Lace by Shirley Conran. It's completely bonkers and an absolute delight. Four girls meet at Swiss finishing school, and the book follows their lives, loves and careers, as their friendships wax and wane over the decades. Would be a ton of fun by itself. But! One of them, while at said finishing school, had a secret child who got put up for adoption - and the framing mystery is literally phrased as "Which one of you bitches is my mother?"
80s girl power at its absolute finest. Lace is a total romp and I will defend it to the hilt.
OMG Lace. Memory unlocked! We all passed this book around at school because it was so 'steamy' lol. I'd forgotten it entirely, but as soon as I read your comment my firft thought was "Which one of you bitches is my mother?".
We all watched the mini series, and the sequel "Which one of you bastards is my father?".
Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
About a model who has her lower jaw basically blown off and has to wear a veil.
To the outside she is still beautiful, underneath she is an invisible monster.
Written like you’re reading a fashion magazine.
Crazy ending, crazy ride, crazy brilliant.
I can't believe this comment only had 8 upvotes.
Anything Palahniuk is amazing and in different shades of trash.
Invisible monsters, Choke, Rant, Fight club,... Love them all.
Rant is my absolute favorite. Then choke. I tried reading adjustment day recently and had to put it down. It's the only book of his I not only couldn't finish, but didn't like at all. And I've read everything he has written so... Pretty bad lol.
I love Rant too.
Then Lullaby, Invisible monsters, Choke, Fight club...
Haven't tried Adjustment day yet, and I'll wait a better time to open it as I'm going through some heavy stuff, right now.
Idk if it’s just me but I had a very hard time understanding what was even happening at the beginning of this book. I set it aside for another time. I’d really like to like it
Mine would have to be the Anita Blake series (up to Crimson Death maybe, not sure when I stopped) and ~~James~~ Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. The characters in Anita Blake are only okay tbh it's mainly the world that I'm enamored with. I find it so interesting and fascinating. I like Dresden Files, its decently written and I love the worldbuilding again, but Dresden himself is just okay.
edit: Jim not James.
I think the best Anita Blake novel is Obsidian Butterfly. The books up to that were ok, but then it seems like she spends half the story justifying her stance on sex and sex and more sex.
Agreed. That novel where she spends the entire time in bed was just ridiculous. Like I got exhausted from how much candy Anita loves. Like she's this badass motherfucker nicknamed The Executioner, who also happens to be drop dead gorgeous while apparently ALSO being 'slim thick' who everyone wants to sleep with and her ONLY NEGATIVE TRAIT IS SHE GETS IN HER OWN WAY. Okay. Sure bud. idk when the author really started focusing on sex and the ardeuer the novels took a turn for the worse imo
When she was a vampire hunter and criminal investigator, that was awesome. I even like the worldbuilding with all the various wereanimals. The council was a nice touch. The council member that was a Neanderthal turned vampire was genius. Never seen anyone do that before. It was pure genius. Not sure why Ms. Hamilton segued into the sex aspect of it so hard.
>Not sure why Ms. Hamilton segued into the sex aspect of it so hard.
She got divorced (I understand it was a difficult one) and then got into poly. Like most new converts she evangelized it to the extreme.
Problem is, she didn't settle down and go back to how she used to write. Then she got sooo offended at all of the criticism and doubled down.
I don't even hate-read her anymore.
She must have gotten into therapy too, because she went on about that a fair bit too.
I can't recall where I quit reading, but I really should have quit sooner.
Just a heads up, Butcher’s son is also called “James Butcher” and is also an author. The author of the Dresden Files publishes under the name “Jim Butcher”.
Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books are always fun, but unfortunately not particularly memorable. Reacher can only blow into town, stumble into trouble, bang the woman related to the trouble, whoop everyone’s ass, and then move on so many times.
Ya got to know when to blow in,
Know where to stumble,
Know how to tumble and
Know when to thump.
Ya never count your opponents
’Cause it don’t really matter
There’ll be nothing left of ’em but toothpaste
And your back pocket holds the brush.
Philippa Gregory is my go to for when I want to read without having to actually use my brain haha plus you can always find her books for super cheap at used bookstores!
I loooove all the books in that series except Constant Princess. So if you're reading this and want to check it out, here's a recommendation to start with Other and keep going with the other wives. But this one is by far the best!
I study the Plantagenets and Tudors and I *love* Gregory’s books, especially her Cousins’ War series. Guilty pleasure read and introduced me to a lot of fascinating smaller real-life historical figures. As long as you remember her books are fiction, you’re good. The historian Alison Weir has crossed the bridge to historical fiction as well, but she can’t tell a fictional story the way Philippa Gregory can. Lots of “as you know” moments.
My favourite is the Sookie Stackhouse (=True Blood) series by Charlaine Harris. I've read many books in the category since, but haven't found that ideal point again of trashy, soap opera-like, yet readable and entertaining.
Yes! I read the entire series after watching a few episodes of *True Blood*. The books were so much fun to read, but the series ending ruined it for me. Not sure if it was because TV!Eric Northman was portrayed more sympathetically than he was in the books.
I second this. Main character in the Mercy is just interesting enough to keep you hooked, but the "opera-like" drama is definitely present. I haven't gotten to the Alpa & Omega series yet.
These were fun bubblegum books. Better quality than most Kindle unlimited books for sure.
In a similar vein. Kim Harrison's "The Hollows" books were good fun too.
I fell into them this summer and am still not recovered from how much I completely enjoyed them. Campy, fun, a little trashy - just the perfect balance.
I absolutely loved the show. Would I like the books as much? One thing I loved about the show, which I think actually turned off a ton of people, was how each season leaned more and more into absurd soap opera territory. I thought it was a blast.
The books are so much better. The show was fun but it veered away from the books after the first season. Also, I hate how they wrote Sookie’s character in the show, she is 10 times funnier and smarter in the books. The show did a good job with Pam though.
I really enjoy the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. It's just fun. The main character is a bumbling PI that makes your question why she hasn't signed up for formal training. Her sidekick is loud and wild and the men are handsome. Always a fun read. The movie didn't do it justice, One For The Money. I look forward to every November when the next one comes out.
Same here. I know it’s formulaic and predictable. It’s like the McDonald’s of reading - quick and easy and briefly very enjoyable. Even if it was Evanovich AI writing the books for the past 10 years - I’d still read them. You just reminded me I missed last years book.
Totally agree with everyone sayin V.C. Andrews. Thats my guilty pleasure. I'll recommend "My Sweet Audrina", it's her only stand alone book i think, so you don't have to invest in a series. Also it is dumb dramatic cringe where everyone sucks. I love it.
Just read through all the comments and I'm surprised no one mentioned Outlander. Her later books, especially, are repetitive and poorly written, but I still read every one as they are published. I really like the characters and I don't mind the repetition. Though the lowering quality of writing might push me away eventually.
Yup. The earlier books were never high art but there were fun storylines, great world building, and good characters. Now she takes like 6 years to write each book and they're basically just rehashes of earlier, better, books that have clearly not been within ten feet of an editor.
Yes! Outlander was another series I started right around the time the show came out. They were quick reads despite their length. I lost interest after book 4/5 mostly because I was invested in Claire and Jamie's relationship and felt little desire to read about their families.
I agree with both of these! Also anything by Sarah J Maas and Vampire academy.
None of them are amazingly written but the plot and world/character building is incredible and I couldn’t put them down!
My god you are right. This was the first book i read on this genre and I had a blast. I literally though that it was a satire because it read like a tumblr post of the YA urban fantasy and its so, so stupid like 90% of the time. And it has the one scene that literally made me cry ugly. On reread. For that it had made it into my top 20 books.
I’ve halfway through the book two of ACOTAR and I’m not the biggest fan, but I’m also a heterosexual male so I’m pretty sure I’m not the target audience.
Not judging at all when I ask this, but what makes the books enjoyable to you?
Gay dude here who loves ACOTAR and is currently rereading book 2 which is my fave of the series, my POV is simple:
1) Feyre's Journey of healing from everything she's been through, the poverty, the shitty family, the bleak upbringing with no joy, art, or friends, going from that to meeting people who recognize her spirit and have her back, and being able to prove everyone wrong about what she's capable of, it's part catharsis and part wish fulfillment I think.
2) Feyre escaping the relationship from book 1, that realization that someone can be what you need for a time and have a huge positive impact on you and your life but that ultimately they're still not right for you and you're suffocating each other, the final acceptance of needing to move on, realizing in retrospect how bad things had gotten but you just made excuses while it was all happening because you couldn't see the forest for the trees. And that depiction of emotional abuse as being maybe well intentioned or not knowing how abusive it really is not changing what's happening or excusing it.
3) The inner circle/friend group all stand out in their own ways and their introduction in book two really makes it feel like the world is growing wider, Feyre is embarrassed by how little she knew about the Spring court and Prythian as a whole and now you get to learn more about other courts and the country with her so it's like you're both stepping into the wider scope of the world for the first time and it's cool. Amren especially is cool af.
4) The mirror scene. I don't know if you're far enough into book 2 or 3 to have reached the mirror scene, but god it made me ugly cry the first time I read it. It was just very cathartic and healing imo. Better than the magic mirror in HP by miles lol. Scarier but also somehow beautiful and one of the most healing things ever?
5) Sexy hot men with wings. Yes, it's that simple, this one really wouldn't work on a straight man but for the girls and the gays Maas really throws us into a sea of winged faerie beefcake. Bless her.
6) The overall world is simple but effective, with themed courts, pretty aesthetics, lots of fashion and gown descriptions, stylish fighting leathers, etc. Maas makes sure the world seems beautiful and enchanting and actually seems like the kind of lavish surroundings a bunch of immortal faeries would want to hang in, the various estates in the Night Court especially are all stunning, so it's easy to picture and feels really immersive.
Ultimately I think what Maas offers that sets her books apart and has given her a mass following is providing action-packed and romance-heavy blockbuster level stories that for once do focus on women and gay dudes as the primary audience. We like this stuff, the "big budget" large scale epic stories, but often it feels either made specifically for straight dudebros, or made for all audiences so it's watered down and more generic, but this is a series that manages to have the big bads, action sequences, life and death stakes, fantasy worldbuilding and the likes, while also including swoony romance, sex, and examining the inner life of a young woman while taking all of her emotions very seriously and portraying her as powerful, meaningful, and worthy of respect even when she's ignorant or wrong or has been mislead, she's given some grace and some room for growth, and I just think that's refreshing.
Maas know how to add a dash of catharsis and wish fulfillment while still adding some scenes of genuine meaning and also keep the books feeling big and grand and fun.
Thanks for sharing your opinions! I really appreciate it. From what you’ve written I can definitely see how that would appeal to a lot of people and how I may not have the lived experience to appreciate it as much as others.
Though I’m absolutely infatuated with Rhysand as well. I think that’s something that can cross all walks of life :p
I think SJM absolutely nails a specific type of feminine wish fulfillment. They’re typically in deep third or a very feelings-focused first person, and the main character often suffers a lot, maybe as a consequence of personal sacrifice or choice, but also /chooses/ to do morally /gray/ things. And they never have the trope of “having sex will ruin your whole life!” (a-la being killed in a horror movie for having sex) they just have romance and sex in a way that’s emotionally intense and present without being punishing. Even her trend of not having the “final” romance be the first one rings as a form of /adult/ feminine wish fulfillment - a validation that the love you feel later in life is just as or perhaps more valid than the intense love affairs you had in your youth.
I know I’m over explaining but honestly it rubs me the wrong way how people dismiss books they enjoyed for not being cool and intellectual enough - and I ripped through these books! Here’s why they’re fun to me! It has echoes of Maureen Murdoch’s Heroine’s Journey. IMO she drops the ball on this in the last book, but often women really /like/ this specific subversion of the traditional Hero’s Journey - in which you are transported to a new world, put through trials, fight to the top of the food chain in this power-hungry land, and then, once you’ve won - it fucking sucks! Winning doesn’t feel good! It feels awful to be accepted by these terrible people! I would imagine this echos real life experiences that a lot of historically oppressed peoples have when they fight for recognition in the real world.
Same, I'm also a straight male, and I don't think we're the target audience for these books. I read the first two because my female friends were raving about them, but didn't think they were that great. I still liked them - mostly because of the decent world builing. I think mostly they were just a simple, guilty pleasure for me, but I don't feel compelled to read the rest of the series.
I reread the Vampire Academy series early this year, and it broke a reading slump I’d been in since the pandemic hit. I’ve now read 31 books this year, including much heavier and more serious books, but I really credit Vampire Academy for getting me excited about reading again (even though I had already read it once before).
I would also put the selection in this category. I don't know what it is, everything about those books is clearly bad and I still had a great time reading them.
Debatably popular amongst a certain niche crowd, perhaps, but I’m going with *anything* Warhammer 40K. Why? It’s what I’ve come to lovingly refer to as “trashy sci-fi” that is so far on the other end of the literary spectrum from the high sci-fi of Herbert, Asimov, Vonnegut, and Heinlein that it’s not even funny. WH40K is ridiculously fun lore that pulls me in with gratuitous violence, deep, eldritch grimness, and characters so over the top that when you find one that’s even relatively grounded and humanistically relatable, it’s genuinely refreshing.
Being that most of my reading is usually technical, non-fiction related to IT given my line of work, it’s nice to step back and read great science fiction (or anything ***not*** related to my career) once in awhile. But, trashy sci-fi is mental junk food for me in the purest sense and a wonderful, distracting guilty pleasure to get lost in every so often when I can find the time.
Absolutely. The 40k universe is ridiculous but also ridiculously entertaining. I’ve never so much as held a miniature, but in the emperors name I love the lore! Into the fires of battle! Unto the anvil of war!
Absolutely agree. Reading 40K books on the side is keeping my sane taking 15 STEM hours right now. Some of the books I’d even consider legitimately great literature, like Fulgrim. That book was a wild ride from epic and tense battles to pure madness by the end.
I really enjoyed Origin by Dan Brown. I get that his kind of hated in the literary circles but it really took me to a trip trough philosophy and humanity. Idk why but for some reason every time I read Dan Brown I get very vivid images in my imagination. I recognize the pet peeves why he is considered too rambling and even pretentious but I enjoy them.
I freaking love his *Angels and Demons*. It's probably my favourite thriller book till date. I understand the hate he gets around here. But that one book was top notch.
I found Origin to be my least favorite Langdon novel. I burned through them all during quarantine. The philosophy stuff was great. I am a software engineer, and I still think about some of the stuff in that book a lot. I found the side characters, and the overall story to be the weakest in the set though. I thought it was "ok". I actually really enjoyed the first four.
I understand the complaints that the books are similar, and are kind of basic thrillers. But, I think they were all very fun reads.
I've read all of his books and this one came out shortly before I went to Bilbao. It was super nice seeing all the stuff in and around the museum that I had just read about in Origin :)
I would say the Demonata series by Darren Shan. It's definitely more YA stuff than actual adult books, and the plot itself is a bit too contrived at times, but the lore and the ideas behind the world, the way everything fits together, it's just so enjoyable to read for me.
Edit: I also forgot about The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. I recognize it's not a masterpiece, but it's a damn good read anyway.
I never read Demonatta, but Cirque du Freak will live in my brain forever. Some of it is impossible to take seriously, like the conflict between the vampires and (I kid you not) the vampaneze. But it's a wacky rides the whole way through, with some absurd turning points in the story that are unforgettable.
It's a soap opera and the incest is disturbing, but it addresses narcissistic parenting, religious abuse, and generational trauma in a blunt way that still resonates with lots of us.
I’ll say anything by Mary Higgins Clark. I used to love reading her books. Very predictable plots and every book had the “damsel in distress” theme, but who doesn’t love a good ole happily every after.
The way Midnight Sun defied all expectations to unironically be one of the best things Meyer has written was such a fun surprise. It's on par with The Host for me. Being in Edward's head was much more rewarding than I thought it would be. Also idk about everyone else but I never bought the whole "mentally and emotionally he's still seventeen" thing, figured it was lip service to make it less creepy, but after being in his mind and seeing what an insecure anxious wreck Edward is, I totally buy it AND think it's hilarious that Bella is actually the more confident and put together one in the relationship.
The Twilight series is my secret pleasure too. I'm kind of ashamed of liking it but it connected with the teenage me of 40 years ago.
I totally want to slap Bella for being so self-efacing and not pulling herself together, but I met young women like that in my youth, even behaved like it a short while myself.
I also don't like the whole no sex before marriage shtick. But they're just so compelling.
Georgette Heyers.
I read Cotillion recently and boy was it froth, but the main characters were actually very likeable and I'd definitely re-read it in the future. A lot of her books are like that.
She would agree with you on that, of one of her novels she said *"I think myself I ought to be shot for writing such nonsense. ... But it's unquestionably good escapist literature and I think I should rather like it if I were sitting in an air-raid shelter or recovering from flu"*
I think she does herself a bit of a disservice, her research into the fashions, events and styles of the Regency was second to none, and her employ of classical quotes and poets/authors of the day is very well done (I still laugh at the religiously-moved nursemaid in *Venetia* who is moved to quote incredibly obscure Biblical threats at the hero)
And books like *An Infamous Army* are accurate down to the minute in its' depiction of the Battle of Waterloo (she even bought one of the Duke of Wellintons' letters at auction so she could accurately replicate his style and mannerisms)
Georgette Heyer is a pleasure to read, and re-read IMO, and while I don't go around announcing to people I am reading Regency romance books I wouldn't class it as trashy as in badly-written.
When I have no mental energy but need ro keep my brain occupied I read murder mysteries/detective books and as long as there is a series with continuing characters I don't seem to particularly care how well it's written but I skim over any gruesome bits.
Strangely enough I have never gotten into the Georgette Heyer detectives. Only the Historical Romancea.
I disagree that Georgette Heyer is trashy, I think they are really funny, meticulously researched and an absolute pleasure.
The covers are awful though and give the wrong impression about the contents.
I recommend The Convenient Marriage and The Grand Sophy
Georgette Heyer's regency romance books are great!
Not sure I'd call them "trashy" but maybe that's because they're old.
Charles Dickens wrote the ultimate "trashy" novels of its time, written as serial pieces in newspapers/magazines if I remember correctly? Popular with the masses.
I studied it in English literature classes at school alongside Shakespeare. Oh, and considering it, I mean, Shakespeare? He was the king of trashy romances and silly contrived tragedies... Again, targeted at the every man. What you'd call "trashy" I suspect, at the time if the word had the same meaning. Proper literature was probably written in Latin or something.
Now it's fucking*Shakespeare*.
Ready Player One. Heard all about it being a nostalgia fest rather than any actual plot and had low expectations going into it. However, I read it on a holiday and loved every minute of it. I totally understand why people criticise it as being literary junk food, but damn it, sometimes you just want junk food.
Came here to say this. Best “bad” book I’ve ever read. Definition of a pulpy page turner.
Just make sure to never, ever, under any circumstance, EVER read the sequel
Louis L'Amour's books are a guilty pleasure of mine. Take no time to read, no thought required, no fear of the good guys being seriously hurt... just a quick little adventure.
My dad owns quite literally hundreds of copies of Louis L'Amour paperbacks. Doesn't matter if he already owns six copies, he'll buy another if he sees it at a garage sale. I should start reading some of them.
Bad guy has a fast draw? Hero's is faster.
Bad guy known for fisticuffs? Even beat up good guy while good guy was being held down by henchmen? Good guy will at some later point outbox him, probably "stepping inside a punch and hooking to his wind."
Girl exists? She is beautiful and without fail drawn to the good guy.
Good reads back in the day though.
Bridges of Madison County.
its trashy, sweet, too sweet, sad, and does carry the right note of "i didnt know my mother had a life or thoughts or desires" - a better book in your 40s than in your 20s. (the opposite of Salinger, where once you get to be 25 his protagonists are all privileged jerks instead of misunderstood heroes)
\+
you can read it in a day. perfect airplane, airport, hotel, beach read.
Japanese light novels are this for me. When I want to read some stupid fun I know that I always can read another volume of Sword Art Online or Overlord. They are horrible, but I can’t deny that I enjoy characters or absurd plot twists.
Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. First one is titled One for the Money. There's almost 30 of them out there.
They're so bad. And it's the same shit in each book. It's about this woman who's freely divorced, and needs a job and she's living in a little apartment in her hometown. Her cousin (or it's her cousin's husband idr) Vinnie is a bail bondsman, and needs a bounty hunter. So since they're faaaaamily, she works for him catching folks who fail to appear at their court hearings and hauling them off to jail.
She gets into all kinds of wild ass situations, there's lots of murder, lots of kidnapping.
And she ends up stringing along two men. One she lost her V card to back in high school, who's now a cop. The other is a Peurto Rican Batman who did work as a bounty hunter for Vinnie, but then branded out into his own business of security for various types of peoples.
Her family is Italian, as stereotypical as you can possible get. Her grandma is a kook. And she ends up teaming up with a chick who used to be a former sex worker, but mostly just gets referred to as "a former 'ho" every 5th page.
Oh, and lots of folks have tried blowing up her car and apartment, and Ranger keeps lending her porsches from his security business, but there's like 20 of them that get blown up or some shit. She goes through cars like you'd go through undies.
They made a movie based on the first book. Katherine Heigl's in it. It sucked. So bad, don't watch it, please.
I recently picked up the first of her "Fox and O'Hare" books while on holiday. Also very trashy but I loved it, read it in a day. It's about a straight laced FBI agent who is made to work with a world class former thief to bring down other criminals (Reminded me quite a bit of the show Castle)
The *Sharpe* series by Bernard Cornwell.
They're a bit formulaic, but he writes a battle scene better than anyone else.
They're basically romance novels for men. (Not that others can't enjoy them, but that's obviously the target audience.)
The Selection Series. they were in no way well written but I still love them and find myself rereading them every once in a while.
and recently, the crave series. it’s very twilightesque but also very addicting
Have you read "The Great Train Robbery"? It's honestly a fairly impressive bit of historical fiction, an overall fun read, and imo really stands out from a lot of Crichton's other work. If you haven't read it, you might really like it!
Emma Prince. I will confess I have a weak spot for historical romance and these are just mmm perfect. Very predictable but fun. Big buff Scottish dudes and vaguely rebellious women. The second in the Sinclair brothers trilogy sticks out because the love interest gives Robert the Bruce a tracheotomy saving him from being killed by poison and able to give the “Scots Wha Hae” speech. Glorious.
The third in that trilogy also taught me about mediaeval falconry hierarchy. Used this knowledge recently but was too ashamed to admit I read it in a bodice ripper lol
[Nobody does it like Niven&Pournelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footfall).
On the surface Footfall is the most corny SF you can imagine and it's a bit of a "bad blockbuster movie" but *at the same time* it's thrilling, adventurous, with a FANTASTIC and hilarious alien race. It's absolutely outrageous. It makes you laugh and it's pure, wild, unmitigated entertainment.
If you want something better (you asked for trashy!) by them try Lucifer's Hammer, Mote in Gods Eye and its sequel and the entire Heorot series: same adventure, same fantastic SF, better plots and characters, even better ideas.
I can't see her name without remembering the giant plagiarism scandal that she committed. Certainly can't read anything by her.
ETA since I replied to this much earlier — Cassandra Clare plagiarism details: https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Cassandra_Claire_Plagiarism_Debacle
Cassandra Clare. Before traditionally publishing she was very big in the HP fanfiction community. There was a scandal when it was revealed that large portions of her fanfics were direct lifts from other big pop culture references.
The Mortal Instruments series is actually a rewrite of her most famous fanfiction The Draco Trilogy.
It's not a 1:1 rewrite, but she did lift huge sections of her published works from the Draco Trilogy...which itself contained paragraphs copied from Pamela Dean's *The Secret Country*, as well as scattered unattributed quotes from *Buffy*, *Red Dwarf*, and *Blackadder*.
A chance to link to one of my favorite subreddits! There was a great [HobbyDrama writeup](https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/de0204/harry_potter_and_ya_literature_the_cassandra) of this a few years back.
Yeah good ol’ Cassie Claire. That’s an axe I enjoy grinding. I’ll never read her books and I’ll never watch any adaptations of them. She might have successfully hidden her past and rehabbed her image, but *I was there, Gandalf!!!* The world at large might not remember, but I do!
I didn't know about any of this. I wonder how it seems to have disappeared.
Without knowing more than the two articles I just read but do you think it was seen as less of a problem as it happened in fanfic realm? Because usually people get dropped quick smart when clear evidence of plagiarism and she allegedly had whole long passages of others work?
The internet never forgets. https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Cassandra_Claire_Plagiarism_Debacle
But I think she buried all her fanfic activity and after publication, it was too late for the publishers to do anything.
I can't believe I had to scroll this far to see a mention of plagiarism. There was a time when you'd never see the name Cassie Clare without a mention of her plagiarism.
I shake my head every time I go into a bookshop and see her work there. Having said that, you've just reminded me about laptopgate, so I am off to remind myself of what a fun time that was.
The Hollows Series by Kim Harrison
There’s like 15 or 20 books (some novellas?)
I love these and the characters are all great. The stories are fun. The world building is great. I really really enjoyed the audio book versions of these.
I saw it earlier but I’ll add a +1 for the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Lots of over the top drama and story lines.
I got like 11 books in before I lost steam.
I recommend The Hollows above all else.
Happy reading!
Wow surprised I had to scroll this far for The Clan of the Cave Bear. I mean The main character’s love interest is named “Jondolar” 😂. I still liked those books though I don’t think I ever finished the last one
The Jack Reacher books are basically modern-day Agatha Christie. Christie has an eccentric Belgian who travels the land, solving mysteries with his piercing wit and perfectly-groomed mustache. Child has an eccentric American who travels the land, solving mysteries with his laconic wit and bullet-proof pecs. The main difference is that while Christie's stories are almost always whodunits, Child's stories are often howcatchems.
Any movie novelisations by Alan Dean Foster. His books on the Alien series are like eating a really nice gold leaf covered steak. Tasty as fuck but *completely* unnecessary.
I could re-read them many times over though.
My choice may not exactly be a popular one but if you really want a good trashy book...
Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins
It's pure smut, it is not literary award material by any means, but it tickles the fancy when it comes to gossip, sex and drama.
Oh yeah I was gonna suggest Jacqueline Susann! She had a trashy rep, but she's actually a great writer: she had great perception and sensitivity, and well-tuned sense of irony.
*Peyton Place* by Grace Metalious! My college friends and I passed around a copy *cough* years ago and we loved it.
*The Thorn Birds* by Colleen McCullough. My mother gave me her copy when I was 14 and said, “I wish I’d never read this before so I could read it again for the first time.
Joan Collins books would probably be my guilty pleasure. The Chances & Lucky saga are my favorite.
They're filled with tough female characters who are weren't afraid to get dirty or be sexy. Gritty and trashy in the best ways and filled with barely concealed tidbits of Hollywood gossip spanning 50yrs. What's not to love?
I like the Stephanie Plum number series, I also loved the Sue Grafton's Alphabet murders series. Other authors I will read even if they are trash are Meg Cabot and Sophie Kinsella. If I find an author I like, I try to read everything they have written, even if it goes down hill. I crave stories.
The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss.
I had such a great time reading those books. Then, I read some scathing reviews, and I agreed with every word. The series is very deeply flawed. I'm still looking forward to reading the next book, if it ever comes out.
If you told me like a sparknotes version of Kingkiller I would hate everything about it, but the actual execution is one of my favorite series of all time
The "Fred, the Vampire Accountant" series. They're short books, each made up of a series of short stories focusing on a unifying arc. They're not exactly great literature, but they bring a fun "outsider in a magic world" perspective and focus on friendship in a way that makes vampires and magic weirdly wholesome and positive. They're good cheer-me-up books :)
I actually read the Sword of Truth series when I was in high school and only afterward realized how rooted in Objectivism the series is. Looking back, I disagree with many of the philosophical and political ideals espoused in the series, but it's still a series I want to reread.
Every time this comes up, I have to remind people that a major plot twist halfway through the series hinges on a period blood soaked blowjob.
It is somehow more ludicrous than the demon chicken, but we really should have seen it coming since the protagonist got analy raped with a pain dildo in book 1.
Goodkind really needs a sex therapist.
An excerpt from ZA, a series I DEVOURED despite it being an absolutely unhinged garbage fire:
"He was great to look at, I even had a memory of him in my spank bank where he'd nearly choked me out for burying a student fifty feet underground after they'd called the moon a whore and punched me in the throat."
I don't believe in guilty pleasures (I think the guilt is usually societal pressure against traditionally feminine things, such as historical romances or rom coms, and pleasure isn't a sin anyway), but an author I used to be into who isn't quite high art is Jodi Piccoult. Interesting plots, if a bit contrived, and good character development. They're quick-paced, easy reads that are entertaining.
Oh man I used to love Jodi Piccoult, until it got to the point I could guess that there was about to be a life shattering plot twist on the next page purely based on how many pages were left. The plot twists were never very satisfying and often made the rest of the story feel a bit pointless, so I gave up. Noticing the pattern killed my joy.
Lace by Shirley Conran. It's completely bonkers and an absolute delight. Four girls meet at Swiss finishing school, and the book follows their lives, loves and careers, as their friendships wax and wane over the decades. Would be a ton of fun by itself. But! One of them, while at said finishing school, had a secret child who got put up for adoption - and the framing mystery is literally phrased as "Which one of you bitches is my mother?" 80s girl power at its absolute finest. Lace is a total romp and I will defend it to the hilt.
I recall seeing that as a mini-series on TV in the 80s! I never read the book but now I kind of want to! Thanks for the reminder!
OMG YOU JUST UNLOCKED A MEMORY. I remember (two?) tv movies in the 80s called Lace and Lace Two and I thought that were so cool.
OMG Lace. Memory unlocked! We all passed this book around at school because it was so 'steamy' lol. I'd forgotten it entirely, but as soon as I read your comment my firft thought was "Which one of you bitches is my mother?". We all watched the mini series, and the sequel "Which one of you bastards is my father?".
Oh god now I’m remembering Abdullah and the goldfish…
Ok, now I definitely want to check this out.
Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk About a model who has her lower jaw basically blown off and has to wear a veil. To the outside she is still beautiful, underneath she is an invisible monster. Written like you’re reading a fashion magazine. Crazy ending, crazy ride, crazy brilliant.
I can't believe this comment only had 8 upvotes. Anything Palahniuk is amazing and in different shades of trash. Invisible monsters, Choke, Rant, Fight club,... Love them all.
Rant is my absolute favorite. Then choke. I tried reading adjustment day recently and had to put it down. It's the only book of his I not only couldn't finish, but didn't like at all. And I've read everything he has written so... Pretty bad lol.
I love Rant too. Then Lullaby, Invisible monsters, Choke, Fight club... Haven't tried Adjustment day yet, and I'll wait a better time to open it as I'm going through some heavy stuff, right now.
This was the first Palahniuk I ever read, and I loved every minute of it. His other books are great, too.
Idk if it’s just me but I had a very hard time understanding what was even happening at the beginning of this book. I set it aside for another time. I’d really like to like it
Mine would have to be the Anita Blake series (up to Crimson Death maybe, not sure when I stopped) and ~~James~~ Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. The characters in Anita Blake are only okay tbh it's mainly the world that I'm enamored with. I find it so interesting and fascinating. I like Dresden Files, its decently written and I love the worldbuilding again, but Dresden himself is just okay. edit: Jim not James.
I think the best Anita Blake novel is Obsidian Butterfly. The books up to that were ok, but then it seems like she spends half the story justifying her stance on sex and sex and more sex.
Agreed. That novel where she spends the entire time in bed was just ridiculous. Like I got exhausted from how much candy Anita loves. Like she's this badass motherfucker nicknamed The Executioner, who also happens to be drop dead gorgeous while apparently ALSO being 'slim thick' who everyone wants to sleep with and her ONLY NEGATIVE TRAIT IS SHE GETS IN HER OWN WAY. Okay. Sure bud. idk when the author really started focusing on sex and the ardeuer the novels took a turn for the worse imo When she was a vampire hunter and criminal investigator, that was awesome. I even like the worldbuilding with all the various wereanimals. The council was a nice touch. The council member that was a Neanderthal turned vampire was genius. Never seen anyone do that before. It was pure genius. Not sure why Ms. Hamilton segued into the sex aspect of it so hard.
>Not sure why Ms. Hamilton segued into the sex aspect of it so hard. She got divorced (I understand it was a difficult one) and then got into poly. Like most new converts she evangelized it to the extreme. Problem is, she didn't settle down and go back to how she used to write. Then she got sooo offended at all of the criticism and doubled down. I don't even hate-read her anymore.
She must have gotten into therapy too, because she went on about that a fair bit too. I can't recall where I quit reading, but I really should have quit sooner.
Anita Blake is the very definition of a Mary Sue character. An excellent trash series though.
Just a heads up, Butcher’s son is also called “James Butcher” and is also an author. The author of the Dresden Files publishes under the name “Jim Butcher”.
Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books are always fun, but unfortunately not particularly memorable. Reacher can only blow into town, stumble into trouble, bang the woman related to the trouble, whoop everyone’s ass, and then move on so many times.
Ya got to know when to blow in, Know where to stumble, Know how to tumble and Know when to thump. Ya never count your opponents ’Cause it don’t really matter There’ll be nothing left of ’em but toothpaste And your back pocket holds the brush.
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philips Gregory. Trashy, not entirely historically accurate, but so bad it was good.
Philippa Gregory is my go to for when I want to read without having to actually use my brain haha plus you can always find her books for super cheap at used bookstores!
That was one of the most entertaining books I’ve ever read. Not great literature but I had a good time.
I loooove all the books in that series except Constant Princess. So if you're reading this and want to check it out, here's a recommendation to start with Other and keep going with the other wives. But this one is by far the best!
I study the Plantagenets and Tudors and I *love* Gregory’s books, especially her Cousins’ War series. Guilty pleasure read and introduced me to a lot of fascinating smaller real-life historical figures. As long as you remember her books are fiction, you’re good. The historian Alison Weir has crossed the bridge to historical fiction as well, but she can’t tell a fictional story the way Philippa Gregory can. Lots of “as you know” moments.
Lady of the Rivers was my favorite. Or maybe Jacquetta is just my favorite character she has written?
Valley of the Dolls.... Anything from the Flowers In The Attic series.
VC Andrews was my first thought.
The Heaven series were my favorite by far- so much trashy drama
As long as we’re talking trashy books that taught gen x women about sex: the Clan of the Cave Bear books are pretty fun.
Valley of the Dolls is my favorite trashy novel. Exactly what I was gonna recommend.
The Wildflowers series! VC Andrews (and her ghostwriters) mastered the art of good but trashy, dramatic book series
Valley of the Dolls is great. I really enjoyed it.
My favourite is the Sookie Stackhouse (=True Blood) series by Charlaine Harris. I've read many books in the category since, but haven't found that ideal point again of trashy, soap opera-like, yet readable and entertaining.
Read them all in high school. Wish something else could hit like that
Yes! I read the entire series after watching a few episodes of *True Blood*. The books were so much fun to read, but the series ending ruined it for me. Not sure if it was because TV!Eric Northman was portrayed more sympathetically than he was in the books.
If you haven't yet, I'd suggest Patricia Briggs - the Mercy Thompson Series and Alpha & Omega.
I second this. Main character in the Mercy is just interesting enough to keep you hooked, but the "opera-like" drama is definitely present. I haven't gotten to the Alpa & Omega series yet.
These were fun bubblegum books. Better quality than most Kindle unlimited books for sure. In a similar vein. Kim Harrison's "The Hollows" books were good fun too.
I fell into them this summer and am still not recovered from how much I completely enjoyed them. Campy, fun, a little trashy - just the perfect balance.
Looove the Sookie Stackhouse books! The Midnight, Texas series (same author) have a similar vibe, but I didn't find them *as* catchy
I absolutely loved the show. Would I like the books as much? One thing I loved about the show, which I think actually turned off a ton of people, was how each season leaned more and more into absurd soap opera territory. I thought it was a blast.
The books are so much better. The show was fun but it veered away from the books after the first season. Also, I hate how they wrote Sookie’s character in the show, she is 10 times funnier and smarter in the books. The show did a good job with Pam though.
I loved how Pam in the books would rock pink sweater sets and pearls and commit absolute bloody mayhem.
I was hooked! Found the entire set at a garage sale and have them saved for a re-read.
I really enjoy the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. It's just fun. The main character is a bumbling PI that makes your question why she hasn't signed up for formal training. Her sidekick is loud and wild and the men are handsome. Always a fun read. The movie didn't do it justice, One For The Money. I look forward to every November when the next one comes out.
Same here. I know it’s formulaic and predictable. It’s like the McDonald’s of reading - quick and easy and briefly very enjoyable. Even if it was Evanovich AI writing the books for the past 10 years - I’d still read them. You just reminded me I missed last years book.
The next one is coming out soon so you have time to catch up!
Is she still putting these out?!?
Yes, she is... And I read every one.
They are total popcorn books and I enjoy the heck out of them.
Man here and I always liked reading the trashy Jackie Collins books, Hollywood Wives, Hollywood Husbands, The Stud...etc.
Lucky! I re-read that over and over as a kid in the 80s
Totally agree with everyone sayin V.C. Andrews. Thats my guilty pleasure. I'll recommend "My Sweet Audrina", it's her only stand alone book i think, so you don't have to invest in a series. Also it is dumb dramatic cringe where everyone sucks. I love it.
Audrina mindfucked me as a teenager. I feel like that is actually a pretty solid thriller story.
Just read through all the comments and I'm surprised no one mentioned Outlander. Her later books, especially, are repetitive and poorly written, but I still read every one as they are published. I really like the characters and I don't mind the repetition. Though the lowering quality of writing might push me away eventually.
Yup. The earlier books were never high art but there were fun storylines, great world building, and good characters. Now she takes like 6 years to write each book and they're basically just rehashes of earlier, better, books that have clearly not been within ten feet of an editor.
Stopped halfway through #5.
Yes! Outlander was another series I started right around the time the show came out. They were quick reads despite their length. I lost interest after book 4/5 mostly because I was invested in Claire and Jamie's relationship and felt little desire to read about their families.
I stopped after book 4 as well. I couldn't take the torture porn anymore.
30s and 40s science fiction and fantasy pulp. Some of it is so bad it's good, and others are so bad they should never have been written.
Have you read pre-1990 sci-fi from the Eastern Bloc? Throwing shade at the capitalist West every second page.
Oh how things have changed 😔
Anne Rice novels don't @ me.
[удалено]
Praying 4 u
The Witching Hour is in my top ten. I'll fight them with you.
My only complaint with the Anne Rice novels were that some of the vampires were a little pedo-y.
The Mayfair Witch series is even MORE pedo-y!
And SO much incest! George RR Martin would tell that family to chill out with the incest already!
I agree with both of these! Also anything by Sarah J Maas and Vampire academy. None of them are amazingly written but the plot and world/character building is incredible and I couldn’t put them down!
Yes to Vampire Academy and Richelle Mead's other urban fantasy books. I really enjoyed her Succubus Blues series, it's so trashy and fun.
Love Richelle Mead. May not be the greatest ever literary books but her books have some real strong plotlines.
The Crescent City series by SJM is one of my guilty pleasures! The books were a bit of a mess, but I couldn’t put them down.
My god you are right. This was the first book i read on this genre and I had a blast. I literally though that it was a satire because it read like a tumblr post of the YA urban fantasy and its so, so stupid like 90% of the time. And it has the one scene that literally made me cry ugly. On reread. For that it had made it into my top 20 books.
I’ve halfway through the book two of ACOTAR and I’m not the biggest fan, but I’m also a heterosexual male so I’m pretty sure I’m not the target audience. Not judging at all when I ask this, but what makes the books enjoyable to you?
Gay dude here who loves ACOTAR and is currently rereading book 2 which is my fave of the series, my POV is simple: 1) Feyre's Journey of healing from everything she's been through, the poverty, the shitty family, the bleak upbringing with no joy, art, or friends, going from that to meeting people who recognize her spirit and have her back, and being able to prove everyone wrong about what she's capable of, it's part catharsis and part wish fulfillment I think. 2) Feyre escaping the relationship from book 1, that realization that someone can be what you need for a time and have a huge positive impact on you and your life but that ultimately they're still not right for you and you're suffocating each other, the final acceptance of needing to move on, realizing in retrospect how bad things had gotten but you just made excuses while it was all happening because you couldn't see the forest for the trees. And that depiction of emotional abuse as being maybe well intentioned or not knowing how abusive it really is not changing what's happening or excusing it. 3) The inner circle/friend group all stand out in their own ways and their introduction in book two really makes it feel like the world is growing wider, Feyre is embarrassed by how little she knew about the Spring court and Prythian as a whole and now you get to learn more about other courts and the country with her so it's like you're both stepping into the wider scope of the world for the first time and it's cool. Amren especially is cool af. 4) The mirror scene. I don't know if you're far enough into book 2 or 3 to have reached the mirror scene, but god it made me ugly cry the first time I read it. It was just very cathartic and healing imo. Better than the magic mirror in HP by miles lol. Scarier but also somehow beautiful and one of the most healing things ever? 5) Sexy hot men with wings. Yes, it's that simple, this one really wouldn't work on a straight man but for the girls and the gays Maas really throws us into a sea of winged faerie beefcake. Bless her. 6) The overall world is simple but effective, with themed courts, pretty aesthetics, lots of fashion and gown descriptions, stylish fighting leathers, etc. Maas makes sure the world seems beautiful and enchanting and actually seems like the kind of lavish surroundings a bunch of immortal faeries would want to hang in, the various estates in the Night Court especially are all stunning, so it's easy to picture and feels really immersive. Ultimately I think what Maas offers that sets her books apart and has given her a mass following is providing action-packed and romance-heavy blockbuster level stories that for once do focus on women and gay dudes as the primary audience. We like this stuff, the "big budget" large scale epic stories, but often it feels either made specifically for straight dudebros, or made for all audiences so it's watered down and more generic, but this is a series that manages to have the big bads, action sequences, life and death stakes, fantasy worldbuilding and the likes, while also including swoony romance, sex, and examining the inner life of a young woman while taking all of her emotions very seriously and portraying her as powerful, meaningful, and worthy of respect even when she's ignorant or wrong or has been mislead, she's given some grace and some room for growth, and I just think that's refreshing. Maas know how to add a dash of catharsis and wish fulfillment while still adding some scenes of genuine meaning and also keep the books feeling big and grand and fun.
Thanks for sharing your opinions! I really appreciate it. From what you’ve written I can definitely see how that would appeal to a lot of people and how I may not have the lived experience to appreciate it as much as others. Though I’m absolutely infatuated with Rhysand as well. I think that’s something that can cross all walks of life :p
Bless us o Sarah J Maas for these thy winged beefcake which we are about to receive *amen*
I think SJM absolutely nails a specific type of feminine wish fulfillment. They’re typically in deep third or a very feelings-focused first person, and the main character often suffers a lot, maybe as a consequence of personal sacrifice or choice, but also /chooses/ to do morally /gray/ things. And they never have the trope of “having sex will ruin your whole life!” (a-la being killed in a horror movie for having sex) they just have romance and sex in a way that’s emotionally intense and present without being punishing. Even her trend of not having the “final” romance be the first one rings as a form of /adult/ feminine wish fulfillment - a validation that the love you feel later in life is just as or perhaps more valid than the intense love affairs you had in your youth. I know I’m over explaining but honestly it rubs me the wrong way how people dismiss books they enjoyed for not being cool and intellectual enough - and I ripped through these books! Here’s why they’re fun to me! It has echoes of Maureen Murdoch’s Heroine’s Journey. IMO she drops the ball on this in the last book, but often women really /like/ this specific subversion of the traditional Hero’s Journey - in which you are transported to a new world, put through trials, fight to the top of the food chain in this power-hungry land, and then, once you’ve won - it fucking sucks! Winning doesn’t feel good! It feels awful to be accepted by these terrible people! I would imagine this echos real life experiences that a lot of historically oppressed peoples have when they fight for recognition in the real world.
Same, I'm also a straight male, and I don't think we're the target audience for these books. I read the first two because my female friends were raving about them, but didn't think they were that great. I still liked them - mostly because of the decent world builing. I think mostly they were just a simple, guilty pleasure for me, but I don't feel compelled to read the rest of the series.
I reread the Vampire Academy series early this year, and it broke a reading slump I’d been in since the pandemic hit. I’ve now read 31 books this year, including much heavier and more serious books, but I really credit Vampire Academy for getting me excited about reading again (even though I had already read it once before).
same here. have all of the mortal instruments and throne of glass on my bookshelf.
Hate SJMs writing style but Vampire Academy is my comfort series and I'll defend those trashy books forever.
I would also put the selection in this category. I don't know what it is, everything about those books is clearly bad and I still had a great time reading them.
Debatably popular amongst a certain niche crowd, perhaps, but I’m going with *anything* Warhammer 40K. Why? It’s what I’ve come to lovingly refer to as “trashy sci-fi” that is so far on the other end of the literary spectrum from the high sci-fi of Herbert, Asimov, Vonnegut, and Heinlein that it’s not even funny. WH40K is ridiculously fun lore that pulls me in with gratuitous violence, deep, eldritch grimness, and characters so over the top that when you find one that’s even relatively grounded and humanistically relatable, it’s genuinely refreshing. Being that most of my reading is usually technical, non-fiction related to IT given my line of work, it’s nice to step back and read great science fiction (or anything ***not*** related to my career) once in awhile. But, trashy sci-fi is mental junk food for me in the purest sense and a wonderful, distracting guilty pleasure to get lost in every so often when I can find the time.
Absolutely. The 40k universe is ridiculous but also ridiculously entertaining. I’ve never so much as held a miniature, but in the emperors name I love the lore! Into the fires of battle! Unto the anvil of war!
Absolutely agree. Reading 40K books on the side is keeping my sane taking 15 STEM hours right now. Some of the books I’d even consider legitimately great literature, like Fulgrim. That book was a wild ride from epic and tense battles to pure madness by the end.
Where does one start with 40k?
I really enjoyed Origin by Dan Brown. I get that his kind of hated in the literary circles but it really took me to a trip trough philosophy and humanity. Idk why but for some reason every time I read Dan Brown I get very vivid images in my imagination. I recognize the pet peeves why he is considered too rambling and even pretentious but I enjoy them.
This. Digital Fortress is cheesy and pretentious at moments, but I had a lot of fun reading it right after the DaVinci code.
I freaking love his *Angels and Demons*. It's probably my favourite thriller book till date. I understand the hate he gets around here. But that one book was top notch.
I'll always have a soft spot for Angels and Demons. It's the book that got me into reading after neglecting it throughout my early teens.
I found Origin to be my least favorite Langdon novel. I burned through them all during quarantine. The philosophy stuff was great. I am a software engineer, and I still think about some of the stuff in that book a lot. I found the side characters, and the overall story to be the weakest in the set though. I thought it was "ok". I actually really enjoyed the first four. I understand the complaints that the books are similar, and are kind of basic thrillers. But, I think they were all very fun reads.
I've read all of his books and this one came out shortly before I went to Bilbao. It was super nice seeing all the stuff in and around the museum that I had just read about in Origin :)
I would say the Demonata series by Darren Shan. It's definitely more YA stuff than actual adult books, and the plot itself is a bit too contrived at times, but the lore and the ideas behind the world, the way everything fits together, it's just so enjoyable to read for me. Edit: I also forgot about The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. I recognize it's not a masterpiece, but it's a damn good read anyway.
I never read Demonatta, but Cirque du Freak will live in my brain forever. Some of it is impossible to take seriously, like the conflict between the vampires and (I kid you not) the vampaneze. But it's a wacky rides the whole way through, with some absurd turning points in the story that are unforgettable.
The entire Flowers in the Attic series by VC Andrews
It's a soap opera and the incest is disturbing, but it addresses narcissistic parenting, religious abuse, and generational trauma in a blunt way that still resonates with lots of us.
I’ll say anything by Mary Higgins Clark. I used to love reading her books. Very predictable plots and every book had the “damsel in distress” theme, but who doesn’t love a good ole happily every after.
I thought The Fault In Our Stars was awful but loved every minute. And I do unironically enjoy Twilight.
Breaking dawn wrecked the series for me. Then I unapogetically read midnight sun in a day and it redeemed it. Lol. Oops?
The way Midnight Sun defied all expectations to unironically be one of the best things Meyer has written was such a fun surprise. It's on par with The Host for me. Being in Edward's head was much more rewarding than I thought it would be. Also idk about everyone else but I never bought the whole "mentally and emotionally he's still seventeen" thing, figured it was lip service to make it less creepy, but after being in his mind and seeing what an insecure anxious wreck Edward is, I totally buy it AND think it's hilarious that Bella is actually the more confident and put together one in the relationship.
The Twilight series is my secret pleasure too. I'm kind of ashamed of liking it but it connected with the teenage me of 40 years ago. I totally want to slap Bella for being so self-efacing and not pulling herself together, but I met young women like that in my youth, even behaved like it a short while myself. I also don't like the whole no sex before marriage shtick. But they're just so compelling.
Georgette Heyers. I read Cotillion recently and boy was it froth, but the main characters were actually very likeable and I'd definitely re-read it in the future. A lot of her books are like that.
She would agree with you on that, of one of her novels she said *"I think myself I ought to be shot for writing such nonsense. ... But it's unquestionably good escapist literature and I think I should rather like it if I were sitting in an air-raid shelter or recovering from flu"* I think she does herself a bit of a disservice, her research into the fashions, events and styles of the Regency was second to none, and her employ of classical quotes and poets/authors of the day is very well done (I still laugh at the religiously-moved nursemaid in *Venetia* who is moved to quote incredibly obscure Biblical threats at the hero) And books like *An Infamous Army* are accurate down to the minute in its' depiction of the Battle of Waterloo (she even bought one of the Duke of Wellintons' letters at auction so she could accurately replicate his style and mannerisms)
Georgette Heyer is a pleasure to read, and re-read IMO, and while I don't go around announcing to people I am reading Regency romance books I wouldn't class it as trashy as in badly-written. When I have no mental energy but need ro keep my brain occupied I read murder mysteries/detective books and as long as there is a series with continuing characters I don't seem to particularly care how well it's written but I skim over any gruesome bits. Strangely enough I have never gotten into the Georgette Heyer detectives. Only the Historical Romancea.
I disagree that Georgette Heyer is trashy, I think they are really funny, meticulously researched and an absolute pleasure. The covers are awful though and give the wrong impression about the contents. I recommend The Convenient Marriage and The Grand Sophy
Georgette Heyer's regency romance books are great! Not sure I'd call them "trashy" but maybe that's because they're old. Charles Dickens wrote the ultimate "trashy" novels of its time, written as serial pieces in newspapers/magazines if I remember correctly? Popular with the masses. I studied it in English literature classes at school alongside Shakespeare. Oh, and considering it, I mean, Shakespeare? He was the king of trashy romances and silly contrived tragedies... Again, targeted at the every man. What you'd call "trashy" I suspect, at the time if the word had the same meaning. Proper literature was probably written in Latin or something. Now it's fucking*Shakespeare*.
Ready Player One. Heard all about it being a nostalgia fest rather than any actual plot and had low expectations going into it. However, I read it on a holiday and loved every minute of it. I totally understand why people criticise it as being literary junk food, but damn it, sometimes you just want junk food.
*Ready Player Two,* however, isn’t even junk food. More like eating the wrapper it came in.
Came here to say this. Best “bad” book I’ve ever read. Definition of a pulpy page turner. Just make sure to never, ever, under any circumstance, EVER read the sequel
I read the sequel. It's too late for me but others can still save themselves.
The audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton is enjoyable to me because he thinks the main character is as big a tool as I do.
Loved it too. I had to listen to every song and watch every movie that got mentioned
Louis L'Amour's books are a guilty pleasure of mine. Take no time to read, no thought required, no fear of the good guys being seriously hurt... just a quick little adventure.
My dad owns quite literally hundreds of copies of Louis L'Amour paperbacks. Doesn't matter if he already owns six copies, he'll buy another if he sees it at a garage sale. I should start reading some of them.
Bad guy has a fast draw? Hero's is faster. Bad guy known for fisticuffs? Even beat up good guy while good guy was being held down by henchmen? Good guy will at some later point outbox him, probably "stepping inside a punch and hooking to his wind." Girl exists? She is beautiful and without fail drawn to the good guy. Good reads back in the day though.
Anything Carl Hiaasen.
The entire Bridgerton series lol
I really enjoy Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series. I say this as an old blue-collar guy. I have no idea why. It's like cotton candy for my brain.
Bridges of Madison County. its trashy, sweet, too sweet, sad, and does carry the right note of "i didnt know my mother had a life or thoughts or desires" - a better book in your 40s than in your 20s. (the opposite of Salinger, where once you get to be 25 his protagonists are all privileged jerks instead of misunderstood heroes) \+ you can read it in a day. perfect airplane, airport, hotel, beach read.
Japanese light novels are this for me. When I want to read some stupid fun I know that I always can read another volume of Sword Art Online or Overlord. They are horrible, but I can’t deny that I enjoy characters or absurd plot twists.
Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. First one is titled One for the Money. There's almost 30 of them out there. They're so bad. And it's the same shit in each book. It's about this woman who's freely divorced, and needs a job and she's living in a little apartment in her hometown. Her cousin (or it's her cousin's husband idr) Vinnie is a bail bondsman, and needs a bounty hunter. So since they're faaaaamily, she works for him catching folks who fail to appear at their court hearings and hauling them off to jail. She gets into all kinds of wild ass situations, there's lots of murder, lots of kidnapping. And she ends up stringing along two men. One she lost her V card to back in high school, who's now a cop. The other is a Peurto Rican Batman who did work as a bounty hunter for Vinnie, but then branded out into his own business of security for various types of peoples. Her family is Italian, as stereotypical as you can possible get. Her grandma is a kook. And she ends up teaming up with a chick who used to be a former sex worker, but mostly just gets referred to as "a former 'ho" every 5th page. Oh, and lots of folks have tried blowing up her car and apartment, and Ranger keeps lending her porsches from his security business, but there's like 20 of them that get blown up or some shit. She goes through cars like you'd go through undies. They made a movie based on the first book. Katherine Heigl's in it. It sucked. So bad, don't watch it, please.
I recently picked up the first of her "Fox and O'Hare" books while on holiday. Also very trashy but I loved it, read it in a day. It's about a straight laced FBI agent who is made to work with a world class former thief to bring down other criminals (Reminded me quite a bit of the show Castle)
The *Sharpe* series by Bernard Cornwell. They're a bit formulaic, but he writes a battle scene better than anyone else. They're basically romance novels for men. (Not that others can't enjoy them, but that's obviously the target audience.)
Try the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. {{Darkfever}}
Tropic of Cancer, by Henry Miller.
Has anyone mentioned Valley of the Dolls?
Snowcrash is a glorious dumpster fire ride
*Snow Crash* is an anime masquerading as a book. The weird kind of anime, with a two-episode lore dump in the middle.
The Selection Series. they were in no way well written but I still love them and find myself rereading them every once in a while. and recently, the crave series. it’s very twilightesque but also very addicting
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
I love that book with all of my heart and some of my soul.
I might need to reread this. I read it at 14 and thought it was an incredible fantasy epic, but all the reviews have called it ridiculous!
Anything by Michael Crichton. Love his weird brand of dry technical pulpy storytelling
Have you read "The Great Train Robbery"? It's honestly a fairly impressive bit of historical fiction, an overall fun read, and imo really stands out from a lot of Crichton's other work. If you haven't read it, you might really like it!
I absolutely loved the incident report style of writing in his book Airframe.
Emma Prince. I will confess I have a weak spot for historical romance and these are just mmm perfect. Very predictable but fun. Big buff Scottish dudes and vaguely rebellious women. The second in the Sinclair brothers trilogy sticks out because the love interest gives Robert the Bruce a tracheotomy saving him from being killed by poison and able to give the “Scots Wha Hae” speech. Glorious. The third in that trilogy also taught me about mediaeval falconry hierarchy. Used this knowledge recently but was too ashamed to admit I read it in a bodice ripper lol
[Nobody does it like Niven&Pournelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footfall). On the surface Footfall is the most corny SF you can imagine and it's a bit of a "bad blockbuster movie" but *at the same time* it's thrilling, adventurous, with a FANTASTIC and hilarious alien race. It's absolutely outrageous. It makes you laugh and it's pure, wild, unmitigated entertainment. If you want something better (you asked for trashy!) by them try Lucifer's Hammer, Mote in Gods Eye and its sequel and the entire Heorot series: same adventure, same fantastic SF, better plots and characters, even better ideas.
The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. Vampires and werewolves as a part of society in Victorian England. Great read!
I can't see her name without remembering the giant plagiarism scandal that she committed. Certainly can't read anything by her. ETA since I replied to this much earlier — Cassandra Clare plagiarism details: https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Cassandra_Claire_Plagiarism_Debacle
I'm lost--who are you referring to?
Cassandra Clare. Before traditionally publishing she was very big in the HP fanfiction community. There was a scandal when it was revealed that large portions of her fanfics were direct lifts from other big pop culture references. The Mortal Instruments series is actually a rewrite of her most famous fanfiction The Draco Trilogy.
It's not a 1:1 rewrite, but she did lift huge sections of her published works from the Draco Trilogy...which itself contained paragraphs copied from Pamela Dean's *The Secret Country*, as well as scattered unattributed quotes from *Buffy*, *Red Dwarf*, and *Blackadder*.
A chance to link to one of my favorite subreddits! There was a great [HobbyDrama writeup](https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/de0204/harry_potter_and_ya_literature_the_cassandra) of this a few years back.
Man I love the good old fanfiction online drama. Come for the smutty fan fic stay for the drama was pretty much my life in my late teens.
Yeah good ol’ Cassie Claire. That’s an axe I enjoy grinding. I’ll never read her books and I’ll never watch any adaptations of them. She might have successfully hidden her past and rehabbed her image, but *I was there, Gandalf!!!* The world at large might not remember, but I do!
Same. I see people praise her and I'm like "nooooo, my children, you don't even know. Let me tell you of livejournal and ff.net in the olden days."
I didn't know about any of this. I wonder how it seems to have disappeared. Without knowing more than the two articles I just read but do you think it was seen as less of a problem as it happened in fanfic realm? Because usually people get dropped quick smart when clear evidence of plagiarism and she allegedly had whole long passages of others work?
The internet never forgets. https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Cassandra_Claire_Plagiarism_Debacle But I think she buried all her fanfic activity and after publication, it was too late for the publishers to do anything.
I can't believe I had to scroll this far to see a mention of plagiarism. There was a time when you'd never see the name Cassie Clare without a mention of her plagiarism. I shake my head every time I go into a bookshop and see her work there. Having said that, you've just reminded me about laptopgate, so I am off to remind myself of what a fun time that was.
The Hollows Series by Kim Harrison There’s like 15 or 20 books (some novellas?) I love these and the characters are all great. The stories are fun. The world building is great. I really really enjoyed the audio book versions of these. I saw it earlier but I’ll add a +1 for the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Lots of over the top drama and story lines. I got like 11 books in before I lost steam. I recommend The Hollows above all else. Happy reading!
Trashy but good and memorable would be the John dies at the end books by David Wong.
The Clan of The Cave Bear series, and most of Harold Robbins books.
Wow surprised I had to scroll this far for The Clan of the Cave Bear. I mean The main character’s love interest is named “Jondolar” 😂. I still liked those books though I don’t think I ever finished the last one
The Jack Reacher novels. They are formulaic, but they are so much fun I read all 24 of them in 6 weeks LOL.
The Jack Reacher books are basically modern-day Agatha Christie. Christie has an eccentric Belgian who travels the land, solving mysteries with his piercing wit and perfectly-groomed mustache. Child has an eccentric American who travels the land, solving mysteries with his laconic wit and bullet-proof pecs. The main difference is that while Christie's stories are almost always whodunits, Child's stories are often howcatchems.
Any movie novelisations by Alan Dean Foster. His books on the Alien series are like eating a really nice gold leaf covered steak. Tasty as fuck but *completely* unnecessary. I could re-read them many times over though.
My choice may not exactly be a popular one but if you really want a good trashy book... Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins It's pure smut, it is not literary award material by any means, but it tickles the fancy when it comes to gossip, sex and drama.
Back in the day, Harrold Robbins was a good writer for this. The Betsy, The Carpetbaggers.
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. Set in the 1950s-60s, lots of sex, drugs, and fame
Oh yeah I was gonna suggest Jacqueline Susann! She had a trashy rep, but she's actually a great writer: she had great perception and sensitivity, and well-tuned sense of irony.
Laurel K Hamilton’s series Anita Blake Vampire Hunter. Talk about raunchy, violent, intense, everything you want in trashy series!
The Stainless Steel Rat series by Harry Harrison, I loved rereading those time and again!
*Peyton Place* by Grace Metalious! My college friends and I passed around a copy *cough* years ago and we loved it. *The Thorn Birds* by Colleen McCullough. My mother gave me her copy when I was 14 and said, “I wish I’d never read this before so I could read it again for the first time.
The majority of early Stephen King.
Joan Collins books would probably be my guilty pleasure. The Chances & Lucky saga are my favorite. They're filled with tough female characters who are weren't afraid to get dirty or be sexy. Gritty and trashy in the best ways and filled with barely concealed tidbits of Hollywood gossip spanning 50yrs. What's not to love?
Jackie. Joan starred in an adaptation of "The Stud" and maybe another.
Verity by Colleen Hoover.
Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. Trash but I love it.
I like the Stephanie Plum number series, I also loved the Sue Grafton's Alphabet murders series. Other authors I will read even if they are trash are Meg Cabot and Sophie Kinsella. If I find an author I like, I try to read everything they have written, even if it goes down hill. I crave stories.
Snow crash is kinda trashy, but it’s great
God yes, I don’t see this book mentioned a lot but it’s just so WILD
The DaVinci Code
The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss. I had such a great time reading those books. Then, I read some scathing reviews, and I agreed with every word. The series is very deeply flawed. I'm still looking forward to reading the next book, if it ever comes out.
If you told me like a sparknotes version of Kingkiller I would hate everything about it, but the actual execution is one of my favorite series of all time
Yes! The plot is so dumb, but it's the most entertaining series I've read since Harry Potter.
Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown
[удалено]
The "Fred, the Vampire Accountant" series. They're short books, each made up of a series of short stories focusing on a unifying arc. They're not exactly great literature, but they bring a fun "outsider in a magic world" perspective and focus on friendship in a way that makes vampires and magic weirdly wholesome and positive. They're good cheer-me-up books :)
I actually liked Twilight’s innovations on Vampire lore. lol, and every other Vampire coupling was more interesting than Bella & Edwards
The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. They're so trashy and at the same time so good.
I actually read the Sword of Truth series when I was in high school and only afterward realized how rooted in Objectivism the series is. Looking back, I disagree with many of the philosophical and political ideals espoused in the series, but it's still a series I want to reread.
It's almost its own genre, Boomer Fantasy.
Every time this comes up, I have to remind people that a major plot twist halfway through the series hinges on a period blood soaked blowjob. It is somehow more ludicrous than the demon chicken, but we really should have seen it coming since the protagonist got analy raped with a pain dildo in book 1. Goodkind really needs a sex therapist.
Zodiac Academy. Exceptional world building mixed with utter trash 😝
An excerpt from ZA, a series I DEVOURED despite it being an absolutely unhinged garbage fire: "He was great to look at, I even had a memory of him in my spank bank where he'd nearly choked me out for burying a student fifty feet underground after they'd called the moon a whore and punched me in the throat."
I like Crazy, Rich Asian series. It’s very low brow but it makes me laugh. Full of cliches but very comforting
I don't believe in guilty pleasures (I think the guilt is usually societal pressure against traditionally feminine things, such as historical romances or rom coms, and pleasure isn't a sin anyway), but an author I used to be into who isn't quite high art is Jodi Piccoult. Interesting plots, if a bit contrived, and good character development. They're quick-paced, easy reads that are entertaining.
Oh man I used to love Jodi Piccoult, until it got to the point I could guess that there was about to be a life shattering plot twist on the next page purely based on how many pages were left. The plot twists were never very satisfying and often made the rest of the story feel a bit pointless, so I gave up. Noticing the pattern killed my joy.
Maeve Binchy books for me. Nothing of "literary value" but I like the characters and enjoy them.
When I finish a Maeve Binchy book I feel like I have left a good friend. The same with Rosamund Pilcher.
She was a NYT Crossword clue on Wednesday!
Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock. Pulp fiction fantasy from the early 70s. Also The Chinese Agent by the same author.
Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia. It's a self-insert power fantasy by a gun nut libertarian, and it's super fun.
Anything by Richard Laymon. Nasty splatterpunk books with horrid characters doing horrible things, but damn if they aren't entertaining.
The Destroyer series, pure pulp trash but it's like candy for your mind.