Guilty pleasure, or ..........

[bixaorellana]

......... just a good read?

I'm presently enjoying The Warlock by Wilbur Smith. Ages ago my mother turned me on to The River God, & this is one of its sequels.

I've never read any of his other books, and judging by the excerpt in his website, with good reason. Yes, he's somewhat purple and formulaic at times, but gosh does he tell a good story. The historical trappings of the Eypt books are fascinating, as well.

www.wilbursmithbooks.com/home/index.html

[tillystar]

Ha! - I was going to post about guilty pleasures.

I bought a Rosie Thomas book in a secondhand shops about 10 days ago. I had read something by her years ago but never heard of her again; now I discover her books fill second hand book shops everywhere and this morning I finished my 3rd one this week.

The first one I read was Iris and Ruby grumpyoldbookman.blogspot.com/2007/05/rosie-thomas-iris-and-ruby.html and I was hooked.

They are romantic/relationship type novels - very, very easy to read and I just can't seem to stop. I have to say, they aren't the greatest books ever but her characters really get you. I keep wondering what happened to Ruby and then remembering she was a character.

[bixaorellana]

Oh ~~ I'm so glad! I know where I can lay my hands on a couple of Rosie Thomas books, & I'll give them a try.

Every once in a while I give myself over to chick lit. Some of it is surprisingly well written, which makes them pretty acceptable.

I don't know why we feel guilty about this kind of reading. I've always been a proponent of encouraging kids to read anything that catches their interest, including comic books, because the main thing is for them to have a love of reading.

Since I read detective novels and sometimes deliberately pick out light books to read, and since I'll spend my brainpower on tv, there is really no reason for me to feel any guilt about a book simply because it's a blockbuster.

[gyro]

I read a few Wilbur Smith books when I was a teenager. They mainly involved South Africa. The first ebing, I think, A Burning Shore. Can't remember the other two in the series, but by the 3rd (or maybe even the 2nd) even I realised they were childish cliched shite. So, erm, basically, up yours.

On the other hand, I do like Billy Joell. And I own more of his albums than any other artiste.

[bazfaz]

And then there's Jeffrey Archer. I read his first: Not a penny more, not a penny less. The first couple of chapters seemed real but then it declined into rubbish. And there was this plot point towards the end where 2 characters unknown to each other meet purely by chance on a train and if they hadn't ... no ending.
I have read a short story of his which had an equally fluky event necessary to the plot.
And he gets millions to spend when he is out of prison.
Why do people like his books?

[tillystar]

It makes me smile that my boss (who is a miserable old git) has a secret guilty pleasure - when he is ill he enjoys reading Catherine Cookson and Georgette Hayer. He admitted it once after a few beers and it gives me so much pleasure knowing that

[tillystar]

Ooooooo I am having so much guilty pleasure at the moment!

My best friend was forced to read the Twilight series by her 13 year old daughter and then convinced me to try it. She lent me the set and I grudgingly started the first one when I had nothing to read.

I have finished it in a couple of days snatching any second I could to read it, even reading it in the pouring rain with my hood up yesterday at the bus stop!

I am starting the second one now and can confirm I have a crush on a 17-year old vampire. Guilty and loving it...so there.

[Deleted]

Actually, I thought the movie was pretty good. Unfortunately, I don't have any teenage girls in my entourage who leave their books lying around...

[tillystar]

Ha, I am happy to post them to you when I am done!

I haven't seen the film and wasn't planning on it but now