It’s a Long List
Give me a science fiction title, a teen dystopian series, a good suspense novel or a book that makes you a laugh out loud and i’m a happy reader. Nicholas Sparks, not so much. He’s an author that everyone loves…and I despise. Well, I don’t despise him, I just really don’t enjoy his books (I think his books make super movies though!). Heh, heh. I can’t tell you how many times someone recommended his books to me. Sparks and Jan Karon are probably the two authors people recommend the most.
“You have to read this book!” There’s something about working in a library that draws people to say this to me…often. Not just in the library, but family and friends, too. I love the enthusiasm and passion they have for these books….sadly many of the recommendations are not “my kind of books”, but sometimes I end up reading really good books I would never have picked up on my own. Because my “To read” list is already so full of things I want to read, my standard response to “You have to read this book!” is a perky “I’ll add it to my list!” But there are some authors and novels that I have to buckle down and read whether I want to or not to keep up with what’s out there so I’m able to make good recommendations.
Without further ado, here’s the first book in the Books I Don’t Want to Read series.
Big Girl Panties by Stephanie Evanovich
I was intrigued by this one. I thought the title was funny and her last name, Evanovich pushed me over the edge. I took it home to read. Niece to the ever productive and hilarious Janet Evanovich, this is Stephanie’s first novel. Was she the inspiration for Stephanie in the Stephanie Plum novels? I don’t know. I do know that she’s taken a page from her aunt’s book (pun intended) and writes with humor. Not as much as Janet, but it’s there.
Holly meets Logan on a plane. She’s overweight. He’s a personal trainer to the rich and famous. They strike up a conversation and ends up her personal trainer which leads to (no surprise here) an unexpected attraction. What follows is the story of their battles with weight, stereotypes and personal growth.
I have to admit, I got sucked in right away…and then it became obvious pretty quickly that I was reading a romance. A romance meets Biggest Loser meets grief. I’m not a huge fan of romance novels, I don’t enjoy weight loss stories, and I really stay away from sad stories. I had to put the book down and come back to it. After a few days, I put on my own big girl panties and finished the book.
In the end, I’d say
- Big Girl Panties is a little rough around the edges. I hope her next book is a little more polished.
- It’s a good, racy beach read. Stick it in your carry-on for vacation.
- I’m glad I finished it. It got me to kick back, relax and read something fluffy. Something I rarely do.
- I may even read another one by Stephanie Evanovich if she writes another.
- There are plenty of people I know that would enjoy this book. I’m glad to have this in my “Books to recommend” arsenal.
I’ll never be able to read all the books people recommend. There’s just not enough time in the day. I try remember that every now and then there’s a jewel hidden among all those recommendations and I should treat each book like a field trip. How can I know if I like it if I haven’t even cracked the book open?
Do you ever groan (silently) when someone recommends a book or a movie to you that you just know you won’t like? How do you handle it?
Disclosure: If you click the cover of Big Girl Panties shown above you’ll be directed to Amazon’s website. If you make a purchase, I may receive compensation. It’s unlikely, it hasn’t happened yet, but the FTC requires me to inform you that I’m being “paid”. Click away!
I held out reading Harry Potter for years because it was “too popular”. For some reason, if a book is popular or mainstream i.e. Sparks, I don’t want to read it. I finally read Harry Potter and loved the series. I held out on 50 Shades of Grey also, read it and regretted it. Immensely.
I do the same thing. If I haven’t read it before it becomes mainstream it’s unlikely I’ll pick it up. But I got sucked into 50 Shades. It was poorly written, but addicting. I had to find out what happened in the end 😉
When I first started as a librarian I kept getting “You’ve got to read Danielle Steel”, haven’t read one to this day. Too stubborn I guess. I belong to a book group now and that was probably the best thing for me. I read books now I would NEVER find and pick up on my own and I usually like them a lot. Even some nonfiction (that’s a tough sell for me). My latest fav, is Jewelweed by David Rhodes. That was easy to pick up since my book group introduced me to the author through Driftless.
I used to devour romance novels. It’s all my mom read as a kid and my grandma had thousands of Harlequins. But I’ve grown bored of them the older I get.
I’ve not read the Harry Potter books, Sparks books, Danielle Steel books, 50 Shades or any of the other, “You must read these!” books. Maybe I will some day, but right now, I have time relaxing long enough to read a book and when I do it’s usually for a purpose (learning, business, etc). I used to be a voracious pleasure reader and I miss it.
When I was younger I read every single Victoria Holt book I could get my hands on. I bet you’ll come back to reading some day when things slow down (they do slow down eventually, right?).
hey, if you break out the term “big girl panties” i have to read it! 🙂
I know, right?! Let me know what you think when you read it.
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