|| Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. ||
Today’s topic is: Books I Read/Avoided Because of the Hype (and did you make the right choice?)
For this one, I decided to share eight books I read because of the hype and two I avoided.
First, the ones I read because of the hype:
How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristin Perin
It was the hype on Netgalley that hooked me on this one. Reviewers were calling it the Knives Out of mystery books so I decided to give it a go and I ended up really enjoying it – with the exception of a couple issues and two unnecessary swear words.
The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett
I’ve heard a lot about this book over the years and had seen the movie years ago so figured I needed to give it a try. I ended up enjoying it but wanted more from the ending.
Little Women by Louisa Mae Alcott
I think I got sick of women gushing about this book and having no idea what they were talking about. I’d seen a few versions of the movie but never read the book. Now that I have I think the book lived up to the hype. I fell in love with the book and plan to re-read it each Christmas season now.
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
I’ve heard a lot about this classic book over the years, but, again, never read it. I finally did that last year as part of my son’s English curriculum and ended up feeling like the book did live up to the hype.
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
After all of my family fell all over these movies and my much, much older brother read it in high school or college or whatever (I can’t remember. It was sooo long ago.), I figured I’d better try it too. I didn’t think I was going to make it because of all the tree descriptions but I ended up falling in love with the characters and, in the end, the book. I can’t read to read the other two installments.
The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kipp by Sara Brunsvold
This was huge in Christian Fiction circles when it came out.
I think the hype is warranted for this one but I’ve never been able to actually finish it. Not because it isn’t good but because the topic is heavy and I have older parents and I’m struggling with that so the topic of an elderly woman with a terminal illness is a hard one for me to read. I do plan to finish it though.
The Mistletoe Countess by Pepper Basham
In this instance, I didn’t make the right choice for me. I found the main characters irritating, the marriage of convenience trope ridiculous, and the suggestive comments about the sex the morning after really uncomfortable, even though they weren’t graphic. This was a Christian fiction book and this book and the reaction of Christian readers to it, was particularly grating to me because I was condemned for a kiss scene in one of my books by Christian readers but they had no issues with this author’s main character being giddy over getting to have sex with the man she was “forced” to marry and then daydreaming about their night together the next morning for a full page and a half.
It was weird to me but I’ve learned there are as many hypocritical Christian fiction readers out there as there are crooked politicians. It’s weird the things Christian Fiction readers will embrace and the things they will reject. It seems to change every other month or so. I have just never understood the readers of that genre and their absolute love for marriage of convenience books.
That trope is so disgusting to me – being forced to marry someone you don’t love and then supposedly falling in love with that person. I mean what cheap thrill do these women get out of that? I have no earthly idea.
The Mysterious Affair of Styles by Agatha Christie
I had heard a lot about this first Poirot book within the cozy mystery reader circle over the years and so when my husband suggested it, I decided to give it a go. I ended up really liking it but not liking the antisemitism buried in some places. Great story, but Agatah had some issues there, which is something I wrote about on the blog earlier this year.
Two books I avoided because of the hype:
50 Shades of Gray
Yes, this self-proclaimed prude tried this book because I had NO idea what it was about. I barely made it into it when it hit me what was going on and the book was returned to Amazon for a full refund and I never touched it again. Sex is one thing. Abuse and domination is another and I do not read those kinds of books at all.
Fourth Wing
I know. I know. But ….just not my thing. Not a fantasy or a smut reader so I avoided it. So many people loved this book and if you did – that’s awesome. It’s just not my thing. That’s all!
What are some of the books you read or avoided because of the hype?
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How funny that you read 50 SHADES OF GREY without knowing anything about it! That would have been a *bit* of a surprise. Ha ha. Erotica is definitely not my thing, so that’s not one I’ve ever been tempted to read. LITTLE WOMEN, on the other hand, is one of my favorite books of all time. I love it more every time I read it!
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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I knew a little bit about it but definitely not how bad it really was! I didn’t even get the meaning of erotica at the time. I really was severely naive. *facepalm*
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Hype often ends up ruining a book for me. I don’t want to know too much about it before I read it, and hype almost can’t help doing that.
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Very, very true!
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A great selection. I will admit I haven’t read the entire book of Little Women. I have a copy and I think I will put it next on the list.
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There are sections I skipped — there is an entire chapter of one of Jo’s plays and I didn’t find that interesting at all, but I did enjoy the rest.
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Never read 50 Shades and never will. I just can. not. understand. why Christian women liked/loved that trash. I also agree with you on the trope of forced marriage turning into romantic bliss, but then again, I am not a big romance reader at all.
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There is a lot about what Christian women will read and what they won’t that boggles my mind.
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I had Fourth Wing on my list – I had no idea it had steamy scenes until Joanne told me yesterday on my blog. LOL. I may skip it now. I thought it was going to be like Harry Potter with dragons or something. I really want to read How to Solve Your Own Murder.
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Maybe the scenes aren’t as prominent as I have been lead to believe so you might want to check it out for yourself first.
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One of my friends loved 50 Shades…and considers herself a conservative Christian. Another friend warned that once read, you wouldn’t be able to get it out of your head and not in a good way…another good conservative Christian with the right idea. I haven’t read the book after that comment. I don’t want to read something that I won’t be able to get out of my head because of how bad (as in sexually explicit and the rest of whatever since I didn’t read it) it is. I don’t mind sex scenes in books…I usually just skip over them…but if that’s all the book is, I’m passing.
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
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I read it and HATED it so much. I only read the first one obviously. I was able to get it out of my head though thank goodness. I finished it for some reason even though I was disgusted. I’m with you, I just usually skip over sex scenes in books if they are there. But yeah that is all this book is.
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I’m glad I didn’t get very far before I realized what was going to go on and chucked it before those scenes got super graphic. I had skimmed ahead and after only a couple of sentences I felt absolutely sick to my stomach. I feel awful for women who think that kind of sex is what is normal – that it isn’t something that should be loving and mutual between two people who love each other. And that was all the book was … yuck!
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I love Little Women. It’s one I need to reread because it’s been way too long since I read it. I just cannot get into Tolkien. I’ve never read 50 Shades because my mom carried on and on about it so the thought of reading a book with explicit sex that my mother read grosses me out. I will never read that or watch the movie because of that.
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I think what helped me with Tolkien was listening to a really great narrator on Audible….Rob Inglis. He really made the book come alive for me and made it easier when I would switch back to the text.
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You didn’t miss anything by not reading 50 Shades, Lisa. I was given it by a teacher friend of mine (I am now very concerned about her grasp of the English language) and only read 10 pages before giving it back. The writing is terrible!
I have never been tempted by Fourth Wing either.
Happy October reading. 💖📚
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Yes! The writing was awful! I tried a Robyn Carr book and felt the same way about her writing. Everyone seemed to think her books would be good because they liked the Virgin River show but I could barely push through the first chapter of the book!
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An interesting selection of books. While I haven’t read many of them, I do see where the hype can play a role.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/lets-hype-these-books-ten-books-deserving-more-hype/
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Thanks for stopping by! I’ll check out your post too.
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50 Shades of Gray is definitely not a book for someone who doesn’t want spice…and I have to agree with Joanne that even for those of us who enjoy spice, it wasn’t great. I hope you have a wonderful week.
Here’s my TTT if you wish to visit – https://justanothergirlandherbooks.blogspot.com/2024/09/top-ten-tuesday-books-i-bought-because.html
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Yes! Agreed with you and Joanne. Thanks for stopping by.
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Ugh don’t even get me started on 50 Shades! I hated that book and not only because I felt it was literally glorifying abuse but also because the author wasn’t that great… I found so many grammar mistakes and if the only words you can think of for everything is “hot” then I’m out. He’s hot, the sex was hot, she was hot… yeah, there are other words for that!
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lol! The comment about “hot” is so true!
So many books that are hyped up really do have terrible writing. I didn’t read this series but I hear Twilight is one of them.
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I got about 5 pages into ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ and just hated it. I am about 1/3 into ‘Caledonian Road’ and have decided I don’t like the undercurrent of nastiness and bullying I sense so will give it up I think.
As for living up to the hype? ‘Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow’ by Gabrielle Zevin.
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I just heard the same thing about Lessons in Chemistry from someone else.
Good to know about Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
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I’m glad you liked Little Women! The sequels aren’t as good in my opinion, but there are two of them if you ever decide to go further with those characters.
Here is my <a href=”https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-ten-books-i-read-because-of-the-hype/“>Top Ten Tuesday.</a>
Lydia
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I have heard the sequels aren’t as good. Thanks for stopping by!
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