Not My Cup of Tea
We’ve all had it happen. A friend raves about a book or an author, insisting that we “just have to read” this book or this author. We trust our friend and so we read the book or we give the author a try–and we are left wondering what all the excitement is about. Maybe we don’t hate what we’ve read, maybe we found it just so-so, but whatever stirred our friend’s enthusiasm just escapes us. I’ve been on both sides of this experience. Just the other day I saw that a friend had rated a book I highly recommended to her as a 2. I confess I was taken aback. How could she not appreciate such a remarkable book? But I know there are books that friends have recommended to me, often in the most glowing terms, that end up in a pass-it-on bag because they failed to connect with me.
Let’s be honest. We don’t always agree about what constitutes “bad writing,” but we all know that it exists. Some of the writers (and they shall remain nameless) that I purge from my author list are just poor writers. Their characters lack dimension, their plot holes are large enough to drive a two-ton truck through, or their prose is awkward, bland, or dripping purple ink—or at least I see these flaws. Either the reader who recommended them doesn’t see the flaws, or she sees them but believes what the author does right compensates. I understand. A friend and I were discussing just this week a hero created by one of our favorite authors. We both loathe the hero, but my friend’s dislike for the hero ruins the book for her. She will never reread it. For me, the heroine and the secondary characters are so marvelous that I’m willing to endure the hero, and the book is on my keeper shelves.
Then there are the authors that I agree are good writers, but their voice or their style or their content just does not appeal to me. I could provide a long list of popular writers of paranormals, urban fantasy, and romantic suspense that I willingly concede are good, sometimes brilliant, writers, but they will never be writers whose books I buy because these subgenres rarely attract me. I have friends who would say the same thing about some of the women’s fiction writers who are on my autobuy list.
A prime example of this response is Nora Roberts/J. D. Robb. I love Nora Roberts’s books. I have read her books for nearly twenty-five years. Some of her books are among my most beloved comfort reads, and she is one of the few authors for whom I’m willing to spend $$ for the hardback books. I don’t read the Robb books. I tried a couple, I understand that the same skill that makes Roberts a favorite are at work, but the books just don’t appeal to me. In contrast, one of my best friends, not a reader of romance fiction, is a huge Robb fan. She knows every release day and the BAM clerks know to expect her before closing time.
What I find most puzzling are those writers who are good writers, who write in a subgenre I love, but who for some inexplicable reason I can’t read. In some cases these authors are among the brightest stars in the romance galaxy, praised by reviewers and beloved by fans. But they are just not my cup of tea. I’ve learned just to listen when these authors are discussed because no argument, however eloquent, is going to change my mind, and I can’t really articulate my failure to connect any more than I can explain why I prefer my tea sweet and iced or hot with lemon, no sugar. It’s just a matter of taste.
Are there popular authors you just don’t “get”? Have you ever raved about a book that a friend considers a dud? How do you take your tea?
I hear you on the Nora/JD Robb thing. I’ve read a lot of Nora’s stuff, kind of shying away from the romantic suspense, but I just haven’t been able to connect with Eve and Roarke. My sister is a huge JD Robb fan – has release dates memorized, stalks the stores early, buys them in hardcover, etc. She suggested I listen to them instead of read them (due to Roarke’s awesome Irish accent, which I do agree is very cool), but still no go. I think I’ve only gotten through 3 of them. Maybe it’s the futuristic storyline or the romantic suspense element – not top on my genre list.
You know, I’m sitting here thinking about it and I realize that I really don’t recommend books that often. I’ll state whether I like it or not, but very rarely will I say – “You have to read this!” Also, what I read just doesn’t come up with the people I interact with day in and day out, except my sister. The only book I’ve given her recently that she said she couldn’t get through was EJ’s Potent Pleasures. And even that I didn’t really recommend – she just wanted to read all of EJ’s backlist after completing the Essex Sisters quartet, which she loved.
One other recommendation was for my best friend. She started chemo about 2 years ago and I would go with her to the appointments. I was hesitant, but after the first session I brought my Virgin River series by Robyn Carr with and told her to start reading. She laughed and said she’s probably read 2-3 books since high school. I just really wanted to put her in a totally different place than where she currently was and hoped Virgin River would work. I think it helped.
What was really funny about giving those books to my friend was her comment about another book she had just finished. She was kind of hesitant because her SIL had just given her a book a few weeks earlier and she didn’t like it. Her exact comment was that the story was good but it was depressing and didn’t end very well. I told her I don’t read a book unless it has a HEA so she was safe with me. LOL
There is a distinct difference between a book that’s just not that good as opposed to a book that could be fabulous but I don’t read that genre. The genre thing is a no-brainer. I think not clicking with certain genres is very understandable. My big complaint with romantic suspense is that some of them are just too graphic and creepy. It’s like the difference between watching a romantic comedy and a horror film for me.
I’ve also done the book everyone is raving about and thought – “did we read the same book”! That’s the one that puzzles me. I keep thinking – “What am I missing?” I came across this recently where I just couldn’t finish the book it was that bad and it was getting 5 stars all over the place. I guess it just wasn’t my cup of tea, which I love hot (with 2 teaspoons of sugar) or cold (with sugar and lemon) BTW!
There are LOTS of authors who are not my cup of tea that everyone raves and raves about. Or books, specifically, that I read and was not impressed and it’s everyone else’s top 10 must haves.
And I am a fan of some authors who make me laugh and laugh or laugh and cry–but my friends are, “This is funny?” *sighs* It’s just how it is.
I don’t like tea at all, in any form, which means I can never live in England or the South. *grins*
Irish, why would anyone give someone who’s going through chemo a book that didn’t end well? You need UPBEAT stuff. Stuff that beats the odds. Stuff that reminds you that all this is worth it. What is wrong with people? I hope next time they leave the Nicholas Sparks at home….
My thoughts exactly, Hellie! LOL I really like her SIL but I was like WTH!?
I have a few books on my shelf which were sent to me by well-meaning family members, with only a few pages read before I went: “Gack!” and put it away.
I take my tea with too much sugar and lemon, every single morning. Can’t drink coffee (it’s not my cup of tea, LOL).
The downside of writing is that it’s made me much fussier as a reader. There are LEGIONS of writers I no longer read/buy. I realize people will feel the same way about my books too. Writing and reading are so subjective, but life is too short to spend time with something that doesn’t bring immediate pleasure.
A writer friend and I rarely like the same stories or the same type of hero. Hubby and I rarely like the same shows or movies. I often don’t agree with reviewers.
We all have different likes and dislikes and that’s why reviews are subjective.
I usually make my decisions on books and movies by the blurb of what the story’s about, not by someone else’s opinion.
Irish, I can’t believe the SIL who gave your friend in chemo a depressing book. That kind of reasoning always reminds me of Jenny Crusie’s essay “Glee and Sympathy”: “I spent years reading about miserable women like the one who pursued the life she wanted, had great sex, and then ate arsenic; or the one who pursued the life she wanted, had great sex, and then threw herself under a train; or my personal fave, the one who pursued the life she wanted, had lousy sex with a masochistic dweeb, and spent the rest of her endless life atoning by doing good works in a letter sweater. What a great literary education gets a woman is depressed.Very, very depressed. Not to mention very reluctant to have sex.”
My sister and I have almost given up on recommending books to one another. She complains that “nothing happens” in my favorite books, and the thrillers she loves give me nightmares. We share a love of cozy mysteries, so we mostly limit our recommendations to those.
Hellion, no tea at all? Gasp! The horror!
Humor deserves its own blog. I always feel as if I’ve found a kindred spirit when I discover someone who laughs at the things I find funny. A lot of what passes as humor just seems mean-spirited to me.
Anida,I have family members like that too. There’s one in particular who arrives for every visit witha grocery bag full of improving tomes. Ugh!
Maggie, I think writing has had the reverse effect on me. It’s made me more tolerant of some things because I know how hard the struggle to get it all right is. I do agree with you about time wasting though. reading shouldn’t be like taking a dose of foul but necessary medicine.
Ashley, I’ve been misled by blurbs too, so I don’t rely on them. I’ve learned that some friends’ reading tastes are so similar to mine that we will agree 90% of the time. Irish and I have remarkably similar reading tastes, for example. Except she loves some Medievals that I can’t read.
Same thing with some reviewers.