The Thursday Throwdown

I'm really excited to kick off a new blog feature today, The Thursday Throwdown!

For The Thursday Throwdown I'll be reading two books that have a really similar plot (or for non-fiction, two books on the same subject) and comparing the two!

I had a really busy week last week, so I knew that I needed to read two books that were pure fluffy entertainment because those are the kind of books I can read the fastest. But I hope to read books in a variety of different genres for future editions of The Thursday Throwdown.

The crazy thing is that I've been meaning to do this feature for awhile now and have never gotten around to it and then last week I accidentally read two books with the same plot. I didn't even plan it. I read the first one and then got half-way through the second one and thought, Wait a minute. I'm starting to feel like I'm in that movie Groundhog Day.

Both books feature a pregnant woman who is abandoned by the father of her baby and the ends up falling in love with someone else during the pregnancy. There were most likely 500 books to choose from featuring this plot because it's one of the most common romance novel plots. Which makes perfect sense because this happens so often in real life. If I had a dollar for every person I know that this happened to . . . Oh wait, no. Actually, the only person I've ever heard of that this has happened to was Heidi Klum. Which begs the question: why do we keep reading books with such a ridiculous plot? I spent the entire time I was reading both books asking myself what is wrong with me that I find this an acceptable use of my time. I haven't been this ashamed of my entertainment choices since I watched the reality show about Tori Spelling's marriage unraveling (which included a 7 minute argument about a baked potato that somehow felt like it lasted for 40 minutes.)

But after reading these two books, I've decided that if loving books with ridiculous plots is wrong, I don't want to be right. Because I do love them. So much.

Since I recognize that both books are ridiculous, and I'm entertained by the ridiculousness of them, I've decided that the winner of this weeks edition of The Thursday Throwdown will be the book that is the most entertainingly ridiculous. I'm not looking for quality here. I'm looking for the book that is so bad it's almost kind of good. The kind of book that a person would never admit to loving at a dinner party (because no one would ever respect them again) but that they LOVE. SO. MUCH.

The two books competing for the title of Crappiest But Most Entertaining Book Of The Week:




Oh yeah, that's right. I read a Danielle Steel book and a Chick-lit book with an annoying cover. And I'm not even sorry. Judge me if you want to. But it won't matter. I spent all of elementary school, junior high and high school being known as the girl who loves Little House on the Prairie, so if you judge me for my cheesy taste, I won't even be able to feel it. I'm completely numb to the judgement of my entertainment choices, which has freed me up to openly love; The Brady Bunch, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Amish romance novels, early 90's Lifetime TV movies. It's fantastic. I can wallow in my bad taste and not even have to care.

The Pregnancy Test was definitely the more well-written book of the two. But that's not what I was looking for here. I was looking for cheesey cliches and bad dialogue. But if you're looking for the book with the higher quality of writing, you will probably prefer this one. That is, if you don't mind that a third of the book was devoted to lengthy descriptions of the two main characters having sex in various tropical locations. I found it annoying that a third of the book was devoted to this because it took up so many pages that the rest of the story felt rushed. But hey, if you enjoy reading endless love scenes (yeah, we'll be tasteful and call them loves scenes, even though there seemed to be endless descriptions of the two main characters licking one another) then you'll love this book. And if you do enjoy reading about people spreading their saliva all over the place, then go for it. I spend my spare time watching people argue about baked potatoes, so I'm in no position to judge your entertainment choices.

Heartbeat was exactly the kind of cheesy, crappy, badly written entertaining goodness that I was looking for. It was so bad it started to loop back around and become good again. And I loved every minute of it. It had everything I look for in bad TV, but since it was a book I could almost pretend like I was engaging in a worthwhile pursuit. There was an over-the-top cartoonish villain, a main character who was so good and decent I couldn't even relate to her, a plot where all the loose ends got tied up into a neat and tidy and totally unrealistic bow, and endless descriptions of the food everyone ate and the clothing they wore. And you know a book is good when the author feels like you can't enjoy the story without knowing that one of the characters is wearing white pants and a navy blazer (I can't even talk about what a bad fashion choice that is) while cooking a mushroom omelet and mixing up a fruit salad. This was a 400 page book, but it could have been cut down to 300 pages if the references to every single outfit and meal the characters wore/consumed were removed. But the book was written in 1991, so I can't get enough of the descriptions of how the main character was a well dressed woman because she wore turtlenecks and jean skirts.

I definitely recommend reading Heartbeat, but you have to approach it the way you would watching bad TV. This not a book that is meant to be read in a serious and sincere way. This is pure camp. It's pure cheesiness. I recommend you approach it the way my sister and I once did. We briefly formed a sarcastic book club, in which we picked books that were really badly written and then we sarcastically discussed them as if there were serious, important works of literature. Our first book was a Danielle Steel novel (Vanishing. And it was awful and wonderful.) Sentences like "how dare you suggest Danielle Steel is not one of the finest novelists of our time" were used. We read, we fake argued, we mocked and a good time was had by all (even though I did feel a tiny bit guilty about mocking someone's book so much. But hey, Danielle is busy writing 3 books a year and counting her millions, so I doubt she has time to be offended by the horrible people like me who are mocking her!)

Have you ever read two books with the same plot? Tell me all about it in the comments section.

Comments

  1. The books sound good. Years ago, I read Steele every time she had a book published. It's been a long time since I picked up one though. One of my favorite books ever is Zoya.

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    1. I've read Zoya. The TV movie of Zoya was hilariously bad!

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  2. I"m not sure I've ever read a book with that plot.

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    1. You must have higher standards with books than I do!

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  3. Oh Angela, what a fun and fabulous idea! I loved your take on the books, and I must say that I couldn't help but laugh as I read your thoughts and descriptions. Turtlenecks and jean skirts, eh? So glad fashion has changed a bit since then - HA!

    Thanks for the visit to my blog. I so enjoyed your comment. Maybe someday you will find a shirt that says "Cupcakes. Books. Life is Sweet."

    Happy weekend!

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  4. That is really funny that the two books had such similar plots. I have had that happen kind of, like reading two books in a row with the same name of the main character, or two books that both take place in England in a row!

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  5. Never come across a book where the pregnant woman ending up falling in love with another guy during pregnancy. Most of the time it is the single mother who falls for another guy.

    But yay for the new feature! It's kind of cool but I can hardly squeeze out enough time to read two books per week.

    Have fun reading!

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  6. I actually know a real couple where that happened! But only one. :D

    Hey, if you like romance and you want to try mystery, there are a million options for you out there! You could look into trying Janet Evanovitch's Stephanie Plumb books or mysteries by Nora Roberts or Mary Higgens Clark.

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  7. Ha ha ha. I know a lot of women who were abandoned by the father of their baby once he found out she was pregnant. None of them had a relationship with someone else during the pregnancy, though. It's gotta happen sometimes, but ... yeah, it's funny that you happened to pick up two books with this same tired plot!

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  8. Haha I LIVE for early Lifetime movies! That channel is like my life source, even with all the terrible acting :) I'm also a fan of cheesy chick-lit books (and movies!) so The Pregnancy Test is definitely going on my TBR. This is a neat feature, Angela!

    Laura @BlueEyeBooks

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  9. Angela, I'm glad you enjoyed both of these books. I enjoyed reading your humorous post.

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  10. Love this post! You totally made me laugh. And good for you for reading whatever sappy books you want. :D

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  11. I haven't read a Danielle Steel book in forever. I used to love them.

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  12. I haven't read a chick lit book in a long time now, but those are always lots of fun and super quick to read.

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  13. OMG--what a fun topic! In the last couple of years, it feels like the same three or four plots are being repeated endlessly. For better and for worse. :\

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  14. I haven't read a Danielle Steel book since I was a teenager, in fact I don't tend to read much in the way of contemporary fiction or chick lit, being more of a murder/mystery or suspense/thriller addict.
    However, from time to time I think we all like to loose ourselves in some 'fluffy entertainment' (I must remember that phrase, it is so good), so I am not averse to trying out new authors who come to my attention.
    I think that duplicate plots are quite common in most genres these days, after all, how many ways can there be to fall in love, or murder somone!
    Nice post for my first visit, it is good to 'meet' you and have a good weekend :)
    Yvonne

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  15. I like this idea and I would be right along with you on the Danielle Steel book. I've noticed lately that a lot of book have similar story lines these days, especially in YA.

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  16. What a fun new blog feature. I like the idea of comparing books that feature similar plots. Your description of the Danielle Steele book made me chuckle. Every once in a while a campy read like that can be a lot of fun.

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  17. There is a movie with Jennifer Lopez in it that has this same plot, The Backup Plan? I have never read books with this plot device, but I used to loooove, and I mean LOVE, Nora Roberts' romantic novels with the naïve but smart heroines falling for the resourceful, handsome, elusive guys, and scorching sex scenes. I couldn't get enough of them. I have moved on towards less cheesy choices, but not that less cheesy, I think.

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  18. Ha ha! I love it. Reading or watching complete fluff, completely BAD fluff is so fun and often necessary. I love this idea of comparing similar books. Very fun feature!

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  19. I don't think that I have read this plot before. I did read one where the pregant character fell in love but her husband had died so it wasn't exactly the same. Yeah, I can't think of this happening to anyone I know. I do like a ridiculous plot...but only in my books :) I haven't read either of these but do want to try Steel at some point.

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  20. I love the idea of pairing books with similar plots and/or themes :) A few years ago I thought of writing a post comparing The Help with To Kill a Mockingbird, but you know... best laid plans :) I look forward to reading more posts in this new blog series!

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  21. Great idea! I can't wait to see what other books you choose.

    I haven't read either of these books. I don't think I've ever read a Danielle Steele book . . .

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  22. Thursday throwdown does sound like a great feature and this one was fun. Thanks!

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  23. I have read and still read a lot of Danielle Steele books. I love the idea of your Thursday Throwdown.

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  24. Haha, I read Danielle Steel for years..my Mom had them on her bookshelf. I love Little House on the Prairie too. Love your Thursday Throwdowns!

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