Trashy books that are so much better than they ought to be!

[sadpapercourtesan]

Does anyone else have guilty pleasure books that are utter rubbish, but so lovely to read? The literary equivalent of a Pot Noodle?

Some of mine:

Dark Cathedral by Freda Warrington
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
Helen Forrester's books
Stepping by Nancy Thayer

All nonsense, but I've read them all more than once!

Any recommendations?

Fucking love Jackie Collins, won't have a bad word said about her.. her books are just amazing. She knew how to suck you in, weave a tangled web and topped them all off with lashings of glamour and sex!

Love Jilly Cooper too for similar reasons but the Britishness of her stories are what sold them to me (although Mount! Is a pile of shit!)

Agree with a PP though - I have time for almost any book; high brow, low brow and everything in between. Reading is one of the biggest joys in my life and I am beyond grateful that there are so many gifted writers out there, far more than I will ever be able to read.

"Mine is Georgette Heyer. I am constantly re reading them. I’ve also just read all Eva Ibbottson’s YA novels which are perfect. Apparently she once said something like ‘I write books for very intelligent women. Very intelligent women who have the flu’ & basically that is my favourite genre. But I wouldn’t call it trash."

skeggycaggy we might be the same person. I adore Heyer, and had so much fun reading all of Ibbottson last year. Finding books written for 'very intelligent women who have the flu' is now my life goal.

Anything by Matthew Reilly, some of his are in a series with the same set of characters, but Great Zoo of China was unputdownable and is a standalone.

It may seem like it's not your thing, it's all action adventure stuff, but trust me, it wasn't my thing either until I got addicted. And then got my two best friends, husband, mother and sister addicted!

If you're looking for easy reading, phwoar with happy endings then I recommend Sarina Bowen, Elle Kennedy or Vi Keeland. I used to read only literary classics and 'worthy' books. Lockdown and life stresses killed my attention span so I started reading romance to escape. I'm hooked!

Love Wilbur Smith. Sidney Sheldon and Judith Ktantz are also great for Escapism

pointythings I think you meant 'treasure' not "trashy" when you spoke of Diana Wynne Jones.

I don’t think any book you enjoy should be called ‘trashy’.

If it entertains you, that’s enough, when that’s what you buy it for. I read a lot of all sorts, from classics to popular crime, some more enjoyable than others - and if I’m not enjoying them I pick up another - life’s too short to plough through anything that doesn’t grab you, as if it was an exam set book.

But presumably you mean ‘non-literary’ fiction.
As for ‘lit-fic’, tastes will vary there, too. I do remember a major prize judge (IIRC it was Susan Hill and the Booker) saying that many of the entries were ‘literary tripe’.

CatChant agreed, but it does come under comfort reading for me. I've just sorted out all my books in my revamped living room, so I know where they all are, and am looking at the Howl trilogy.

Shirley Conran and Jackie Collins. I remember copies of Lace and various Jackie Collins novels being passed around at school, all of which used to strangely fall open at the sex scenes because they’d been read so much!

I found a book on holiday called French Relations by Fiona Walker. I read it so many times it fell to bits. Crap but brilliant

A friend recently gave me a copy of Lace as a joke, at a book swap. Everyone else gave pretty highbrow and worthy stuff.

I read it and bloody loved it!

Ah, but Jean Plaidy and Georgette Heyer aren't 'trashy'!

Historically they are - particularly Heyer - extremely accurate in the details. Tremendous amounts of research gone on there. Phillipa Gregory is another one. The 'romance' and the story may be imagined or assumed - but the historical detail is generally extremely well done.

I’ve just read Judith Krantz’s Mistral’s Daughter and I’ll take Manhattan again after a gap of 30 years. Bloody ridiculous and over the top. Thoroughly enjoyed them though.

@parentalhelpline

"Mine is Georgette Heyer. I am constantly re reading them. I’ve also just read all Eva Ibbottson’s YA novels which are perfect. Apparently she once said something like ‘I write books for very intelligent women. Very intelligent women who have the flu’ & basically that is my favourite genre. But I wouldn’t call it trash."

skeggycaggy we might be the same person. I adore Heyer, and had so much fun reading all of Ibbottson last year. Finding books written for 'very intelligent women who have the flu' is now my life goal.

Hello reading twin! You might like Joan Aiken’s regency novels too - Deception is brilliant. She wrote marvellous sequels to Jane Austen as well.

Venetia by Georgette Heyer even got discussed on the Backlisted Podcast www.backlisted.fm/episodes/30-georgette-heyer-venetia

@IamEarthymama

Oh my! Nora Roberts! The later ones are better than the 1980s, which are very romance!

She also writes as JD Robb, crime novels set in 2060s.

No one has any money worries, the women are feisty,clever, independent.
The men are handsome, often Irish with long dark hair and blue eyes.

I love them for a comfort read.

I apologise now!

Don't apologise-I love her books; I think I've got nearly everything she's written, and I automatically pre-order every time a new one pops up on Amazon.

Georgette Heyer - just re-read all the romances, and read the mysteries for the first time - fabulous!
Karen Rose - very involved, love her Characterisation.
Dick Francis.
I wouldn't say trashy - but oh I love Terry Pratchett's works. I still mourn that wonderful man.

If anyone remembers Princess Daisy in any detail, what was it that Daisy's brother did that caused his wife to leave him and everyone in his social circle to ostracize him for? I never really 'got' that as a young teen and this thread has made me think of it.

Another Georgette Heyer fan - delicioys escapism.

Nora Roberts also good contemporary, just enough to keep you intetested.

The "intelligent woman with flu" type books are exactly what I want! Pref with a bit of sex!

Loved Aitkin's Wolves of Willoughy Chase as a teen - one of only a few books thst has really stuck in my mind.

@shuuush

Flowers in the attic series

Jackie Collins Hollywood wives

Oh wow I was thinking about flowers in the attic the other day! My great auntie lent me the series at far too young an age - I've never met anyone who has ever heard of them!

Yes
Danielle Steele
Jolly cooper
Love a bit of Jeffrey archer too

Rosamunde Pilcher isn't trashy. I love her books, was weirdly introduced to them in Germany by my host family when I was over there as a teen.

Jilly Cooper and Jackie Collins are more what I'd see as a bit trashy, but they are still enjoyable

@MrsHuntGeneNotJeremyObviously

If anyone remembers Princess Daisy in any detail, what was it that Daisy's brother did that caused his wife to leave him and everyone in his social circle to ostracize him for? I never really 'got' that as a young teen and this thread has made me think of it.

When he had sex with his wife he cried out Daisy's name. Rather off putting.