I can't seem to find any decent books anymore. All of them are either knock offs of 50 Shades of Gray or Twilight. Grrrr.

[Jujulabee]

Yes there are a lot of terrible genre books but there are also some absolutely marvelous books that enrich one's life by having read them.

If you are in a rut, then explore book reviews - NY Times on Sunday or Entertainment Weekly (which tends to review more middle brow type of books).

Go to Amazon and find a book that you are interested in and then explore other books that people have ordered who bought that book - I've come up with some great finds that way.

Some amazing books that I've read just this summer - The Interestings; Life After Life by Kate Atkinson; The Woman Upstairs - currently reading My Notorious Life by Kate Manning. My tastes lean towards what is called "literary fiction" but I also appreciate well written books in every genre - Elizabeth George (mysteries); the Kinsey Milhone series (mysteries). Gulp by Mary Roach was a fun read.

Couldn't get through 10 pages of 50 Shades and having read Bram Stoker's Dracula, anything else just pales

[Mortisha]

I agree! Seems it is hard to find a really good book lately that is not in series form. Sometimes I just like a single good book as not to commit myself to weeks of reading but they are getting harder to find. I have reverted back to the classics for a bit to fill my literary addiction =) Thanks for the suggestions JuJulabee. I will check those titles out.

I usuall ask my friends for the opinion or read the reviews...

totally feel you. One genre hits it big into a motion picture and then the genre is crammed down our throats. I miss a horror with a good old scary shark, monster something, but if it's a sparkly vampire or a werewolf, I hit the pass button. Fifty shades has spawned a whole genre of exactly the same "rich man saves girl if she submits" genre as well. I miss old school Koontz, Saul, even King before he went they way of Misery style books.

[bengalkitty]

What amuses/disgusts me is how the U.S. seems to be suddenly drowning in billionaires. You read the news and it tells us that our middle class is disappearing due to poverty, but apparently they're ACTUALLY, magically transforming into young, rich, sexy Doms looking for sweet young college girls to fall madly into angst-ridden love with .....

I think I threw up in my mouth a little.

actually, I ran across like five or six multi book series by different authors that are similar to the shades of grey crap but the guys are aliens that kidnap the women and take back to planet bondage or whatever. **insert wretching noises**

But it's not like it's anything new. There's the Gor novels published in the 70's that were just as crap, only based in a barbarian setting.

All IMHO, your mileage/experience may vary.

What amuses/disgusts me is how the U.S. seems to be suddenly drowning in billionaires. You read the news and it tells us that our middle class is disappearing due to poverty, but apparently they're ACTUALLY, magically transforming into young, rich, sexy Doms looking for sweet young college girls to fall madly into angst-ridden love with .....

[helenwho]

they used to be millionaires, then billionaires. Now I see titles showing up with the Trillionaires. Extra money still doesn't make them a better person.
I am also over it.

Read the reviews

Can you imagine I read the first book in Twilight till the end? And I felt really disgusted. I didn't read 50 Shades, and every time I come across something which sounds like those two, I immediately reject the book and continue browsing for something better.

That said, I think Cozy Mysteries are a good way to take your mind off something. Granted the overall theme (as in owner of shop sees dead body, goes to investigate, sees ex/handsome officer etc, conflict with said people, end up cooperating, falling back in love, solving the mystery), but it's relaxing in the sense that it doesn't need you to think much, and really just let go.

For me dark old school science / horror / mysteries are still wonderful, just that cozy mysteries give me something lighter and not so horrifying (some parts).

Read the classics.

There have been some really entertaining books coming out lately, but you're right, lately every single book coming out seems to be the first one of a series.
Also it's either a bunch of Twilight-derived garbage or, recently, Lord Of The Flies rip-offs with only the setting changed...

Have you tried finding book review blogs? If you find one (or several) that like the same kind of thing that you do that can be a great place to find new books. What are you interested in? The 'sexy supernatural'/'irresponsible erotica' is big now because it sells, but there is definitely other stuff available, and sometimes there are even gems within categories you had previously dismissed