by Sarah Statz Cords
I am one of those awful people who often reads bestsellers and well-reviewed books simply to dislike them. Well, I don’t set out to dislike them, but I find that I frequently do. Take, for instance, my complicated relationship with the novels The Help (by Kathryn Stockett) and A Gate at the Stairs (by Lorrie Moore). I read them because they were both getting a lot of buzz, and I disliked them both. Intensely.*
So why don’t I just stay away from bestsellers and the big buzz titles? Well, for one thing, I rather like knowing what people are reading, what they’re talking about, and what books are selling (because it’s a safe bet that publishers will publish a lot more books LIKE the biggest sellers, because they are in business, after all). I also sometimes get a Book Snob charge out of not agreeing with the career book critics and reviewers. But mainly I keep reading them because when I’m wrong, I’m WRONG. And nothing is more thrilling than not wanting to read a book because everyone else has loved it, and then falling in love with it yourself.
This happened to me this week with Suzanne Collins’s YA novel The Hunger Games, which blew me away. (After polishing it off I had to go out immediately and get the sequel, Catching Fire.) Have you read this novel? It’s set in a (maybe not too distant?) dystopian future, in which the ruling powers of Panem, ensconced carefully in their Capitol, keep the rest of the population under control by demanding “tributes” from different regions of the country to compete to the death in the annual Hunger Games. The tributes are, of course, people’s children–every child between the age of 12 and 18 has their name entered in a drawing, and each region of Panem has to send a male and female tribute to the games. But when Katniss Everdeen’s younger sister is chosen, she does the unthinkable–and volunteers to enter the Games in her place.
I couldn’t be more pleased that this book turned out to live up to its hype, and then some. So how’s about it? We’re heading into the weekend–how about having some fun? Have you read any books lately that you expected not to like, but which won you over? Have you read any books you expected to love, but which left you wanting more? Tell us all about them!
*I can tell you that as a secret. Of course, if a reader wanted help finding readalikes for either book I’d enthusiastically try and help them find something.
Jenna,
Thanks–I’m rather glad to know I’m not the only one who didn’t enjoy “The Historian,” which got pretty universally positive reviews, if I remember. For my part, it seemed like a lot of book with not a whole lot of story. But I felt that way about Sarah Waters’s “The Little Stranger,” too.
You bring up an interesting point, too. Where DO librarians go to really discuss books? Fiction-L is good for title queries and book lists; not so much for book discussions (particularly if you didn’t enjoy a particular title). Seems like there should be a librarian forum somewhere…
Ooooh, I’d have to agree with you, Sarah, about The Historian, and I’d love to see a discussion pop up about that book. What a huge slog. I did read her new one (The Swan Thieves) and liked it a little more than the first one, but not much. She seems to get too bogged down in all the details, and in the Swan Thieves at least, some of her characters seemed unnecessary. (The only purpose for the psychiatrist, it seems, is to provide a link to all the truly important characters in the story.) Love to hear what you or anyone else thinks about Kostova’s 2 novels.
Oh, Lesbrarian,
You are one of the main reasons I still balk at EVER using the term “sure bets.” I just don’t think such a thing exists in the reading world. I can accept your take on Hunger Games, but you and I will have to talk about Kostova’s “The Historian” soon. Suffice it to say our tastes continue to be reliably opposite: I’ve never been so bored by a book in all my life.
Rebecca, Laurie,
I totally agree, and I maintain that the surprise of liking a book you’re not expecting to is always worth reading things you might not otherwise. I just wish I’d waited until August to read the first two so I wouldn’t have so long to wait (although it’s not all that far away) for “Mockingjay”!
Oh, Sarah. It’s uncanny how reliably our fiction tastes diverge. Just the other week I tried to read The Hunger Games. I only made it through a few chapters before tossing it aside. I was not happy with the author’s prose style. I found it too superficial and choppy, and I could tell right away that I wasn’t going to bond with the characters.
This also happened to me with Hunger Games, which I read because everyone was saying how good it was; I put a hold on the sequel immediately upon finishing it also. Last week I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which I was afraid would be like The Jane Austen Book Club or The Friday Night Knitting Club (women bonding stories) but the historical element, the epistolary format, and the likeable, well-drawn characters made it a book I will recommend as a good read to a lot of different people.
LOVED Hunger Games and Catching Fire, also passed them along to my husband! : )
I had to admit, I resisted the Harry Potter series as long as I possibly could. Which ended up being nice, because when I did finally read them (and loved them), I had 4 to go through instead of having to wait so long.
Recently, I read a women’s fic book (for review) that I was determined to not like because of the cheesy title and even cheesier cover, but was surprised at how much depth the story had. I will be sure to note that in the review so others might give it a chance.
Thanks for the tip, Jenna, I thought I’d heard the next book was coming but now I know how long I have to wait! I loved these books and was also happy to be able to pass them on to my husband, who burns through a lot of fantasy and SF (meaning I’m constantly challenged to find new things for him to read!).
I’m a librarian, and I have read both Hunger Games and Catching Fire, and I also enjoyed them both immensely. You’ll have to keep your eye out for the third (and final?) book–Mockingjay. It comes out in August.