and found yourself totally turned off by it?

I did a search on this title before posting this just to see if anyone else had ever mentioned it, and it was on a list of books Sandy MI read. I'm curious to know what you thought about it Sandy.

I was at the library last week, and there was another lady (younger than me by at least 15 years) in the section where my favorite books are located. Turns out she was getting a book by the same author. So we started chatting and she told me about another series she just loved because it was so funny. So I checked out the first in the series: Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella.

I didn't find it funny at all. I found the character pathetic, shallow, and just plain stupid. Why? Because she dug herself into debt and then kept digging, and then wanted to be bailed out instead of doing anything about it herself. Unless the book is horrible from the start, I try to give it 50 pages before deciding it's drivel, and I gave this one 57 before closing the book in disgust. Maybe she wised up and started getting her life together on page 58, but if I didn't crack a smile once during 57 pages, I doubt if I would think the rest of the book funny even if I didn't dislike the main character so much.



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The road to success is always under construction.

DS's ex raved about Eat, Pray, Love. The main character was incredibly shallow and I couldn't conjure up any affection for her at all. The book is divided into 3 sections. I read the first one and bagged it.

Occasionally I will stop reading a book because I just can't get into it, but I'll try again in 6 months or a year. I get into it, and I enjoy the book. (A couple of Barbara Kingsolver's were like that for me). No desire to ever pick up Eat, Pray, Love again.

I lasted about 30 minutes before changing the channel (it was on Starz I think).

Shopaholic, that is. I know I read it last year because it's in my book log but I can't remember anything from the plot. Anyway, I can't think of any right now that were personally recommended to me that I didn't like, but last year I read The Tender Bar, which won the Pulitzer prize and just couldn't make myself finish it. And then wondered what was so wonderful about the book that I was missing or what was wrong with me that I couldn't appreciate it.

DD passed this on to me saying it was one of the best books she had ever read.
I made a start on it and found it very dull, but she told me to persevere as it got better. Well, I suppose it did get a bit better, but it just seemed to go on and on.Then on a bit more
I did read it all, but was glad when it was finished. I wouldn't say I hated it though

yet so many people rave about it.... Guess it's just not my thing.

The first bit is really dull, but once you are over that you won't be able to put it down. The whole trilogy is unputdownable

of not being able to put it down? I'd say I read a good 60 pages or so....

I seem to think she was about the turning point. I passsed on my copies so I can't check

I felt the same way the first time I read that book and DD #1 kept saying "just wait" and "keep reading"- Her financial ability does improve and you find out that she gets into most of her trouble because she is a people pleaser.

One of my friends raved about it and I said I had no desire to read it. She actually BOUGHT me a copy because she loved it so much. I felt obligated to read it. I pretty much hated it. One thing I learned, though, is not to recommend too many things (books, movies, restaurants) to people. Invariably, I love it(them) and they hate it(them)!

I've never understood this particular book/movie. Why is it OK to glorify adultery???

I especially wondered when some people I know who totally disapprove of adultery liked the book. Made me wonder.

Myra in West Texas

When a man cheats, he's an a--hole; but when a woman cheats, it's a love story. True. However, I did like the book and the movie.

Eat, Pray, Love was one of our book club books. I got about a third of the way through it and just couldn't do it. I kept thinking it was the most self indulgent, narcissistic book I had ever read. Granted, she was doing self exploration but I kept thinking if she would just think about someone other than herself she might be happy. It was interesting that all the married women who had kids despised the book and all the single, never-married women loved it.

I tried to read Twilight and got 40-50 pages into it and that was all I could take. Even my daughter and her friend, both prime targets for the book, hated it. The writing just seemed so vapid.

My SIL loved The Shopaholic. I read it and smiled a few times but what seemed to bother me most was her being such an inveterate liar. I did find some of the ways she justified charging things kinda funny because it is very easy to talk yourself into things you don't really need. An example is when she was going to cook at home to save money and bought all this equipment to do it.

I liked the Dragon Tattoo books. I got totally hooked.

I recommended Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, because it's one of my favorite books and I thought it would be fun to discuss. There were about 6 ladies, and not one of them made it all the way through the book.

And then I thought they were all cretins for awhile.

They are cretins. Maybe we should start our own book club. I like Mansfield Park the best.

But Mansfield Park is the only one I've never gotten through! Ok, now I'm determined to get it and finish it.

My husband got it for me years ago and I never could finish it. I loved, loved P&P. I am thinking I should go dig it off my shelf and give it a second go.

The language and vocabulary aren't what we are used to.

As a child, I read a lot of old classics and loved them. As an English major with an emphasis on Shakespeare, I read a lot of Shakespeare, and while it was hard to get into at first, I loved them too.

However, I tried to read a classic a few years ago, one that I loved as a child, I couldn't get into it at all. I think if I had stuck with it, and possibly read a couple, it would have come back to me.

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The road to success is always under construction.

First time I went to the book club at the library, the book we had been assigned was AWFUL. I wish I could remember what it was but that was several years ago. I almost sat and kept my mouth shut but then the librarian asked me, as the newest member, to comment. I said I hated it. A couple other ladies laughed and said they hoped someone elsed would admit it was bad!

I don't like Sophie Kinsella's books either, I've read several and didn't like any of them. I liked the "eat" portion of Eat Pray Love, the rest of it annoyed me. I'd rather be boiled in wildebeast urine than have to finish another Twilight book. My BFF loves anything by Terry Pratchett and I can't seem to get thru any of them. My nephew loves George RR Martin's books, he and I usually have similar tastes but I am so bored by those books. My MIL loves ANYTHING by Nora Roberts but her older romance works are very predictable so when MIL gives them to me I pay it forward, immediately.

But then, often what I enjoy is not so interesting to others. No big deal.

however usually if my kids say a book is good, it is. if I am not sure I want to read it, and get convinced, they were right, LOL. same with movies. where others are concerned, I have learned to be cautious.

Myra in West Texas