Readers: what are your guilty pleasures?

Question

Here are mine:

1. "Hell's Angel" by Sonny Barger: Yes, I admit, I am fascinated with the world of outlaw motorcycle gangs. This book, written by Hells Angels founder Sonny Barger, details his involvement in the Oakland chapter of the gang from its inception to now. The stories, I am the first to admit, are undoubtedly embellished and given a positive spin for his image, but, for me, they are still very entertaining.

2. "Mankind" by Mick Foley: "Mankind" was one of the stage names for Mick Foley, a professional wrestler who found success under other guises as well. I enjoyed watching this ridiculous "sport" when I was younger, but I hesitated picking this book up at first. Imagine my surprise when I found it to be an unflinching, honest look at this world, and very well-written besides. 

3. Anything by Clive Cussler: Clive Cussler is a very successful author who has made his fortune with the character of Dirk Pitt, an impossibly handsome and competent main character in a long series of novels where he beats seemingly impossible odds against increasingly flamboyant bad guys. The stories, I admit, are starting to repeat themselves, and I am about to give this series up, but Cussler is a decent writer with a very good narrative flow.

4. "Titus Andronicus" by William Shakespeare: Maybe Shakespeare wrote this one while hungover, I don't know. Anyway, this has to be his most unrepentantly violent play. It involves a Roman general, the title character, matching wits and acts of violence with the captive Goth queen Tamora. The scene where Titus kills Tamora's sons and has them cooked into a meat pie which he then feeds to the Goth queen is the Bard at his most perverse.

5. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon) by Crystal Zevon: I picked this one up because I am a huge fan of the late, great Warren Zevon. This biography, based on the experiences of his former wife and of everyone else who was close to him in life, shows him in all his creative, and destructive, glory. His music was years ahead of its time, but he was also a chronic alcoholic and womanizer. Reading this book was like watching a Rolls Royce crashing into a cement barrier, but I loved it.

(Simply) Apple Frost · Accepted Answer

1.  I read The Clique. *cringes* I know how awful they are. They have absolutely *no* substance, and the characters are plain awful. But every time a new book comes out, I have it within the first week.

2. The Mates, Dates Series by Cathy Hopkins. Again, I'm not even going to defend them. They're badly written, have cliche characters, and plot is nearly non-existent. But I've read them every summer since fourth grade.

3. The A-List. A story about a girl trying to make it in Hollywood. 'Nuff said.


Basically, my guilty reading pleasures are the superficial, "chicky" books.

Anonymous · Answer

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes. Hah! :)
Completely pathetic, I know. I don't know what it is about that crazy little kids book...it's just strangely addictive. Although I haven't read it in years, I still can remember each page. :)

Besides that, probably stories on Quizilla!, Fanfiction.net, FictionPress, and so forth. Like a previous answerer said - horrible grammar usually; however they are strangely entertaining.

Manga is another weakness. Even if I don't enjoy a certain series I'm reading, I have to keep reading. There's something about manga that just makes you want to finish.

@Jo Spumoni: I completely agree on the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants bit.

genaddt · Answer

The Heroin Diaries:  A Day In the Life of a Shattered Rock Star by Nikki Sixx & The Dirt.  I'm a huge fan of Motley Crue so those are my favorites to just pick up and read and I've read them many times over.

MissFit - I come and go · Answer

Okay, I'll be the first to admit it: I read Harlequin books!  GASP!  *blush*  [ducks behind desk]

I got hooked very recently, honest to goodness, I had never read them before!
And hey, I don't mean those smouldering-hot pieces of trash with Flavio on the cover, just the poorly written, predictable-as-h3ll, sickly sweet, poor-excuse-of-a-book pieces of trash type...

Oh, and I read fanfiction.  But if you prefer to read fanfiction (based off classic British novels written two hundred years ago) to contemporary trash (hello, thumbsdown from twihards), is it still a crime, or some sort of twisted snobbery? :-D

Jo Spumoni · Answer

I'll count it down:

3) I read a book based on the X-Files series once...terrible writing, but I sure had fun

2) Dan Brown's books--I love them all, but God, they're so formulaic

1) The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants- read the first three books when I was 13 and 14, and I love them, even though I know they're hopeless tear jerkers with stupid, unoriginal plots

Hippie ♥ Chick ↖∞ΐΩ §ǻЙ ÎŁλ∞↗ · Answer

I like to read clichÃ© quizilla stories. And some of them have horrible grammar. I fix the sentences in my head as I read. 
I don't know why I love to read them; I just do. 


There, I've admitted it. 

O.o

Add: 
oh, and fanfiction. 
especially Companions of the Night fanfiction. (and when it's from the right ppls, MUCH better grammar...and no clichÃ©s). 
=)

caring carer · Answer

Stephen King - I always pre order his new books, I have just pre ordered his new one Full Dark No Stars which isn't out till november.

Cassy · Answer

Reading FanFiction :P

Anonymous · Answer

Lots and lots of manga books. :0)

Anonymous · Answer

Michael Crichton. >.>

His scifi is so out there and filled with gratuitous sex scenes, but there's just something about it...

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Readers: what are your guilty pleasures?

11 Answers