# Books They Couldn't Pay Me To Read...What About You?



## Paul Levine (May 14, 2010)

What books couldn't they pay you to read?

Here are two of mine:

*"Celebrate,"* Pippa Middleton's party-planning guide. I never cared for celebs using their names to promote pap.

And...
*
"The Secret Race"* by Tyler Hamilton, former teammate and pal of Lance Armstrong, who now spills the juice about the Tour de France champ's use of performance enhancers. Sleazy.

Paul Levine


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## Beatriz (Feb 22, 2011)

Paul Levine said:


> What books couldn't they pay you to read?
> 
> Here are two of mine:
> 
> ...


I agree with you but I bet you they will be best sellers. A lot of people aren't necessarily looking for quality in their reading.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Though Pippa is definitely trading on her new found notoriety as a royal-in-law, apparently the family business is catering and party planning. . . .so it's not like she's completely clueless on the topic.

That said, though I would read almost anything for the right price . . . . . celebrity bios/tell-alls etc. have never interested me.


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## Seleya (Feb 25, 2011)

Any book about the dark side / double life / secret affairs of someone who's dead and can't come forward with his/her own version (I'm thinking specifically of a few titles about Marilyn Monroe and Diana Spencer but the two ladies are just an example).


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

50 Shades Of Grey,  etc...


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## Gareth K Pengelly (Aug 25, 2012)

The usual suspects. Twilight. 50 Shades.


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## Dylan Hayes (Aug 18, 2012)

The Twilight series.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

There's not much I wouldn't read. I mean, it doesn't make much sense to say I wouldn't read something that I haven't read because I don't know whether I'd like it if I haven't read it. *circular reasoning makes head hurt*  That being said, there are things you'd have to pay me to read to put them ahead of the things I know I want to read. I'd have to decide that on a case by case basis, though. An economic text might be one of them.

Betsy


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## Barbara M (Nov 21, 2008)

How about something you couldn't pay me to read again? 

I cannot bear the idea of rereading some books I just loved the first time around--the hobbit/lord of the rings.  Anything by Thomas Wolf, Anna Karenina (spelling is not my forte) The Brontes, All the King's Men, Tom Robbins, Agatha Christie, most of Jack London, Hemmingway


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## D. Nathan Hilliard (Jun 5, 2010)

Pretty much anything with a vampire in it anymore. I loved books like Salem's Lot or Kolchak: The Night Stalker, but the genre has changed.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

The second and third books of _The Hunger Games_ and the final few of the Harry Potter series. And, unlike someone above, I'm want to read moreThomas Wolf. I loved _Look Homeward, Angel_.


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## Elizabeth Black (Apr 8, 2011)

Gareth K Pengelly said:


> The usual suspects. Twilight. 50 Shades.


What amuses me is that I _was_ paid to read "50 Shades" for an article I wrote for a magazine. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have touched the book.

I won't go near "Twilight" or Tolkien's "Lord Of The Rings" series. I tried reading "Lord Of The Rings" and "The Hobbit" at my husband's urging and I wanted to throw the books across the room. Even money wouldn't improve the experience for me.


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## Dylan Hayes (Aug 18, 2012)

Elizabeth Black said:


> What amuses me is that I _was_ paid to read "50 Shades" for an article I wrote for a magazine. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have touched the book.
> 
> I won't go near "Twilight" or Tolkien's "Lord Of The Rings" series. I tried reading "Lord Of The Rings" and "The Hobbit" at my husband's urging and I wanted to throw the books across the room. Even money wouldn't improve the experience for me.


I can't really get into "Lord of the Rings" either. I tried reading the first one when the films were coming out and it just dragged on too long for me. Don't get me wrong. Tolkien was probably one of the greatest writers ever. I just can't get into his style.


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## Elizabeth Black (Apr 8, 2011)

Dylan Hayes said:


> I can't really get into "Lord of the Rings" either. I tried reading the first one when the films were coming out and it just dragged on too long for me. Don't get me wrong. Tolkien was probably one of the greatest writers ever. I just can't get into his style.


I know what you mean. I tried reading "The Hobbit" three times. I always get to that dinner scene and then I just want to toss the book down a garbage chute. It dragged for me. So many people love it, though. I guess whatever floats your boat.


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

I found the subject of this thread amusing because I am paid to "read" on a daily basis. I'm an editor, so I'm actually paid to edit.

While we do turn away some manuscripts as "not ready for an editor," I haven't run across any subject matter I'm not willing to edit. The biggest reason is simply because we only edit fiction.

That being said, I will add that there are books that people couldn't pay me to *just* read.

_Fifty Shades of Grey_ is one of those. That doesn't mean I think it's a bad book. I just have zero interest in the subject matter.

Overall, I will give most *fiction* a try on recommendations by friends who have similar reading tastes to mine.

As Betsy pointed out, it's hard to say I wouldn't read something if I've never read it.


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## SuseHocking (Sep 11, 2012)

50 shades.

If I had been interested in the first place, the reviews I've read since it came out have me running in the opposite direction...ugh.


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## TylerCoulson (Sep 12, 2012)

I'm new here...but it's nice to see most people answering this question the same way I did in my head: Twilight, 50 Shades, Harry Potter, etc. 

One I would add is that Tucker Max book. Anyone remember what I'm talking about? Yeah, I'm not going to read that.


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## davetylerdurden (Apr 23, 2012)

Have to go with the 50 Shades consensus here...oh and anything with floppy haired whinging vampires in.


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## Dylan Hayes (Aug 18, 2012)

I too will have to add 50 Shades to my no-read list.


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## cagnes (Oct 13, 2009)

There are a lot of books I choose not to read, but I can't think of anything they couldn't pay me to read. If someone wants to pay me enough $, I'll read it!


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## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

I was going to say that for enough money I'd read anything, but then Tyler mentioned that Tucker Max thing -- and yeah, I think it would cost a hell of a lot to make me read that one. There are a few others -- American Psycho (read an excerpt and that was more than enough), and hateful religious or political propaganda.


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## Fantasma (Aug 25, 2012)

I'll read pretty much anything for free. If somebody wanted to pay me, I'd have to draw the line at graphic descriptions of torture, or books where something bad happens to a dog any animal. Other than that, there is nothing I wouldn't read. Who is this "they" who will pay me?


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## Kwalker (Aug 23, 2012)

Crime and Punishment. It was the only book I ever just could not manage to make it through. I was supposed to read it for school. Eventually, I gave up and bought the cliff notes. 

There have been other books I've abandoned because the editing constantly interrupted my enjoyment but I could struggle through them. Not Crime and Punishment though.


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

Probably _Empire of the Senseless_ by Kathy Acker, which I was supposed to read for university and hated so much that I gave up after two chapters and decided I'd rather risk a low grade than read anymore of that book. Turned out that every single student in that class virulently hated that book from the sweet Christian boy who loved Jesus and his wife (in that order) to the militant lesbian activist. The professor was quite lost.

Books that you'd have to pay me a whole lot of money to read: _Fifty Shades of Grey_ and any of its copycats, because I hate controlling and borderline abusive heroes in romance, and _All Quiet on the Western Front_, because I hated it so much at school, though I somehow managed to finish it.


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## TwoSuns (Mar 20, 2012)

I'm rereading the Harry Potter series with my son. Am I crazy to like the books? Seems so. But 50 Shades--no way. Not even out of curiosity.


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## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

OMG, Kathy Acker! I read two of hers, and loathed both of them.


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

D. Nathan Hilliard said:


> Pretty much anything with a vampire in it anymore. I loved books like Salem's Lot or Kolchak: The Night Stalker, but the genre has changed.


But it's always capable of changing back. Once _Twlight_ and its many imitators go back out of fashion -- which is already happening so far as many book editors are concerned -- we might see the return of some less sparkly vampires.


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## RayHartley (Sep 14, 2012)

I interned for Warner Bros and had to read quite a few manuscripts I probably never would have touched otherwise, but I wouldn't touch 50 Shades of Grey with a ten foot pole. I could imagine superficially skimming Twilight out of curiosity, but not actively reading it. Anything that seems to be steeped in sensationalism over substance, I shy away from.


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## lvhiggins (Aug 1, 2012)

Anything by Cormac McCarthy, after having worked my grim way through THE ROAD.  The author has a depressing view of human nature, too ugly to read.


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## projectbk (Apr 12, 2012)

I tried reading Atlas Shrugged, but the sentence structure gave me a headache.  From the synopses I've read, I doubt I'm missing out.


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## miamelissa (Sep 19, 2012)

I have read this post and the title of the forum alone is interesting. Books I wouldn't read if they paid me, huh? Well my dream job is to be an editor, so I would read anything if paid. Secondly, why wouldn't I? Stubbornness? Making a stand against popular culture because God forbid I like a book the masses enjoy? What with me being so high and mighty how dare I condescend to read the little people's books? Or does it offend my delicate taste to read those wildly popular but obviously poorly written and no notable content books others like? But wait how could I know that if I have not read it? As far as the posts about not reading offensive books: know thy enemy. And if you're paying me to read this morally offensive book, will you also pay for the article I write to counter it? Or my blistering criticism?
Alas, what naivete of mine to expect open minds in all things. 

Should this be retitled, "What would I NOT pay to read," then I would have some answers since I am the frugal type. Message me back with that question and I will gladly give some answers.


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## Jonathan C. Gillespie (Aug 9, 2012)

miamelissa said:


> I have read this post and the title of the forum alone is interesting. Books I wouldn't read if they paid me, huh? Well my dream job is to be an editor, so I would read anything if paid. Secondly, why wouldn't I? Stubbornness? Making a stand against popular culture because God forbid I like a book the masses enjoy? What with me being so high and mighty how dare I condescend to read the little people's books? Or does it offend my delicate taste to read those wildly popular but obviously poorly written and no notable content books others like? But wait how could I know that if I have not read it? As far as the posts about not reading offensive books: know thy enemy. And if you're paying me to read this morally offensive book, will you also pay for the article I write to counter it? Or my blistering criticism?
> Alas, what naivete of mine to expect open minds in all things.
> 
> Should this be retitled, "What would I NOT pay to read," then I would have some answers since I am the frugal type. Message me back with that question and I will gladly give some answers.


Someone's had their coffee this morning 

Seriously, though -- you can't pretend you'll always read everything that ever comes across your desk. There are some genres that, if you're a reader, you've sampled and realized just aren't for you.

This has nothing to do with "the little people's" books. I don't think you're going to get far, anywhere, accusing people you don't know of elitism.

I can give you my garlic, as an example: Victorian romances. I can't stand _Wuthering Heights_. It's considered a literary classic. I consider it a staid, boring, angst-ridden book where nothing happens. I saw the film adaptation years ago, and I will never, ever, read the book. Ditto with _Pride and Prejudice_, and also _Sense and Sensibility_.

lvhiggins mentioned _The Road_. I was conscious of the fact that it was depressing. It is an outstanding book and it was very gripping, and I "enjoyed" it as much as one could hope to enjoy a book like that. And I will never read it again. It was so dark, once was enough. I want to read _Blood Meridian_ at some point, but I can't fault folks who've seen (or even heard) about the subject matter in McCarthy's _The Road_ and say "thanks, but no thanks on his other works". It takes a certain bent to want more of that kind of fiction.

I don't fault someone who doesn't have that bent. What are your tastes?

There is a genre you won't touch, or a subgenre that you won't touch, because you do have _taste_, and I don't think you can pretend at living in some sort of bubble where you'd read everything that came to your plate, regardless of your personal convictions or subjective reasoning.


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## miamelissa (Sep 19, 2012)

It's not that I WANT to read everything. And there are genres I shy away from. But the question was if you paid me. Now I WOULD read anything you paid me to read. Unless of course the pay is a penny for four hours of tedious reading. In that case, straining my brain to read inorganic chem and some genetic statistics would be a brain strain I would not do casually since I have spent my time studying those. As far as not reading 50 shades for instance, I would and have done so as well as the T wilight series at the very least so I could be updated on mass culture and form an educated opinion. My point stands that I would read anything if the price is right. Personal preference though, I do not care to read harlequin romance novels. The plot is too repetitive.  Girl meets guy. They are attracted to each other. Conflict keeps them apart. End up together. The end. As far as accusing others of elitism; touche. I will try to be more careful and I concede. I was more offended by the feeling that others are so quick to put down pop culte simply for the popularity. I did like some of the suggestions of ones to avoid.


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## sheiler1963 (Nov 23, 2011)

Anything by David Pelzer.


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## BarbaraJDelaney (Aug 30, 2012)

Topping the list would have to be the 50 Shades books and the Twilight series.  But I also did not want to read Hunger Games because I cannot stand to think of children facing such grave circumstances, so I will add to my list any book in which children are not happy and carefree.  In fact, I found the Harry Potter book very disturbing because his caretakers were not nice to him and made him stay in that closet under the stairs.

The only book that I absolutely could not make it through was Moby Dick.  I tried so hard to read it but I just could not do it.  It took me several starts to get through A Tale of Two Cities but once I got the hang of the way it was written it got better and I was glad to have read it.  I kept telling myself that Moby Dick would get better, but I just never found the turning point where reading it was not torture.


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## kevm30 (Apr 29, 2011)

Idea for new novel, fifty shades-esque it will mix rich vampires, a love triangle, some werewolves i suppose..........oh wait.......


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## tahliaN (Nov 6, 2011)

bordercollielady said:


> 50 Shades Of Grey, etc...


Same here. I do not want to read about someone's warped relationship. I enjoyed Twilight and it's sequels though. I hated the movies though. The other one is Mockingjay, the third in the Hunger Games series. My daughter gave me a run down on it and that was enough for me, but in the YA reading world, it's like everyone has to finish the series. Not me.

Add to that anything with extreme violence or that's hideously miserable.


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## LT Ville (Apr 17, 2011)

50 Shades. A lot of friends have told me to read the series, but the concept doesn’t interest me at all and the snippets that I have heard haven’t done anything to change my mind.


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

The Twilight series. I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I've also no interest in the Harry Potter series.


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## vikiana (Oct 5, 2012)

Some books i wouldn't read for nothing on this world are cookbooks,books for celebrities and vampires.Especialy the last one! What do you think about it?



davetylerdurden said:


> Have to go with the 50 Shades consensus here...oh and anything with floppy haired whinging vampires in.


Very good list for something which is not going to be read ! ))



Beatriz said:


> I agree with you but I bet you they will be best sellers. A lot of people aren't necessarily looking for quality in their reading.


Are there movies set on these books because I don't have the phisical time to read and it would be better if I check the story on movie first. I do not neglect the fact that movie can be totaly different from the book, of coure!



Barbara M said:


> How about something you couldn't pay me to read again?
> 
> I cannot bear the idea of rereading some books I just loved the first time around--the hobbit/lord of the rings. Anything by Thomas Wolf, Anna Karenina (spelling is not my forte) The Brontes, All the King's Men, Tom Robbins, Agatha Christie, most of Jack London, Hemmingway


Great selection I would say ...


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## Gayle Miller (Sep 22, 2012)

50 Shades. Books/plays I never want read again - Death of a Salesman and Romeo and Juliet


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## Jarrah Loh (Oct 8, 2012)

Paul Levine said:


> What books couldn't they pay you to read?
> 
> Here are two of mine:
> 
> ...


Ha ha, I definitely couldn't read those.
Also, The Secret, or any of those shallow Opera help book guide new agey thingamabobs.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Any of the Twilight series.


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## Jenni Norris (Oct 10, 2012)

50 Shades. It is encouraging to see that so many others agree. It is annoying to see stacks of these books everywhere -  in the makeup section of a well-known department store, in the supermarket, and references to it everywhere. 

One author I have found that I cannot read is Virginia Woolf. Despite being required to read her at university. I find her unreadable. 

I also disliked The Hours as a movie, especially Nicole Kidman's ridiculous prosthetic nose!


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## B.A. Spangler (Jan 25, 2012)

50 Shades of never mind that one.

But, I also said the same about Twilight and was able to get through some of that


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## 4eyesbooks (Jan 9, 2012)

Another vote for 50 Shades of Grey


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## melodyyyyy (Feb 11, 2009)

Lost in ZombieLand.  One of the books on the kindleboard advertisement board.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

melodyyyyy said:


> Lost in ZombieLand. One of the books on the kindleboard advertisement board.


Yeah that snuck back into the rotation and it's the first thing the moderator team noticed when we woke this morning .... hopefully it won't be up for long.


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## dkrauss (Oct 13, 2012)

D. Nathan Hilliard said:


> Pretty much anything with a vampire in it anymore. I loved books like Salem's Lot or Kolchak: The Night Stalker, but the genre has changed.


I'm with you. You just can't find good ole-fashioned vampires anymore...you know, evil soulless monsters bent on violating nubiles. I blame Anne Rice.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

via George Takei on FB:


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I find it amusing how it seems to always come down to the same books. 

Considering that both 50 and Twilight are pretty new books and there have been a gazillion books released since, well long time ago, I think it says something about the authors of those books. I say well done.  

Was there even a romance and YA genre when Takai was a kid?  

I am always baffled by that. Want your nasty vampires? Read Horror. Want the date-able kind? Read YA or romance. They are different genres. Isn't it as simple as that? If you don't read romance, which seems like these threads always devolve into a declaration like that, than don't read it. Surely there are still horror books being written with nasty things? I don't read horror anymore so I don't know. 

That is probably what you couldn't pay me to read. Horror of the kind where humans and animals get mutilated for the sake of gore. No money is enough to make me go through that. 

The other thing is christian fiction. No can do, even for money. 

Anything else I would read if you pay me too.


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## Steve D Palmer (Jun 28, 2012)

I'd read anything if they paid me, even if it was 50 Shades or Twilight. As a writer, I find it useful to read books I know I won't like and especially to read books with poor voicing and writing because I can learn from them - I used to actively seek out bad novels to read.

..Hang on, I'm lying. I wouldn't want to read any super scary ghost or witchcrafty books because I'm chicken. And ok, I can't be doing with soppy romances or purple prose pornography either. Other than that I would love to be paid to read stuff.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Well, I said up thread that I'd read anything if someone was actually paying me.  I'd need to have half up front, though.  And the price would be higher for some things. 

I read samples of both Twilight and 50 shades. . .neither did a thing for me in terms of writing style. . . but, hey, someone wants to give me a bunch of money to read 'em, I would.  Horror would cost more.  As would religious/proselytizing fiction.  And I'd reserve the right to demand a bonus if I decided the book was just plain bad!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I was joining to say I'd be happy to take money to read.  My dream job, even if I had to read a stinker now and again.  Glad to see I'm not the only one.....

Betsy


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## Bob Mayer (Feb 20, 2011)

Pay me.  I'll read it.  Or get the Cliff Notes.


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## Christopher Bunn (Oct 26, 2010)

Vampire books. I'm done with them. If it's about vampires, I'm not reading. Also, I just tried my first Michael Chabon book and metaphorically flung it down after the first chapter (didn't fling my Kindle). I just do not get why he's popular. I thought it was pretentious, pointless twaddle. 

And another vote for Fifty Shades.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

Christopher Bunn said:


> Vampire books. I'm done with them. If it's about vampires, I'm not reading.


I'm with you. This came up in a Goodreads Science Fiction & Fantasy book group. When looking for nominations to read, I was hoping to find a new release fantasy novel without vampires. But there is just a buttload of new fantasy book with them as characters indirectly or about them explicitly. As I see it, either way, if there is a vampire in the plot, that's good enough reason not to read the book.


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## CoraBuhlert (Aug 7, 2011)

dkrauss said:


> I'm with you. You just can't find good ole-fashioned vampires anymore...you know, evil soulless monsters bent on violating nubiles. I blame Anne Rice.


Anne Rice pushed the trend, but she didn't initiate it. Blame the original _Dark Shadows_ and Barnabas Collins instead.


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## Natasha Holme (May 26, 2012)

Real-life unsolved murder stories are pretty annoying!


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## Ergodic Mage (Jan 23, 2012)

I can't think of a book I would not read if paid to but I would charge highly for some. For example I would need to be paid by the word for Robert Jordan's _Wheel of Time_ books, hey I'm just following his example. ha


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

Ergodic Mage said:


> I can't think of a book I would not read if paid to but I would charge highly for some.


Well, professional book reviewers do get paid to read, and there may be different compensation levels for different types of books, but I'm not an insider of the business to know for sure.

It seems sort of silly to imagine some one paying me to read books I'd dislike, for example, teenage vampires in love stories, because there is no benefit to the payee to have me piss and moan about reading something as awful as that.


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## Alexandra Sokoloff (Sep 21, 2009)

Anything "by" James Patterson.


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