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.
At 880 pages, The Deluge is a huge time commitment – one that, ultimately, I would not recommend that you indulge in. And, my choice of the word ‘indulge’ is deliberate. I decided to read The Deluge because it was recommended with sentiments like, “If you only read one book this year, The Deluge should be it.”
First of all, I love the Hogarth Shakespeare collection, both the idea, and all of the books I’ve read so far. If you want a suggestion of one of the great ones, click to read Liz’s review of Hag-Seed. Sadly, Vinegar Girl, based on The Taming of the Shrew, was not my cup of tea.
I really enjoyed the two previous books I read by Richard Powers: The Overstory (read review here) and Bewilderment (read review here). So, recently when I read Margaret Atwood’s book of essays, Burning Questions, and she raved about The Echo Maker, I knew I had to read it. Only this time, I found Powers’ writing to be grueling.
he Visible Man is in no way a bad book, though it is certainly no classic. I just found myself towards the end wondering why this book had even been written. The premise is fairly interesting: A therapist gains a new client who claims he can, through science, make himself invisible and that he uses this power to spy on people in their homes in the name of scientific research.
I had to laugh as I started writing this review to see that in the March, 2022 issue of L & L, I wrote a Not My Cup of Tea about Facing the Mountain, also by Daniel James Brown (read review here). I guess I keep hoping I’ll find another book of Brown’s I will enjoy as much as The Boys in the Boat. Unfortunately, The Indifferent Stars Above is not that book.
I sometimes wonder with books like The Midnight Library, which are on so many bestseller lists and have been recommended by so many people, if my disappointment when I read them comes from unrealistic expectations. Haig has a great premise for the book.
Disappear Doppleganger starts out as a clever undertaking by its narrator, Matt Kim, to identify the phenomenon causing him to feel like he is disappearing. Reeling from his wife and daughter leaving him and his cat dying, he finds people increasingly ignoring him at work and bumping into him in public places. Just as he manages to convince his girlfriend, Yumi, that this is truly happening, she encounters someone who looks exactly like her.
I feel silly saying that Kazuo Ishiguro’s newest book was not my cup of tea. I mean, who am I to critique an author whose last book won the Pulitzer Prize in Literature? Part of me feels ridiculous even daring to share such an opinion. Klara and the Sun appears on many 2021 Best Books lists.
I am generally a Kristin Hannah fan: I loved The Nightingale and The Great Alone. But she missed the mark with The Four Winds. In the book, Hannah tells the story of Elsa Wolcott, an unloved, unattractive, aging young woman forced to marry a man she hardly knows to legitimize the baby they’d unwittingly conceived.
John Irving is an incredible writer—I don’t think many readers would debate that fact. However, I found In One Person failed to hold my attention like his other novels. As in many of Irving’s books, In One Person paints an intimate portrait of a man—this time a young man exploring his bisexual “crushes” at an all-male boarding school in Vermont in the early 60s.
