’ll be more adept at reading such a classic novel now that I’m a little more “well read.” Or maybe I’ll still hate it and the entire novel will go over my head.
Of course, the term “embarrassment” should be taken as hyperbole. I’m not literally embarrassed. I don’t feel any guilt about abandoning The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks or Reading Lolita in Tehran or Salt Sugar Fat. I don’t care about reading award-winning books or the classics. I read what I like. I abandon when I want to. I read purely for pleasure, not to make myself appear literary or to impress people with the breadth of novels I read.
It’s just interesting to look back on the books I hated or couldn’t get through, especially when the books are universally loved, and try to piece through why they just didn’t do it for me.
I guess that’s just what reading is. We’re not all going to love the same books. A good example of that for me is The Nest. Most people abhor that book, but I ended up really loving it and it was even one of my top 10 books of 2016. That’s the beauty of reading – we get to decide how we feel about the books we read, and what feels like a satisfying emotional journey to one person can feel like a waste of time to another person.
Are there any books you’re “embarrassed” about not liking or abandoning? Or, put another way, any books that are universally loved that you hated?
Interesting question! There are definitely books I’ve read that are well-loved but didn’t resonate with me. The book that comes to mind first is “Beauty and Sadness” which was a book for our postal book club. Most people really liked it and thought it was so beautiful and I strongly disliked it and felt like it was trying to be beautiful for the sake of being beautiful, not because it brought more meaning to the story. But I don’t like books that are sort of ‘airy’ and vague. Other books I just didn’t ‘get’ and hated is The Road (that’s what I would pick as my book I hated if I was ever on Anne’s show – I hated that book), The Secret Life of Bees (can’t remember why I didn’t like this as I read it many years ago but I gave it one star!), The Marriage Plot and Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (I remember selling The Marriage Plot to a used book store as soon as I finished reading it because I wanted it out of my house since I hated it so much! Ha! And that was at a time when I kept every book I read!), and any book by David Sedaris (I find his humor to be mean, not funny).
I also don’t like any Jane Austen novels. They just don’t work for me. I remember Anne quoting a line from one of Austen’s books about a woman of a certain age being in want of a husband and then she said that it was Austen being ‘tongue in cheek’ or sarcastic. I was like – huh, that did not come across, I read that line literally and rolled my eyes.
I guess some books are just not for us! But the most interesting conversations are about books we really loved and really hated! Great post, I might have to do this on my blog sometime soon!
You might try audio books for things like classics and dense science. That works well for me when the language gets to be a little too much — I start glazing over when books get really dense, but something about audiobooks makes it more engaging.
I read “The Goldfinch” but they’re right, it was a long book for a ending that fell flat. People love “Wild” but I didn’t like the ending. I’ve started Pride and Prejudice a couple of times but then forget about it! I remember reading Catcher in the Rye and high school but wasn’t fanatical about as some people are. Interesting question!
Despite having an English degree, I’ve never been a fan of the classics. Bad librarian? Maybe… but like you, I read for pleasure and I don’t enjoy most of the classics.
Confession: I was an English major but can probably count on one hand the number of required books I actually read. Hooray for Sparknotes! I keep thinking I’ll one day go through all the books I should have read but I really don’t care for classics either.
Like you Stephany, I struggle to read books when I have to look up the definition of so many words. I had a hard time getting through Pride and Prejudice too even though I LOVE the movie. No shame here!
I really liked the Nest too!
Many years ago, my book club read “The Other Boleyn Girl” … They all loved it, and I’m pretty sure it’s a popular book, however I only got through about half and I did not like it at all!
Have a great day 🙂
Dayle
I sincerely do not like Austin, Bronte, etc. I detested Little Women. I don’t like self-help as a rule, and tried to read one of those “how to make yourself happy” etc, but I just hate them. I didn’t like Fates and Furies AT ALL and there was another highly rated one that I dropped 10 pages in.
I have to say though that I thought All the Light we Cannot See totally lived up to the hype. I also didn’t really know there was hype when I read it though.
The other type of book I know that I’m not fond of is books that are too high fantasy – where the premise is so far outside real life that I can’t feel any connection to the characters. I love paranormal and supernatural books, dystopian …. just high fantasy or extreme sci-fi. Meh.
I love that you blogged about this. There are definitely books that others raved about or that got really good reviews (4+ stars) for which – for the life of me – I couldn’t get the hype.
Some examples are:
Divergent (wanted to like it, but pretty much hated it)
Water for Elephants (never finished it)
Let’s pretend that never happened
The Happiness Project (was just ‘meh’ for me)
Twilight (to be honest, I haven’t read it, but I also have NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER).
I often find super literary books are a little over my head / something I don’t really enjoy. I read All the light I cannot see but definitely did NOT love it. At all. I also didn’t really love Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff as it was SOOOO literary.
I often think about what my “hate” book would be if I was on Anne’s podcast. I am really not sure! I would have to look closely at my goodreads account and pick a book I gave 2 stars or less to probably.
I love this post! My “embarrassed I don’t like” list includes Harry Potter!
You did mention a few that I loved loved loved. Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. As a high schooler and half of my college career I thought I was going to go into bioethics and that story is such an important bioethical story. Also really enjoyed Goldfinch last year!
I couldn’t get behind The Nest but NicoleMarieSays loved it I think.
Oh, I love this post! I feel like there are a lot of books everyone else loves that I just… don’t. A good recent example, for me, is “The Girls” by Emma Straub. I haaaaated it, but I keep seeing posts from people who thought it was The Actual Greatest Thing, & I’m just baffled.