Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Didn't Really Like, But I'm Still Glad I Read Them

Top Ten Tuesday is weekly book blog meme now hosted by Jana over at The Artsy Reader Girl!

This week's topic is: Books I Disliked/Hated but Am Really Glad I Read
This topic was a bit tricky because it was somewhat difficult to find books that I didn't like but that I still felt benefited me in some way or that I was proud of reading. There are plenty of books that I didn't like, but I didn't really feel that happy I had read any of them, either. In the end, I did manage to come up with ten books that I do think had some sort of positive aspect on me or just provided some sort of benefit from reading them, so let's dive in!




The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
I'm one of the few that didn't fall in love with this book (which I'm sure you already know if you've followed my blog for a little while), but I'm still glad I read it largely because of its popularity. This book almost always pops up among conversations and around the book community, so I'm glad that I have actually read it and can follow along, but.... I still didn't like it.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
This was a true mountain of a book for me climb over, but I am so proud that I actually did it. I ended up thinking that this book is highly overrated and entirely pretentious, but I do have to give props to the sheer detail and effort that went into this. There were a few good parts, but overall I just really disliked this one. I'm glad I read it though because: 1) it's just such a big title that's thrown around a lot and 2) because it shows myself that if I can make it through Infinite Jest, I know I can get through almost any book.....right?
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo
This book was a load of hogwash in my personal opinion. I think the only reason I'm glad I read this is because now when I see it mentioned I can know that I don't have to feel obligated to ever pick it up again. I can firmly and safely say that I do not like this book and I will not being reading anything more Coehlo.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

  

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
I didn't really like this one much at all, but it's one of those that I know I would desperately want to read if I hadn't and I wouldn't be satisfied until I did--does that make sense? The cover is stunning and the synopsis is fascinating, so I definitely know I'd be constantly wanting to read it, and therefore I'm glad I read it and can safely stop worrying about reading this book and the rest of the series. That being said, I am tempted to try re-reading it sometime...
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

The Once and Future King by T.H. White
I was fairly disappointed by this book, but I've always wanted to learn more about the King Arthur stories, so I'm glad I read this and now have a basic foundation of the stories. I definitely want to read more King Arthur books and other Arthurian settings, but White just didn't click with me I guess.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
I read this years and years ago and distinctly remember being unimpressed despite all of the wonderful things I've heard about Jon Ronson. That being said, I'm glad I read this because I know I want to read other books by Ronson, so this just sort of tells me to maybe choose my next Ronson book more carefully. I'm also glad to have at least read one thing by Ronson and be aware of who he is and what his focus is.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

   

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
This is just another one of those that I'm glad I read because it's so popular and I find it useful to have knowledge of the story and being able to understand references, know the basic story, etc. But... I didn't really like it, though I'm not sure I can quite place my finger on why.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon
I understand why this is popular, but I was so bored. I'm glad I read it because it's an interesting perspective and I like what Haddon did with the story, but from an entertainment standpoint, it wasn't good.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Just another classic I'm glad I read, but still didn't like. I've discovered I'm not a huge Steinbeck fan, but I did like Of Mice and Men quite a lot more than The Grapes of Wrath. Still, it never hurts to have read some classics that are so often mentioned in everyday discussions.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository



The Magician's Nephew/The Horse and His Boy (+ a few others from the series) by C.S. Lewis
I liked The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but... that's about it. I hate admitting this (even to myself!), but I just found a lot of the other Narnia books so boring. I tried reading them many times, but I just hated where the plot went and was bored to death. I'm still glad I read them and know the stories and can follow along with references, but on the whole... I'm not reading them again.
Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

What do you think of any of these books? What books are you glad you read even if you didn't like them?



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8 comments:

  1. Yeah, not all the Narnia books are great, although I do like The Magician's nephew because it sets up so much for the rest of the series, I like seeing how everything connects.

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    1. That's a good point about The Magician's Nephew. I think I've mixed up most of the Narnia books so I definitely didn't think about that, haha.

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  2. The Book Thief is one of my favourite books, but I can see how it's not for everyone. I was also kind of ambivalent about Perks, I loved the movie, but the format of the book didn't work for me. I also wasn't keen on Curious Incident and I couldn't get into any Narnia books but The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2018/05/15/top-ten-tuesday-159/

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    1. Yeah, the movie was pretty good! The Narnia books were so hard for me to get into, but it seems that The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe is one that tends to most well-loved.

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  3. I thought the Queen of the Tearling was decent but didn't make it through book two. And same here with Narnia. I mean I consider myself a fan, but TBH The Lio, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Dawn Treader are probably my faves too. Some of the others... meh.

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    1. I'm really thinking about re-reading Queen of the Tearling sometime, it's one of those that still calls to me to give it a second chance. Totally agree--I definitely think of myself as a fan and I love the concept of the books, it's just hard to get into. But there's some good ones!

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  4. I really didn't like The Alchemist either, and I never understood the hype. And big congrats on getting through Infinite Jest! Definitely an overwhelming book, one I don't think I'll ever tackle.

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    1. Every time I see someone recoend The Alchemist, I can't help but wonder why. And thank you! It was definitely... an experience. It's not one that I wouldn't not recommend to people, but I wouldn't recommend it either, if that makes sense. I don't think anyone is missing out on not reading it, haha.

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