There are plenty of cliches out there when it comes to plots, themes, characters, etc. What is your guilty pleasure when it comes to books? I know it's kind of cheesy but I love stories (in film or in books) where someone accidentally travels to another time and has to get by in the world there for a time. (example, all of Diana Gabaldon's books.) It's my secret geeky ultimate fantasy.
I don't know if I'd call this a guilty fantasy, but here it is: I'm drawn strongly to stories in which a character makes a sudden (or sometimes not so sudden) decision to completely change their lives - to leave everything behind and cast themselves into a future they can't predict, but they're willing to take a chance on. Examples include A Fish Called Wanda, in which John Cleese's character makes a sudden decision to board a plane for South America, leaving everything behind. Also The Shawshank Redemption, Harry Potter, and even [/i]Moby Dick[/i], in which the narrator decides at the beginning of the story that his life on land isn't working and he's going to go to sea. I love that. I've done it a couple of times in my own life - drop everything and leap into the void, trusting the gods to guide me - and it sort of works.
Fifty Shades of Grey...guilty. Twilight. Period paperback romances. Also, V.C. Andrews novels, that have been ghost-written for years and tell basically the same story over and over again with just the small details changed...I eat those up for some reason, the entire time thinking: how does this happen? How are these OUT there? Oh yeah, because of people like me with my guilty pleasures. Lol.
I turn off the critical side of my brain and watch the Home Alone films every Christmas...in secret. I think my sister suspects but she has yet to catch me at it. Muhahahaha! But seriously, book-wise my one pleasure that I don't often advertise is that I absolutely love 'Muddle Earth' by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. I came across it in a bookshop just after it had been released, bought it in hardback (something I never really do) and have read it many many times since. I personally think it is an ingenius spoof, but I stopped telling people it was one of my favourite books after I got a few snide remarks. I know I shouldn't care what people think but there ya go. I love children's books.
I like it when there is a sudden shift off course, or when you find out something that really hits you in the gut as if you're thinking, "wow, I can't believe that happened". You get so excited you literally wish there was someone around you could talk to about it...but alas.
I'm guilty of reading the 50 Shades trilogy and finding myself eating it up. Yes, the writing isn't the greatest and some of the parts make me go "What the heck?" but my roommate and I both tied it back to the fact it seems that some of us have secret fantasies that border on the elements in this book. Plus it's a read that makes me want to keep turning the page. It's just fun as a 20-something female to read.
The system won't let me rep this post -- but it deserves it. I like stories which mirror that experience, because it's one I've lived myself a couple of times.
Twilight. OMG. Twilight. I could read those books again and again. And I do. I know a lot of people don't like them and have some strong opinions against them, but I just love them and I really don't care if others don't. That's the nature of books. Some people like 'em, some people hate 'em. I could eat me up some Jacob!
Being a fan of horror fiction, a good bloody murder is always good. An ax? A chainsaw? Perfect. Gross outs and sex scenes.
I'm a sucker for anything where the plot is best described as manic. If it hits the ground running and then keeps topping itself, I'm there. One of my favourite movies is Shoot 'Em Up for this reason. It's not that I have a short attention span, but if I'm reading or watching something for entertainment, I don't want to have to wait around for something to happen.
V.C. Andrews... Oh dear, I can't believe I said that. Also, though I don't feel as guilty about this one, the entire Clan of The Cave Bear (Earth's children) series. I first read the first four at 13 and came back to them at 18... I'm astounded that my overly sheltering parents allowed me to read that but not watch Rodger Rabbit - lol!
80's teen series - yup. Don't laugh - the whole works - Sleepover Friends, Sweet Valley High, Sweet Dreams romances- egads the Babysitters club - lol. Oh, and 70's sci-fi, anything with a cheesy cover.
^Cheesy, old-school sci-fi is the best! I'm also a sucker for lesbian romance novels. They can be just as horribly written as any other kind of romance story, but sometimes I just wanna read about some cute ladies being in love. And I love anything by S. E. Hinton. I read The Outsiders in sixth grade and I've adored her ever since.
