Guilty Pleasure Books: Tell us yours

Nice question. I’m not too bright, so I have many guilty pleasures.

Probably the one at the top of the list is I actually enjoyed what I read of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson’s Dune sequels.

I still collect the Star Wars hardback books since Heir to the Empire was released. I’ve read and enjoyed quite A few of them, but i haven’t read any in a long time.
 
Last edited:
Old copies of White Dwarf and ancient Warhammer manuals.
 
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown Yes I admit it, Ive read this book and yes , I know it pure hokum but, I couldn't put it down because it's very entertaining stuff ! :D
 
BAYLOR said:
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown Yes I admit it, Ive read this book and yes , I know it pure hokum but, I couldn't put it down because it's very entertaining stuff ! :D
Click to expand...
Holds hand up, I also confess to having a strange fascination with Angels and Demons, complete tripe but I couldn't put it down, in my defence we were waiting the announcement of a new pope at the time.
 
SFF genre as a whole is my guilty pleasure. I grew up hiding what I liked and have never broken the habit. I never knew or talked with other genre readers, my friends in high school and college didn't read SFF and no one I know in my adult life (outside of the Internet) does either.
 
Surfing Samurai Robots by Mel Gilden
Californian sun, an alien private eye, beautiful women and a mystery to solve... What's not to love.
Someone bought this book for me because of the cover, thinking it was some hard edge Cyberpunk... It really isn't.
 
I’m a complete and utter pacifist but I can’t get enough of military tech books like Haynes manuals on Type 45 Destroyers, the Typhoon and Astute class submarines.Then there’s the Osprey series of books on things like Imperial Japanese aircraft carriers. I’ve even got a book on the tech specs of HMS Hood. I love all that stuff:)
 
War is. Guilty pleasure for many of us boys, I suspect.

I think Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One should be a guilty pleasure. I enjoyed it, but ultimately it was just a huge wish fantasy.
 
From better to worse:

Atlas Shrugged. You're not supposed to like it. Although its political rants drone on and on, and cry out for an editor, its denunciation of government is its true failing in the eyes of many.

Hunger Games. Young adults act out.

Gates of Fire. Not really what you'd call pacifist reading.

The Jericho Sanction by Oliver North. Ditto.

William F. Buckley, Jr's oeuvre. As a boarding school boy, his protagonist in Saving the Queen receives a right proper caning. And as an American adult, he beds the Queen. And he never has enough sense to wonder why.
 
BAYLOR said:
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown Yes I admit it, Ive read this book and yes , I know it pure hokum but, I couldn't put it down because it's very entertaining stuff ! :D
Click to expand...

There are plenty of much worse hokums. I give Dan Brown credit on his subjects and plotting, not literary merit. I've read his first 3 books plus The lost Symbol which I hope will be adapted to a movie. I like his intriguing themes, if I have to read a thriller, I would be more interested in things like the Knights Templar, Vatican, Freemasons, in the settings of some historical European cities, rather than a serial killer in the woods or some gangsters stories.
 
I think that i would add the Warhammer 40k books in here. I tend to recommend certain books and authors a lot on places such as Quora and Dan Abnett will come up. I always add the caveat of "Don't let the Warhammer moniker put you off...". Probably because i think a new reader might be put off by thinking it's part of a RPG they may have last had seen in their childhood.

I also feel there's a little stigma in reading franchise spin off novels, such as Star Trek. Even though there were many excellent stories, i still feel that people consider them to be a little childish too.
 
My guilty pleasure is to keep rereading John le Carre. Especially the Karla trilogy.

I also have a fascination for rereading Douglas Adams, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy in five parts.
 
Anybody remember those fighting fantasy books? Pretty formulaic proto-roleplaying but I enjoyed them in my youth:)
 
Rodders said:
I think that i would add the Warhammer 40k books in here. I tend to recommend certain books and authors a lot on places such as Quora and Dan Abnett will come up. I always add the caveat of "Don't let the Warhammer moniker put you off...". Probably because i think a new reader might be put off by thinking it's part of a RPG they may have last had seen in their childhood.

I also feel there's a little stigma in reading franchise spin off novels, such as Star Trek. Even though there were many excellent stories, i still feel that people consider them to be a little childish too.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I've read a number of W40K books and while they vary in quality overall they can be fun. I used to read any Star Trek novels I could get but I found the quality really started to wane in the 90s when they had to split their efforts among five franchises. I don't even want to think what they're like now.
 
Vince. The nineties was when i read them too. Titan Books. Good times. :)

I mostly read TOS books and I didn't read any Voyager or DS9 and only a few TNG and i hated the crossover stories, For some reason, i just felt the quality was better with TOS. They had some great covers as well and i always wonder what happens to the original art. Be a shame to destroy it.

I might try and read a newer one to see how they hold up.

As someone who started reading SF due to movie novelizations (thanks ADF), I haven'r read any for a long time. Probably more to with the fact that i don't get excited about a new film like is used to when was younger.
 
Last edited:
Ian Fortytwo said:
My guilty pleasure is to keep rereading John le Carre. Especially the Karla trilogy.
Click to expand...

Also an erudite, innocent, anything but guilty, pleasure of mine. It helps keep my paranoia up to speed.

hbr.org

When Paranoia Makes Sense

You know that little voice inside your head that keeps telling you to be worried—about your boss, your subordinates, your colleagues? Start listening to it.
hbr.org hbr.org
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
KGeo777 Martin Scorsese's guilty pleasures list General Film Discussion 3
CriticalCarrot What's your Sci-Fi guilty pleasure? General Film Discussion 63
B What Are Your Favorite Guilty Pleasure films? General Film Discussion 208
Brian G Turner Arrow S305 - Guilty Arrow 0
Constantine Opal For shame! What's your Guilty pleasure? General Film Discussion 24

Similar threads


Back
Top