# BOOKS you are not ashamed to admit you like
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 30, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345 "2004-03-30T17:09:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/1 "2004-03-30T17:09:04Z")
Okay, we’ve done the movies, what about the books?
I like Judith Krantz novels. Yes, they’re trash, but they’re GOOD trash. I’ve also been known to enjoy a Jackie Collins novel from time to time.
However, I cannot and will not read Danielle Steele. I do have _some_ standards. 😉
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### Author:  [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/2 "2004-03-30T18:16:11Z")
David Eddings novels. They’re so great. I can never figure out why some people insist on taking them so seriously.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/3 "2004-03-30T18:36:02Z")
I must admit I enjoyed Save Karyn, the book Karyn whatserface wrote about the website she set up to get herself out of debt. I hated her before I read it, and I still hated her after I read it, but I had to admit she did an interesting thing, and took the crap she had coming to her with a nice attitude.
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### Author:  [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/4 "2004-03-30T18:49:08Z")
> [@ivylass](#):
>
> However, I cannot and will not read Danielle Steele. I do have _some_ standards. 😉
Oh, thank God, you have standards. 😉
I won’t read Daniellle Steele, either.
I will, however, read Lavryle Spencer. And Beatrice Small. I mean, even smut has its standards.
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### Author:  [@divingFaces](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divingFaces)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/5 "2004-03-30T19:54:21Z")
I must admit I have a really hard time reading for pleasure. I guess I always figure there are easier/better forms of entertainment. Not a terribly logical rational, but it’s what I’ve been able to come up with. I get frustrated with reading if I’m not learning something. With that said:
I enjoy Stephen Hawking books (Brief History of Time, Universe in a Nutshell Theory of Everything), the illustrated versions of each though. 😉
I also enjoy reading computer books and instruction manuals… heh.
I’m currently reading The Art of the Deal - Donald Trump. Not bad.
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### Author:  [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/6 "2004-03-30T19:59:34Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#):
>
> Oh, thank God, you have standards. 😉
But, of course, dear. After all, I watch _Joan of Arcadia_. You’ve heard of that show, haven’t you? 😉
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### Author:  [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/7 "2004-03-30T20:05:12Z")
I’ll second the Eddings books, they’re _fun_, and I don’t care what other people think about them. I’m also Robert Jordan’s bitch, and will continue to read the Wheel of Time series until the damned thing ends.
I’ll also admit to having a soft spot for romance novels. But not the ones with people on the cover. And preferably the funnier, the better. **Ivylass, Bibliocat** , I highly recommend Katie MacAlister. Hilarious, yet still smut. 🙂
And every couple months, I spend a Saturday on my couch, reading about ten Nancy Drew books.
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/8 "2004-03-30T20:08:10Z")
I read trashy romances, but I refuse to read Danielle Steele.
My standards may be low and pitiful, but at least my conscience is clear in this one area.
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/9 "2004-03-30T20:33:22Z")
I read Elizabeth George for my literary slumming needs.
And I absolutely adore Stephen King and read every piece of crap he puts out, including _The Tommyknockers_.
I also occaisionally read trashy romances, and own one called _Truly, Madly Viking_ which includes a talking time traveling whale.
But never Danielle Steele. Well, since middle school anyway.
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### Author:  [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/10 "2004-03-30T21:53:08Z")
I’m also **Robert Jordan** ’s bitch, although I refuse to read _The New Spring_. (The sad thing is, I thought _Winter’s Heart_ was really good… definitely a step in the right direction. Then _Crossroads of Twilight_ dragged us right back into the muck.)
I also have read almost every **Clive Cussler** book.
I finally gave up on **Tom Clancy** after _The Bear and the Dragon_.
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### Author:  [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/11 "2004-03-30T22:04:13Z")
Hi. My name is DeVena. And ummmm, I’m co-dependent.
I’m personally the sole support for \*\*Nora Roberts \*\* and her on-going quest for the perfect vanity photo. SHE’s addicted to airbrushing - Not me!
It’s sad. I have real books. I \*like \* real books. But these books… there’s never just one! Every trashy romance she writes is in trilogy… You have to buy 3 books to see how the story line ends! Or, under the pen name JD Robb, a sexy detective series with about 20 titles. And she keeps writing. and writing and writing.
(I’ve even gotten some books autographed. I’m so ashamed.)
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### Author:  [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/12 "2004-03-30T22:24:23Z")
I like Jean Auel’s _Earth’s Children_ series (ya know - _Clan of the Cave Bear, Valley of Horses_, etc).
Even the really bad ones like _Plains of Passage._
I was even excited to get a pre-publication copy (typos & all) of _Shelters of Stone_ at a trade fair before the book was released.
I even re-read them periodically. (hangs head in shame)
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### Author:  [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/13 "2004-03-30T22:26:39Z")
Matthew Reilly
I love his books like **Ice Station** and **Temple**. Yes, they’re trashy completely unrealistic action books, but I don’t care! I like the action scenes he creates and will be the first in line when the Ice Station hits theaters.
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### Author:  [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/14 "2004-03-30T23:00:03Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#):
>
> I like Jean Auel’s _Earth’s Children_ series (ya know - _Clan of the Cave Bear, Valley of Horses_, etc).
>
> Even the really bad ones like _Plains of Passage._
Oh, I read those, too. Caveman smut! 😃
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### Author:  [@Izzybella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Izzybella)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/15 "2004-03-30T23:27:24Z")
I like mystery novels ranging from kinda trashy (Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series) to good, fun brain-candy (Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series)
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### Author:  [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/16 "2004-03-30T23:32:14Z")
I…have a confession to make. _deep breath_
I once read a **Danielle Steele** novel.
It was an accident, I swear! See, I was babysitting a newborn, and the book was right there and the baby was asleep on my chest, so I couldn’t move–and, well, I picked it up. And I read it. The whole thing!
It’s been several years now, but I still feel so soiled. I was an adult (well, 19) and should have known better, but I did it anyway. It was so trashy. And she had so obviously picked big words out of a thesaurus, used them 3 times in one page, and then forgotten them.
I still can’t use the word ‘incredibly.’ I think I may have some sort of trauma.
Maybe I need book therapy.
Anyway, sorry about that. I like mysteries, like **Patricia Wentworth** and **Agatha Christie.** Wentworth’s are all the same, but I love them anyway. And I like **John Bellairs’** scary books for kids. Oh, and I always read **Elizabeth Peters,** even though I kinda dislike them.
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### Author:  [@luluBahrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/luluBahrain)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/17 "2004-03-30T23:36:25Z")
I will unabashadly(sp) read everything that Stephen King puts out. Even though I am getting more and more disappointed in him. But I loved the new Dark Tower book.
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### Author:  [@Izzybella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Izzybella)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/18 "2004-03-30T23:42:57Z")
> [@dangermom](#):
>
> Oh, and I always read **Elizabeth Peters,** even though I kinda dislike them.
But why, oh why, do you read books you don’t really like?? Life is much too short!
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### Author:  [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/19 "2004-03-30T23:54:25Z")
I’m Robert Parker’s whore. Specifically the Spenser books. They’ve rather gone downhill; there are no big surprises anymore as there were with some of the earlier ones. Spencer sill gets to beat everybody up and is more of an indestructible superman than an actual PI. But I’ll eat up everyone one of them and finish one off in about four hours.
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### Author:  [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-are-not-ashamed-to-admit-you-like/237345/20 "2004-03-31T00:38:50Z")
> [@Izzybella](#):
>
> I like mystery novels ranging from kinda trashy (Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series) to good, fun brain-candy (Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series)
I’d definitely put the Janet Evanovich books in the “good, fun, brain-candy” category, rather than the “trashy” category.
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