Authors who are very popular but you just don't get....

Lol about Hardy and lol about Rapunzel @LoveIsLovely

which makes me think a lot of people are VERY STUPID

Are you for real? We'd be very boring if we only liked the books you like, even if that makes us intelligent in your opinion!!

I'm sure there are authers you dislike that someone else does like, does that make you stupid too?

Harry Potter and Game of Thrones both leave me cold. And then I have people going "le shock!! you've never read Harry Potter!! but it's so amazing and magical and Hufflepuff sorting hat Dumbledore is gay classic tale of good and evil so amazing!!!"

I don't care. They're children's books, I was an adult when they came out, and so, I have never read them. If that makes me a snob, then I'm a snob.

Game of Thrones, too long, too many tits. Didn't care.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I want to like her books but I just don't. I like her Ted Talk and I like her in interviews but I have never finished any of her books.

I love Thomas Hardy though basically because it's boring, no thought required, just let him drone on and on about the endless misery of existence and how awful everything and everyone is and 50 pages describing a fucking field or something. It makes me feel oddly better about my life. I bet he was a right miserable bastard.

Rapunzel is very very smart, she's read all the smart person's books and understood them too.

Go on then Rapunzelsplait, tell us your favourite authors so that we can cast judgement on your intelligence.

@Rapunzelsplait I think your comment is the one that comes across stupid if you're claiming people are stupid for not liking the same authors as you

Ok cheers for that Rapunzel.

Boy oh boy - I cannot read any more of this thread.

I think we need to start a thread with our favourite authors.

There's a heck of a lot of negativity on this thread for my favourite authors which makes me think a lot of people are VERY STUPID

And yes to Thomas Hardy! Had to read 2 at secondary school: mahoosive yawn! Tess of the D'Urbervilles! Hardy just comes across as a misogynistic old perve!

Ooh just remembered another one Michelle Paver's adult books! See them frequently recommended on here as being super scary and I think really? They just seem like children's stories and not very frightening. In fact, children's books are often far more so!

Highland it might just be that I really fancy Jackson Brody

Tolkien, definitely. And Haruki Murakami.

I’m about halfway through Wuthering Heights and loving it. There is so much humour in it I think, it’s not all bleak.
I agree. I love it.

I read Liane Moriarty's The Husband's Secret or something everyone was raving about. It was crap.

Michael Morpurgo. What the hell is that shit? We have tried so many and none of them are interesting. Audio adaptations are even worse.

Blakes77 I've just read When Will There Be Good News and although maybe not the most believable plot I've ever come across I really enjoyed it.

I had a short conversation with Louis de Bernieres at Edinburgh book festival after his author event. He was pretty rude and arrogant, had nothing good to say about his fellow authors but was extremely pleased with himself.

I wasn't a huge fan before and will definitely not buy any of his books in future.

Fun thread! Interesting to see the same names coming up time and time again.

I have a few. I don't get on with Tolkien, but then I just don't get on with fantasy at all. I have nothing against the books, I'm sure they're brilliant if you like that sort of thing, they're just not for me.

I don't like Terry Pratchett either. I can see why people like them, but the joke always seems laboured to me. Sorry, Pratchett fans.

Have never been able to get past the first couple of pages of Ali Smith. Maybe if I persevere, I'll find I really like her.

I do slightly disapprove of people who don't like Jane Austen, though. I can't help it.

I quite like this thread for making me feel slightly better about giving up on some authors very very quickly.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin LdB
The Accidental by Ali Smith
Garcia Marquez a couple of them
McEwan ditto

Sometimes I feel it's age, I tried them in my 20s and have been meaning to go back to them but really, life is full of books that I love so maybe I can give myself a pass.

I’m so glad to see Thomas Hardy on so many people’s lists. A couple of years ago I created a shelf of books to get through in a year. I wanted to get back into reading. There were 3 or 4 Hardys there. I tried one and tried again, gave up on it, forgot about the pile and haven’t read much since.
I’m going to ditch the Hardys, pick something else from the pile and hopefully my progress will be better!

Can’t agree at all with Kazuo Ishiguro - his books are so moving.

Jane Eyre is my favourite book ever and I’m about halfway through Wuthering Heights and loving it. There is so much humour in it I think, it’s not all bleak.

Agree with David Walliams - my ds said at Christmas “please will you buy me some books mum - but not David walliams books, ok?”

Marian Keyes - I bought a few of her books in a charity shop but haven’t been able to get past the first chapter of any of them.

Agree with Jojo moyes

Also Joanna Trollope books are very hit and miss - I find her earlier ones much better.

Also has anyone tried to read the Agatha raisin books? What utter tripe! Can’t for the life of me understand why they are so popular - they seem almost written by a child!

Kate Atkinson is bloody brilliant but I wouldn't start with Behind the Scenes

I liked Behind the Scenes but none of her others! I’ve tried to read ‘Life after Life’ about 8 times and never got past the first few chapters, which is extremely unusual for me.

Kate Atkinson is bloody brilliant but I wouldn't start with Behind the Scenes. Case histories is my favourite, and When Will there be Good News.
I could never get on with Tolkien. Or Ernest Hemingway!
And I am also disappointed with Quentin Blake for illustrating Williams books (to pp who said that)
Jk R is an absolutely amazing children's book writer though..Her books are not meant for adults! Writing for children is a completely different skill.

I read one Ali Smith (How to be Both) and it turned me off her other books.
Read Normal People by Sally Rooney and thought it was a ridiculous, pretentious piece of work and I certainly didn’t want to read her previous one.