Is it ever hard to find books that completely blow you away?

Use this forum for book and reading discussion that doesn't fall into another category. Talk about books, genres, reading issues, general literature, and any other topic of particular interest to readers. If you want to start a thread about a specific book or a specific series, please do that in the section below this one.
Mimisreads_23
Posts: 37
Joined: 29 Aug 2014, 22:53
Bookshelf Size: 10
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-mimisreads-23.html

Is it ever hard to find books that completely blow you away?

Post by Mimisreads_23 »

Don't get me wrong, I loooove to read, but sometimes I find it difficult to find books that are completely mind blowing instead of just "good". I don't know if it's because I read practically anything I can get my hands on or because a lot of authors tend to repeat the same basic plot line just with different characters.
User avatar
DATo
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 5771
Joined: 31 Dec 2011, 07:54
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by DATo »

I think I speak for many when I say that reading books can be like substance addiction. Once we have experienced a mind-blowing book, or even a mind-blowing incident in a book we are hooked, and we look for that next hit. For others it is just an addiction to quantity rather than quality and they read books with the rapidity of a smoker smoking cigarettes. One is addicted to the rush of a powerful and immediate high and the other to nothing more than the knowledge that they have a book in progress.

In my case I find that about one in 25 books is what I would call exceptionally good by my standards. This extends, in my case, to movies as well, and the percentages are about the same - 1 : 25. But like everyone else I keep looking for that next hit and filter as much enjoyment as I can from what I manage to find in the meantime.

To your question ....

Your question asks if it is hard to find such books. I don't think you can set out to find in advance the type of book that will blow you away. It's like romantic love - it just happens when you least expect it. I have gotten books that I didn't especially feel were going to blow me away, I just got them because someone recommended them, or I had heard the title bantered about a lot and I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. Some of these books didn't even fall into what would be the areas of interest (topics or genres) I would normally visit to find a book but they still blew me away. Others which I expected to have a big impact upon me fell flat and proved in some cases to have been a huge waste of time.
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
― Steven Wright
User avatar
bookowlie
Special Discussion Leader
Posts: 9071
Joined: 25 Oct 2014, 09:52
Favorite Book: The Lost Continent
Currently Reading: The Night She Went Missing
Bookshelf Size: 442
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-bookowlie.html
Latest Review: To Paint A Murder by E. J. Gandolfo

Post by bookowlie »

DATo wrote:I think I speak for many when I say that reading books can be like substance addiction. Once we have experienced a mind-blowing book, or even a mind-blowing incident in a book we are hooked, and we look for that next hit. For others it is just an addiction to quantity rather than quality and they read books with the rapidity of a smoker smoking cigarettes. One is addicted to the rush of a powerful and immediate high and the other to nothing more than the knowledge that they have a book in progress.

In my case I find that about one in 25 books is what I would call exceptionally good by my standards. This extends, in my case, to movies as well, and the percentages are about the same - 1 : 25. But like everyone else I keep looking for that next hit and filter as much enjoyment as I can from what I manage to find in the meantime.

To your question ....

Your question asks if it is hard to find such books. I don't think you can set out to find in advance the type of book that will blow you away. It's like romantic love - it just happens when you least expect it. I have gotten books that I didn't especially feel were going to blow me away, I just got them because someone recommended them, or I had heard the title bantered about a lot and I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. Some of these books didn't even fall into what would be the areas of interest (topics or genres) I would normally visit to find a book but they still blew me away. Others which I expected to have a big impact upon me fell flat and proved in some cases to have been a huge waste of time.
What an interesting post! I agree with your comment that finding a "blows me away" book just happens. It's just one of those things, like having a day that is just perfect from start to finish.
"The best way out is always through" - Robert Frost
User avatar
aaa1234
Posts: 46
Joined: 18 Jan 2015, 03:15
Bookshelf Size: 38
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-aaa1234.html

Post by aaa1234 »

Yes I find it very hard actually. Any suggestions anyone?
User avatar
KristineNicole
Posts: 158
Joined: 07 Dec 2014, 15:47
Favorite Author: Emily Bronte
Favorite Book: Wuthering Heights
Currently Reading: The Snow Child By Eowym Ivey
Bookshelf Size: 0
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-kristinenicole.html
fav_author_id: 2494

Post by KristineNicole »

Yes, I can find it hard sometimes. That's why I'm always looking for new books.
User avatar
moderntimes
Posts: 2249
Joined: 15 Mar 2014, 13:03
Favorite Author: James Joyce
Favorite Book: Ulysses by James Joyce
Currently Reading: Grendel by John Gardner
Bookshelf Size: 0
fav_author_id: 2516

Post by moderntimes »

Difficult to find books that blow me away (in a positive sense)? Yes.

This is such mostly because I'm a writer myself, several novels and lots of short stories and articles, etc. I "know the tricks" and so it's harder to pull something new for me. And besides writing, I read a lot -- I review mystery novels for a website and I also enjoy reading mysteries, SF, and some supernatural thrillers. So with my fairly extensive reading, it's not easy to find new stuff.
"Ineluctable modality of the visible..."
User avatar
llyzavala91
Posts: 7
Joined: 18 Jan 2015, 19:26
Bookshelf Size: 14
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-llyzavala91.html

Post by llyzavala91 »

yes. It is very easy to pick up a book but to find one that blows you away is very hard. I have this issue all the time.
User avatar
rayjamrac
Posts: 22
Joined: 18 Jan 2015, 14:30
Favorite Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Favorite Book: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Bookshelf Size: 23
fav_author_id: 2456

Post by rayjamrac »

Absolutely! I can so relate. I often feel like a bad book lover because I pick up a book, fully anticipating being blown away, only to be let down and not able to finish the book.
User avatar
DATo
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 5771
Joined: 31 Dec 2011, 07:54
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by DATo »

rayjamrac wrote:Absolutely! I can so relate. I often feel like a bad book lover because I pick up a book, fully anticipating being blown away, only to be let down and not able to finish the book.
Ummmm, no. In my case, since last year, I almost always finish the book. Last year I was ready to stop reading one book which seemed to be going nowhere and then (((WHAM))) right out of left field came one of the best plot turns I've ever experienced. I'm talking .... laying-the-book-down-and-walking-around-the-room-in-circles-with-both-hands-on-your-head ... type experiences.

On the other hand I can see what you're saying. It's sort of like that TV show Let's Make A Deal. Would you rather have the time you might waste by reading further? Or would you like to trade that time for one of the three curtains our lovely Carol Merrill is standing in front of? Behind one curtain is a great second half of the novel, and behind the other two are goats.
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
― Steven Wright
User avatar
AndyPandy
Posts: 2
Joined: 19 Jan 2015, 14:34
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by AndyPandy »

aaa1234 wrote:Yes I find it very hard actually. Any suggestions anyone?
I also find it very hard even though i read lots of "good books" , there are really few that are "mind blowing"
Maybe you could try The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini or City by Alessandro Barricco (This one is really weird and you feel kind of lost throughout the whole story but when you finally close it you feel like it all made sense, it's a really strange feeling).
Also there is the Cancer Ward by Alexander Soljenistyne that really marked me. Finally I've been really touched by Extremely Loud and Incredibly close by Jonathan Safran Foer.
If you ever read one of them (or have read one already) I'd be curious to know what you thought about it :)

ps: please forgive my English (it must be irritating for literature lovers to see someone making grammar or orthograph mistakes), I'm French...
User avatar
moderntimes
Posts: 2249
Joined: 15 Mar 2014, 13:03
Favorite Author: James Joyce
Favorite Book: Ulysses by James Joyce
Currently Reading: Grendel by John Gardner
Bookshelf Size: 0
fav_author_id: 2516

Post by moderntimes »

DAT, what you say about the ability of a book to blow you away, as you say, putting the book down and walking around the room, yes it does happen but it's rare.

Steven King did this to me in Pet Sematary, which I still regard as his best novel.

For those who are interested in truly mind-shaking thrillers, stories that suddenly reach out and grab you, I'll make a couple of recommendations:

"Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy. A stunning and very dark and graphic novel about a scalp hunting expedition in the early 19th century across Texas and Mexico. Not an easy read due to the horrific violence, but indeed a book that occasionally stops you in your tracks.

A superb mystery thriller, part urban fantasy as well, Michael Marshall's "Straw Man" trilogy. Start with the 1st novel "The Straw Men" and it should snag you totally. Stevie King loved it, by the way.
"Ineluctable modality of the visible..."
User avatar
Miss_Jane2014
Posts: 81
Joined: 12 Jan 2015, 15:28
Currently Reading: Better Off Dead by H.P Mallory
Bookshelf Size: 14
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-miss-jane2014.html

Post by Miss_Jane2014 »

I find it hard to find a book that "blows me away" if I have been in a reading rut with a single genre. For some reason, I normally find those type of books when I take a step outside of my "comfort zone" and read a book that I normally wouldn't take a second look at.
User avatar
Jinx94
Posts: 7
Joined: 21 Jan 2015, 14:48
Bookshelf Size: 2

Post by Jinx94 »

I seem to get stuck in that zone a lot, ill read an absolutely amazing book that will leave me obsessed for days and I will be on the constant look out for another book or series that will capture me completely, but like it was said before some people are just addicted to reading and that's me.. I'm addicted to the smell of the pages and the texture of the book in my hand. I love to disappear into the unknown world that this book will take me to. Unfortunately a lot of the time that world has been spoken about before and it doesn't catch me. So yes, I find it hard to find books like that, perhaps it is because a lot of writers use the same techniques when writing and you really have to search to find something new and different.
User avatar
LivreAmour217
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 2043
Joined: 02 Oct 2014, 12:42
Favorite Author: Too many to count
Favorite Book: Ditto
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 294
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-livreamour217.html
Latest Review: Island Games by Caleb J. Boyer

Post by LivreAmour217 »

While most of the books that I read fail to "blow me away," I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. Not every book can be an awesome, life-changing experience. That's just not how life is, you know? Honestly (and I've said this in other posts), if I feel that my time was not wasted by reading a specific book, and I know that I would recommend that book others, I'm happy.
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." - Albert Einstein
User avatar
Gravy
Gravymaster of Bookshelves
Posts: 39044
Joined: 27 Aug 2014, 02:02
Favorite Author: Seanan McGuire
Favorite Book: As many as there are stars in the sky
Currently Reading: The Ghost Tree
Bookshelf Size: 1027
fav_author_id: 3249

Post by Gravy »

LivreAmour217 wrote:While most of the books that I read fail to "blow me away," I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. Not every book can be an awesome, life-changing experience. That's just not how life is, you know? Honestly (and I've said this in other posts), if I feel that my time was not wasted by reading a specific book, and I know that I would recommend that book others, I'm happy.
Well said.
DATo wrote:It's sort of like that TV show Let's Make A Deal. Would you rather have the time you might waste by reading further? Or would you like to trade that time for one of the three curtains our lovely Carol Merrill is standing in front of? Behind one curtain is a great second half of the novel, and behind the other two are goats.

Also well said :lol:
Pronouns: She/Her

What is grief, if not love persevering?

Grief is just love with no place to go.
Post Reply

Return to “General Book & Reading Discussion”