My D-Listed Books

I'm going to compile a list of books, most of which are popular and that, after reading, I thought "I wish I had those hours of my life back to read a better book." Some of these are in a series, which I've read a few books of and then quit.

Let me just say before I begin this list that I read a lot of vampire books. In fact, I read most every vampire book I come across because, let's just say, I'm obsessed with them and their bad-boy awesomeness. Another reason I read so many is because I'm trying to find my next big vampire-book craze, and I can't find it unless I read them all. But I have very high standards when it comes to vampires. For example, they can't be too cheesy, or too lovable that they aren't even in the vampire species anymore. They're more of a teddy bear with fangs. I think many authors take advantage of the vampire phenomenon by writing books that have vampires in them. This is especially true for debut authors who want to make it big in the publishing world. To me, this is just plain cheap. I mean, come up with some new stuff, you know? Not just feed off of another author's (Stephenie Meyer) success.

OK, now that I have that rant done, here's my D-List of Books I Wish You Wouldn't Read:

1. Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber. I read and finished the first book of this series. It was terrible. I am an avid vampire-lover, and these books disgraced the entire myth of vampires. Also, the conversations between the main characters was weird and unrealistic.

2. The Vampire Diaries series by L. J. Smith. I admit, I didn't even finish The Awakening, the first book, because it was so bad. The dialogue between the characters, especially. And maybe I wasn't giving the book a fair chance. I certainly didn't like Twilight the first few times I tried to read it, but eventually I got through 100 pages and I started to really like it. So maybe I'll go back to this series some other time, but not in the near future. I watch the show, though, although it's not the best show ever made. But come on, who can resist a weekly Thursday dose of Damien?

3. The Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. I have read two books and a half of this series. After finishing the first, I thought it was fine, but not the best vampire book ever. The second was also okay, but through reading some of Shadow Kiss I gave up. It became too much of a struggle to continue on with the series. (Sidenote: doesn't The Vampire Academy's cover-girl look exactly like Angelina Jolie? What is up with that??)

4. House of Night series by P. C. and Kristen Cast. It's a cool idea: a school just for vampires that have classes only at night. But the writing and the plot didn't elaborate on the cool idea. I've read two, and didn't bother picking up the third.

5. Gossip Girls series by Cecily Von Ziegesar. Definitely not a fan of this series, although I know so many are. But I don't get it. What's so exciting about reading who slept with who, what girl fight is going on today, etc. Read the first book, not impressed. Watched the show on CW, still not impressed.

6. Suite Scarlett and 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson. First off, let me say that I loved The Key to the Golden Firebird. That was the first MJ book I read, and I devoured it in a day it was so good. But Suite Scarlett and 13 LBE...I felt she didn't do her best work on these.

7. Jinx by Meg Cabot. Before I read the book, I read a summary about it, and was thinking this was going to be a cool addition to the Meg Cabot's ginormous list of books. I got halfway through and set it down because I didn't want to spend any more useless time on a book I didn't like. However, I do recommend The Princess Diaries! (Not the movie. Gag.)

8. Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce. Over the years, I've heard good things about the author Tamora Pierce, so I thought I'd read some of her books to see what all the fuss was about. Trickster's Choice SO didn't live up to my expectations. I didn't really get into it like I do with other books. I didn't understand some parts either.

9. What Would Emma Do? by Eileen Cook. I wrote a review on this book not too long ago: LINK. 'Nuff said.

10. Glass Houses by Rachel Caine. This is the first book in Caine's series: Morganville Vampires. I didn't read too much of this book, but I wasn't thrilled with the first 40 pages and didn't feel like going on.

11. Uglies and Peeps by Scott Westerfeld. Twice I attempted to finish Uglies, and twice the excitement of reading it failed. I love futuristic or alternate realities, but Uglies didn't bring it for me. Peeps...I don't know why exactly I don't like this one. Maybe I don't like the author, period.

Sorry if I offended someone's favorite book of all time by bashing it on my D-List, but there it is.

I was thinking of doing an A-List of books I think everyone should read, but that list could go on and on and on...and on.

So what are your D-Listed books? Have you read any popular books and thought "Why in the world do so many people read this trash? It's a disgrace to all books everywhere. A disgrace, I tell you!"?