Top Five Wednesday is a book tag started by GingerReadsLainey. Join the goodreads group to get each week’s topic and participate yourselves!
So, it turns out we did this topic before. Check out our original video here. Instead of filming a part two, we decided to wing it. So warning. There might be a few doubles.
Without further ado:
Top Five Wednesday: Books We Will Never Ever Read
5. 50 Shades of Grey – E.L. James
I have no interest in picking up 50 Shades of Grey. The fact that the book exists and what that says about the marketability of fan fiction is something that I have great interest in, but not enough to lead me to pick up the series.
Chelsey’s read the book and makes a pretty valid point. Every once in a while you find yourself craving trash. So one afternoon she sat down with a glass of wine and sunk herself into the world of 50 Shades of Grey. I think she had fun.
That being said, I’m totally on board for the dramatic reading trend that has sparked up around 50 Shades of Grey. These can range from my best friend reading a loud random pages at a party to Gilbert Gottfried or Charles Dance trying to stay straight faced.
Actually. Honestly if Gottfried wants to record the entire series as an audiobook, I’d listen.
4. Narnia – C.S. Lewis
After reading Tolkien it seemed like the next logical step was to pick up the work of his best friend Lewis. Or so Chelsey thought. When she was a kid she managed to make it through about fifty pages of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe before she decided that the books weren’t for her.
Looking back she can admire the concept and how the series has helped shaped fiction (specifically children’s fiction) but this was a series that wasn’t for her.
3. The Rest of Ellen Hopkins
The second review Chelsey and I ever filmed was for Ellen Hopkin’s novel in poetry Burned. Neither of us liked the book. We found the story to be overly melodramatic and it felt like Hopkins didn’t fully research the topics she was trying to discuss. I doubt either of us will ever pick up another one of her books.
The fact that she tells her stories in poetry is nice and a really cool stylistic choice, but we have come across other authors who do the same thing.
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky
Neither Chelsey or I have read The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The book is considered a classic and is loved by many. Wallflower is also on a lot of reading lists for high school students. Somehow we both managed to avoid it. Not intentionally.
When the film was released Chelsey decided to check out a plot summary to see if she would want to pick up the book or see the movie. She promptly decided that the book wasn’t for her. It was dark.
I on the other hand felt like I missed the boat for this one. Every once in a while you come across a book at the right point in your life. It speaks to you and it changes you. I feel like the right time for me to read this book has long passed. I’m not sure that this book would resonate with me now as much as it would have ten years ago.
1. The Giver Quartet -Lois Lowry
Controversial opinion time! I don’t like Lois Lowry’s The Giver. But if you’ve been watching our videos or reading this blog you’re already aware of that. I don’t know if I was too young when I read the book but I just found the society that the book presented was just a little too over the top. Perhaps if I went back and read the book I would find that my opinions on it would have changed. I doubt I’ll ever get around to it.
Chelsey on the other hand did like The Giver and continued the series and picked up the second novel Gathering Blue. She liked it but not enough to continue the series.
