Hello!
As the title states, I’m very bad at finding books I actually like. I do like reading to some extent, but I’ve always consumed copious amounts of fanfics instead of actual books. I also need to find a book (or a short story) to write my Master’s Thesis about, so any tips are very welcome!
My biggest issues with books are usually the characters. I find that in many of the ones I try to pick up, I can’t root for the characters because they’re either completely unlikable or very bland. I find that they are often outright mean or off-putting, or make really stupid choices that take me out of the story. The biggest draws for me in every other media are the characters and their relationships with each other, so if I dislike the characters, the chances are I won’t care for anything around them either. This is probably why I enjoy fanfics so much, because I already like the characters and I know roughly what I’m signing up for based on the tags.
The only genre(?) that I truly dislike is sci-fi, especially if it involves space. I’m open to pretty much everything else.
Recent books I’ve read/tried to read that I didn’t like include Sin Eater by Megan Campisi (really cool premise, but the story went a bit all over the place and lacked a proper hook for me, the main character was also very inconsistent) and The Secret History by Donna Tartt (I’m halfway through, I keep reading but I don’t really enjoy it? The premise is interesting and I think some of the characters could be cool if they had more focus, but it feels, paradoxically, that it’s dragging on without much point. And it frustrates me endlessly that they put up with one of the character’s bullshit for so long because they don’t have any redeeming traits.) Unfortunately I don’t have any other examples, because I try to pick up books every few years and I can’t for the life of me remember what the titles were of some of the books I tried in the past.
I hope all of that isn’t overwhelmingly silly, but any recommendations are super welcome! If I’m missing some things that would help with giving me any recs, please ask, I’ll be happy to elaborate. Thanks in advance!!
by KnownSalamander