S/O What books are you not ashamed of but should be?

haha me too!! Every once in a while, Lifetime movie channel has VCAndrews movies and I always watch them.  

I'll admit to preferring books that challenge me, but I enjoyed the Sookie Stackhouse books (can't remember the author - but the ones that the HBO show "True Blood" was based on.) Fun, easy, entertaining reads.

I too am a V.C. Andrews fan especially Flowers In The Attic Series. I too stopped reading her books years ago it's not the same since her passing.
I love Danielle Steel books most people think she is a romance writer I don't I think of her more along the lines of family drama writer.
I love romance books and used to not post or talk about them because people would make snarky comments about it but I no longer let that bother me. I love Christina Lauren, Emily Henry, Katherine Center and so many others.
I loved Fifty Shades Of Grey series.
Twilight was okay.

My motto is read what you want and what you like.

I like lots of fluff books. Just because they are fluffy doesn't mean they are poorly written. Verity was poorly written and was just stupid. Sorry for all the fans, but so was the first Twilight book.
I liked Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and several other books in that line of story telling. They are not high quality literature, but they are relatively well written.
I liked the Sookie series and a few of the other books Charlaine Harris wrote.
I also loved the Hunger Games.

I have heard about that book so many times I put a hold on it at my library.  I didn't get very far in three weeks when the next person on hold  needed it, walked in to return it a few weeks ago, and a copy was for sale for 50 cents on the sale cart.  I now own it.  


My guilty pleasure is the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books.  I've been listening to them on audio (they are all about 2 hours long) in the car and am on #13 out of 18.  My DS (11) might or might not be in the car with me when they are playing   

In my teens and twenties I read every book by Virginia Andrews, Danielle Steel, and Jackie Collins. I felt no shame, and proudly displayed them front and centre on my Ikea Billy bookcase. 

(However if I wanted to read one now - which I don't - I would have to put a different cover on it so nobody could see! Mind you, that wouldn't be an issue on my Kindle.)

What's wrong with Gone Girl? That was an excellent book, made into an excellent film. Fight me if you disagree! 🤣

I said I liked it. It isn’t literature though. But I liked it. 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is awesome, my kid has most of them and we read them together as they came out. We liked the Disney animated versions that were out too.

I read the VC Andrews books in high school, along with every other teen girl at the time. The writing definitely went downhill after the original author died.

I can’t think of anything that I’d consider a guilty pleasure at this point because I don’t really read too much these days now that my kid does most of her reading at school and on the bus.

These days I read almost exclusively Regency-era romance. I am picky. There are a lot of really bad writers in this genre and I flatter myself that I find the good ones, haha. I don't care if it's steamy or not as long as the prose is good, the characters are interesting, and the plot is enjoyable. Lately I've been reading mystery-romances from this era and have come across some really good ones.

Anyway. I should probably be ashamed. I had a minor in English Lit. in college. But I just can't bring myself to care.

I should also add - I do other activities that challenge me mentally and physically. Reading time is relaxation time.

Ooohhh, let's see - 

Julia Quinn, obviously (Bridgerton started my whole interest in the genre)
Lisa Kleypas, again obviously

But honestly my favorites are Mary Balogh and Grace Burrowes. These are quieter and more thoughtfully written, especially their later stuff. Grace Burrowes Lady Violet Investigates series and Lord Julian mystery series are not at all steamy but very enjoyable. Mary Balogh's Bedwyn Saga series and Survivors' Club series - slightly more steamy but great characters and plots IMO.

And I just finished the most recent book in Darcie Wilde's Rosalind Thorne mysteries (now A Useful Woman mysteries) - so good. Can't wait for the next one and I'm going to look for more by this author.

ETA: for something very different than the usual, I loved The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton. There's a series of them called Dangerous Damsels. Call it Victorian romance meets the adults of Harry Potter. I loved them.

I like Jenny Han type books...
The Summer I Turned Pretty
To All the Boys I've Loved Before.

Young adult, sweet romance, coming of age books. I am 40+ years older than their target audience. ha!