So far this year my least favorite book has been Janet Evanovich’s Hardcore Twenty-four. The storyline has lost its punch and this one was just dumb in my opinion.
I loved them but I was in a weird place. I found myself relating to the battle between the man who was the sun and the man who felt like right too. Finding your place in the world, finding the magic
Catch 22. Started reading it a few years ago and hated it. Used to read on the ferry every day on my way to work but got so angry with it I threw it overboard. I’m the sort of person who won’t even fold the corners of pages so it was a traumatic experience for me.
I liked the plot twists but hated both main characters. By the end I was sorry I wasted moments of my life reading about two miserable people who deserved each other.
I tried for a whole week, I manage to read about 30 pages but I kept falling asleep before quitting because it would take me forever to finish it, plus so many characters to keep up with
As a feminist I’ve been told many times I should read Jane Eyre and that I would love it. I’ve tried to read it repeatedly and have never been able to get through it.
Really? Haven’t cracked Dickens in a while but I loved this one at UofM. I had Bert Hornbeck, that Dickens prof who’d dress as Dickens, he was one of few who got me excited about the books. And while he can be hard to plow through he was a sharp guy for his era.
For an English major, I know it is nigh unto sacrilege to deny Dickens his rightful place – but I couldn’t get with one single tome of his – same with the Russians. Good story lines but thick, unwieldy prose. In my opinion only.
Sarah’s Key. People love it. My book club loved it. I think it’s such a terribly written book about such an important subject matter. E verything about it makes me crazy
I didn’t hate it, but my least favorite was the old man and the sea. It seemed drawn out and repetitive and I have a short attention span. I would recomend it to those who are into that genre though
I’m with you Audrey, was assigned for a graduate school class, so I had to actually finish it rather than just putting it down like did when I was younger!
I agree with the nothing new but the writing was so bad. I read a novel years ago called something like On Golden Shore about an immigrant family. The grammar was so bad I actually had to get a red pen and punctuate the thing before I could finish it. I was reading it for a book club I used to belong to.
I will stop a book I don’t like no problem. But I HAD to read one for a book club I was leading. I was filling in for the librarian who had picked the book, and I take book club seriously ?? the book was Blue Thread and I hard the hardest time with it. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12247405-blue-thread
I’m always so surprised when someone doesn’t like a book that I love. This is one of the few books I’ve read more than once because I loved it so much!
It really is it’s something she chose never to release I find it interesting as she was dying and someone else had control of power of attorney that it was now released so I hope no one judges her work based on that one
I started this book, Mrs. Dalloway, with the support of an AP English teacher. Then stopped?. I would LOVE to continue reading, but really need support. Any help or support through the book would be appreciated. ???
I’ve read Dalloway in 3 different lit classes (though it’s been a while now!) and I loved it, but it’s definitely one I liked talking through and poking at in a class. Also liked To the Lighthouse but I had a Virginia Woolf class so I’m partial to her!
It took me a while to get into it and understand what was going on, but once I did I liked it. I liked it more once I read her bio included in the book and realized the parallels and understood her a little better.
It’s one of my very favorites. But it does get kind of gross when everyone goes blind and can’t find their way to the toilets. So I can see why that could be bothersome. For anyone considering reading it, it is not a big part of the story, just one of many difficulties.
I hated every minute. A friend that I really admired gifted it, so I felt it must have some redeeming value. I finished it, but it was truly painful. Every minute. ???
Yes! This is my husband’s favorite book and he couldn’t wait for me to read it ??♀️. I may have broken his heart when I told him that I didn’t like it at all ??
There were many books I don’t like but then again, when I come across books that I started reading and few chapters in I didn’t like it? Then I won’t finish it.
I loved this when I first read it, but I suspect it was because of where I was in my life at the time. Pretty sure I couldn’t get through it a second time, so I’ll just leave it there in that happy place. ?
Interference. No freaking joke. Its so bad i would almost recommended it. It has a huge twist but its the mosy aweful waste of a twist that it is shocking if thats what youre looking for.
The Beach by Alex Garland. I never even saw the movie because I hated the book so much. Most of my book club liked it, but not me. I also hate Wuthering Heights, and I’ve read it 3 times over 30+ years trying to give it another chance.
Whatever James Patterson book I read years ago. It was horrible. Gave away the best part in the middle of the book. Never read another one of his again.
Hannibal by Thomas Harris. He was a favorite author until he wrote Hannibal. I thought Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs were wonderful. I will never read anything by him again. I felted betrayed by the way he ended the series.
So far this year is luckiest girl alive. Currently reading gone girl and have to say that it was going to come into my “least favorites of 2018” but I’m on part 2 and quite enjoying now. But not happy that it took over 100 pages to become interesting.
I just finished it, took me forever. I loved the overall story and writing, but it was hard to get through all the suffering. It’s a modern day Old Man in the Sea plus in-depth guidelines on how to survive off of dorado and turtles and coexist with a tiger lol.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED ‘ONE DAY.’ ❤️❤️❤️ I was hooked once I was a few pages into the story. Though both characters were in the UK, I could totally relate to them as I, too, had graduated from college in the mid-1980s. (As for the movie version, not good. Disappointed with that one.)
Atonement…I know most won’t agee with me on it but I just didn’t care for it. And then the atrocity that was 50 Shades of Gray…I felt like I needed a red pen to correct as I read, it was so hard to read because of all the errors. If she had an editor..that there was worlds worst editor vote for me then.
I never picked up 50 Shades of Gray after reading the comments about how poorly written and edited it was. Not worth the headache of correcting in my head while I was reading.
@Sarah me too! Plus…I’m committed…it goes against the grain to quit! But I have read some that make me feel like a sucker. I have quit if the first few chapters are badly written and with errors!
I read The Luckiest Girl Alive. I thought it was terrible. It was recommended to be based off my young adult fiction addiction. Hated the main character.
I haven’t really been enjoying Call Me By Your Name as much as I’d hoped with all the hype. It’s too much 17 year old “does he like me? Does he not like me?” Drama.
I’m reading this now on a friend’s stroooong recommendation and I agree with you. Is it just 300 pages of overthinking a crush? It’s getting tedious, but I’m past the halfway point now, so I guess I’ll finish…
@Sarah no I haven’t. Would it help me appreciate it more? I’m just not a Hawthorne fan! I think, because I first read it as a Junior in high school, I just wasn’t ready for it, and ever since, I’ve never been able to get into it. Hawthorne is just so wordy! Lol!
@Sue sorry! I’ve tried, and I just can’t! My husband liked it too, and he always tells me to give it another shot. But I just don’t think I could do it!
Have you read any of his short stories? His symbolism is beautiful. I am not a huge fan of Dickens because of his wordiness, but Hawthorne has never bothered me because the symbols and imagery are very important.
@Sarah my favorite teacher was the one who taught me that book, and I just couldn’t get into it. I tried so hard, because she loved it, and I wanted to love it, but I just didn’t love it. 🙁
I found it depressing- it is interesting from public health point of view – young women were lied too- my son had oral cancer and it hit to close to home… would be interested ih your opinion after u read- I gave the hard covered book to an ex-boyfriend…
I just decided not to finish that book after reading half of it. The topic was super interesting to me but I found it to be too much, too many girls to keep all the details straight and too much info. I feel guilty about it since these poor women lost their lives and deserve to have their stories told but it was too much for me.
someone’s gonna have my head for this.. and while I don’t HATE the series, but the older I get, the less I enjoy the Harry Potter series for its flawed, repetitive & various plot holes.
I’ve been reading them and had to go to audio to get through them. I am up to book 7 but I agree with the repeated stuff and to me they are meh! But have to finish them as they are very popular
I rarely finish a book that I don’t like, but here are three where I made it to the end and regretted it: The Book Thief, Shantaram (loved it at least halfway through – maybe even 75% – but then, arg…., and Tuesdays with Morrie.
Omg I’m 200 pages from the end of Shantaram and am feeling the same exactly! I’ll finish just because I made it this long and it’s only another 2 or 3 days if reading buuuut wtf!?!?! So many good bits in there it feels worth it but I dont think I’ll give it a raving recommendation to anyone I know. My bf’s mother gave it to me cause we were all in India for a month together. She loved it. ?♀️
@Shannon yeah, there’s all kinds of good in that book and a great glimpse into India. I just started to loath the bullshit the author was spewing and it spiraled downhill from there. So glad to find a fellow I-ended-up-not-liking-shantaram-after-all comrade! ?
Amy me too! Loved great chunks of shantaram but started to grow weary of the smoke he was blowing up his own backside and only finished it cos I’d gone so far! Loved the book thief though…
I can’t say it’s my least favorite, but I have been assigned The Scarlet Letter 3 times for various school endeavors and have never gotten past chapter 1.
Caraval is on my TBR shelf. What about it did you hate? If it is a reason that would turn me off too, you could save me a lot of time and aggravation. ??
@Kim THAT I agree with! Yes, it was wordy, that’s for sure. And really, it took me a bit to figure out why she was writing letters. Maybe I am slow but I did not catch on right away.
For me “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac was THE WORST! I had to read it for a grad class and couldn’t do it. I finally opened the book randomly and grabbing quotes making my paper fit. It was horrible. It took me 8 hours to get through 25 pages
@Lisha I get that not every book is for everybody, but Outlander is one of my all-time favorite books. I have recommended it to several friends and they have all loved it too. It’s on it’s 75th printing for a reason. Read it!
Yep! Exactly what I felt when I tried to reread some books I used to love. I was even wondering how I was able to bring myself to read those it’s just a mystery to me.
50 Shades Of Gray
Ha. I wasn’t a fan either.
The writing is so bad.
I have to agree – so bad!
Absolutely agree. It didn’t even qualify as good porn. Can’t believe it got as popular as it did.
So badly written. Such ick characters.
I refused to read it, but hate it anyway based on reports of the crappy writing ?
Plus it gets bdsm wrong.
Read first book and stopped half way through the second. Couldn’t torture myself with the writing anymore
I wouldn’t even read that trash.
I distracted myself by counting the number of times she described Christian’s long fingers. Long fingers All. The. Time. It drove me nuts!
So far this year my least favorite book has been Janet Evanovich’s Hardcore Twenty-four. The storyline has lost its punch and this one was just dumb in my opinion.
I only read a few pages. Put it down and have read many other books since. Sad, loved the first 15 or so
S Myers vampire books
Twilight???
@Nicole all of them
Oh yeah! I read the first one thinking it’d be great fun – and what a pile of shit. ?
I loved them but I was in a weird place. I found myself relating to the battle between the man who was the sun and the man who felt like right too. Finding your place in the world, finding the magic
The Help. I know many really loved it but I never could get into it and never did finish it.
Haven’t read the book but loved the movie!! I could see it being a slow book tho.
I agree.
I didn’t either.
I thought the book and movie were really good
The movie was great – didn’t read it
Catch 22. Started reading it a few years ago and hated it. Used to read on the ferry every day on my way to work but got so angry with it I threw it overboard. I’m the sort of person who won’t even fold the corners of pages so it was a traumatic experience for me.
One of my least favorite too.
Oh dear!! That’s horrible!! That would be hard for me to do too!
That ranks with my mom burning The Exorcist in a hotel room sink at 2 am….. alarms went off and whole hotel was evacuated.
It took me a year to read Catch 22… I never considered throwing it overboard however!!! ??
It took me a long time to read, but I really liked it.
Many of the ones I never finished.
Walden, followed closely by The Passage to India.
Haven’t read either!
Walden was so preachy, I ended up throwing it across the room. Passage was 2 months of my life I’ll never get back.
Fates and Furies, The Kitchen House and The Husband’s Secret
Oh no! 3 bad ones!
The Kitchen House was hard to get through, but it really stayed with me.
Loved it.
I couldn’t stand fates and furies!
I ditched F&F but I’m still going to give husbands secret another go.
Gone GirL! i hated it and could not understand alł the hype
Whaaat?! It was slow in the beginning, I’ll give you that, but I loved that book!
I loved it
I loved it
I liked the plot twists but hated both main characters. By the end I was sorry I wasted moments of my life reading about two miserable people who deserved each other.
Preach ✌?
Billy Budd by Herman Melville. Ugh.
Moby Dick
Oh no! I have Moby Dick on my TBR pile!
I slogged through Moby Dick, but even on audio, it was tough.
I’m onboard here.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. I just hated it.
It was different but I liked it!!!
I didn’t even understand the character descriptions. I had to watch the movie to understand. I didn’t like the movie and hated the book.
It had so much promise but I thought it was awful.
Any Dean Koonts book
Into the water by Paula Hawkins. I fell asleep every time I tried to read it
That one was slow, but I did manage to read it and thought it was pretty good!
I tried for a whole week, I manage to read about 30 pages but I kept falling asleep before quitting because it would take me forever to finish it, plus so many characters to keep up with
Paula Hawkins has many slow books. I don’t understand how she ever got published to begin with
@Lisha I agree. And in my opinion she wrote this one thinking it would become a movie like her previous one (I didn’t read that one though)
Seriously that book was great the last 100 pages
As a feminist I’ve been told many times I should read Jane Eyre and that I would love it. I’ve tried to read it repeatedly and have never been able to get through it.
I want to love it, but also couldn’t ??
Glad I’m not the only one. ?
Love Jane Eyre. ?. Glad we can disagree.
Jane Eyre rings a bell at a certain age- As an adult, too much is wrong with it
@Beth it rings more true to me as I am older. I admire the character.
Girl on the Train
I thought that was a great book. Read it in one day
I liked that one!!
I pretty much guessed it but I didn’t really like the book either…
It was so blah to me. Wasn’t bad but not good either. 3 ⭐️
Wicked.Middlesex. 50 Shades. Tropic of Cancer. Catch 22. The Alchemist.
Wicked. That was awful.
Agreed with Wicked and 50 Shades
Agree with The Alchemist – got nothing out of it.
Middlesex was a tough read but it was so well written.
-American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, just hated it
I don’t enjoy Tammi Hoag(spelling ?
David Copperfield
Really? Haven’t cracked Dickens in a while but I loved this one at UofM. I had Bert Hornbeck, that Dickens prof who’d dress as Dickens, he was one of few who got me excited about the books. And while he can be hard to plow through he was a sharp guy for his era.
For an English major, I know it is nigh unto sacrilege to deny Dickens his rightful place – but I couldn’t get with one single tome of his – same with the Russians. Good story lines but thick, unwieldy prose. In my opinion only.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by DH Lawrence.
Sarah’s Key. People love it. My book club loved it. I think it’s such a terribly written book about such an important subject matter. E verything about it makes me crazy
Hmm haven’t heard of it but that sounds terrible! ?
Oh, I liked that book.
Loved that book too!!
I found it to be too depressing.
I didn’t hate it, but my least favorite was the old man and the sea. It seemed drawn out and repetitive and I have a short attention span. I would recomend it to those who are into that genre though
Oh my gosh! It’s such a short book and it’s taken me forever to read It! Lol I’m struggling too
Granted my class is slow at reading but it took them 2 months to get through it.
Yeah that’s a long time!
Yes! I don’t finish books I don’t like. That was required reading in high school and it sucked!
I really really hated it. I would never impose it on another.
Jane eyre
So surprised by how many people hate this one!
@Nicole I loved it. 🙂
Loved it. ?
Loved it
I’m with you Audrey, was assigned for a graduate school class, so I had to actually finish it rather than just putting it down like did when I was younger!
One of my favorite books of all time. I’ve probably read it 10 times, plus I’ve also read Wide Sargasso Sea.
She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
Loved loved it.
I have it and can’t seem to get into it. ??♀️
Fire and Fury. So poorly written and edited that it was painful to read.
Ha! I only made it halfway through this one for the same reason. Also, I sadly didn’t think he was revealing anything new!
I agree with the nothing new but the writing was so bad. I read a novel years ago called something like On Golden Shore about an immigrant family. The grammar was so bad I actually had to get a red pen and punctuate the thing before I could finish it. I was reading it for a book club I used to belong to.
I will stop a book I don’t like no problem. But I HAD to read one for a book club I was leading. I was filling in for the librarian who had picked the book, and I take book club seriously ?? the book was Blue Thread and I hard the hardest time with it. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12247405-blue-thread
I ditched it
Sarah’s key, such a horrible story, am sorry I read it.
The handmaids tale
Bummer! Have you watched the show?
@Nicole no
@Nicole no
I was just about to type this title, Rebecca. I hated it.
I’ve heard the show is good! I was just curious how it compared to the book!
It follows the book fairly closely. I thought the book was amazing, but I’m an Atwood fan.
I hated this one too – abandoned it halfway through.
I tried and tried to get through this. I just hated it. Tried both reading and listening to it on audio. I finally gave up after 150 pages
I loved the Handmaid’s Tale. I read tons of her books after that one.
I always find it interesting when there’s a good mix of good and bad reviews.
@Nicole yes!
I’m always so surprised when someone doesn’t like a book that I love. This is one of the few books I’ve read more than once because I loved it so much!
Wicked was bad too
Love in the Time of Cholera
Burnt Mountain…awful.
Red Badge of Courage **shudders** is slightly behind or ahead 50 shades of really bad writing. R B o C is a better book but I couldn’t finish either.
It’s interesting how ones place in life and current attitude affects the reading experience.
History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding. Was risque’ for it’s day but I found it boring and had to force myself to finish it.
Go Set A Watchman. I loved To Kill a Mockingbird but the sequel was a drag to get through. I was very disappointed.
I agree. Totally did not need a sequel.
I had borrowed the book from a friend and ended up taking months to get through it. Haha oops
Very very disappointed.
Go set a Watchman was not a sequel it was the original draft To Kill a Mockingbird
@Debby yes. And sure shows how important editing can be. So sad it was published IMO. Atticus?!!??
It really is it’s something she chose never to release I find it interesting as she was dying and someone else had control of power of attorney that it was now released so I hope no one judges her work based on that one
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf! Awful. Couldn’t finish it! Hated the stream of consciousness!
I hated To the Lighthouse by her. So slow.
I started this book, Mrs. Dalloway, with the support of an AP English teacher. Then stopped?. I would LOVE to continue reading, but really need support. Any help or support through the book would be appreciated. ???
You are a braver person than me! I hope you enjoy it Grace.
I hate to hear this! I just watched The Hours today and was going to search for the book.
@Tabbitha love!!!!! The Hours!!!!!
@Amy, are you up to it. (no pressure?)
I’ve read Dalloway in 3 different lit classes (though it’s been a while now!) and I loved it, but it’s definitely one I liked talking through and poking at in a class. Also liked To the Lighthouse but I had a Virginia Woolf class so I’m partial to her!
It took me a while to get into it and understand what was going on, but once I did I liked it. I liked it more once I read her bio included in the book and realized the parallels and understood her a little better.
Red badge of courage. My mom suggested that I read it and it was the most boring thing I have ever read.
True blood books. I just couldn’t get into them
Haha, they are poorly written but I thought they were entertaining, and really quick reads.
Sophie’s Choice
Blindness. A scatological nightmare! If you like feces, you’ll love this literary masterpiece!
It’s one of my very favorites. But it does get kind of gross when everyone goes blind and can’t find their way to the toilets. So I can see why that could be bothersome.
For anyone considering reading it, it is not a big part of the story, just one of many difficulties.
I hated every minute. A friend that I really admired gifted it, so I felt it must have some redeeming value. I finished it, but it was truly painful. Every minute. ???
Never finished that book. It was on my kindle which I don’t like reading.
I finished, left it on the plane. Another passenger: You forgot your book!
Me: No, left purposely. Be my guest. Worst book ever! ?
Twilight and A heartbreaking work of staggering boredom.
Devil in the White City
Ah! I’m reading this now!
@Nichole I tried a couple of times, it’s not for me.
I loved it.
The Celestine Prophecy. Couldn’t understand why it became a bestseller. The writing was so bad, I had to put it down. Wanted to like it!
Anything by Alexander Dumas and I’ve tried all of them. Ironically, I love the movies. ?♀️
The Corrections
Yes! This is my husband’s favorite book and he couldn’t wait for me to read it ??♀️. I may have broken his heart when I told him that I didn’t like it at all ??
A hundred years of solitude, i think that was the title.
I’ve been trying to read The Catcher in the Rye. It will probably be my least favorite if I even finish it!
I couldn’t finish it. It may be the only book I’ve ever walked away from. No thank you lol
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah…..
I couldn’t finish this one.
Lordy I thought I was going to get it I told this lady after she asked me what I thought of it and she burst into tears…
I didn’t hate it, but it was NOT GOOD. Do not understand the hype, at all.
Loved it. ?
There were many books I don’t like but then again, when I come across books that I started reading and few chapters in I didn’t like it? Then I won’t finish it.
Mrs Dalloway
50 Shades of Grey (aka 50 shades of poorly written and inaccurate prose)
50 shades of ridiculousness.
The Twilight Series after watching the movies.
Eat, Pray, Love
I loved this when I first read it, but I suspect it was because of where I was in my life at the time. Pretty sure I couldn’t get through it a second time, so I’ll just leave it there in that happy place. ?
Interference. No freaking joke. Its so bad i would almost recommended it. It has a huge twist but its the mosy aweful waste of a twist that it is shocking if thats what youre looking for.
I hated nearly every single word of “Eat Pray Love”
Why did others love it? One of the worse
My spirit sister ! Every word made me want to smack her!
I honestly don’t know! My sister loved it. I told her I felt like we were strangers after that. Ha.
@Dawna OMG my sister told me to read it and loaned it to me?
Our sisters are weirdos!
EPL was absolutely BRUTAL. Couldn’t stand her. Ugh
Hated that book
Hated it too.
The Beach by Alex Garland. I never even saw the movie because I hated the book so much. Most of my book club liked it, but not me.
I also hate Wuthering Heights, and I’ve read it 3 times over 30+ years trying to give it another chance.
Eat Pray Love. I absolutely hated it.
So did I. Worst self-absorbed drivel I’ve ever read.
Anything Stephen King or Agatha Christie!
I love Stephen King
Whatever James Patterson book I read years ago. It was horrible. Gave away the best part in the middle of the book. Never read another one of his again.
Kite Runner
One of my favorites.
I had to put it down. I may pick it up again one day… but it was way cheeseball for me
@Sarah it is his first novel.
Hannibal by Thomas Harris. He was a favorite author until he wrote Hannibal. I thought Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs were wonderful. I will never read anything by him again. I felted betrayed by the way he ended the series.
Yes! Yes! Yes!!!! I threw the book against the wall when I finished it.
Totally agree!
SOTL was gooooood!
The Night Circus or Gone Girl
Liked both. Not great books, but enjoyed reading them.
That’s what makes life interesting. How dull it would be if everyone liked the same thing!
Yes!
Reading The Night Circus was like pulling teeth for me.
@Lauren ha!
So far this year is luckiest girl alive. Currently reading gone girl and have to say that it was going to come into my “least favorites of 2018” but I’m on part 2 and quite enjoying now. But not happy that it took over 100 pages to become interesting.
I couldn’t read luckiest girl alive but tried it on audio and enjoyed it a lot.
Anything by Nicholas @Sparks
Gone Girl. I loathed both main characters.
Me too!!
@Stephanie Yay! I thought it was just me!
Me too
Me, good!
The Life of Pi so far
Could never get into it
I tried so hard to finish it. Just couldn’t
I just finished it, took me forever. I loved the overall story and writing, but it was hard to get through all the suffering. It’s a modern day Old Man in the Sea plus in-depth guidelines on how to survive off of dorado and turtles and coexist with a tiger lol.
OMG. That is probably my most-hated book. I change all previous answers.
That was terrible!!!
The Shack
Oh I loved The Shack. Did not care for the movie though.
We Were the Mulvaneys. Although it was beautifully written, I was devastated by it.
One Day by David Nicholls.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED ‘ONE DAY.’ ❤️❤️❤️ I was hooked once I was a few pages into the story. Though both characters were in the UK, I could totally relate to them as I, too, had graduated from college in the mid-1980s. (As for the movie version, not good. Disappointed with that one.)
Daughter of the Blood. I feel sorry for the paper it’s printed on.
Fahrenheit 451!!!!
Totally agree, and now they’re making it into a movie!
1000000% agree
I didn’t like that one either
The Winter of our Discontent by Steinbeck
Atonement…I know most won’t agee with me on it but I just didn’t care for it. And then the atrocity that was 50 Shades of Gray…I felt like I needed a red pen to correct as I read, it was so hard to read because of all the errors. If she had an editor..that there was worlds worst editor vote for me then.
Agree with Atonement!
I never picked up 50 Shades of Gray after reading the comments about how poorly written and edited it was. Not worth the headache of correcting in my head while I was reading.
‘I am number four’ well of course..i like it..
But it’s one my least favorites.
Things Fall Apart. I just can’t, I was so uninterested lol sorry to my high school teacher Mrs. Miller who pushed us through it lol
I wasn’t a big fan of that one either!
@Annie I’m sure it appeals to some people, but at 15 I did not care about pre-colonial Nigeria lol
@Sophia I couldn’t get into it, and I was 27, and studying to be an English teacher when I read it! Lol!
If I don’t like a book I don’t finish it.
I wish I could do that…Time I will never get back! ?
I’m always hoping for a twist or something at the end to make it all worth it… Doesn’t always happen tho :/
@Sarah me too! Plus…I’m committed…it goes against the grain to quit! But I have read some that make me feel like a sucker. I have quit if the first few chapters are badly written and with errors!
@Janice ? agree
I read The Luckiest Girl Alive. I thought it was terrible. It was recommended to be based off my young adult fiction addiction. Hated the main character.
I DNFd that one! I couldn’t stand the obsessive cursing that wasn’t needed
Jonathan Frazen – The Corrections
I haven’t really been enjoying Call Me By Your Name as much as I’d hoped with all the hype. It’s too much 17 year old “does he like me? Does he not like me?” Drama.
I enjoyed the film. Didn’t read the book.
I’m reading this now on a friend’s stroooong recommendation and I agree with you. Is it just 300 pages of overthinking a crush? It’s getting tedious, but I’m past the halfway point now, so I guess I’ll finish…
I’m like 3/4 through and have lost interest. Meh.
Omg ?. I loved this book so much. Definitely in my top five. I think the writing was beautiful.
Last of the Mohicans.
Idk about my least favorite ever but my least favorite recently was all the bright places
Also don’t really like Girl on a Train. The main character is just tooooo flawed.
Me too…
Walden Pond
Atlas Shrugged, OMG ???
Yes! A thousand times yes! I read it for a year and then gave up it was so bad. Plus, I loathe Ayn Rand and the whole premise it’s built on.
But just the writing alone – it’s bad
Room
Because it was so harrowing?
I liked Room but then I read Jacee Dugards book. VERY similar.
It was disturbing…
Money Dick
Do you mean Moby???
Moby Dick ?
Thanks for that!!
??
When I read your question, the first one that came to mind was The Scarlett Letter. Even as an English teacher, I do not like that book!
Have you read any of Nina Baym’s work on it?
Awwwwww, no, I love this book!
@Sarah no I haven’t. Would it help me appreciate it more? I’m just not a Hawthorne fan! I think, because I first read it as a Junior in high school, I just wasn’t ready for it, and ever since, I’ve never been able to get into it. Hawthorne is just so wordy! Lol!
@Sue sorry! I’ve tried, and I just can’t! My husband liked it too, and he always tells me to give it another shot. But I just don’t think I could do it!
Yes. I love Hawthorne, but I had some great teachers (including Prof. Baym!).
Have you read any of his short stories? His symbolism is beautiful. I am not a huge fan of Dickens because of his wordiness, but Hawthorne has never bothered me because the symbols and imagery are very important.
@Sarah my favorite teacher was the one who taught me that book, and I just couldn’t get into it. I tried so hard, because she loved it, and I wanted to love it, but I just didn’t love it. 🙁
Check out the literary criticism by Baum and others. It’s amazing. I think there is a ton to unpack historically too.
Sarah Longhenry I’ll check it out one day. Maybe it’ll sway me to give it one more chance!
The one I was reading last week and decided not to finish it because it was very slow moving……..’Impossible Views of the World’ by Lucy Ives
Disliked Luckiest Girl Alive.
Same!!
@Melanie I have never read a book filled with a cast of such unlikable characters.
I couldn’t read it but I liked it on audio.
The Scarlet Letter
Trash by Dorothy Allison
Recently it’s “Man in the High Castle”
How dare you!!!
Love the Amazon series. Couldn’t even get through 2 chapters of the book!
I struggled to get through The Brothers Karamazov and came to understand why Russians are so fond of vodka. Pour me a shot or shoot me!!!
Did you read “The Grand Inquisitor” portion? It’s the best.
I read all of it, Sarah, and will agree that portions of it are brilliant. However, I still found it unbearably depressing and difficult to read..
The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn was a disappointment after all the hype…
Just finished it: Salvage The Bones-Terrible ?
Rebecca
Circle of Friends
Call me an anti-classics gal ?
I loved Rebecca. Agree on Circle of Friends.
Rebecca is one of my favorites. I love this thread. Love the opinions.
One that sticks in my mind is Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill. Won’t read any more of her books after that one.
Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
The Road
Agree
I just said the same!! Glad im not alone…on that road. Ugggg
The Sound and the Fury. Ugh
You needed a brilliant teacher to discuss as you read. Probably never would have made it on my own but loved it in an English lit class in college.
The only book I have ever chosen not to finish: David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest.
It was awful. simply awful.
I didn’t like- the radium girls- made me ill!!!
Why? Because of the content/story or because of the writing?Our book club is reading this next month…
I found it depressing- it is interesting from public health point of view – young women were lied too- my son had oral cancer and it hit to close to home… would be interested ih your opinion after u read- I gave the hard covered book to an ex-boyfriend…
I just decided not to finish that book after reading half of it. The topic was super interesting to me but I found it to be too much, too many girls to keep all the details straight and too much info. I feel guilty about it since these poor women lost their lives and deserve to have their stories told but it was too much for me.
I listened to the audiobook and it was fantastic.
@Cynthia thanks for sharing. I hope your son is doing well.
Sloane Kettering in nyc is amazing! Was a very humbling experience …we are very grateful ..
Dubliners
That’s too bad! I absolutely loved it, but ? see why it wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea.
50 shades series….it sucks…idk lol
someone’s gonna have my head for this.. and while I don’t HATE the series, but the older I get, the less I enjoy the Harry Potter series for its flawed, repetitive & various plot holes.
Agreed
I can’t get past the first 50 pages of book one.
I won’t have your head, but I’ll leave you NEARLY HEADLESS ???⚡️??♂️ harry pottah fo life.
I didn’t like other books she has written.
I’ve been reading them and had to go to audio to get through them. I am up to book 7 but I agree with the repeated stuff and to me they are meh! But have to finish them as they are very popular
Clan of the Cave Bear, The Hobbitt, Lord of the Rings… take your pick!
Loved clan of the cave bear! The whole series although I skimmed over the minute details she felt the need to say
I loved Clan of the Cave Bear. Agreed on The Hobbit, and won’t even try Lord of The Rings. Blech.
The Da Vinci Code
The Dinner by Herman Koch
Oh I hated this one too!
Daring greatly. I wanted to love it but it was brutally trying to finish it. I gave up about 2/3 through ?♀️
Watership Down…with apologies to all those millions out there who adore it!
I thought it was awful too
Gone Girl
So sad 🙁 love it
I rarely finish a book that I don’t like, but here are three where I made it to the end and regretted it: The Book Thief, Shantaram (loved it at least halfway through – maybe even 75% – but then, arg…., and Tuesdays with Morrie.
Omg I’m 200 pages from the end of Shantaram and am feeling the same exactly! I’ll finish just because I made it this long and it’s only another 2 or 3 days if reading buuuut wtf!?!?! So many good bits in there it feels worth it but I dont think I’ll give it a raving recommendation to anyone I know. My bf’s mother gave it to me cause we were all in India for a month together. She loved it. ?♀️
@Shannon yeah, there’s all kinds of good in that book and a great glimpse into India. I just started to loath the bullshit the author was spewing and it spiraled downhill from there. So glad to find a fellow I-ended-up-not-liking-shantaram-after-all comrade! ?
I couldn’t finish the book thief. I really tried
@Lisha you missed nothing. It went exactly where you would have expected. ?
Amy me too! Loved great chunks of shantaram but started to grow weary of the smoke he was blowing up his own backside and only finished it cos I’d gone so far!
Loved the book thief though…
Yup me too I dnf often
100 years of solitude
Lincoln in the Bardo. Unreadable!
It was tough getting going with that book. But I ended up liking it.
Agree with you. Thought it was weird. I wanted an historic read about Abe Lincoln and his family and was horrified
It wasa tough read, but the audiobook was wonderful. I suspect the novel was a play.
The Bridges of Madison county
Clan of the Cave Bear. Hated it.
Mine is still Tess of the D’ubervilles
Gratuitous sadness. Like getting punched in the stomach for two days
Cold Mountain
That was the first book I ever have up on and stopped reading.
The Goldfinch….until I started the Curious incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. (I am an autism mom and threw it in the garbage around page 49)
Curious Incident was a tough read for me.
I refused to finish it. Life is too short.
Into the Woods
The Shack. ??
Ugh!
In The Woods Tana French
I really love Tana French. But it took me a bit to learn to read her.
Atlas Shrugged
Who IS John Galt?
So many fails, no idea how to choose
And 100 Years of Solitude. I think that’s what I’d need to read it.
Seriously.? That is the worst ever!!!
These conversations are so fascinating because 100 Years is my absolute favorite!
It’s a toss up between Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby.
Watership Down or Old Man and the Sea
I liked Old Man better at 40 than at 15.
Catcher in the Rye, Still Life with Woodpecker, Middlesex?
Ooh. Too bad about Still Life with the Woodpecker! One of my favs! But it’s been ages.
I can’t say it’s my least favorite, but I have been assigned The Scarlet Letter 3 times for various school endeavors and have never gotten past chapter 1.
Caraval ?
Caraval is on my TBR shelf. What about it did you hate? If it is a reason that would turn me off too, you could save me a lot of time and aggravation. ??
@Kim the main character is winey and insta-lusting after all the mysterious guys instead of looking for her lost sister. She just really annoyed me.
Moby Dick
http://amazon.com/
The Giver.
“Wicked” & “Son of a Witch”. Yes the musical was fabulous but those were tough reads!
Ulysses
Robinson Crusoe
Black Like Me and one Hundred Years of Solitude.
“Why Evolution Is True”. It is one of my favorite books, but it is the least one.
Lord of the Flies. I get there’s meaning and symbols, but man, I just hated it!
Yeah, me too.
Me theee
Same! Hated this book so much
We need to talk about Kevin….
Omg!! SO disturbing. Especially since I have a son named Kevin. I needed therapy after that book.
@Kim liked that book. Movie wasn’t very good though.
@Leigh I found it to be filled with overstuffed sentences and struggled throughout the entire book. ?
So disturbing, but it has stayed with me. Pretty scary!!
@Kim THAT I agree with! Yes, it was wordy, that’s for sure. And really, it took me a bit to figure out why she was writing letters. Maybe I am slow but I did not catch on right away.
Ulysses. Hands down.
Thank god for college or I never would have gotten past the first page!
As I Lay Dying
It’s a classic. But a downer.
@Cheryl I honestly wonder if it’s a cultural thing. I’m Australian, so maybe I just didn’t “get it”. I dunno.
For me “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac was THE WORST! I had to read it for a grad class and couldn’t do it. I finally opened the book randomly and grabbing quotes making my paper fit. It was horrible. It took me 8 hours to get through 25 pages
Oh! You as well! Took me 8 months to read the stupid thing!
I seriously gave up. It was horrible. I can’t believe people thinks it is important. It is seriously a drug induced vomiting of words!!
The only part of it which was any good was when he went to Mexico…
I couldn’t get that far. I hated it and I never give up. I always try and look at the positive in lit. But I couldn’t find anything in that drivel
Totally agree. I felt so uncool, I might have even pretended to like it. Glad to be beyond that age now.
Treasure Island.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. It’s not a big book, or hard to read. I just hated it.
The Hobbit. I was bored bored bored.
Same!
One of the very few books I could not read
Ahh I loved the Hobbit!
It’s a wonderful book
I’m not sure of least favorite EVER but two I finished recently that really disappointed me were Boy, Snow, Bird and The Immortalists.
I loved Immortalists! ?
I loved the first half!! Idk why but the rest was such a letdown for me. But I know people love it!!
Eve’s @Revenge
Catcher in the Rye. Holden is a spoiled, self-absorbed brat and I had no patience for him.
The Alibi Man was hard for me to get through
Lord of the Flies………….was so disturbing.
High School required reading. Hated it!
HATED IT!
Great Expectations.
Pip was as obnoxious as Holden Caufield.
I have tried 3 different times to read it and just can’t do it. Last time I got half way through, though. Haha
Great Expectations should be renamed: Incredibly Boring.
A high school teacher made the reading of It really fun and intriguing, so it’s actually one of my favorite books just bc she made it memorable
How did she do that? Maybe I should try what she did
The Catcher in the Rye…started it on 2 or 3 occasions…gave up half way through
Moby Dick.
Only read the beginning and had to stop, it was so boring and horrible. And I hate whaling
I reas Capt. Ahab’s Wife and enjoyed it. Only thing in common with MD was the name of the main character, though!
I skipped the parts on whaling. I liked the rest of the book, but I wasn’t interested in 30 pages just on whale blubber.
Outlander
That’s not what I wanted to hear. It’s on my nightstand now!!
Did not finish it.
I loved it!
@Lisha I get that not every book is for everybody, but Outlander is one of my all-time favorite books. I have recommended it to several friends and they have all loved it too. It’s on it’s 75th printing for a reason. Read it!
@Kari I am!!
Dead Man Walking
Some of the books mentioned here are some of my favorites! Weird how that works!
Some YA books I used to read a few years ago. Plot sucks, especially most John Green books.
OMG, the first time I re-read the Little House Books as an adult I was shocked. So awful (but I still adore them.)
Yep! Exactly what I felt when I tried to reread some books I used to love. I was even wondering how I was able to bring myself to read those it’s just a mystery to me.
Great gatsby, Fahrenheit 451
The Old Man and the Sea… Ugh… The worst.
Oh, and I loved it, especially the audible version! But, yes, it can lull a reader to sleep.
High school forever ruined that book for me. Lol
I will always love it, totally captivated me first time I read it. But I can totally how some ppl might hate it ?
1984