The Girl on the Train is NOT "excellent:...or is it? What makes literature good/excellent?

Jan74 said:

Is that how people chose which books to read? Oh its like Gone Girl so I'll read Girl on the Train? I don't think I've ever read a book because its been marketed as similar to a book I did like. It makes me wonder how people chose which books deserve their time. I'm fairly skeptical when I'm told "you have to read this, its sooooo good." blah! My best friend raved on and on about 50 shades of grey.....and I took it out from the library....and promptly returned it to the library only half read. Yet millions of women would disagree with my assessment of that novel. I didn't read Girl on the train, but I did watch the movie and found the entire thing completely unrealistic, most likely I would hate the novel, but I usually can't stand novels where the women leads are pathetic and spineless.

Writing is similar to music. There are tonnes of talented bands out there and the talent can't be denied...yet I don't like their music. What makes "good" music and who decides. In the end the fans decide. Just because "I" don't like a novel doesn't mean it isn't good. The same would go for art. Maybe I think Monet is the best but someone else thinks Picasso is the best. Taste is fickle and individual. Picasso will never be Michelangelo but who says which is better? I'm rambling now....so those are just a few of my thoughts on the subject.

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Marketing is marketing, but I certainly have had plenty of friends tell me I'd like something because 'it's like....' I've also found music because it's like a band I like, and art because it's like art I like. I like surrealism. I found Dali as a small kid, and didn't know he was a surrealist. A couple years later, I found Magritte and etc...

I've recommended countless books to people based on what they like -- that's my first question if someone asks for a recommendation, 'what books do you like?'

This is the basis of so many things, from Netflix and Pandora and etc. recommendations to general social stuff. 'Do you like Olive Garden? No? Oh, good, I know a great Italian place."

Jan74 said:

Is that how people chose which books to read? Oh its like Gone Girl so I'll read Girl on the Train? I don't think I've ever read a book because its been marketed as similar to a book I did like.

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The basis of hand-selling, whether it's books, music, or wine or or or . . . relies on knowing what the customer has previously enjoyed.

If I tell a bookseller or a librarian or a friend that I love Ngaio Marsh and Agatha Christie, they might suggest Dorothy Sayers.

If I say I love Heinlein and Asimov, they might suggest Greg Bear.

Tazlima said:

... I do occasionally go to the bookstore and just browse the shelves to see what jumps out at me, but even then there's going to be some serious narrowing of choices simply based on what section I choose to browse.

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I browse the library catalogue by genre and book blurbs. I don't recall who recommended GotT to me. I'm sure I saw a recommendation somewhere. When I was checking it out from the library, the librarian said it was a good book.

I tend to get a slew of books but take most of them back after they fail to interest me by the first couple of chapters. That's one benefit of using the library. I'm amazed at how many books I simply don't like when I try them. All those published books and few I consider good. Sigh.

Jan74 said:

Is that how people chose which books to read? Oh its like Gone Girl so I'll read Girl on the Train? I don't think I've ever read a book because its been marketed as similar to a book I did like. It makes me wonder how people chose which books deserve their time. I'm fairly skeptical when I'm told "you have to read this, its sooooo good." blah!

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There is a reason why agents often ask for comp titles in queries. It's *one* of the ways you could use to narrow down which books you want to read. Whenever I come across a real gem of a book which sweeps me away completely, I end up hungry for more books like that. But it's not the only way. I also check out books based on... friends' recs, awards lists, marketing buzz, book covers (the marketing buzz and book covers are mostly for diverse books. If there is a PoC on the cover, I will at the very least browse the book's Amazon page).

Since I live in a city where the library is abysmal and the bookshops have very limited choices, the Look Inside feature on Amazon is a godsend.

EmilyEmily said:

[/B]Oooooo, yes! Night Film by Marisha Pessl. Please read and then come back so we can discuss.

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Haha, okay! Thanks for the rec!

Tazlima said:

I'm curious, then, how do YOU decide which books to read? I don't know that I'd choose a specific book simply because it was marketed as similar to another individual book, but I know which genres I tend to enjoy, and what's that except a broader version of the same thing?

If I had to choose between two books to read, one romance and one horror, and the genre was the only thing I knew about either of them, I'd go with the horror every time. My sister-in-law would just as unfailingly choose the romance. My boyfriend would avoid both like the plague...he prefers non-fiction, particularly history and biographies.

As far as recommendations, "It's sooo good," may not be a good indicator of whether one particular person will like a book, but "It's right up your alley," said by someone who knows your tastes, is a pretty safe bet. Not 100% guaranteed, but certainly better than "I liked it, therefore you must too," which makes about as much sense as the line my mother gave us when we were kids: "I'm cold; put on a sweater."

I do occasionally go to the bookstore and just browse the shelves to see what jumps out at me, but even then there's going to be some serious narrowing of choices simply based on what section I choose to browse.

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Where our camp is the local general store that sells everything from minnows to wine has a shelf of donated books that are free for the taking...I discovered Betty Smith and Lavyrle Spencer from that shelf of used books I don't buy very many books, I'm a library gal....so when I began writing I started going to amazon books and looking through the different genre's and basically surfing authors and reading the "look inside" feature. I discovered Alice Hoffman, Sarah Addison Allen and Kristen Hannah this way. When I stumble over a book I like I browse my library online and see if its on the shelf and then I take it out. I discovered Elin Hilderbrand because somebody left one of her novels on the table at the family camp so it was accidental.

Putputt said:

There is a reason why agents often ask for comp titles in queries. It's *one* of the ways you could use to narrow down which books you want to read. Whenever I come across a real gem of a book which sweeps me away completely, I end up hungry for more books like that. But it's not the only way. I also check out books based on... friends' recs, awards lists, marketing buzz, book covers (the marketing buzz and book covers are mostly for diverse books. If there is a PoC on the cover, I will at the very least browse the book's Amazon page).

Since I live in a city where the library is abysmal and the bookshops have very limited choices, the Look Inside feature on Amazon is a godsend.

Haha, okay! Thanks for the rec!

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Agreed...I love the look inside on Amazon, it has lead me to so many wonderful books!

I can see now why the marketing would want a comparison. And if somebody here said to me...Oh you love Alice Hoffman...check out xyz...I would. I think sometimes a book can get too hyped up and then its a let down. Or the opposite, a book can be looked over because of reviews. When I first heard about Harry Potter, I heard negative things that it was this horrible story about a boy living under the stairs and this person didn't even finish the book. I got a copy and wasn't sucked in immediately but I gave it an honest good chance, and I'm glad I did because I loved the entire series. The person I knew who had given up on the novel I told her it was a fantastic book and to give it another chance. She did and she is a huge Harry fan