Books that make you ask: "Am I alone here?"

I was thinking, for some reason completely unconnected to anything I'm reading right now (so don't get any ideas!), of books that make you ask, "Am I alone here?" You know, those books everyone loves but that you end up sorta liking, disliking, or downright hating. I have to admit this happens to me more often with adult titles, but it has happened with children's/YA as well.

Here are some of my top "Am I alone here?" titles:

• Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace. I used to hate giving up on a book (reviewing has changed that for me, big time), so I was truly sad when I stopped reading this one at about page 500. This book hurt because the first 100 pages were brilliant, but it never developed from there. It just went on and on and on.


• The Book Thief. This was a book I liked. I thought it was competent and well written and I especially liked the sketchbook sections. BUT...I didn't find it a life-changing book and I didn't think it added much to books on the Holocaust.


• In the YA department, everyone liked Stay With Me. I didn't. I felt really alone. Something about the dyslexia thread in the novel seemed off to me.


• The Emperor's Children--a big title from last year. God, I hated this book. I made it to the end and then felt just empty. Empty characters, empty plot, 500 pages.

What are your "am I alone books?" I'd really, really like to know! Please respond here or on your own blogs.

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In the books I love department: I have a review of Sylviane Donnio's I'd Really Like to Eat a Child up over at Book Buds. This book is awesome. (Jules reviewed it recently at 7Imp too.)

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