As a reader, one of the suckiest feelings is not feeling like you ‘fit in’ with most other readers because you don’t like the popular books/authors.
I really don’t consider myself a picky reader. I’m a little embarrassed for all the books I’ve rated 5 stars in the last 15 years, but I’ve always been more of a vibe reader. If I’m enjoying a book, it doesn’t matter if the book isn’t perfect, I will think of it as a 5 star book.
For the last few years, I’ve been struggling a lot with feeling like the majority of books I read are just okay. I miss the feeling of books that would NOT let me put them down. When I used to pull all nighters to stay up to read, and yes I would do this even when my now teenagers were babies. I miss the feeling of a book staying with me long after I finish reading.
Now I find myself simply thinking most books are okay and moving on to the next book. I’m not a fan of Colleen Hoover, I used to love Taylor Jenkins Reid’s older books but nothing about her new books gabs my attention (I actually HATED The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo). I’ve read about 4 Ali Hazelwood books and two I thought were cute but the characters annoyed me and the other two I didn’t really enjoy. Although I actually really liked Happy Place by Emily Henry (I really really liked this one), I struggled to get through Book Lovers and People We Meet On Vacation. I usually listen to 4-5 audiobooks a week and both of these audiobooks took me almost a week to get through. I just didn’t really care for the characters or story. And as much as I’d love to gush over TOG/ACOTAR and Fourth Wing with so many people on here…Fantasy will always be a genre I struggle with.
It’s hard to not feel sometimes like I’m just being a picky bitch, I promise, I’m not. Maybe I should just stop chasing the old feelings books used to give me and just enjoy them for what they are, a nice escape. I can’t help but feeling like an outsider or like a snobby reader when I don’t love the same books almost everyone else is falling for.
What are some very well loved/popular books or authors that you just don’t like??