[annette kurten]

i`d have to have backed it with wallpaper first

[trphil]

Originally Posted by DianaFire

Yep, they're just wrong in every sense. Bad fanfiction, badly researched, badly written, weak characters and the rest. They're like a Barbara Cartland book with added seaside postcard.

I must admit that when a copy was sitting in our hall for a few hours (taken in by my wife for a neighbour I hasten to add) I flicked through and I could tell that everything you've said is spot on and I couldn't have read more than three pages in total!

I still think that it will do more good than harm to the cause of reading. I did wonder whether it would persuade my wife to read something - the last time she read was when the Harry Potter books were coming out, but not so far...

[MrQuike]

Originally Posted by Rorschach

..........

(PS - And Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is indeed very well written...though Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by the same author isn't)

Hordes of flesh-eating undead and the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry to overcome. Romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses. My own mother has read it twice already and loves it.

[Sprite123]

Originally Posted by annette kurten

why anyone would want to use it as an accessory, let alone actually read it is beyond me.

Perhaps I might have been convinced that Lizzie Cundy had a genuine hobby of reading, and I could otherwise be proved wrong.

It's not just her though that's been pictured.

The point being is that a book is being used as a fashion accessory (almost like buying an iphone for the sake of buying one).

I'm all for live and let and live, but it shows goes to show the level of shallowness and intelligence.

I'm not a book reader myself even though I'm more a fan of the paper-based information that web, but I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to buy 50 shades of grey just because it's the latest book trend.

[Meilie]

Even more annoying are people who 50 Shades of Grey isn't even aimed at referencing the book as if they had read it from cover to cover.

[Sprite123]

Originally Posted by Meilie

Even more annoying are people who 50 Shades of Grey isn't even aimed at referencing the book as if they had read it from cover to cover.

Many of us were experiencing the same with Harry Potter not so long ago.

And the extensive and over-elaborated media hype was enough to put even the ones thinking about dipping their feet in the water, off.

I had a supervisor in one of my old work places talk about it once - you could tell instantly, she was faking it for the sake of trying to strike common ground.

[PhoenixRises]

Originally Posted by Meilie

Even more annoying are people who 50 Shades of Grey isn't even aimed at referencing the book as if they had read it from cover to cover.

People actually fake having read it? If I had read it I might just keep it quiet anyway. As it is I tend to save my precious money for books I am certain to enjoy so I won't be reading these books.

I wouldn't pretend that I have read something I had not though, what would be the point. You would surely be found out, maybe I have just never felt the need to join in a conversation that much

[Miss Haversham]

Bandwagon books from recent era's (i.e from my train rides home, where all of a sudden everybody is reading the same book)

- Captain Corelli's Mandolin
- Any Harry Potter
- Girl with the Dragon tattoo
- 50 Shades

I would add in the Song of Fire & Ice series, since I have seen a number of folks reading them since the series aired, but having read the first 3 books, you need to be a 'reader' to get through them, not just somebody who reads for fashion (like that Nicole T pictured in DM yesterday!)

[Karis]

Originally Posted by Sprite123

50 Shades of Grey seems to be the latest craze.

And this is the sort of thing that is glaringly obvious that certain individuals jump on the bandwagon to make them appear as though they are genuine book readers:

Ooh finally I get to rant about an issue that's bugged me for years. When people say: what are you reading or what are your favourite books, and I say "Jonathan Seagull Livingstone", I've been slagged off on these very forums for being a "wannabe pseudo-literate" and for "jumping on the obvious book bandwagon". But sadly, it's a gorgeous book and it touched me so very deeply (I also had Bridget Jones's Diary in the list so it's hardly a list of the most cerebral works imaginable).

So in many ways, you can't win. Popular books are often popular because they are good (but not in this particular case, sadly), but people will judge you for all sorts of reasons without any hard evidence.

Case in point: the above poster mentioned Harry Potter. They were brilliant and enthralling books that touched the whole world. They might not be your cup of tea but I'll defend to my last breath my right to be personally enraptured with them!

The mere fact people are reading a book - no matter what the subject - is a good thing, though. And whether they're doing it to look good or to genuinely educate themselves, I'm not sure it matters.

Unless you're one of those gimps who says "I've read a book" when they've really just read the Wiki notes.

[UltraViolet]

I think the only 'bandwagon' book I've read is The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy but I read these books way before they were well known here in Britain, so there was no bandwagon at the time.

As for 50 Shades of whatever, I've not gone near it after friends telling me it's absolutely rubbish and going by the 'author', I'm not interested one bit.

But they are reading, I really don't care what someone is reading - bandwagon book or not - because I'm not being forced to read it... why moan?

[*Sparkle*]

I take recommendations on what books to read, and if a lot of people are reading a book that sounds like something I'd like, then I tend to make a point of buying it so I can join in the discussion and make sure I've read it before someone spoils the ending. If that makes me a band-wagon jumper, so be it.

It can be nice to talk about a book that has had recent popularity with a wide range of people in much the same way you'd talk about something you've all seen on tv or at the cinema.

I'd never buy a book so I could be seen reading it. That just seems odd. In fact, I'm more likely to be embarassed to be seen reading an obviously popular book because it looks unimaginative.

From what I've seen of 50 Shades, it looks rubbish and not my thing at all, but I know a handful of people who have read it, and sorry to burst the bubbles of the snobs, they are all fairly serious book readers. None of them are saying it's the best book ever, and some said it wasn't all that, but several of them enjoyed it. According to some (possibly dodgy) statistic published the other day, other books in the same genre have increased their sales, and that has been explained as people reading the well publicised 50 SOG, liking it, and wanting to read more of that genre.

It's not snobbery to say you don't like particular books. It may not be snobbery to say that people would be better off spending their time reading something better, but it is snobbery to jump to the conclusion that people won't be reading anything else before or after one particular book.

More to the point, if people who have never read a book decide to read a particular one - does it matter?

The real reason some in publishing are getting upset about the success of 50 SOG is that they know that people going on holiday are picking up those books, and not the trashy books they'd been hoping to sell. The reality is that a lot of people don't read much all year, but want to pick up something trashy at the airport. Some people read clever stuff most of the year, but still fancy something trashy for by the pool, or for a change. It's not a big deal.

[Welsh-lad]

I jumped on the Harry Potter bandwagon. And by Order of the Phoenix they'd become awful sprawling 'paving slab' books, and I was left wondering "Why did I buy that?"

I've not jumped aboard any bandwagon since. Never read Da Vinci Code or Fifty Shades of Grey.

[kona]

I agree with many of the sentiments here ,however, I have to say I would never have discovered Jo Nesbo or David Mitchell without a bandwagon type fanfare around them.

However, many of these have passed me by such as the aforementioned 50 shades and Da vinci stuff.

I tend to think that although bandwagon books are a good gateway into finding a new author, the reader needs to explore the back catalogue to understand a writers talent or lack thereof.

[UltraViolet]

David Mitchell a bandwagon fanfare? Cloud Atlas maybe, but never seen his other books mentioned in the mainstream like the other books mentioned in here.

Brilliant author.

[JumpTheShark]

I'm just happy for people to be reading. How many kids would never have read for pleasure if Harry Potter hadn't been so popular?

[seansnotmyname@]

I've jumped a few bandwagons myself, seems a bit churlish if the books seem in your personal wheel-house.

Haven't regretted the Hunger Games, Mankell, Pullman or Nesbo.

Haven't read Dan Brown, Harry Potter or Fifty Shades, because they don't appeal to me.