I’m not a real big hype person, meaning that I don’t pay much attention to whether or not a book has a lot of hype. I don’t go out of my way to pick up books that win awards and praise, but I also don’t go out of my way to avoid them, either. Instead, I treat them like any other books, and read them if they sound interesting. Here is a list of the top ten hyped books that I have no interest whatsoever in reading. They just don’t seem like my kind of books.
1. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
3. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
4. The Martian by Andy Weir
5. The DUFF by Kody Keplinger
6. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
7. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
8. Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
9. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
10. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Tell me – am I wrong about any of these? Should I try them despite them not seeming like my kind of book? Because I’m often wrong about this…I just finished Eleanor & Park, which I never thought I’d enjoy, and mostly enjoyed it…
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
Interesting list! There are some on your list I agree on but I have read both ‘The Martian’ and ‘The Help’ and really enjoyed them. Especially ‘The Martian’ even though sci-fi isn’t something I usually read.
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I don’t mind sci-fi, but that one just doesn’t sound like a ME kind of book.
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I enjoyed The Help but you can live without it 🙂
I agree with you about Life of Pi though.
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I did try Pi a few years back. The first few pages offended me and I never looked back, haha.
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I enjoyed The Help, but I agree, it’s probably not a must read for you. I’m about 50/50 on the rest, some I want to read and some I have no interest in.
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I’m generally not a historical fiction person, which is probably why The Help doesn’t appeal to me. I never saw the movie version, either.
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I haven’t read historical fiction in ages, either. And nope, haven’t seen the movie.
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Only one I’ve read is The Help. It was a quick read, not essential. I have a signed copy of Life of Pi that I will never ever read. My friend dragged me to an author signing and I just have no interest in the story, even after sitting through the author’s talk.
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As I said above, Life of Pi managed to offend me in the first couple pages. And I’m not fond of the author, either, so I’ll probably never give him another shot.
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I’ve read 8 of your list, but honestly not sure any of these are your style. I think I mostly hold back from reading hyped up YA rather than hyped up Adult…though I rarely read WITH the rest of the crowd…I’m always a few years behind the curve (and like it that way).
The Life of Pi is one that I do not understand all the hype about.
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I’m the opposite. I think I’m more wary of hyped adult books, haha!
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The DUFF is really good, and so is the movie! I recommend both.
My List: http://www.millionbookmill.blogspot.com/2015/07/top-ten-tuesday-hyped-books-ive-never.html
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It just really doesn’t sound like the kind of book I’d enjoy…
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Water for Elephants I absolutely loved when I read it years ago. The Help and The Martian were both fantastic on audio. I really liked The DUFF and Life of Pi. Ready Player One was an awesome enough to re-read for me. Fifty Shades of Grey I would pass on.
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So you and I often have very similar tastes, and so your recommendations make me think about trying some of the ones I haven’t yet tried. Maybe. 😀
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I’ve enjoyed a few on this list, but not sure they would be your thing (I’m thinking The Martian and, especially, Ready Player One). But having read The Duff (and I know that’s not the most popular opinion), I can say there are definitely better reads out there. I had a lot of problems with it. The Road was amazing, but extremely depressing. I’m always hesitant to recommend it to anyone.
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I have to admit, one of the big reasons I haven’t read the DUFF is that I heard the author talk at BEA in 2010 and she didn’t impress me, and in fact, the things she said about the book kinda turned me off of it.
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I loved Water for Elephants and The Help. Ready Player One was good too, as was Life of Pi. The Road and The Secret Life of Bees were just ok. No way in hell would I ever read Fifty Shades of Gray. I started it because my friend raved about how good it was, but after just a page or two I realized the writing was just not for me.
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My dad swears I need to read the Bee book.
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I liked the movie The Help better than the book which is very rare. I enjoyed Ready, Player One a surprising amount. It kept me reading.
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I’m not an 80s person or a video game person, so I just don’t think Ready Player One would work for me, heheh.
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I really adored The Secret Life of Bees as a teenager, so much that I reread it multiple times… I should go back and see if it holds up today!
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I have it on hold. It’s my oldest son’s summer reading assignment, so it looks like I’ll be reading it, after all. 😀
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Hmmm, Just reading the list – for me – has me thinking that The Road is the only one that feels worthy and important in the long run.That and the author fascinates me. I was impressed with No Country for Old Men also. McCarthy has a style.
I thought Ready Player One was very fun – especially with Wil Wheaton on audio but if not your thing, that’s cool. It had a lot of 80s ref so it was my era. I am glad to have read Life of Pi only for being able to say so and ‘get it’ when it is discussed, ifyouknowwhatImean. Like being glad I read Anna Karennina or Moby Dick or Les Mix so I can get all the references to it elsewhere.
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I did try reading The Road years ago, but put it aside when I found out it might have parts in it that would bother me. It took me about a month before I could talk to someone who had read it, and by that time, I’d lost interest – and I’d realized my only interest had been the fact that those tiny sections strung me along.
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