Falling for the Hype (again)
Hype in the reading world is both good and bad, as I discussed previously in my post about The Fault in Our Stars. You're always taking a chance that the book is hyped up so much that you expect so much and then are let down, when without the hype you may have actually liked the book more. But, then there are the books you might have overlooked if not for the hype, and missed out big time! I have some favorites that I never would have read if it weren't for people's incessant talking about them. (Although, I have a trend with this. Usually when I end up reading big titles because everyone's talking about them, it's way after the fact. If I hear it's a series, I wait...nothing burns me more than having to wait for the next book. Especially when you've waited, read the three books in the series and bam, oh there are three more and a three book prequel coming...cough...Cassandra Clare...cough cough.)
And then there's the convenience of being familiar with many more books than I've read because of the hype. This is helpful since I have a group of students who often stand in front of my classroom shelf asking for a recommendation. I've purchased many books from what I've heard so I can provide them with the newest and biggest titles...no reason to limit them to what I can read. I have one voracious reader who has read more books from my classroom shelf than I have. I always have to talk her into the next one on my list of Young Adult to-be-read and she always loves it. I'm about 10 for 10 now and I hadn't read any of the ones I suggested to her. I was just going off of the hype and sometimes knowledge of the author's previous work. (I do this to parents and teens at Barnes and Noble too, unsolicited usually, but I figure maybe they'll just think I work there! Which I should...)
So, overall, I have to say the hype is worth it. And my reason for this discussion? I'm heading into some hyped up books. So, on my list for the next few weeks are:
Gone Girl - by Gillian Flynn (reading now and liking it)
Looking for Alaska - by John Green (HE is the hype, more so than any one of his books)
Life After Life - by Jill McCorkle
The Storyteller - by Jodi Picoult (she hasn't been as good as usual, but I know I can believe the hype with this one)
The Memory Keeper's Daughter - by Kim Edwards (older one, but seemed everyone was reading it when it came out)
The Silver Star - by Jeannette Walls (coming out June 2013, but I have the ARC from NetGalley and plan on BEING part of the hype if it's as good as The Glass Castle)
Have you read any of these and is the hype believable? Any hyped up titles on your reading list?
I've read the Memory Keeper's Daughter and thought out of one to five stars it was a 3.0, maybe a 3.5'ish sort of book. It wasn't exactly my kind of story, but overall I enjoyed it. The rest? Well, I'd like to read Jill McCorkle's book - but that's only b/c she's a big time NC writer...I'd want to read The Silver Star too, because I loved the book she wrote about her Grandmother...and I have The Glass Castle on my TBR pile...
ReplyDeleteDefinitely read Glass Castle first...it's hard to believe it isn't fiction. And Silver Star's summary sounded like a fictionalized version of Glass Castle. I just received Half Broke Horses from my free swap site! Glad to hear it is good.
DeleteI understand fully the hyped conundrum. Try to take the books as they are and go from there! I do hope you enjoy some of those hyped ones, though, because some really are amazing! But I won't tell you which ones (unless you saw my reviews) because I don't want to hype them up more! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I do! And I can't help but spread the hype! Reading "Gone Girl" right now and liking it. I read your reviews, so I know! Hype away, I'm always collecting titles for my TBR pile.
DeleteYou have some wonderful books coming up. I hope you enjoy all of them :) I'm very curious about the new Walls! I'll look forward to your thoughts on that one for sure
ReplyDeleteWell I have a bunch of great book blogs from which to choose new reads! It's kind of like shopping when I go through and read everyone's reviews.
DeleteFor me, I think that the hype goes both ways. It helps and hurts. I am on the waiting list for Gone Girl and Life After Life at my library because of the hype surrounding them. I am hoping that they will be available soon.
ReplyDeleteI read The Fault in Our Stars and really liked it. I was not aware of the author's or the book's popularity before reading it. I discovered how much the world loved John after finishing the book. Was I living in a reading hole? I dunno. I went on to read Looking for Alaska and thought that it was just okay.
I read most (all except final book published this month) of the Sookie Stackhouse series (by Charlaine Harris) this year because of the hype around its TV adaptation, True Blood. It's not something I would have read without the hype. Availability was also a factor. I probably wouldn't have read all of the series if I had to wait for the next book.
It took me years to read the Twilight series. http://madhoydenish.blogspot.com/2010/09/sad-sad-sad-my-twilight-confession.html
I still haven't read any Harry Potter.
That is the good side of hype - it does sometimes make me read things I never would've otherwise. That's the case with Harry Potter and Twilight for me.
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