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That's an interesting point. There are people who would say I can't make a judgment on a book I haven't even read. I happen to disagree. I think it's like demanding that I take poison to see if something's going to poison me. I know about things without having experienced them first hand, and we all do. I know about the horrors of the third reich, and I know about the beauty of the aurora borealis. I also know which one I want to experience for myself. The trouble is, when people I disagree with refuse to accept it.

Lora wrote: "That's an interesting point. There are people who would say I can't make a judgment on a book I haven't even read. I happen to disagree. I think it's like demanding that I take poison to see if som..."

Exactly! I have never been "a follower".I know what I like, and do not/would not, like.

Lora wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "I think someone previously mentioned "The Red Tent". It was raved about by a friend so I picked it up. Didn't get very far before I put it in the trash, Oh, wait actually, it was ..."

I couldn't agree more with both comments on "The Red Tent"! It made me equally sad and mad about a novel that's categorized in the Historical Fiction genre.

Has anyone read "The Goldfinch"? Several of my Facebook friends have said that they liked it, but I want to know if it's clean before I read it.

The f word is used a lot in this book. There is child abuse, domestic abuse, drugs, alcoholism, etc. I have not finished the book yet but what I have read has had some sexual references, both heterosexual and homosexual. The dark period of the main character's life is very dark. The story is great but I cannot recommend this book because of all the profanity and many hardcore issues that this book deals with.

I didn't "put down" Divergent, but there were some parts where I skimmed till I knew it was safe, because it looked like it was getting sexual. I don't know how far it got, but it seemed risky.

What a wonderful thread!

For my part:

Daughter of the Forest, Juliet Marillier. The only book I have thrown out a window. (Which fortunately only landed on the balcony as I was some 10 stories up at the moment.) This book taught me the need for checking out 1 star reviews for all new authors. Scared me away from this author for life! For the overly curious: rape of a young girl in detail 1/3 in. Hideous!

Vengeance Born, Kylie Griffin. Would have tossed this book across the room except its on the ipad. :-)

An Offer from a Gentleman, Julia Quinn. Neither an offer nor a gentleman! Second book (and hopefully last) that I have literally thrown across a room. ( Throwing books can't be a good habit!!!)

Pellinor Series, Alison Croggon. Managed to get to the middle book before getting a brain and stopping. Another example of where 1 star reviews would have spared me.

12 Houses Series, Sharon Shinn. I have read them all but having recently tried to reread them... Lets just say I don't know how I managed the first read. One book even glorifies an affair. Lots of juvenile creepy stuff as well.

Rebecca wrote: "I think someone previously mentioned "The Red Tent". It was raved about by a friend so I picked it up. Didn't get very far before I put it in the trash, Oh, wait actually, it was from the library..."
I had the same problem. It's still on my shelf, but will more than likely trash it to make room for a better selection.

Fault in our stars by John Green. I am a school librarian and students have asked for this book, but I refuse to add in my Catholic school's collection a book with language and sexual reference problems. Though YA reviewers praise it, I cannot.

Printz Prize fiction. I just finished my MLS degree. At one point I thought I would read all books which have won this award given for best young adult fiction and sponsored by the ALA. DON'T! Several titles have no business being on any list, much less a prize winning list. This is where I discovered John Green--good author but has not sense of what should not be included in young adult fiction.

Juliet Marrilier is one of those authors who throws me for a loop, like Robin McKinley. Some of her stuff is pretty good, and some is so out there in its irresponsibility to the reader. For Marrilier, I can recommend Wildwood Dancing and Cybele's Secret. There are a few disturbing scenes of violence, short asides that aren't part of the fight scenes that move plot along. I did try these on my 13 yr old who doesn't like anything intense or dark, and she was good with the levels in them. No sex in either book. But sometimes the characters were a little too stupid.

Thanks for the heads up about Daughter of the Forest. I actually just pulled that one off my shelf for a read. I will stick to my copy of Wildwood Dancing instead.

As a side note on Wildwood Dancing (and the sequel) they have BEAUTIFUL covers! I have jigsaw puzzles of the artwork for both.

Yeah, I was so pleased I got Wildwood AND Cybele in hardback, used but in excellent shape, and gave them as Christmas gifts. The covers were incredible.
And thanks from me too, to avoid Daughter of the Forest. It had got on my tentative list. I wish authos and piblishers would be clearer in how they address marketing of a b ook. By that I mean, the same author has varying levels of explicitness in various books, but you absolutely must be on your guard once you discover an author. You can't just say to your kid, "Sure, you can read Juliet Marillier". No, you have to be very specific about which titles, and, sometimes, even which editions. It's tricksy.

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. I LOVE Kingsolver, and I have read all her books, but for some reason this one just didn't sit right with me. I tried twice.

Bad Prince Charlie by John Moore. After less than 30 pages I was in the mood to throw the book in the trash. Had to go to a Charlotte MadLeod to clean my brain.

I had to put down "Water For Elephants" by Sara Gruen. The descriptions of sex were just too much. I couldn't read any more.

And "This Is All" by Aidan Chambers. I was fascinated by it being a big book and that it was pillow book, but again, the descriptions were just a bit too much for me.

What's a pillow book?

I Had To Put Down.

It Was Just Getting Good. I Was SO Close To The End and One of The Characters Dropped The F Bomb Twice.Needless To Say I Stopped Reading
it

I just read Graceling by Kristin Cashore. A friend warned me I could skip the "scene" that was offensive (sex). However, the scene was not the only problem with this book. The scene was just the act that followed the entire theme if this book! I would never recommend it, but especially not to teen girls!

Lora wrote: "Yeah, I was so pleased I got Wildwood AND Cybele in hardback, used but in excellent shape, and gave them as Christmas gifts. The covers were incredible.
And thanks from me too, to avoid Daughter of..."

I agree with this. I loved Armstrong's first YA series, but her adult books set in the same world were very adult. It definitely surprised me.

Jacqui: I've read some awful stuff for book clubs as well. Sometimes I simply can't finish, and sometimes, with reservations, I make it to the end. It depends on how bad, how short, how lots-of-other-things, the book is.

I had to put down "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski. It was an interesting read, but way too much sex, drug references, and the f-bomb.

I love this thread...

I'm mostly a childrens fiction and YA reader, but an avid one, and there are so many books i've been shocked by:

ttyl and ttfn by Lauren Myracle (i stopped after those two although thr are more in the series bec of the language and just the content. I'm a teenage girl too - older than their age, actually - and i talk NOTHING like that. it made me a bit sick.)

Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan (it was written from a teenage guy's POV so it makes sense, but thr was prolific swearing and sexual content)

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder (language and sexual content for sure)

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes, Michelle Rowen (this made me especially uncomfortable bec one of the main characters falls in love with his sister. You find out soon that she's adopted, but it still made me extremely uncomfortable. I don't remember language-wise.)

Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick (Wow. The language in this was incredible. The sexual content - pretty amazing too.)

Univited by Amanda Marrone (the language was really awful, and there was a TON of drinking and smoking and the type of behavior.)

Before I Fall and Panic by Lauren Oliver (they were good books, but the language made me extremely uncomfortable. There was also a lot of explicit sexual references in their conversations, if not as much in what actually happened.)

Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken (i read the first one - the darkest minds - which was bad as far as language, but not as bad as the second one. I dont remember any explicit sexual content, but there was definitely something, especially in the first.)

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris (definite language and sexual content.)

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington (I liked it, but the language, sexual content, and just the whole fallen angels and lore made me extremely uncomfortable. Especially the whole angel thing - there are things i believe in that were totally changed here. If you're your at all religious, you might especially want to skip this.)

These are just a few of them. Then there are some books, like Hold Still by Nina LaCour, Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic, and Splintered by A.G. Howard that have some or a lot of bad language and sexual content, but which i made it through because they're just awesome or gorgeous. So it depends what you care about more and how much you care.

Thanks B! Good info! I read this thread all the time so I really appreciate the insight! I started Before I Fall but all the talk about sex right from the beginning turned me off.

no problem =) Happy to be of help!!!

by Vickie McKeehan. Her writing is not clean. Language, sex and violence. I wanted to pass this on so others won't waste their time and money if they don't want to read this sort of book!

I've 'not finished' several books, but usually because they're badly written and bore me. But this seems like a good place to warn people about a book called "Tender Morsels" by Margo Lanagan. I picked it up in the YA section of a book store. It has an attractive cover with two little girls running through a forest. I love fantasy/fairy tales and retellings and the blurb made it sound dark and intriguing.

I'm not easily offended but it was horrible. I only got to pg 52 but there's not a male character who is not a lech and completely brutal, including the first character's ( a young girl) father. If incest and child abuse is not your thing, avoid this book! It makes me wonder about the author's past. She seems to hate men passionately. I'm not against intelligent feminism, but this is ridiculous. Definitely not suitable for the age group (12 and up) it seems to be marketed toward. Most perplexing is the fact that it's a Printz winner among many other honors. I don't understand. I kept trying to read more, thinking it must get better, but it got worse. I've even skipped randomly through it but seem to land on more of same. I'd have been horrified if my girls--or boy--had read this when they were younger!

It is amazing how many authors of the 'postmodern' bent feel that these are issues that all children must face. How come they don't expect children to be exposed to uplifting literature that teaches useful successful skills for a life of joy? Because some of them can not even conceive of such a thing.

I'm glad to find this! I work at a bookstore and am asked for recommendations all the time. I have access to ARCs and can check out hardcovers, so I've gone from reading mostly out-of-print to reading a lot more current stuff.
--The Scottish Prisoner by Gabaldon: brought this back three days after checking it out because the main character played with himself when missing his wife. Yuck.
--Deadly Heat by Castle: tried and tried to get into it. Way too much cursing. Thought I'd enjoy it since I watch the TV show on occasion.
--The Rebel Pirate by Thorland: I did actually finish it. Probably shouldn't have. There are two scenes that I skipped because of explicit description. References to homosexuality were also included. But her writing style is really good, and it's hard to put the book down. Except for the content, which could have nearly all been left out without changing the story, it was a five star plot.

Glad to hear the reports of some of these books here...had several on my to-read list. Off now! It can definitely stand to shrink.

Just picked up "Dorothy Must Die" today to see why my fellow booksellers were all reading it. Very graphic violence. Put it down after two pages.

Sally Barron wrote: "Thanks for the info; do you have any recommendations of books that are clean, I tend to like books that are based on true stories but anything that is clean would be good."

These are some fictional titles that I love: Friends and Foes by Sarah Eden, Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson, A Jane Austen Daydream by Scott D. Southard and Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. You can find me on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ for other books I have enjoyed!

Lora wrote: "It is amazing how many authors of the 'postmodern' bent feel that these are issues that all children must face. How come they don't expect children to be exposed to uplifting literature that teache..."

I agree. It's disconcerting and saddening, but not many people seem to be writing it these days. It makes me wonder if any of these authors have children themselves. I don't think kids need to be protected from everything, but a little goes a long way.

Threw "water for elephants" in the trash after having just purchased it as soon as I hit all the junk.

Also had to recently stop reading "Wild" which was really unfortunate because her description of her mother really moved me. But I couldn't tolerate the F bomb, and her negative view of God and response to Him when her mother died.

Donna has a great suggestion: raid one another's reading lists, looking over reviews and so on. I bet we have quite a library between all of us.

Reply to Maia message 287: I was given the audiobook of Water for Elephants and listened to it while I was sewing. Even then, I had to skip forward in many sections that were too violent for me. I kept wondering if I missed important stuff. I finally saw the movie and decided I didn't miss anything. I haven't tried reading Wild but don't like too much profanity. Recently a reviewer of one of my books thought the dialog wasn't "real" but I think it was because I don't used profanity. LOL Can't make everyone happy, so I make myself happy.

Lora: When I write a review I try to warn readers if there is something they might not enjoy reading. It sometimes makes the author miffed at me, but I believe a good review should included warnings. I post all my reviews on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.

Diane: I usually try to do that as well. It helps me keep track of books for my teens, so I can reference quickly a book I've read but which I fail to remember well. I expanded outwards and now post warnings on amazon and goodreads, as well. I have rec some messages thanking me- and never received one yet that was hostile in any way. It's working out quite well.

I am also always glad when people post warnings on their reviews on Amazon and Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ about areas like sexuality, profanity, etc. Like also was mentioned if I know someone has similar preferences as me I will usually look at their Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ shelves and updates for clean reads to add to my TBR list.

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
The Museum of Intangible Things

- Language, sexuality, and just distasteful pieces

Thanks for the heads-up on Ava Lavendar...the gorgeous cover keeps drawing me.
I put down the upcoming "Landline" by Rainbow Rowell. The preliminary flip through looked good, but her boss has a filthy, filthy mouth! Now I have an ARC that I'm trying to decide how to review...might well go ahead with a one star rating, even though I hate to because I'm too sensitive about messing up a book's scores before it even comes out. Oh well. She shouldn't make a prominent character a potty mouth.

lol love that. when i have that problem sometimes i give it a lower rating and say why, or i just don't rate it at all and explain in the review that i was just too taken aback by the language to give an honest review on anything else about the book.

I started this Listopia list for Clean Reads. /list/show/7...

You guys can head over and check it out. Would love if you would add more books to the list as well! Would love more lists out there like this, filled with tons and tons of recommendations. I hate getting into a book, and then having to put it down because of that "icky" feeling we all have gotten at one point or another.

Hannah, I hope you can proceed with your review in a way that helps the author, but especially helps you. You can look at this as a chance to voice the opinion of those who really weigh language in a book carefully. I would definitely make mention of the language. There is NO guarantee in these giveaways that your review will be glowing and positive. And if giving a positive review would be untrue, then do what is true. It's tricky, I know. I did notice in the giveaways lists that one author stated in all caps something like this: "do not request a copy of this book if you do not want to read explicit material".
So authors need to be aware of these issues as well.
Of the two books I won, both seem to be clean. I kinda lucked out, in a way.
You might also have a second tab open while cruising through the giveaways so you can look up an author and get a feel for them, if there is enough info out there. This only just occurred to me, so I plan on trying that when I wander into the giveaways again.

Lora wrote: "Hannah, I hope you can proceed with your review in a way that helps the author, but especially helps you. You can look at this as a chance to voice the opinion of those who really weigh language in..."

Thanks! You can probably find my review by going to my page and looking at the shelf "didn't finish". I hope I was fair enough to the author!

It's a little harder for my free copies because we get them at work. They're out on a table in the break room and we can read as much as we want there, but once a manager signs off and we take them home, we aren't allowed to bring them back! I can try checking here before taking them home, but often there's nothing in the way of reviews yet. At least I don't feel obligated to like them. :)

Ha! What a way to unload books. I was never familiar with that method at all.

Perks of working in a bookstore with more free books than employees! ;) The publishers send us several ARCs per week. UPS or FedEx will just show up and hand us a package. Can be pretty exciting!
And then when mass markets are due out, the publisher only wants the cover back, so we can take home up to five of those per week, sans cover, with management approval. Today I got a stack of cozy mysteries. Same thing with old magazines...five free per week out of the due out stack. A great way to add to a recipe collection!

my gosh ur so lucky now i wanna work in a bookstore!!!

Oh, man, someone brings whole packages of books to your store, and you just...read em??? Wow...! :)
Do you ever have to read genres or books you don't really enjoy?

I don't have any obligation to read. There are currently about twenty books lying in the break room that nobody's picked up to take home. Some of them look pretty interesting, but are written in present tense, a pet peeve of mine. (One of the reasons I haven't gotten into Divergent.)

Yes, it really is a dream job!! I intend to keep it awhile. :)

soooo jealous....