to admit, I really liked 50 shades of grey...

[OnlyWantsOne]

I read all 3, only a few weeks ago - in a week. I liked them. I now seem addicted to news re the film being released and all things 50 shades. I do get weirdly infatuated with stories etc, greys anatomy, scandal (I consume box sets and whole series in quick time frames and have horrible withdrawal after!)

I've been suckered in hook line and sinker haven't I!?!

What to read now...?

[WhatsTheEffingPoint]

Bared to you series - Sylvia Day

Ok they are not up there with the 'Greats' and the will drive you mad by going no where fast but sometimes you need a bit of 'Take Your Brains Out Fluff' that will draw you in so you cant put it down.

Each to their own with reading tastes i say.

[WhizzpopWhizzBang]

I tried to read some of the first one via the free first few pages view on Amazon as I usually like that sort of stuff
Seriously though, the writing is absolutely appalling and I have no idea how it even became so popular.
If it was written well I would have given it a good go, but it wasn't easy to get past!

[OnlyWantsOne]

Thank you for the recommendations.

The bdsm isn't portrayed realistically in it IMO.

I don't know why I liked it, I just did!!

[Suzietastic]

The writing was dreadful but I FUCKING LOVED IT.

[londonrach]

Never read the twilight but enjoyed the films. (Hides although warm wolf, cold vampier come on what you choose). Think vampier might be spelt wrong please understand im dyslexic.

[Neverbuyheliumbalonz]

How? Just........how?

I couldn't bring myself to read the second and third books, because in he first book nothing actually happens.

And I speak as some who enjoyed the Twilight Saga and all of Dan Browns books!

[ScarletFever]

oh no no no - my friends RAVED about this, so i tried, it went in the rare "never going to finish this twaddle" her goddess, and inner lip arghhhhhh
(i didnt mind twilight, and read a lot of rubbish, but this....)

try Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice - much better

[WinterKisses]

YANBU, I enjoyed them and I have read them twice.

If only I had thought of writing a book like that, I would have liked how successful E L James has become

I strongly recommend the This Man trilogy by Jodi Ellen if you liked 50 SOG as I loved the story and the way it was written.

[Fcukfifa]

One of the worst books I have read......and I've read twilight. All of them.
(And liked them)

[SistersOfPercy]

I read a lot of crap like this, it's easy reading after a long day. I've read Dickens, I've even got Homer on my Nook but sometimes you just want to settle under a blanket with a mug of chocolate and read crap.

OP, a few recommendations for you...

Jennifer Probst Marriage to a Millionaire series. Starting with 'The Marriage Bargain'.

I rather like tattooed men and rock star stories so I'd highly recommend Olivia Cunnings Sinners Series, Backstage Pass being the first. These are VERY explicit.

Kristen Proby Seattle series. The first is 'Come Away with me'.

If you join Goodreads you can see lists your favourite book is in, so if you were looking for 50 shades it appears in many lists, this one is for 'Best M/F Erotic Romance like Fifty Shades of Grey'

www.goodreads.com/list/show/18698.Best_M_F_Erotic_Romance_like_Fifty_Shades_of_Grey_not_paranormal_high_school_gay_or_sci_fi_#10818853

[EEVEElution]

What's wrong with the Da Vinci code? I liked it!

[lemisscared]

The first i knew of 50 shades of shite was a parody thread on here. THAT was very funny.

The book was fucking dire and thsts from someone who enjoyed the da vinci code

Several of my friends with PhDs enjoyed it though.

So yanbu but it was still shit imo

[Sallystyle]

It made me laugh how many good books have been written on this subject, yet it is this piece of crap that got famous, everyone jumped on the bandwagon like it was something new.

I read some of the first one, ended up skipping the boring sex scenes then throwing it away.

However YANBU to enjoy anything.

[WaywardOn3]

If you liked it for the bdsm then there are far far better books out there where the author actually knows what they're writing about.

If you liked it for the romance again far far better books out there.

If you liked it for the series so lots of book one after the other then yes again there are far better books worth reading

:-)

[EEVEElution]

They are absolutely dreadful! Have to admit I read due to the hype. Particularly grating where she refers to her 'sub-conscious' - my sub-conscious is telling me this etc... Obviously doesn't understand what a sub-conscious is!

[londonrach]

However please note i did finish them so there must be something in the book. There are other books in the library (yes dickens which i really hated reading although loved David couplefield for some reason, and gave up, why dickens lived in such a dark world) which i cant get pass the first chapter and some of these are book club recommendations.

[AgathaF]

The hype alone was enough to put me off reading any of those books.

How is it that some things become so popular for no apparent reason?

[hellsbellsmelons]

I also quite liked the Sylvia Day 'Bared to You' books.
50 shades was OK.
Nothing fantastic. They did get worse as they went on and the happy Hollywood ending was crap. But... Millions of people can't all be wrong!

[londonrach]

They are badly written and i thought mr greg had serious issues and why she got involved with this control freak i dont know. Read it because a lady at work went on and on about it and how she wanted to meet mr grey etc. Glad i didnt pay a penny or it. (Library books). I certainly looked at my work colleague differently since. Second book was the worse book i ever read. The so called sex scenes in all the books were boring (im not a fan away of sex scenes so usually ruins the story) so im afraid i did alot of skipping. The ending of book 3 is laughable. Im dyslexic so read in pictures when i read the words (if dyslexic you know what i mean also smells and colours. I remember the end being very green). Dh read the first book again due to hype and couldnt be bothered with rest saying it was badly written too and almost unreadable. There are loads of really good books at there. Your local library is a great place to start. I get through 2-3 books a week.

[BooDidIScareYou]

I loved them but got bored with the repetitive sex scenes quite quickly, was skipping over those bits to get to the plot /story bits! I know it's not great literature but I found it good escapism, I read to relax not to better myself. I won't be bothering with the film tho.

[OnlyWantsOne]

Like others had mentioned, it wasn't the eroticism that captured my attention. It was the lifestyle, drama, luxury etc


Oh and FYI I have an Eng lit degree. I read, and have done - plenty

[Bulbasaur]

Well, if a good majority of the female population didn't agree with you, these books wouldn't be so popular.

Personally, I find stuff like that boring for the same reason I wouldn't watch a porn for the plot.

But if you like it, then by all means don't feel guilty for enjoying it. I'm sure if everyone here listed everything they love, we'd find at least one or two really stupid things.

[Canyouforgiveher]

You don't read much op?
Try a real book your brain will thank you

Really?

And how about

I wanted to gouge my eyeballs out and roast them on a skewer rather than read any more.

If I had that reaction to any book I'd see a doctor although in fairness I must admit if I had to read Dickens now I might reach for a fork if not a skewer.

I am well read and well educated and I enjoyed those books too. I don't expect everyone to agree and I don't claim they were great literature or even particularly well written but they were fairly easy reading and fed into a lot of escapist fantasies people have. How bad? OP is perfectly entitled to enjoy them without being made feel stupid. People read different books for differnt things. Reading a bit of crap doesn't preclude reading something better written as well.

And a lot of what is regarded as good literature is awful stuff too.

Op, If you like 50 shades, wouldn't necessarily go to The Story of O. It is extremely extremely mysoginistic by comparison to the fluffy 50 shades of grey (yes I do know it was written by a woman) and involves a lot of fairly horrific pain being inflicted on the heroine. Still it has the merit of being the kind of porn approved of by the literary set.

[Winterbells]

YABVU! I didn't even make it half way through the first book. They are just wrong on so many levels.

I did enjoy reading Jen Reads 50 Shades of Grey though!

[Bettercallsaul1]

You don't really like them, Only! This is just a wind up, isn't it? (isn't it?)