Why do books suck now?

-I'll start off by saying I'm not really the "reading type" per se. I used to read every once in a while, but ever since I got into high school (I'm a junior) and was forced to read irrelevant books that don't interest anyone in my grade level, I was just turned off of it. But the books I do read are all stuff like LoTR and other amazing books. But my sister reads all the time (she's going to be a freshman), and every single book she reads is the same Twilight/Harry Potter ripoff cash-in sort of book. And I'm just wondering, when the hell did books suck so much? My sister says the books she reads are great, and they are all best sellers and 5 stars and all that jazz. But from what I've read of them, they all have terrible dialogue and writing, plus extremely cliched stories in which the good guy always conquers the evil person which are never intimidating in the slightest. Even in the best stories the hero has to undergo hardships, but in these books the good guys always win easily.I think you're being a bit narrow-minded. You're only looking at the popular books, when really there are so much more out there. Books suck for you because you're not giving any of them a chance, and even if you don't like the book, then just pick up another one and try again. It's that simple.everyone is in-tittled to their own opinion of what is a good book and what isn't. I love LOTR, Harry Potter, books by Anne Rice, Stephen King, Peter Straub, etc. Everyone has their own tastes of books.|||Have you tried reading nonfiction?

I like reading like ghost stories or war stories. Go to the library and pick out something you like. The best part is that if you don't like it, you didn't waste your money on buying it.|||Because J.R.R Tolkien is dead and people like Stephenie Meyer are dominating the book market.|||You are just reading the wrong books.|||Hipsters have spread to literature now. o_0

Just kidding man. It's all a matter of opinion.|||I'll start by saying I'm an aspiring author, and so I did my research by reading whatever was on the best-selling shelves, i.e. Twilight, Harry Potter, etc. Twilight absolutely sucked in my opinion and I don't understand how Stephanie Meyer managed to build an empire out of the series. The dialogue was flimsy, Bella was a one-dimensional character with the personality of a stick, oh and NOTHING HAPPENED in the book. The character descriptions were repetitive and ridiculous, too. I mean come on, how many times do I need to read that Edward looked like a marble statue, or a god? I think the reason the ratings are so high isn't because of the story, which is not the most compelling, but because of the target audience. The kids like shallow plots and easy reads. I exclude Harry Potter in the above because to be honest, I thought that was beautifully developed, but if I go into it I will begin ranting and end up writing too much. In my opinion, any nitwit can become an author these days as long as they appeal to people who don't want to make the effort to think much.|||There's so many more books out there than just those that you mentioned. Maybe your sister just has a particular taste that you don't share. There really are great authors and phenomenal books. About Twilight, I agree with you...however Harry Potter (the first few especially) had great quality of writing. Try looking not so much into chick lit and mainstream books, but look for quality books. Also, sometimes not understanding a story can cause it to be disliked...or reading it for school sometimes kills it. Just don't judge a book by its cover, or a billion books by just a few. I'm sure you'll find something that you enjoy reading. Good luck!|||Books suck for the same reason Hollywood sucks right now... It's all about making money and not about the art of originality. Just like all the books jumping all over the band wagon of Harry Potter and Twilight, movies are becoming lame attempts at re-hashing old ideas that were done perfectly well before and completely missing the point of why it was good in the first place. The book market has had success with HP and twilight in a massive degree because they tap into a young market. This young market is now hungry for more but is given crap after crap and told that it is best selling stuff so they force themselves to like it. All the publishers are interested in is... Ch-ching!



There are some good books out there, you've just got to leave your sisters collection on the shelf and find what is good for you.|||ok let's get this straight:



1) All the books you were "forced" to read in school suck and are irrelevant (these, I'm assuming, are the classics that encompass some of the greatest literary works of the last 200 years).



2) You go on to say that "good" books include those like LOTR (which in itself has TERRIBLE dialogue..{Have you read Gandolfs 3+ page diatribes?}, cliched plotlines, mediocre writing, good vs evil themes, archetype/cardboard villains, and minimal character development in terms of characters undergoing personal hardships..personal being the key word).



3) You then contradict yourself by stating that your sister's taste in books suck b/c they include cliches, terrible dialogue, poor writing, good vs evil themes, and archetype villains, and minimal character development. Hmm...strange considering that your favorite book includes all of this as well.



So, I'm forced to conclude that you're interest is limited to speculative fiction genres such as fantasy or science fiction and that your tastes in terms of what makes writing good, dialogue good, themes or plotlines good is entirely indecisive since your favorite book includes all the things you abhor in others.



Sounds to me like you haven't read much at all, lack an understanding in what you're saying in that you're trying to contrast books by qualities that they all share, don't understand writing formulas, rules, or the market, and basically, you have no idea what you're talking about and lack a basic understanding and/or respect for literature in all its forms.



So my answer is: The books don't suck, your narrow perspective sucks..or so..it's sucking away your ability to grasp the fundamentals of literature. Broaden your perspective a bit and read more than just the New York Times Best Sellers and I guarantee you'll feel like a complete and utter jack-in-the-box for even posting this question.



No rudeness intended. Have a nice day.|||Hahah I totally agree with most of what you said. I hate 'Americanized' things and by that I mean the good guy always wins. Always. I hate that. Sometimes the bad guy should win. I like twilight and i Love Harry Potter and I love a lot of different kinds of books. I don't know what you're into but forget about this teen bull, move up in your reading category. There are many kinds of books that address different kinds of topics but I'm not going to bore you. Try 'A million Little pieces.' My favorite book. Reading will be forever changed. ;)|||Well I think your answer is actually in your question. You were annoyed because the books assigned to you in high school weren't relevant to you (been there done that!) but the reason Twilightish books sell is because they are relevant to that audience (mostly women but there is the occasional guy). When it comes to preteen or teen girls their whole existence in that moment in their life is warped by the raging hormones that come with that age group. Therefore at that moment in their lives all they want to read about are hot vamp guys who have nothing better to do then hang out on your windowsill in the middle of the night. And it appeals to older women because some women like the whole tall dark and handsome knight in shining armor with a dark twist. Of course there are always exceptions but in general.....



At a certain point your sis will branch out and maybe towards classics by people like Bronte or Austen. But until she reaches that stage in her life this is what appeals to her. I couldn't get through LOTR in high school but I love it now! I just wasn't ready to take on or even appreciate a work like that. I had to build up to it and sometimes books that might seem silly can actually be our gateway into the world of reading.|||YAY!!:D Time to suggest awesome books!!:)



1. I am the cheese by Robert Cormier(do not know how to spell that)



2. The chocolate war by Robert Cormier



3. The Hunger Games series



4. Found, Sent(the missing series) by Margret Peterson Haddix



5. Among the hidden by Margret Peterson Haddix



6. Double Identity by Margret Perterson Haddix



7. running out of time by Margret Peterson Haddix(anything by Haddix is excellent)



8. To Kill a Monkingbird by Harper Lee



9. Ferinheit 451 by ?????



10. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien



I hope the suggestions helped:)|||Books do not suck. Certain types of popular literature suck. Don't read what everyone else is reading if it seems stupid to you. There is plenty of great fiction being published every day. If you prefer genre fiction, it is an unfortunate truth that a lot of substandard writing does find its way into print due to the demand for certain elements of that genre, but if you look at book reviews and listen to what educated readers have to say, you can pick through the chaff. In addition, you can broaden your horizons by reading more widely, not just fantasy, but all types of literature, or by reading older fantasy. Many amazing novels have fallen out of fashion, but they are no less wonderful for being 50 or 100 years old. Do your research and you can read great books all the time. Don't worry that some people prefer crap because it's easy to read and doesn't make them think much.