It's a bit odd, but here we go.

I've bought certain books, like the last Harry Potter or some of the Twlight series, because they were (and are) very popular. But, time went on, and so many people were reading them, until everyone I knew was talking about them. Now, you'd imagine that this would make me go running to the books I bought, right? But no. Their popularity made me stay away from them. Just the fact that they were popular made them uninteresting to me.

This also happens with any sort of book that I have to read, for a school course or what have you. I might have wanted to read it before, but the fact that it has now become a task makes me put it off. I even find everything else to do before I make myself sit down and read the book.

Sometimes just the look and feel of a book drives me away. The Harp of the Grey Rose by Charles de Lint sort of scared me a bit, to the point where I gave it away. xD And he's one of my favorite authors, so it made no sense at all.

Discussion: Have you ever developed one of these strange mental barriers to a book based on popularity, look, what have you? Did you overcome it?

Oh my gosh! I actually made a topic about this in GD and it was based on Twilight. I guess for a bit of the part it was the popularity of Twilight. My friends are OBSESSED. Especially with Edward. I mean, the author must be that good to have girls go crazy over written description. I hate the whole fact that it's about vampires. I don't mind them in mangas, anime, movies, or shows. But it annoys me to have to read about vampires in a book. And there is Twilight. I am getting pressured to read it this summer.

There is also this anime/manga called Hitman Reborn or something that is quite popular at the moment. I do not want to read it at all. It's popularity sort of gave me a barrier not to pick it up at the bookstore. Same with Vampire Knight but my friend got that for my birthday. I don't mind it as much but I am not crazy for it.

Omigosh! Finally, someone else who doesn't feel compelled to read Twilight. :boogie:
It's just... the fanbase drives me up a wall. I've nothing against them individually (if that makes sense), but as a whole, their fawning over Edward has become obnoxious. I started reading the first book, I really did, and immediately I thought to myself, This is like a compilation of daydreams that a high school student would have about the stereotypical 'sexy vampire'. Then even more people started reading it, more books came out, and ugh. No desire to finish it at all.

Funny... I haven't heard of Hitman Reborn. Now, Bleach, Naruto, Death Note... I'm happy ignoring them, no matter how many people are crazy about the manga/anime.

I know what you mean - I'm the same way. If people start praising a book at the top of their lungs, I can't help but think myself "There's no way it can be that good." So if I ever get around to reading it, I'm specifically trying to pick it apart. I can't enjoy something that has already been hailed as the greatest thing in the world.

Sometimes real life gets in my way, too. I'll be in the middle of a book, and then all of the sudden life will get incredibly busy for me. I'll have to put the book down for a week or so. Then I'll find that I have some time and I want to read, but I just don't feel like slogging through that particular book anymore. So I have to pick up something else and read that instead.

@Knerd: My mentality is the same, with more "There has to be something incredibly generic about this," mixed in.

As for life getting in the way, I have that problem sometimes. Then I go back without the motivation that got me reading in the first place.

Originally Posted by Ocarina

Omigosh! Finally, someone else who doesn't feel compelled to read Twilight. :boogie:
It's just... the fanbase drives me up a wall. I've nothing against them individually (if that makes sense), but as a whole, their fawning over Edward has become obnoxious. I started reading the first book, I really did, and immediately I thought to myself, This is like a compilation of daydreams that a high school student would have about the stereotypical 'sexy vampire'. Then even more people started reading it, more books came out, and ugh. No desire to finish it at all.

Funny... I haven't heard of Hitman Reborn. Now, Bleach, Naruto, Death Note... I'm happy ignoring them, no matter how many people are crazy about the manga/anime.

I don't exactly work the same way with books, or anything else. I just thought I'd pipe in on your mention of Twilight. I've actually got a blog entry ranting over how terrible it is. But anyway, relating to your post, the entire beginning of Twilight was a scene in a dream Stephanie Meyer (the author) had, she also fantasizes about the Cullen men, the vampires. (I use the word Vampire very loosely when it comes to the Twilight series.)

Here's a quote from one of her interviews:

SM: Yes, but mostly I feel bad for my myself. I have these perfect men in my head all the time, but every time I get up from the computer and step out of the writing haze, I have to realize yet again that (despite what my husband says) none of them are real. It breaks my heart over and over again. Yes, definitely I deserve the most pity.

So, basically, it's exactly what you thought it was, only it came from some middle aged housewife. It's an insert fantasy fullfilment book on the Authors part. (And probably a large chunk of the Tween girls thinking Edward is going to marry them. Sadly, I've met fans that truely think he is real.)

@Selmarixie-- My god. Isn't she married? Her husband deserves far more pity than she does. She has started an entire revolution by publishing her sex fantasy.

After all... her description of Bella:

In my head, Bella is very fair-skinned, with long, straight, dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Her face is heart-shaped—a wide forehead with a widow's peak, large, wide-spaced eyes, prominent cheekbones, and then a thin nose and a narrow jaw with a pointed chin. Her lips are a little out of proportion, a bit too full for her jaw line. Her eyebrows are darker than her hair and more straight than they are arched. She's five foot four inches tall, slender but not at all muscular, and weighs about 115 pounds. She has stubby fingernails because she has a nervous habit of biting them.

And then...


Add that in to the fact that she gushes over Edward's marble skin every paragraph... yes. It is her own little fantasy, and it's disgusting.

@Selmarixie: .....o.o That does explain so much. thank you for those details! The barrier has been fortified.

@Fabby: xD Well, looky here! The similarities are a bit convenient, aren't they? You're right, I feel bad for her husband for not being the sexy vampire she adores.

Anyhow, getting a bit back on topic, I just want to clarify for everyone that I'm not trying to bash the Twilight series into the ground. These 'mental barriers' against it just make me not want to read the books to see what the craze is all about.

-Nods- Poor guy...

Anyway, that's why I didn't enjoy the last three Harry Potter books nearly as much. All the hype made me want to never read them... and the fact that Harry turned into an ungodly annoying character didn't help much.

You know, I bought Twilight because everyone was all ZOMG READ IT, and I read like...the first chapter. I remember wanting to kick the snot out of girls like Bella in high school, and haven't touched it since. I even LEFT IT in ANOTHER COUNTRY to get rid of it.

As for Harry Potter, I was all 'Psht, that's for kids. It's not GROWN UP FANTASY'. THen when the movie was coming out, my friend gave me the first three, and threatened to beat me severely if I didn't at least attempt to read them.

I read one a day for three days. Bought the fourth. Took two days to read it because I had to work. Every one that followed got read the day I bought it, cover to cover, in a marathon session. Granted, a seven hundred page book takes me about seven hours, so I'm not doing too bad there.

But I was the first one in line at my theater for the second movie. I STILL wear a gryffendor scarf my sister gave me every winter...and I regularly wear a Dumbledore's Army jacket when it's cool outside. But I am NOT a screaming useless fangirl. I've SEEN them. They TERRIFY me.

My brother in law is a voice actor in the show Gundam Seed, and in Death Note. At the local Anime Convention he was on a Panel, and some chick went BERSERK when he talked to her. What a NUT! My sister, his wife, was like...WTF?! People that into their fandoms that they have to scream and cry sorta freak me out. My coat is no different from someone wearing a Canucks Jersey in my mind. But the flip outs in public? Too creepy.

@Ocarina: Yay! I'm glad. xD Yes, a reason why I don't want to pick it up. From what I hear from fans, it is just so clique! Like, okay, he's perfect but jeez! o.o I like those, in anime and manga. But to be honest, recently I haven't been into the perfect guy image. Well, except appearance-wise. To do everything perfectly and everyone swooning? Not to mention, having a "dark past and personality". I have seen this way too much in roleplays on Gaia and such. To see it in a novel sickens me. But my friend is determined to get be obsessed as well. We bet on it and she will have to read one of my mangas. I have a feeling soon enough, I'll be a Twilight fan and my other self with scold me. xD

I'm extremely picky about what I read. In my room now it like a 500 page book call "The Book of Faeries". I've only read like 15 pages so far. I force myself to read it because most of the time I always put down the book when I don't like how it's going so far.

For those anime you have mentioned, Bleach and Naruto are okay. I actually really liked Naruto about two years ago. Only reason I stopped because my friend only downloaded up to like ep. 115 or something. I likely would still be watching it now if I have it burned but I'm too lazy. xD I hate Death Note. : < It was good in the first volume or two, that's it. It got stupid and repetitive and no reason to continue.

@Selmarixie: Yes, the story seems very self inserted, another reason why I don't want to touch it. I tend to do that, well, I try but it doesn't work. xD; It gets boring for me if I self-insert so I just like people drawing me as an anime character. Px I understand if she self-insert and keep it to herself or maybe just to some friends but, having the whole world view it is sort of eck.

@Fabby: O_O Whoa, that totally clarifies to everyone that she did self-insert. xD And want to be considered beautiful so she tacks in "Bella" as the character name. Gosh darn it, I'm slightly annoyed because one of my character's middle name is Bella. x.x Currently I'm using her as a vampire character in a rp. xD

@Black: What a waste! You could've left it on my doorsteps? ;w; As much as I don't want to read it, I like free things.

Eh, my fandom for Harry Potter lasted for about two weeks. =3 Wow! REALLY? OWO That's so cool! xD What parts does your bro-in-law play? To be honest, I hate the dubs especially for Death Note. I want to just once, try to voice act for some cartoon or anime. Even if it's like 1 minute saying 1 line. How did he get the job? I was always curious about this career.


Lol, bashing Twilight is fun. x)) I know I will kill myself for it in the future if I start loving it to. Then I have officially joined the dark side... //looks up// Holy crap I wrote a lot.

@ Black: I want one of those scarves! ;_; -is jealous-
But yes, seeing people flip out over certain things would drive me away from whatever it is. It seems... too extreme.

@Sadistix: It's alright in a manga, you're right. Completely agree that it doesn't belong in a novel. It's a cheap way to write, really.

Um, yeah, this isn't meant to be interpreted as a bashing-Twilight thread, but because of it's popularity, it's the easiest series to relate to in this case.

I feel the exact same way about the Twilight series. ALL my friends were yammering on and on day in and day out, "Oh! Edward is so hot! I want to marry him! etc etc." The only Edward I know that is *hot* is from Fullmetal Alchemist. -_-;

So my friend got me the book and I read the first two pages. I hate it. It is so uninteresting. Where the heck is the hook?! It's really boring and I haven't picked it back up ever since. My friends tell me to give it a chance but I've already made up my mind about it.

too late.

I picked up Harry Potter around the time the third book came out and to be honest it wasn't that popular. It just seemed to really take off when the films came out until it got totally over the top. I have the first four books and I enjoyed them for what they were but I don't think they're up to the insane hype. When the fifth book came out people at my school were boasting about how quick they'd finished it in. I wasn't aware reading had become a competition :/

My mental barrier is just getting through the first chapter or so of a book. I've read the opening section of Brideshead Revisited about four or five times now. I keep putting it down and then I start to read something else.

I haven't read anything of Twilight, and didn't plan to, but at least from looking at this thread I know I'm not missing out on anything! XD

I have changed my mind about the book Twilight! My mom banned me from the computer yesterday and made me read it. At first I groaned and didn't really want to. I flipped to around the middle and read some stuff. It caught my attention so I decided to give it another chance. Turns out, I really like the book now! I think the reason I found it so uninteresting at the beginning was because there was no character dialog.

stuff like that happens to me alot actually :sweat: if i know a book is very popular, i dont read it.
-shrug- right now i'm into a little thing called Magick and dont very much pay attention to anyother book besides "Dancing with dragons" or "the lost books of Merlynn"

I do the same thing. If something is really popular or I have to read it, I automatically don't want to. However, I often end up really liking them after I eventually give in and pick them up (I can't stand being out of the loop when it comes to books).

This happened to me with Harry Potter, plus I had the advantage of being able to say,"Its a KIDS book" Then I saw the movie, because it had Alan Rickman, and Robbie Coltrain. Once I saw the movie, I could tell something was missing, even though it was one of the best movies I had seen in years, so I had to read the books. Of course like everyone else, I fell in love with The books and have read them all. ( I will state though, that I have read far better kids lit, I just like these a bit more in the way the action is described)

There is something of a mental block for me when ever EVERYBODY is doing something. It's not that some how its not cool, as much as it seems every time I jump on a band wagon, the thing that was so cool, seems to have catered to the masses. And Catering to the masses brings out the worst in everything. Except Harry Potter of course.

Along this vein, I have never seen Titanic.

I guess all I can say is if you own them, take one along on your next road trip. If you get bored enough you will read it. Then if you like t you will finish it. If you don't leave it in the Hotel.

I finished the Twilight book today! The ending was exciting. I'm actually looking forward to reading the second book of the series.

Originally Posted by Kurenai

I have changed my mind about the book Twilight! My mom banned me from the computer yesterday and made me read it. At first I groaned and didn't really want to. I flipped to around the middle and read some stuff. It caught my attention so I decided to give it another chance. Turns out, I really like the book now! I think the reason I found it so uninteresting at the beginning was because there was no character dialog.

Whut? Your mom forced you?? XDD; Oh my.

To the post you had earlier than this one, yes I did the same thing. xD; I read first couple yesterday and was nah, back on the shelf it goes. It was because Costco was selling all three of the books for $13, hardcover each so I was close to buying it. I don't plan on picking up any time but my friend is gonna make me tomorrow. x.x; Great, a soon-to-be Twilight fan. ;-;

I remember this happening to me with Eragon and the HP series as well, I read the first harry potter book and liked it, but everyone praised it far too much for me to want to read the second, and I didn't really start reading it until a year or so ago, and I actually just finished the entire series a couple months ago.

Eragon was praised so highly I did the same thing, I waited four years to actually read it because everyone had either shut up about it or said it was okay, so I went out and bought it.

I AM happy however, when they do this to my books >.< I make books and sell them locally to make extra money, and people like them, but I don't like it when they start running around saying people have to read these books, and people actually think I payed the person to do it, also lowering my sales :(

Praise is okay, just over-exaggerating the quality is NOT a good idea...

I have the same problem. Before the whole Harry Potter craze, I was madly in love with the books. The first movie came out and I thought, well, this could be fun. Until the marketing circus started and you could get Potter figures with your Happy Meal and got Potter gadgets in your cereal and whatnot - it killed the fun for me. Not only the fact that all of a sudden everyone hurried to the bookstore to read the books, but also the marketing overdose.

The same thing happened to Lord of the Rings. The books appealed to me until EVERYONE started to read them. It takes away the mystique of the books.

If I hear about popular books I tend to give certain ones a chance if they sound appealing. Though I more so tend to have discovered the book earlier on it's hype before everyone is talking about it, reading it and there's movies of it. Then people bash the books and it tends to make me not have the same love for it. It makes me sad. Other than that nothing is really stopping me from reading. I don't usually have required reading but I'm sure if I did I wouldn't put it off unless the book sounded unappealing to me. Then I'd procrastinate horribly.

Haven't been around for ages... but, good to see this thread didn't completely die while I was away. xD
Anyhow, yeah, I started reading Death Note, one of those hyped up manga/anime series and.. it's amazing. It totally lives up to the hype. The art is fantastic, while the plot is just so intricate. There are such intense moments where you just freak out along with everyone else. I'm so happy I gave in and started reading it.

I do like Twilight, but it's so...teenage dream romance. The Host was good, though.

I definately have a block against Meg Cabot books, because I've tried to read a few, but I started retching.
Also, Tamora Peirce. I cannot stand her writing style.