These are books that I have put down and don't plan to pick back up. Probably because they are STINKERS.
Here they are:
The Cellar by Natasha Preston
Very formulaic, predictable, and blah. Normal man who is really psycho abducts perfect young girls, names them after flowers, and eventually deflowers them. They are kept in ... wait for it ... the cellar. Oh, and he is germaphobic. See? It's a 347 page cliché.
Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
To say that I read this book is not true; however, I did read all that I am going to read in it. And it damaged me. I was glad to get rid of this one and its bad vibes. Gross is not entertaining. It's just gross. I would NEVER recommend this to anyone.
Hell by Robert Olen Butler
I invoked the "100 page rule" and put this stinker down. Maybe it was because I just finished the very clever "Johannes Cabal the Necromancer". My expectations were high for this book, and I was sorely, sadly, completely disappointed.
The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan
I am no prude, but when I got to yet another description of anal sex, I put this one down. I mean, good grief, we get it already: werewolves like sex. Putting this stinker on my "do not bother" list. Because I hated it so much, I'm pretty sure Hollywood will turn it into a movie.
Looking for Alaska by John Green
I know, I know! To teens, John Green is a national treasure. However, I just don't like his books. I don't like his writing style, and I don't like his storytelling. That is what happened with this one. I feel as if Alaska is a pale reproduction of Stephen Chbosky's Perks of Being a Wallflower, which I would recommend you read instead of this Green stinker.
Room by Emma Donoghue
I really struggled through this one. There are just so many pages you can describe activity in an 11x11 room. Once they escaped, it picked up a bit for me, but it was not enough for more than two stars. I can say, however, I loved the Ma's spunkiness in her conversations with outside people, like her mother and the reporter.
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
I am hating this book! Too many metaphors, too many similes, too many detailed arcane references to other written pieces (I hesitate to call some "literature"). My friend is constantly encouraging me to finish it. "It gets better," she says. Is that what books are all about? It gets better? Well, as Toni Morrison once said about the difficultly some readers found in finishing and understanding her books, "That, my dear, is called READING."
UPDATE: I put this monstrous book down at 426 pages, not able to take another word. This is, by far, the most self-absorbed, pessimistic tome by an author who takes herself FAR to seriously (just look at the photo on the inside back cover) I have EVER read. YUCK!!
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
Didn't finish this one. I put it down after Sedaris' commentary on misplaced love, where a woman saves her dog from a burning house instead of her son. Sedaris has reached a new high on the sardonic scale.
The Verificationist by Donald Antrim
A dinner at a pancake house attended by a group of self-inflated, know-it-all blow-hards. Complete with a food fight, out of body experience and petty jealousies, this is a must-avoid trip down psychoanalysis lane.
Weddings Can Be Murder by Christie Craig
I really didn't like this book. It was a good story and had potential, but was written like the author was a pubescent male. I had no idea there were so many ways to say someone's "manliness was as hard as a stone". The sex talk, thoughts and acts got very tiring. I found myself wanting to know more about the killer than those he was after. Maybe so I could help him put all of these rutting characters out of my misery. I suspect Playgirl and Playboy stories are more subtle than this. Keep your day job, Ms. Craig.
The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean
ARGGG! This book was SO boring that I decided to put it down. It was such a snoozer that I didn't even read it at bedtime, it was so verbose and rambling. Very little character development and too much blah-dee-blah-blah. I can't believe this author won an award. I also can't imagine that a young adult could actually stick with this through almost 400 pages. I am so glad to turn this book back into the library.
