As my co-editor and I have mentioned in previous issues of L&L, when we choose a book to review as a Not My Cup of Tea, it isn’t because we think the book is “bad.” Maybe we think it doesn’t live up to its hype. Or there may be an aspect to the book that is so hard to accept that it tips our overall assessment into the Not My Cup of Tea category. Such is the case with All Fours, a National Book Award Finalist, by Miranda July.
Jane Urquhart is a celebrated Canadian author and one of those writers who makes her novels feel like poetry. She seems mostly rooted in historical fiction, and the other two novels I’ve read, Away and The Stone Carvers (read review here), are enchanting and moving. They illuminate the history of early Canadian settlers in a lyrical and engrossing way.
My co-editor and I sometimes struggle with naming a book Not My Cup of Tea. Rarely do the books that end up here qualify as awful. For me, it is usually more a case of opening said book with high expectations and then being let down in some way.
Whenever it is my turn to review a book I didn’t like, I am reminded of why we named this section “not my cup of tea.” It’s not that these books are bad, and in fact may be exactly right for someone else. But for me, The Wine Lover’s Daughter was not enjoyable and I would not recommend it.
But, when it comes to This is Your Mind on Plants (2021), my advice is to steer clear. Pollan looks at opium, caffeine and mescaline and spends an inordinate amount of time advocating for opium and mescaline.
I was so excited for Sally Rooney's newest book that I bought it in hardcover, which is unusual given my weekly library trips. And although this book wasn’t a struggle per se, I didn't enjoy it the way I did her first two books. I also felt vindicated when I offered my copy to friends and several said they had started it and given up.
I should have realized I wouldn’t love Same Bed Different Dreams when I got 200 pages in and realized I had no idea who was who and what was going on. But instead of closing the book and selecting a different book, I started it over!
I don’t think I ever would have read Astor if my book club hadn’t selected it. But I was definitely game to read it, since I like Anderson Cooper as a CNN news anchor. He seems smart, yet humble and establishment, but a little edgy. I have not read his earlier book Vanderbilt, about growing up in a family with Gloria Vanderbilt as a mother. I sense that book was popular and well-reviewed, though.
I often share books that have won the Giller prize, the highest award for literature in Canada. This is the first one from the list of past winners that has really left me cold.
I’ve written before about how when I read a book that I really enjoy, I try to read other books by that same author. It often opens a whole range of new books to me. Similarly, if I read a book by an author and don’t like it, I’m less likely to pick up another book by that author. I think I was the only person alive that didn’t love Fredrick Backman’s A Man Called Ove.
The books I find myself reviewing as Not My Cup Of Tea tend to be either books I feel a responsibility to read or I know from the beginning may not be my favorite. I really wanted to like Redwood Court and based on its summary, I should have.
I really had to consider long and hard whether I had the nerve to describe this year’s Booker Prize winner Prophet Song as my choice as a Not My Cup of Tea. Lynch writes beautifully—even poetically. I was repeatedly struck by his unusual way of describing things, which adds to the excruciatingly realistic atmosphere he creates.
Lolita is a perfect example of why we named this segment “Not My Cup of Tea” rather than “Really Bad Books We Hated.” Lolita is a beautifully written book that I thoroughly disliked. When a book's title character becomes an archetype referenced by everyone whether they've read the novel or not, one gets a sense of the book's content. And yet, to read a full length novel about a man’s pedophilic thoughts, desires and actions is hard to take.
Right off the bat, I need to say Lean In is not strictly a “not my cup of tea.” The book is fine—only I let it sit on my shelf for at least six years before reading it. So, for anyone like me, who hasn’t yet read this groundbreaking book, I say, "At this point, don’t bother."
In keeping with my all-Irish reviews this month, I have selected Maggie O’Farrell’s I Am, I Am, I Am as my “Not My Cup of Tea.” This feels almost like heresy to me since I adore Maggie O’Farrell.
Prozac Nation was on my reading list as one of those famous books I felt like I should have read. I don’t regret reading it, and am very glad it exists in the world for those who read it and see their own struggle, helping them to feel less alone. However, it is definitely not the type of story I need in my life right now.
I was looking for an easy thriller to read on our lake vacation this July, and The Perfect Nanny was billed as “the french Gone Girl.” What could be better? The answer: lots and lots of books are better than this one.
I have often extolled the joys of being part of a bookclub in my L&L reviews. The biggest plus for me is that bookclubs force me to read some very good books that I would never have read otherwise. Sometimes, bookclubs force me to read an author I have heard of but haven’t yet read. Colleen Hoover is a good example.
I would like to believe that I have some solid insight when it comes to selecting the books I read. I have read some of Malcolm Gladwell’s books in the past and remember him (and them) as entertaining. I realize that anyone with any serious knowledge of statistics finds him less-than-academic. But, he also can write things that are just plain interesting to read.
Six years ago when we started L&L, we had the idea to review one book a month that we didn’t really like. But we wanted to be clear that these were not bad books, just ones we didn’t care for. And so, “not my cup of tea” was born. And this month I’m going against the millions of people who love Untamed, not to say it is a bad book, but to say it really isn’t for me.
