Comments on: Throwing Books

By: Abbe

Abbe — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:28:21 +0000

I’ve never thrown a book but oh I’ve wanted to! Recently it was Shiver, the werewolf one. If cold weather turns him into a wolf and he doesn’t want to be a wolf, why is he still living in Minnesota? Why wasn’t he on the first bus to Phoenix? If someone in the story had suggested it and someone else said, “We tried that but it didn’t work because X,” I would have been fine, but nobody did. I stopped reading halfway through because I got tired of yelling the solution at the characters. Who knows, maybe they figured it out later, but by then it was too late.

By: Becky

Becky — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:14:36 +0000

You THREW The Book Thief? Unforgivable! 😉

By: Barb Riley

Barb Riley — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:14:25 +0000

The first and only book I’ve EVER returned to a store because I refused to give that author a penny of my money was FALLEN by Lauren Kate. The cover was gorgeous, it was on a cardboard display at the bookstore, the reviews were fab-o, it looked to be a good YA…. and it was complete and total crap in a hardback cover. The characters were flat, the plot was boring. I read a bit every night and would complain, to which hubby would say… why are you still reading? I hoped it would get better!!! Alas, it did not. So, I returned it to the store! (After I smoothed down the wrinkle where I threw it.) I’m such a rebel.

The other YA book I considered throwing across the room was Cassandre Claire. When I googled her, the information I found put me off even more. Google rumor has it she dropped quite a bit of her Harry Potter fanfic into her stories, merely changing names and adding in some Buffy plots. Flying motorcycles, anyone? But, she’s got a movie in the works, so recycling and ripping off must work!! Maybe she got better after the first book – I dunno, I gave up!

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:04:55 +0000

So glad people seemed to have fun with this post. As Nattalee mentioned, there’s just something so darned satisfying about that “flippy-flap” sound as a book hurls across a room. Something an iPad or Kindle can’t recreate!

By: Rachel McMahon

Rachel McMahon — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:00:26 +0000

When I think of all the times I’ve told my children not to be careless with their books, I have to be at least a little ashamed that I’ve thrown one full force against the wall before. Only once, and it was at the end of a long love/hate relationship with a fantasy series. I didn’t just force myself to read one book, but ten! It offended me deeply. I’m itching to go buy a copy now just so I can hurl it at something.

By: Barb Riley

Barb Riley — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:59:34 +0000

Oh dear – I guess we’re all allowed to like different things, b/c I really really really liked all three Hunger Games series. But I listened in Audio, I wonder if that made a difference? I cried like a baby at the end of 3 – any book that makes me cry is probably a keeper, I don’t cry at books very often. I was emotionally invested.

By: Yat-Yee Chong

Yat-Yee Chong — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 00:48:56 +0000

From the number of comments this post generated, the topic has certainly touched some nerves!

I’ve come close to throwing a book: a memoir that was a blatant stoking of the author’s ego. I know memoirs are by nature self-centered but this one just went way beyond. The author came across as a nasty person, from the way she spilled secrets and knowledge about people close to her, who trust(ed) her, with the end result of those people coming off as either stupid or unsophisticated or in general subpar to her. It was just so unpleasant to spend time with a person like that but at the time I finished every book I started. I am much wiser now. I was tempted many times to hurl it at the wall. But it was still a book and I just couldn’t bring myself to throw it.

As for books that start off strong and then just fizzles: I’ve read a few of them, the most recent one being The Passage. I devoured the first third in no time, and then it was just painful to read on. I guess I still haven’t really learned the fine art of abandoning a book because I read it till the end.

By: Stephen King (the other one)

Stephen King (the other one) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 22:11:23 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve thrown a book across the room, though I vividly recall doing it before. I recently chucked an audio book CD across my car interior, though…does that count? I got Patricia Cornwell’s Predator to keep me entertained on my commute, but after nearly the entire first CD of a large, brusque biker dude being voiced by a female in “huskyvoice” I couldn’t take it any more.

CD’s fly better’n books do, anyways.

By: Sylvia Fisher

Sylvia Fisher — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 21:20:03 +0000

I’ve had years of practice throwing books, so now my aim is a thing of beauty. I know exactly how much damage I’m going to inflict with an offended hurl or the more mild toss to the floor. The books I really love are the ones that always look worse anyway, what with the spines falling apart from rereading. The first book I remember throwing was actually awesome – Katherine Paterson’s BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA. When Leslie died I lost it, so mad I couldn’t finish it for a couple of days. But it was so good I knew I’d hate myself if I didn’t get the closure. Now I seem to throw a book more these days because of the let-downs. There are some astonishing premises out there, such imagination…why do so few have the ability to dazzle beyond an idea? And if one more book gets compared to THE HUNGER GAMES…*feral growl*

By: Sheila

Sheila — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:11:28 +0000

This just happened to me, too. Everyone raving about a book, so I bought it for my iPad. The author should have read the famous Evil Overlord List, because she used the biggest cliches – the old James Bond one – Bad guy has the hero trapped, decides to kill her with an elaborate device, and then leaves, not knowing if it worked or not. It was at that point that I had to throw something, but it wasn’t going to be my iPad. (Sorry, Book Thief, I really liked you, but you were all I had handy).