Guilty Pleasures

I just finished reading The Thirteenth Tale yesterday, and it was great fun. I can't remember the last time I let myself get so sucked into a story with such little literary merit.

What books do you people find yourselves enjoying in that "I know this isn't a great book, but it sure is a great read" kind of way?

Almost anything by Anita Shreve is a guilty pleasure for me.

Ah... does Good omens fall into this category? A great read, but I'm not sure of the literary merits of the work...
Also, I really enjoy Grimwoods Arabesque-suite (Pashazade, Effendi and Felaheen).
As a whole, I'm more interested in ideas and getting influences than in literary greatness, so in some ways lots of the books I read would qualify... ;-)

there's a whole thread 49 odd posts over on the Awful Lit: group. i think its entitled "hurts so good" but its got works from all genres in it.

Specifically to fantasy it must be eddings. Pure trite hack and slash. 1D characters and the same plot reworked over 18 books. I know, I've read them all, more than once, and own all 18. Very readable, no depth at all.

Anything by J. D. Robb, pseudonym of the extremely prolific writer, Nora Roberts. Set slightly in the future, I suppose they could be considered marginally "fantasy". :D

Stephen King and The Walking Dead series of graphic novels/comics ...

Oh, I didn't mean to limit it to Fantasy.

Guilty Pleasures can be found in all most genres.... Can't they? :o)

Absolutly! But I'll admit my weakness isn't "bad" lit. but "bad" movies... One of my faves is The Hunt for Red October. Never EVER read anything by Clancy, and don't feel any urge to either. So there's no connection there.
I also like The Fifth Element, which I think of as a kind of two hour music video. No great story, no great acting, just nice footage.

Books on Elvis. 'nuff said.

LOL, AM!

I, too, have a soft spot for really "bad" movies. The Thirteenth Warrior (Antonio Banderas) or Deep Blue Sea (genetically altered sharks anyone?) are 2 of my current favs. I also really enjoyed the Fifth Element.

Hudson Hawk

Enough said.

Alright. Atomicmutant has confessed his love for Elvis books. I'll confess my love for books which "reveal" the sordid side of Hollyweird. Hollywood Babylon, by Kenneth Anger is one.

I get sucked into John Grisham, Dan Brown, Michael Crichton. Fast paced, action/adventures that I can't put down cause the next part's only a little one, and so is the next one, and so on and so on.

I also love David Eddings. I've read the Belgariad series at least a half dozen times and his other series a few times over. Light and easy to read and makes me chuckle.

Morphidae: Own it on DVD.

Oh, dear. Books... Robert Jordan. I know, I know all of the problems with the Wheel of Time series, but I can't help but love them.

And movies... I don't know if I'm willing to admit this in a public forum, but... Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. It's awful, but Diego Luna is cute and I'm weak.

As far as guilty pleasures goes, my latest was the first two parts of Dean Koontz's Frankenstein series. Fun but silly!

Anyone know what ever happened to part 3?

I have a pile of books on bad movies - grade Z garbage, exploitation and cheap 50s sci-fi. My favourite is The Psychotronic Encyclopaedia of Film

My favorite in that genre is Cult TV, on series that got their own followings. Basically a A-Z reference on who starred what - despite the subtitle (The essential critical guide) it's nothing critical to it.
It happened upon my library for two reasons - a ) I have a weakness for reference works, and b) it used Star Trek typography on the cover ;-)

But Darrow, that sounds educational! You should have no guilt for reading such things. ;o)

Is actually reading The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction also to be seen as educational?
(Secretly hoping so!!!)

But of course, Busifer! :o)

Janet Evanovich and Terry Pratchett

What a great pairing!

Thanks, Clam! Now I can think of myself as a normal person ;-)

Ack! Why would you want to be normal? ;o)

if you really wanna talk guilty... I've read (and enjoyed) Redemption by Mel Odom a trashy Angel TV series tie-in novel... yes it's true, I may even get a few more in the future.

I feel kinda dirty now, but there, it's out in the open! LOL

Normal? Don't know the meaning of the word...

Well, that's sort of an hypothetical question, and a philosophical one... But I don't think of my self as normal - the horror, the horror (of being like anybody else, hehe)!
And spending time at the Dragon is maybe some sort of an answer?!
:-)

/hopes the semiironical tone in my previous post got thru/

I believe your semiironical tone hit all the right notes, Busifer, don't you worry :-)

Ah, so someone else out there admits to liking Evanovich, denak! For total escapism and a good laugh, her books are hard to beat.

I don't know that I've ever admitted this before, but I also like books about England's royal family. I have no clue why. My only "visit" to England was a 4-hour layover at Heathrow. I don't own any (I don't think!), but I can get them at the library.

Is that about our current royal family, or those from many centuries past? I like reading about our historical royal family, hell most English history is written about and around the Royal line.

I love Jackie Collins. Her books are so much fun, even though they're pure trash.

For fantasy-related guilty pleasures, my latest is R.A. Salvatore's early work. I read them and loved them when I was twelve. I started rereading them a couple of weeks ago and found them incredibly poorly written, but I'm still really looking forward to devouring the rest of the series.

Once again, I lose a LibraryThing post. >:(

My guilty pleasure is that I read Star Trek books when riding on commercial airplanes. I like the sound of the aircraft around me as I read about being on a spaceship, the novels are complete trash, but I know all the characters. I need that on planes, as I get easily distracted during a flight, and find reading material that is the least bit challenging to be difficult to do.

The reason you don't see them listed in my library is because I give them away to the local library on a regular basis, as I have no need to read them again.

*blush*

*my shame is revealed. Please still love me*

Aww, we still love you. I've read a Star Trek book or two in my day, although for some reason Q-in-Law is the only one that's actually clung to my library. It's so trashy, but so much fun.

Tane - any English royal family will do, current, historical, whatever. I actually do have a book on this, The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. I bought it used; it's marked as though it's a textbook.

I've read some of the recent tell-all books too. I don't admit that to many people!

(I take everything I read in them with a grain of salt - several, actually. Still, it's like Jackie Collins with real people.)

Another guilty pleasure of mine, but one I'm quite proud of, is my love of comic books in general! Especially DC Comics characters.

Back when I worked in retaill advertising I was making almost three times the money I'm making now, so i was buying $30+ worth of comic books each week.

When I quit in anger (STUPID STUPID STUPID never DO THIS!!!) I immediately stopped my comics subscriptions, so haven't read anything but occasional rare strays in 4 years!

*sigh*

I miss my guiltiest pleasure!

Yeah, there are a bunch of storylines I've heard about that have tempted me to go with a TPB!

Oh, in GROO news, my namesake will be all over the place in 2007!

There's GROO VS. CONAN coming out, as well as a GROO 25th Anniversary Special to look forward to. Plus, Sergio and Mark continuie working on the forthcoming GROO MOVIE (CGI animation) although we're years away from a release date!

*snort*

The Fifth Element. My husband and I enjoy this when we find it on the tube. Bruce Willis and the pink haired gal are fun to watch. As for authors, does John Grisham qualify?

Sure Grisham counts. His books are like popcorn! I just picked up a copy of The Body Farm. I've never read any Cornwell before. Can anyone predict if she'll become one of my latest guilty pleasures?

I like her. :D

Well, I know you and I have similar tastes. Maybe I'll pick that up when I finish Ahab's Wife... or should I say if I EVER finish Ahab's Wife.

Guilty pleasures, eh? I must admit that I'm a sucker for good brit-chick-lit...anything along the lines of Bridget Jones' Diary, or even...loathed as I am to admit it, Confessions of a Shopaholic....

I had posted earlier (message 14) that my guilty pleasures were John Grisham, Dan Brown, and Michael Crichton. I've been thinking about this and realized I hadn't considered them guilty pleasures until I read comments on LT denouncing them. While reading them I never felt guilty about it, I really enjoyed them and felt no qualms about reading them. So I'm taking back what I wrote.

Books that actually do make me feel guilty while reading are romances.
*There, I've done it, I've admitted I actually do read the occasional fluffy romance :o)*
While reading Jude Deveraux or Johanna Lindsey, even though I like them, I feel like there are a whole lot of other books I should be reading.

Oh, I never feel guilty about read Brown, Grisham or Crichton. While none of them are great writers, they are all great storytellers, IMHO.

Hmmm... I guess I shouldn't feel guilty about reading anything I enjoy... should I? Thanks, sandragon!
:o)

Sandragon? You're one of the Bodice-rippers?! Huuuuuh!

:-)

Well, as Clam says, if you read and enjoy it, why feel guilty? Unless of course, we enjoy feeling just a little bit guilty... ;-)

"Unless of course, we enjoy feeling just a little bit guilty... ;-)"

Heh heh...

*blush*

Who... me?

:o)

Shhhh...
It'll be our little secret.

Vendetta,

If you like brit chick lit with a touch of romance, try Sue Margolis - she's very funny!

Okay people, start posting. We're only a few shy of the 2,500 mark!

I dont think I have any guitly pleasures. Hmm unless you count the Kama Sutra.....OOOPS did I just post that here???? HAHA DOWN TO 3 more till the big 2500.

Two more! Wait, this one makes it one more! :o)

The Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton - that's my not-so-guilty pleasure.

Well, I wouldn't say I feel guilty reading them, I just don't take them to read around certain of my, shall we say, less liberal-thinking friends, the Terry Pratchett novels. Some of my friends are afraid of the ideas of wizzards, witches and whatnots that one finds in them.

As for movies, sometimes I love a good, or even not-so-good, romance comedy. OK, call it a chick-flick! Anything with Antonio Banderas is fine :)

I have to admit chuckling with my boys through Napoleon Dynamite and The Master of Disguise.

definately the Anita Blake series (actually thought this thread was about her book *hangs head in shame*)

and love my Dick Francis novels, read 'em in an hour or two and they actually make sense...

and Tane, with you on the Angel series, i actually owned bout ten or so up to a year ago....hehehehe

#54
Glad to hear I'm not alone - which ones would you recommend, so I can fuel my guilty pleasure?

:-)

(and welcome)

My guilty pleasure books would have to be my Christopher Moore collection. They are so dang funny though. These are about the only books I would hide if the preacher came knocking at my door.

I like Robert Rankin, if u dont know his work it is a little like Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Monty Python and a very angry Ben Elton, extremely dry british humour and heavy on the irony that takes the mickey out of just about everything while at the same time delivering a message.

As for movies and the rest, Lost, and Hammer Horror films and mostly anything by Roger Corman, strangely i cant watch modern crap horror, dunno y, I like good modern Horror...anyone seen The Descent???

Yeah Descent was pretty good. I wasnt expecting much going into it but I liked it.

I like Anne Rice.

While I will maintain that the first three vampire chronicles books are actually really good, I kept reading waaaaaaaay beyond that. Even to when they just degenerated into sex. I don't even like reading sex, but the sex in her books is just so weird, and the writing style even weirder, that I think it's really funny.

As for crappy movies, I watch old horror movies, old pirate movies, and low-budget modern zombie movies. They make me happy.

Did you read her newest book about Jesus? It really made me think about what Jesus's childhood must have been like, before he knew who was he supposed to be, while all the adults around him tried to figure it out for themselves. I think it would be interesting to anyone, Christian or otherwise.

For me it's Terry Brooks' Shannara series. They get trashed all the time on the boards and I can't really agrue against any claim that the're trite and derivative, but I just devour them.

I read the first two series when I was younger, so they have sentimental value. I've no excuse for those that came at when I was older and I still snatched up as soon as the library got them in. I actually haven't read the latest series - I've got too much good stuff I want to read - but I always see them sitting in the library collecting dust now that they've been out for awhile. So I can feel guilty for reading them and for not reading them.

I'm much worse with bad movies. If I come across Army of Darkness, Big Trouble in Little China, The Fifth Element, and many more when flipping channels - I just watch them to the end.

Hudson Hawk! Great bad movie.

The Pierce Brosnan remake of The Thomas Crown Affair...
It's aired pretty regularly on swedish TV, regardless of network. And if I happen to surf the channels and that one happens to be on I kind of watch it to the end...

63 Busifer - Hah yes, I like that, too.

If we're talking movies and stuff, too...Charmed is my guilty pleasure. I own all 7 seasons. Generally I'm not a fan of such silly, bad tv shows, but for whatever reason I just really like that one, inconsistancies and all.

Ehm, David Eddings, Elenium and Tamuli series are really good for for moments you're not feeling great. Don't bother keeping your head with the story, if you've read one of his books/series you can guess the parts you've missed. And yet I still read them three of four times a year... Ofcourse there is also Nightwatch by Terry Pratchett, but is that a bad book? I guess we run into the ageold "what is literature?" question...

Ok, I'll add to the confessions. I dragged my youngest daughter to the movie "Dirty Dancing" 5 times -- until she cried and begged me not to make her go anymore (she was like 7 years old then). If there had been a book, I would have read it (at least obnce a year). It was so reminiscent of my teenage summers at ballet camp. And then there was Patrick Swayze (enuf said).

My guilty pleasure in books is well-written chick lit, especialy if it involves mothers with two much money.

Best trashy movie -- "Reanimator".

Dec 4, 2006, 8:09pmMessage 41: clamairy -- More happens in the last 100 pages of Ahab's Wife than in the first 566 pges. On the other hand, you could skip the last 100 pages and be happier.

>66 kageeh: I know what you mean about being disappointed there is no movie novel to go with the movie. Two movies I would have loved to read books for were Bird on a Wire and Pirates of the Caribbean (yes, I read the youth novelization, but it really wasn't what I was looking for).