@Gabriela I’m not a teacher yet. I’m in school and when I have my own classroom I vow to never ever ever teach a Ray Bradbury book (unless my admin says I have to). Lol! My job is providing assistance to students in any subject they need help with. English is my specialty though.
But to answer why it’s so important, it speaks to the slippery slope that is censorship. Once we limit freedom of speech or burn a couple of books in front of a library, where is the line going to be unless someone stands up and says enough is enough.
Catcher is one of those books best suited for a certain age (15-22ish) and was better 30 years ago. It now feels dated, but I recall liking it when I read it about age 16. When I re-read it in my late 30s, I didn’t have the same feeling at all.
@Annette, it’s incredibly preachy. It seriously felt like he read Mata Hari’s Wikipedia page and then decided she must be the most deplorable human being ever. What I’m about to say could be perceived as spoilers but I personally don’t think so.
* * * *
She had the WORST early adulthood experiences and it’s like NOPE, those don’t cause her ANY trauma. She runs from an abusive husband and leaves behind her daughter, but you’d think she doesn’t care because she’s too busy doing whatever in Paris. There are records that show she wrote her daughter often, and tried to send them but who knows if she got them.
He name drops people for the sake of letting you know time period, like Picasso, but they hold no relevance to the story. They’re literally mentioned just so he can say she met Picasso.
Twilight series. Read it in college after my friends hyped it up. Didn’t have the heart to tell them I thought it was garbage. Atrocious writing, no character development, thin plot.
Annie Freeman’s fabulous traveling funeral. My DIL lent it to me to read on a cruise. If it had belonged to me, it would have gone overboard. It annoyed me beyond belief.
It’s so interesting to see how everyones tastes differ! I can’t remember what mine was called but it was a romance (only book on my goodreads with 1 star) – girl meets deaf guy who writes music and falls in love, he has a girlfriend already and cheats on her with the female lead. It’s just a mess. So bad. Wish I could get that time back lol
What didn’t you like about A Spool of Blue Thread, @Bonnie? I just finished it, along with An Amateur Marriage and Noah’s Compass. Anne Tyler’s writing style is sorta meandering, but I’m kinda obsessed with her.
Afterlife by Marcus Sakey. I thought this might be a good story as it was optioned for a movie by Brian Grazier and Ron Howard, but the story was long and boring. Frankly, I’m surprised I finished the book. I hung in there hoping it would improve, but alas, it did not.
World War Z isn’t an awful book but I could never finish it. Only book I’ve ever not finished… it was like reading a very boring documentary. And I love anything zombie apocalypse! ? so much disappointment. I tried SEVERAL times to read it.
I read the whole dang 1st novel for NO other reason than to be able to say with confidence, that this is trash. As a high school English teacher, it horrifies me that this novel was marketed to pre-teens as a “love story”.
The historian by Elizabeth kostova! Horribly dry and I was the only one of about 4 friends that was able to read the whole thing because I forced myself to lol plot was very anticlimactic
What about Kostova’s The Swan Thieves, though? The reason I hated The Historian is bc I loooooooved TST. Read it twice and listened to Treat Williams read it.
I’ll say this for it, it was vivid enough to stay with me. And it’s the only book I wanted to throw at the wall when it ended. I missed the Hamlet part until after I finished it.
I agree Priscille, the imagery was the only thing that kept me pushing through it. But I disliked it enough to give it to our neighborhood free library, and I NEVER give my books away. :\
@Laura, I loved her language; I loved her depth of perception; I loved her connection to her hawk; I loved her description of the natural world in general. I love all raptors, and hawks passionately. I also acknowledge it was a difficult book about grief and pain and loss, which are hard to live through, and her descriptions of her darkness were hard to read sometimes, but also deep, perceptive and profound. The PBS show featuring her and her “new” hawk was wonderful. What did you dislike about the book? (P.S. You have the job I always thought I should have had! ?)
Terry Brooks, Sword of Shannara, or Sha-Na-Na, or whatever it was. I still don’t understand why the Tolkien estate didn’t sue, not only for plagiarism, but for plagiarism by an idiot who didn’t understand how literature works.
@Ergene i did not like the characters and girl on a train was very slow for much of the book. Too much time on the train and not enough movement to the story.
The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans. The ending in the book was ridiculous. This is one of the rare cases when you should watch the movie and skip the book.
Movie was even worse. They wrote a book about how obnoxious it was to film called The Devil’s Candy: The Bonfire of the Vanities Goes to Hollywood. Film critic for the Wall Street Journal wrote the BEST expose about that book and movie. Her name, Julie Salamon. Reading it is like revenge for time lost.
Burnt mountain by Anne Rivers Siddons, the only reason I got through it was I was listening to it in the car and kept listening bc I couldn’t believe how bad it was.
@Nancy yes, she had Boy Scouts using cell phones in 1996, nope don’t think so and then the last page got supernatural and there had been none in the book up until then. She really had trouble finishing that book.
50 Shades of Grey, I felt like I needed a red pen in hand..those books surely had no editor. If it did that is the worst editor in the history of the profession.
Self published drivel that somehow became the book for people without taste. I’d go on a rant about it being abuse as hell vs real bdsm but that’s not a place I want to go
The worst books I did not really read, because I never got very far. The Celestine Prophecy takes the prize for causing me to bail out the earliest. Really hurt because I paid full price for the hardcover.
I had about 5 people in my book club tell me how great it was. I can’t believe I finished it considering that I usually give a book 50-75 pages and then quit. But, these ladies are usually right on. Oh, horrid. Worst mystery ever.
The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo; culminating a longstanding frustration with Scandanavian translations into English, which began with Smilla and her sense of snow :)…If Nesbo wasn’t so damn good, I scream at him too..lol
Perfect Touch by Elizabeth Lowell. It was on the NYT adult summer reading list in 2016 and I had never read one by her before. I gave it a *2 because I was feeling generous. I can’t see myself reading anything else by her, unless shipwrecked with nothing else.
Lord of The Flies. I had to read it in high school, I wanted to put it down and read the SparkNotes, but it was one of those car wreck books, you know you shouldn’t show down and look at the accident, but you do.
Bridges of Madison County! What kind of mother would leave her children with the burden that she didn’t love their father…only stayed with him. Because of them…had an affair … Keep it to yourself lady!
I enjoyed the movie. Much better than the book. Fascinating that this could happen in the setting and during that time period. Sad for the children but only happiness that women ever had in her hard-working life. She should not have kept a journal.?
Didn’t hate it hate it but it did drive me nuts with “the day of the bbq” I wish instead of that she would have used the date of that day ? glad I finished it though.
Allegiant (Divergent series) by Victoria Roth. So terribly disappointed in the ending. Several others I can’t think of, probably because I’ve chosen to forget them. Lol. ?
i enjoyed the first 2 as well. Had high hopes too. Very disappointing ending. Ruined the whole story for me. She shouldn’t have died. She was the heroine. She and Four should’ve been together in the end. A happily ever after. ?
Yes, I always hate when the main character dies! I remember starting Allegiant, wondering why Veronica Roth had decided to suddenly alternate between Tris and Four as narrators. I guess the tragic ending explained that!
My son went from being a strong reader to having ZERO interest in starting another series after he read that, I just didn’t realize it! We listen to audiobooks together and discuss them (like he and his dad are finishing up A Tale of Two Cities this week) and he’ll read gaming books, but I can’t convince him to pick up another series!
@Julie There are many great series out there. My kids loved so many. Yes, they were disappointed with this ending as well, but found others. Your son will too. Is he interested in mostly fantasy/sci-fi or more categories? Google teen book series, there are tons of great books out there for him. ?
@Julie I understand that. I have a 15yr old girl and a 18 yr old boy. ??♀️ & Yes. I’m experiencing that myself. I wish they were toddlers again! It was much easier! I absolutely empathize with you. ?
@Julie My daughter is a freshman and they just finished Romeo and Juliet, now on To Kill a Mockingbird. She’s hating this class. She only likes to read what she likes, and it’s not Shakespeare or old books. Lol. It’s been a real struggle. ??♀️
Twilight, hands down. I know I wasn’t the target audience but I read it to see what my daughter was so excited about. All I kept thinking was that I should mail the author a thesaurus.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Where do you start? Poorly written, one-dimensional characters, a gigantic book that could’ve been written in 150 pages. Poor plot consideration, manifesto-like, stupid theories. I hated it thoroughly.
I have this sitting on my computer tower at work. A friend loaned it to me, it is her favorite book. I just don’t have the energy too begin something that intense!! Can you (or anyone ) give me the cliff notes so I can give this back to her?
All main characters are blonde. Good people are all industrialists and rich. (And they smoke like Ayn Rand did! Eewwww) Her philosophy is that you must be intensely selfish if you want to get things done. And when you do. All the money must go for you alone. Society be damned. Even love must be a selfish exercise based on worthy accomplishments. And you should cheat or drop your significant other if you find better people. And you mustn’t spend a single moment thinking about your ex. Damn him or her if they weren’t blonde. Oppps! All industrialists should be blonde. All Gov sucks the life out of everybody. And the blonde industrialists go on a strike when they don’t get their way. They go live in a community nobody knows exist. The Gov can’t get them there where they are able to throw multiple wordy laden hissy fits! There is even a tirade against Robin Wood. And there’s one (blonde too) terrorist in the book who steals from the Gov and the poor to give it back to the blonde rich people on a strike! In the ‘real’ world. Gov cannot survive without blonde industrialists to suck the money off them. And industrialists come around and kill all the evil Gov people. That’s the book. Just as ridiculous and one-dimensional as all that. Hitler would be proud of Ayn Rand. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/atlas-shrugged/book-summary
I decided I should get off my lazy butt and look it up myself…. even the summary in Wikipedia is awful!
“Despite the risk, Jim and his allies at Associated Steel invest a large amount of capital into building a railway in the region while ignoring the more crucial Rio Norte Line in Colorado, which has been threatened by the rival Phoenix-Durango Railroad after the former began transporting supplies for Ellis Wyatt, who has revitalized the region after discovering large oil reserves. ”
Oh em gee!.
Yup, I’m giving it back with a kind “it’s not my cup of tea, but it really made me think”….. Think about what the heck they are trying to say!!!
@Staci The book is horribly written. Pure gibberish. Try the first chapter and go no further I say. Ayn Rand is horrendous. To think she had one of her followers as the head of the FED Alan Greenspan commanded US economics for nearly 30 years. And she is recommended reading by US Republican big wigs is one reason why we see so much rubbish in this world. I reckon she’d be a Trump supporter of the first order. I was absolutely disgusted by her. Dumb as dumb can be! 🙂 x
Probably the first, and one of the few, books I couldn’t finish. WAY to Republican for me, and also really BORING! I started it because I read somewhere that it was supposed to be the second-most life-changing book (after the Bible). NOT!!
Oh Good Lord. I read this rubbish. I wanted to cry when I finished. I should be an author… people write such rubbish and make millions. I reckon I could do better! Seriously! ?
We were forced to read it in my AP Lit class because my teacher was SUPER obsessed with it and preached the genius of the book, but . . . I’ve been reading classics my entire life and my literary instincts just rebelled against whatever Beloved was.
@Sharifah I expected a lot because the writer is from Princeton, and I want to go to that school. But I was heavily disappointed and very annoyed by the entire thing ?
@Bonnie Robert F. Goheen Professor of Humanities . . . I actually do like the humanities but there are other more specific humanities classes I’d rather take
Ergene Kim, Toni Morrison’s books are always slightly confusing to me. I got through the Bluest Eyes and reread for a better understanding, but Beloved was a burden I beared and would never revisit. And I still love Oprah in spite of the movie.
@Sharifah my friend @Kara disliked Beloved as well but read Bluest Eye and recommended that I read it, so I probably will and make my judgement on it once more. I agree that Beloved was a burden though. A burden I did NOT want to bear
Scarlett. I loved Gone With the Wind and was excited to start a sequel but it was truly awful. Poorly written, characters didn’t ring true, and the plot was not believable.
It’s interesting to see how many disliked 50 Shades. I tried 3 times to read it and just couldn’t get past 60 pages. Considering all the hoopla, I thought it was just me……..
I think I watched part of the movie but they sure ran the book to the ground in all of the schools I went to in high school. I read that book so many times I lost count. lol
Testimony by Anita Shreve. Such detailed sexual acts of children was very very disturbing. I can’t figure out why the author felt this needed to be described so graphically it was horrible. After the first few chapters it went right into the garbage. It was disgusting trash I will never buy one of her books ever again
Another one was A Ghost Story by Peter Struad I think his name is. Anyway, every character had generic names and the writing reminded me of something I’d have written myself in middle school.
Oh really? I completely enjoyed the Lord of the Rings series, and it is probably one of the only fantasy series that I like. However, I can see where you may think the story may get long and dragged out, so I respect your opinion 🙂
I tried so many times to love it, I want to, and I probably could if I really sat down and gave it time. I think it just lost me in a lot of areas. I respect yours ?
Probably the ones I was assigned to read in high school. If it wasn’t assigned, I would probably eventually choose it on my own later. I’m almost 50 now, and some are more work to get through than others. No worst comes to mind.
Can’t say it’s the worst, but I sure hated the book Jewel, by Bret Lott. It was so depressing. I could not find any redemption in the book at all. I don’t mind sad books (in fact, most of my favorites could fall into that category), but this book was a tragedy for nearly every character. What did all y’all think?
I do feel like I need to say that there are books that are terrible because of plot (which is why I chose Jewel) and books that are poorly written, for which I would offer the Twilight books. Terrible, lazy writing!
Dude. I can’t stand Sparks. His books are like a 1950’s Harlequin Romance novel and a 2000’s Hallmark channel movie that got blended by a sharknado and nothing good was left after all the bits were flung.
I went to a Prep school, and we had to read it in Senior year English class. I just remember wanting Everyone to Die after the third chapter, not just the king, ???
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The Shining by Stephen King. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Tough question because if I truly hate a book, I am unlikely to finish it. That said, in college, I had to read The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper. I tried but I found it quite a slog.
Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde. It started out great, but she seemed to have forgotten the vampire’s backstory twice and retconned her lore as she went. If you don’t mind inconsistencies, go for it but LORD.
Chop chop by Simon Wroe. I really tried and it took me weeks to even get half way through. Normally in that time I e read a fair few books. I just couldn’t get what the storyline was or where it was going.
I’d touch it with a barge pole, only to shove it deeper into the dustbin. I wouldn’t even recycle it because I wouldn’t want the thought of that crap being anywhere near good people
As I said I thought the story was great, real imagination, etc etc. I just found the writing style almost non-existant, I don’t know how to say it really. I have read childrens writing with more style, I know it’s a childrens book but I have read a few apparently childrens books and found much more soul, feel, and flow in the whole thing. I didn’t not enjoy them, and liked the stories, just lacked the literary nuance for me
Songs of the Humpback Whale; High Rise; Dubliners; The Shack; Tomorrow When The War Began; Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence; Come Home; Chaos (Patricia Cornwell); The Nest;. And I agree with many above (although I never read 50 shades….glad I skipped it)
Oh and ‘Holes’ by louis sachar. I had to read it back in high school, I hated it then and it still haunts me. Non existent imagination or creativity, writing style much the same. Fortunately I could go home and get lost in Lotr, or pratchett, or something with substance
The Torrents of Spring by Ernest Hemingway. Badly written, incomprehensible satire, but historically important. For Hemingway mocked his writing idol in this book and then followed it up with “The Sun Also Rises” and “A Farewell to Arms”.
It’s interesting how people’s tastes differ – a couple of my favorite books are on this list (Outlander and Dune). My three worst books I’ve ever read were Wicked, The Corrections, and 50 Shades of Grey.
Off topic a tad but please please (if you haven’t already) go on amazon and read the review for 50 shades.. There is this one that someone did that literally counts how many times what’s her face says ‘oh my’ or ‘ohh’ haha it’s like 300+ and then other people added their counts it’s hilarious. A lot of people actually just enjoy reading the reviews for the book more so than the book itself.
50 shades of grey. Not my usual type of book but wanted to see what the hype was about. Got to chapter 4 and confined it to the charity bin. I thought the writing was dreadful.
The book is terrible. No resolution, no good characters. It sets up a terrible thing happening to a child and then just rides on that horrible tragedy. I wound up throwing it across the room after I got close to the end. I’d love to get those wasted hours of my life back.
I know many people love this book, but I found the characters shallow, some scenes unbelievable, not ringing true… the book has a certain rythme, but the end comes as a fast forward and all gets bunched together, sort of like a copy paste. I don’t consider it to be good literature. But it is not the absolute worst book I’ve read. That would have to be « Fifty Shades of Grey », which was recommended to me by a woman sitting next to me on a plane. And you are right, I have been very fortunate on the whole!
It gets progressively worse as you read more, the first book did kinda suck me in which is why it’s so bad; you get invested and you have higher expectations, lol.
Finished it but it was hella confusing. Suddenly someone (not saying who due to spoiler) died and I didn’t even understand until suddenly there was a funeral ?
That’s hard because give up on ones I consider wasting life time. Also research my books on good reads so hardly miss. I will say death trade jack Higgins .. boring
I am soooo with you! W&P is spectacularly awful. I’m trying to re-read it, a chapter at a time, and my translation supposedly received high reviews, but it’s a hot mess, in my opinion. ??♀️
Susan Michel I absolutely loved that book and after, went to the theatres to see the movie. Then I read all the articles online about it that I could find. I totally believe that happened.
Agreed! That book was terrible. I pretty much hated all the characters and wanted to throw the actual book across the room about 5 chapters before it ended. Sadly, I’m a completist and finished it. The movie was far better and I rarely say that!
Okay I just remembered the A Portrait of The Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce, one of the only books that I have ever read that I literally couldn’t understand. That really sucked because I had to write a paper about it.
Watership Down. And I’m not sure why. I read it when I was pretty young, in elementary school and though I finished it, it.was.pretty traumatic. I’m going to.have to.reread it to understand and remember why.
To Kill A mocking Bird. Idk I just didn’t enjoy it, and I feel like schools need to introduce better books with similar purpose. This is way too backdated.
A lot of history in the Bible, however, I find it impossible to follow the timelines, so many people wrote it. I cannot understand the dialects it’s written in. Impossible for me to read and comprehend.?
Hey @Marvin, It was about 15 years ago now, so no chance of remembering which bible or who wrote it. Which ever one was in the Sligo Library. And ok, sounds like you know the bible, and if it wasn’t moses lived to 900, it might’ve said Noah. But book definitely stated this as a fact, and I’ll tell you now for a fact, none of em lived that long. At least not on earth.
The “what bible “comment was meant to be facetious. As for the bible, it is best read as a collection of myths. Both you and I know better to take it literally as a book of facts or history.. Read as a book of fiction, yes, it can be quite epic.
I never knew it was meant to be a book of fiction, now I know it is but if I wanted a book on fiction, I’d get something from Arthur Conan Doyle or something. Do all them nutty catholics know it’s a work of fiction?
I had to read Main Street by Sinclair Lewis for a lit class at the U of Minnesota. The prof apologized in advance but it was required for that class because – Minnesota. But, he was the guy who told us to read Jerzy Kosinski so it was worth it.
Yes, hated the ending! I was so angry at the author for the lame last few chapters. Arghhh. I adored the first third, raved about it to my reading buddies and then was so mad about the stupid scene on the beach. It was so implausible. I don’t think that I have ever been so furious with an author before. Lol
Like why do you not wear a tie on tie but one with a snap, why do you make sure that your ammo is not to close to your battery on your radio, for women why can’t your hair go below the collar of your blouse.??
Because if you are I’m a fight the tie comes off, the ammo in proximity to the battery has been known to discharge,and in fights men an women use women’s long hair as a pull-down weapon ???
Almost Moon by Alice Sebold. I felt that as a follow up to The Lovely Bones this second (third?) book was just terrible. It didn’t seem to be going anywhere and the main character was extremely unlikeable.
The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson
Also disliked 1984 and Fahrenheit 451
I am glad I am not the only person on the planet that didn’t like 1984 or Fehrenheit
Hated 1984 but loves Fahrenheit 451
I hate Fahrenheit 451 but my students read it so I have to slog through it and pretend it’s great every year. Blah
hahah you’re a great teacher ! Why is that book so important to read anyway?
@Gabriela I’m not a teacher yet. I’m in school and when I have my own classroom I vow to never ever ever teach a Ray Bradbury book (unless my admin says I have to). Lol! My job is providing assistance to students in any subject they need help with. English is my specialty though.
But to answer why it’s so important, it speaks to the slippery slope that is censorship. Once we limit freedom of speech or burn a couple of books in front of a library, where is the line going to be unless someone stands up and says enough is enough.
@Katrina you’re still a teacher even if you don’t have your own classroom! You help students ?
The ideology behind the book is interesting! Maybe it’s the way it’s written ??♀️
Fifty shades- I only read a few chapters xx
That gave me a headache. And I like naughty books!
I just couldn’t get on with it at all xx
The typos… and calling herself a goddess? Just no.
“She bit her lip…” Vomit! The writing was so bad and redundant.
Horrible! Couldn’t get past the bad writing. Badly needed an editor. (And technically I didn’t read it. I quit!)
Recently I read the Perfect Nanny. Dislike! I had to read catcher in the rye. I didn’t like it.
I hated ‘The Catcher in the Rye!’
I didn’t like it either!! Just finished it.
Really enjoyed Nanny. Loved Catcher.
James Patterson. I will never read anything he has written again
Ugh, me too! Every single character talks to you using the same tone. So annoying!
Catcher in the Rye and I’m sorry to admit it but Call of the Wild.
I just didn’t get Catcher in the Rye!
Catcher is one of those books best suited for a certain age (15-22ish) and was better 30 years ago. It now feels dated, but I recall liking it when I read it about age 16. When I re-read it in my late 30s, I didn’t have the same feeling at all.
Call of the Wild is on my list of Worst Books I’ve Ever Read too. SO boring.
The Host.
The Spy by Paulo Coelho
? I’m still so angry about this book
Why? I bought this not long ago and thought it looked good.
@Annette, it’s incredibly preachy. It seriously felt like he read Mata Hari’s Wikipedia page and then decided she must be the most deplorable human being ever. What I’m about to say could be perceived as spoilers but I personally don’t think so.
* * * *
She had the WORST early adulthood experiences and it’s like NOPE, those don’t cause her ANY trauma. She runs from an abusive husband and leaves behind her daughter, but you’d think she doesn’t care because she’s too busy doing whatever in Paris. There are records that show she wrote her daughter often, and tried to send them but who knows if she got them.
He name drops people for the sake of letting you know time period, like Picasso, but they hold no relevance to the story. They’re literally mentioned just so he can say she met Picasso.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Me Before You traumatized me. Absolutely. I finished it in like 24 hours and have hated it for years.
Twilight series. Read it in college after my friends hyped it up. Didn’t have the heart to tell them I thought it was garbage. Atrocious writing, no character development, thin plot.
Agreed!
Yup. Poor trash, poorly written!
Annie Freeman’s fabulous traveling funeral. My DIL lent it to me to read on a cruise. If it had belonged to me, it would have gone overboard. It annoyed me beyond belief.
It’s so interesting to see how everyones tastes differ! I can’t remember what mine was called but it was a romance (only book on my goodreads with 1 star) – girl meets deaf guy who writes music and falls in love, he has a girlfriend already and cheats on her with the female lead. It’s just a mess. So bad. Wish I could get that time back lol
Rebecca Heal yes! I agree that was one good redeeming quality and a really neat add on
The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson. So awful!
Something Borrowed. I read it on my honeymoon. Terrible book.
It’s a tie between the Twilight Saga and the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. I’m ashamed to say I read them at all!
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, I was trying and trying to find that deep philosophy in it and I didn’t. And Fifty Shades of Grey
Infinite Jest
The Road
Threw that book across the room when I was finished with it.
Agreed @Susan. That was a terrible book. I slogged all the way through it!
I got very tired of hearing them constantly congratulate themselves for being strong powerful women. Seriously, get OVER yourselves!
Shades of Gray.
Signature of All Things and A Spool of Blue Thread were terrible and Pretty Girls traumatized me for life
What didn’t you like about A Spool of Blue Thread, @Bonnie? I just finished it, along with An Amateur Marriage and Noah’s Compass. Anne Tyler’s writing style is sorta meandering, but I’m kinda obsessed with her.
@Denise I can imagine someone saying they didn’t like it or found it depressing, bur NOT saying it’s a ” bad book”.
Afterlife by Marcus Sakey. I thought this might be a good story as it was optioned for a movie by Brian Grazier and Ron Howard, but the story was long and boring. Frankly, I’m surprised I finished the book. I hung in there hoping it would improve, but alas, it did not.
World War Z isn’t an awful book but I could never finish it. Only book I’ve ever not finished… it was like reading a very boring documentary. And I love anything zombie apocalypse! ? so much disappointment. I tried SEVERAL times to read it.
I liked it MUCH better on audio.
Maybe I need to try that then.. ?
@Chelsea I couldn’t finish it either
It was an absolute bore.
I agree with @Leah, the audio was really good! I love zombies ?♀️ ?♂️
Fifty Shades of Gray suuucccks
Yup
Like a 12 year old trying to write a dirty book. So terrible!
The editor should be ashamed.
I read the whole dang 1st novel for NO other reason than to be able to say with confidence, that this is trash. As a high school English teacher, it horrifies me that this novel was marketed to pre-teens as a “love story”.
After being tricked by Twilight I refused to even glance at the 50 Shades books.
The historian by Elizabeth kostova! Horribly dry and I was the only one of about 4 friends that was able to read the whole thing because I forced myself to lol plot was very anticlimactic
Ah, I love this book! Just read it for the third time, lol.
I loved it too!
Oh I loved The Historian!!!!
What about Kostova’s The Swan Thieves, though? The reason I hated The Historian is bc I loooooooved TST. Read it twice and listened to Treat Williams read it.
I’ve only read the historian, haven’t tried any of her other books
I loved the historian
Room
I literally finished reading Room a week before the Cleveland kidnap victims escaped. https://g.co/kgs/2oKnG7
Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Yes
I DONT CARE IF IT IS HAMLET! I hated it too.
It was along way to go for a bad ending.
I was going to add this one if no one else had it listed. Hated it.
I was so annoyed with it!
I’ll say this for it, it was vivid enough to stay with me. And it’s the only book I wanted to throw at the wall when it ended. I missed the Hamlet part until after I finished it.
I agree Priscille, the imagery was the only thing that kept me pushing through it. But I disliked it enough to give it to our neighborhood free library, and I NEVER give my books away. :\
@Kelley you would agree with this I seem to recall…
That was hard to get through!
Edgar Sawtelle was pretty awful
Summer Sisters
Not one of Judy’s best!
I just couldn’t stand it.
I read that years ago…hated it. Haven’t read another one of her books since.
We were on vacation as I was reading it. I threw it in a trash can at a gas station. I NEVER throw books away. I thought it was pornagraphic.
That’s too wide a chasm for mr because I would give up on and not read it through???
Hannibal
H is for Hawk
Oh! Isn’t that funny? One of my favorite books! I love everything she writes (her columns in the New York Times are incredible too.)
@Lorien , I thought that I would love it. I worked as a park naturalist, am a science teacher and love hawks. Lol. What did you love about it?
@Laura, I loved her language; I loved her depth of perception; I loved her connection to her hawk; I loved her description of the natural world in general. I love all raptors, and hawks passionately. I also acknowledge it was a difficult book about grief and pain and loss, which are hard to live through, and her descriptions of her darkness were hard to read sometimes, but also deep, perceptive and profound. The PBS show featuring her and her “new” hawk was wonderful. What did you dislike about the book? (P.S. You have the job I always thought I should have had! ?)
Thx for ur awesome response. Will write when I can.
Among Strange Victims-hated it so much. Saddest thing was that it had potential not to be so.
Tie…The Twilight Series and The 50 Shades of Gray Series.
Vanity Fair.
Gone Girl
ME TOO!!! I still get angry! I felt so manipulated.
Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough. If I’d been reading a paper copy and not my kindle I would’ve thrown it against a wall.
I liked that book until the ending. Pissed me off! ?
Yes, exactly!! It was good and then turned into pure trash.
50 Shades series. I read them all because I tend to be a completist, but they’re just odious.
Yes, but I still one them. Poor writing. I just skip to the parts I like. Lol
Why We Broke Up and I just could NOT finish Red Queen
I struggled with Red Queen and it was an audiobook, couldn’t finish it.
@Angelica I rolled my eyes so many times! Lol
the last of the mohicans
Terry Brooks, Sword of Shannara, or Sha-Na-Na, or whatever it was. I still don’t understand why the Tolkien estate didn’t sue, not only for plagiarism, but for plagiarism by an idiot who didn’t understand how literature works.
Oh, just remembered Tess of The D’ubervilles. Not a Thomas Hardy fan.
Me too. Main heroine just irritated me the whole time
50 shades shades of grey
Atlas Shrugged
Oh God! I taught sophomores and they were enamored. Couldn’t wait until they grew up!
It’s one of those books that teenagers think is so deep, then they start paying taxes and realize it’s bullshit.
‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is my absolute least favorite, and I suffered through ‘Elphame’s Choice’ by P.C. Cast…. I found it in an airport.
I have to agree!! I suffered through The Catcher in the Rye thankful it was so short!
for whom the bell tolls
Me too
Seemed really boring and drawn out?
Behind closed doors was so bad, too. Such a ridiculous situation!!!
Burgess brothers, gone girl, girl on a train, my name is Lucy Barton
agree with you on Gone Girl & Girl on a Train
for both the books I honestly disliked all the characters
What were your reasons?
I agree with you on the first three so I’ll probably skip Lucy Barton!
@Ergene i did not like the characters and girl on a train was very slow for much of the book. Too much time on the train and not enough movement to the story.
Burgess brothers was very slow too. I had read a review that said it was going to be funny. Not funny at all.
The Alchemist
Yes! Forgot that one!
Agree!! I couldn’t finish it!
The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans.
The ending in the book was ridiculous.
This is one of the rare cases when you should watch the movie and skip the book.
Thank you! Sticking with the movie.
Platform by Michel Houellebecq. Self indulgent tripe.
Bonfire of the Vanities.
I hated Every. Single. Word.
Movie was even worse. They wrote a book about how obnoxious it was to film called The Devil’s Candy: The Bonfire of the Vanities Goes to Hollywood. Film critic for the Wall Street Journal wrote the BEST expose about that book and movie. Her name, Julie Salamon.
Reading it is like revenge for time lost.
Ha! I’ll have to check all that out now! Thanks! Worst book ever. Powered thru as part of bookclub. Which was made up of a lot of librarians.
I don’t finish if I don’t like do too many to list ??
Sometimes horrid fascination will get me through 50 pages or so.
Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby
I hated ‘The Catcher in the Rye,’ but loved ‘The Great Gatsby.’
Didn’t like Catcher in the Rye either
I hated Catcher in the Rye, and I read it in my 20’s, when it should’ve appealed.
@Denise me too, and I was pretty emotionally erratic in my early 20’s. Maybe it takes one to know one.
Loved them both.
I loved that book
Crime and Punishment
I don’t know, I didn’t finish it…
I’ve had a few of those!
The Writing Class by Jincy Willett
Burnt mountain by Anne Rivers Siddons, the only reason I got through it was I was listening to it in the car and kept listening bc I couldn’t believe how bad it was.
Not one of her best….but I did read it.
@Nancy yes, she had Boy Scouts using cell phones in 1996, nope don’t think so and then the last page got supernatural and there had been none in the book up until then. She really had trouble finishing that book.
safe haven
50 Shades of Grey, I felt like I needed a red pen in hand..those books surely had no editor. If it did that is the worst editor in the history of the profession.
It was self published, which explains a lot actually.
I agree if she said “wow” one more time I was going to flip
Self published drivel that somehow became the book for people without taste. I’d go on a rant about it being abuse as hell vs real bdsm but that’s not a place I want to go
I love the joke that if he was poor trailer trash it would be assault but since he was super rich it was sexy lol.
Yeah because money makes it okay. It’s kind of sad but true.
The Christmas bride by James Patterson. Horrible!!
Was it Patterson or someone else? So hard to tell with his stuff anymore!
@Nancy it was definitely someone else. Just had his name at the top. I’d be embarrassed to have my name on it.
@Shannon as long as he gets the royalties, he don’t care!
@Susan true. It’s still the worst book I’ve ever read. I can’t believe I finished it!
@Shannon i might have to try it, you’re making me curious!
@Susan I can send you my copy! LOL
My school text books
Atlas shrugged
I have 2! Old Man and the Sea and Watership Down.
I loved those.
I am with you on Watership Down
Me too! I don’t get why Watership Down is so popular with people! I finished it but hated it.
I loved Old Man and the Sea
Loved both, lol
Billy Budd by Herman Melville. Ugh
Alice in Zombieland
The Woman who Would be @Barb. The absolute worst!!
The Goldfinch
Too funny…I really enjoyed that book so much that I wanted to reread it!!
The Twilight series, The Scarlett Letter, Anna Karenina, 50 Shades trilogy, Eat Pray Love, 13 Reasons Why, Looking for Alaska,Pygmy, The Notebook.
The worst books I did not really read, because I never got very far.
The Celestine Prophecy takes the prize for causing me to bail out the earliest. Really hurt because I paid full price for the hardcover.
Eggers’s The Circle…but, to be clear, I quit in tears after about 100 pages…
I totally hated that book! It was so ridiculous. I can’t not finish a book, so I did read the whole thing, but I wish I hadn’t even started it.
The DaVinci Code
I must confess I hate Dan Brown.
But the Freemason thing, being id been around them first hand and met a lot of influential people, very different.
Just found it to be hokey and breathless with a bad ending
Oh definitely
Boring!
Couldn’t finish it and it takes a lot for me to give up on a book!
Found it sacrilegious. Started a serious argument at bookclub. There are some things to sacred to you with even in supposition.
Stupid autocorrect and phone that doesn’t allow edits….. “too sacred for supposition “
That would definitely start an argument
Under the dome
It’s one of my favorites?
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
This is on my “worst of” list too.
Wayfarer
Woman in cabin 10 is probably mine
NOOOO. This is in my to read pile. Really??
I had about 5 people in my book club tell me how great it was. I can’t believe I finished it considering that I usually give a book 50-75 pages and then quit. But, these ladies are usually right on. Oh, horrid. Worst mystery ever.
I’ve read all of Ruth Ware’s books and I’ll probably read the next one but except for the twist I think they’re all kind of meh.
It was just such a boring read. It literally took me forever to get through
In A Dark, Dark Wood pissed me off. The blurb on the front said that it was “so scary” and I waited and waited for some scary that never came.
@Michelina I felt the same way about it. So disappointing.
Well thanks for saving me time guys! Haha
Conrad’s Heart of Darness.
The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo; culminating a longstanding frustration with Scandanavian translations into English, which began with Smilla and her sense of snow :)…If Nesbo wasn’t so damn good, I scream at him too..lol
The Awakening
Perfect Touch by Elizabeth Lowell. It was on the NYT adult summer reading list in 2016 and I had never read one by her before. I gave it a *2 because I was feeling generous. I can’t see myself reading anything else by her, unless shipwrecked with nothing else.
the liar, was dreadful
Sword of Truth series and an indy published book
The Goldfinch/The Time Traveller’s Wife
Hated The Goldfinch- loved The Time Traveller’s Wife
Lord of The Flies. I had to read it in high school, I wanted to put it down and read the SparkNotes, but it was one of those car wreck books, you know you shouldn’t show down and look at the accident, but you do.
That one was hard for me to get through too. It was so disturbing. I also read it in high school.
I read it in middle school and my response was, “wow. So this is literature? I gotta read more literature!”
Bridges of Madison County! What kind of mother would leave her children with the burden that she didn’t love their father…only stayed with him. Because of them…had an affair … Keep it to yourself lady!
I enjoyed the movie. Much better than the book. Fascinating that this could happen in the setting and during that time period. Sad for the children but only happiness that women ever had in her hard-working life. She should not have kept a journal.?
@Sue that’s right! She should have taken it to the grave with her.
But the sex passages were something else!! LOL
Love Story. Erich Segal.
Horrible movie, too. Just yeccchh.
It’s on my list of worst movies of all time too
Sappy and shallow.
A Little Life. Not because it was depressing, but because it was badly written and unforgivably long.
Brave new world … I hated the story it was about people escaping there problems with drugs. I had to read it in high school
Same.
I would put that one on the shelf, and try it again in about 15 years.
Oh my gosh, that’s one of my favorites! Lol!
@Staci it was written really well. But reading is an escape for me. I don’t want to escape my world into a world with similar problems lol
I just love the diversity here! Every book hated is someone else’s favorite!
The Cabin and The Woman in Cabin 10. Hmmm…maybe there’s a theme there. ?
50 shades. All 3
I always wanted to count how many times Anastasia said “holy crap” like the author doesn’t know any other expressions
But that would mean re-reading and that’s just not going to happen ???
gone with the wind – first and only book I never finished – boring boring
Omg that is my all time favorite book!!
Forrest Gump
The Bridges of Madison County –
Yikes! “Guttenburg’s Apprentice” (Christie) and “Church of Marvels” (Parry), which was a real bummer because I was kind of hopeful for that one.
Eat Pray Love. Self-absorbed drivel.
I agree. It was recommened by so many, but I had the same impression you did and couldn’t finish.
Yes!!! Wholeheartedly agree!
Our Town that we had to read in High School
GOD, yeah. So boring!
I just finished reading that again after hating it in high school. I actually enjoyed it this last time.
Truly madly guilty by Liane Moriarity…
Didn’t hate it hate it but it did drive me nuts with “the day of the bbq” I wish instead of that she would have used the date of that day ? glad I finished it though.
Oh no! I liked it a lot!
@Debora I just couldn’t finish it…left it half way?♀️
@Shipra I almost did too lol
Lord of the flies
I loved that one
@Nick me too!
Allegiant (Divergent series) by Victoria Roth. So terribly disappointed in the ending. Several others I can’t think of, probably because I’ve chosen to forget them. Lol. ?
I agree! I loved Divergent, and had high hopes for the rest of the series; but Allegiant was awful.
i enjoyed the first 2 as well. Had high hopes too. Very disappointing ending. Ruined the whole story for me. She shouldn’t have died. She was the heroine. She and Four should’ve been together in the end. A happily ever after. ?
Yes, I always hate when the main character dies! I remember starting Allegiant, wondering why Veronica Roth had decided to suddenly alternate between Tris and Four as narrators. I guess the tragic ending explained that!
My son went from being a strong reader to having ZERO interest in starting another series after he read that, I just didn’t realize it! We listen to audiobooks together and discuss them (like he and his dad are finishing up A Tale of Two Cities this week) and he’ll read gaming books, but I can’t convince him to pick up another series!
@Julie
There are many great series out there. My kids loved so many. Yes, they were disappointed with this ending as well, but found others. Your son will too. Is he interested in mostly fantasy/sci-fi or more categories? Google teen book series, there are tons of great books out there for him. ?
@Kelly, he’s 16 and fighting me on everything right now. The Divergent series thing was over 2 years ago.
@Julie
I understand that. I have a 15yr old girl and a 18 yr old boy. ??♀️ & Yes. I’m experiencing that myself. I wish they were toddlers again! It was much easier! I absolutely empathize with you. ?
@Kelly We did Red Badge of Courage together and I accidentally-on-purpose got him hooked on Atwood’s Oryx and Crake series on audio, so I still win!
@Julie
My daughter is a freshman and they just finished Romeo and Juliet, now on To Kill a Mockingbird. She’s hating this class. She only likes to read what she likes, and it’s not Shakespeare or old books. Lol. It’s been a real struggle. ??♀️
Bridges of Madison County
I take it back”Silas Mariner” by George Elliott ( actually a woman). OMG that book was so boring.???
Marner. It’s actually pretty good . . .
@Rosanne agreed
One of my worst reads.
The Great Gatsby
But oh that Robert Redford in the movie was the best. Haven’t read the book.?
@Sue It is my favorite book, but many people in this book have said they don’t like it. 🙁
The best novel ever!
Fifty Shades of Grey. I couldn’t bring myself to read any more after the first volume.
I made it through the 1st volume too. That was enough for me.
I tried watching the movie to see what the hype was about and I couldn’t watch it anymore after 15 mins into it.. smh
I couldn’t get through the first chapter. Horrible.
The Secret
I had a hard time with that one too.
Confederacy of Dunces. I read 100 pages, twice and could not finish it
I agree!!! Not funny at all
Twilight, hands down. I know I wasn’t the target audience but I read it to see what my daughter was so excited about. All I kept thinking was that I should mail the author a thesaurus.
They were a guilty pleasure for me, I like the movies too…so corny but somehow entertaining! It did drive me nuts how she kept saying chagrin lol
Where the Red Fern Grows…couldn’t take the dogs dying
I will never forgive that book for what it did to me.
First book ever that made me cry!
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Where do you start? Poorly written, one-dimensional characters, a gigantic book that could’ve been written in 150 pages. Poor plot consideration, manifesto-like, stupid theories. I hated it thoroughly.
I have this sitting on my computer tower at work. A friend loaned it to me, it is her favorite book. I just don’t have the energy too begin something that intense!! Can you (or anyone ) give me the cliff notes so I can give this back to her?
All main characters are blonde. Good people are all industrialists and rich. (And they smoke like Ayn Rand did! Eewwww) Her philosophy is that you must be intensely selfish if you want to get things done. And when you do. All the money must go for you alone. Society be damned. Even love must be a selfish exercise based on worthy accomplishments. And you should cheat or drop your significant other if you find better people. And you mustn’t spend a single moment thinking about your ex. Damn him or her if they weren’t blonde. Oppps!
All industrialists should be blonde. All Gov sucks the life out of everybody. And the blonde industrialists go on a strike when they don’t get their way. They go live in a community nobody knows exist.
The Gov can’t get them there where they are able to throw multiple wordy laden hissy fits! There is even a tirade against Robin Wood. And there’s one (blonde too) terrorist in the book who steals from the Gov and the poor to give it back to the blonde rich people on a strike!
In the ‘real’ world. Gov cannot survive without blonde industrialists to suck the money off them. And industrialists come around and kill all the evil Gov people. That’s the book. Just as ridiculous and one-dimensional as all that. Hitler would be proud of Ayn Rand. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/atlas-shrugged/book-summary
I decided I should get off my lazy butt and look it up myself…. even the summary in Wikipedia is awful!
“Despite the risk, Jim and his allies at Associated Steel invest a large amount of capital into building a railway in the region while ignoring the more crucial Rio Norte Line in Colorado, which has been threatened by the rival Phoenix-Durango Railroad after the former began transporting supplies for Ellis Wyatt, who has revitalized the region after discovering large oil reserves. ”
Oh em gee!.
Yup, I’m giving it back with a kind “it’s not my cup of tea, but it really made me think”…..
Think about what the heck they are trying to say!!!
I couldn’t read it.
@Staci The book is horribly written. Pure gibberish. Try the first chapter and go no further I say. Ayn Rand is horrendous. To think she had one of her followers as the head of the FED Alan Greenspan commanded US economics for nearly 30 years. And she is recommended reading by US Republican big wigs is one reason why we see so much rubbish in this world. I reckon she’d be a Trump supporter of the first order. I was absolutely disgusted by her. Dumb as dumb can be! 🙂 x
@Sharron I read all of it. But wish I hadn’t.
Probably the first, and one of the few, books I couldn’t finish. WAY to Republican for me, and also really BORING! I started it because I read somewhere that it was supposed to be the second-most life-changing book (after the Bible). NOT!!
@Mindy Lucky you! I finished and I wanted to scratch my own eyes! I agree with you. It’s not a life changing book. Only life sucking! <3
The girl with the dragon tattoo
I read the series. Couldn’t put them down.
@Sue I can’t put down jo nesbo. Have you read him?
@Sue was so excited for Larson’s series but god, chapter after chapter of nothing happening, no progress being made. So disappointed
Have not read jo nesbo. Will look for him.
You, (C. Kepnes)just too creepy, base, struggled to p. 50, then baled.
The Celestine Prophecy.
Oh Good Lord. I read this rubbish. I wanted to cry when I finished. I should be an author… people write such rubbish and make millions. I reckon I could do better! Seriously! ?
Same here.
Me too. Awful.
Eat, Pray, Love
Yup….
Agree…
Beloved
Yeah.. The part with the cows…
Oh…. I did NOT like it AT ALL. I don’t know why everyone was so into it.
I didn’t understand either @Bonnie. I made myself read the whole book but wish I could take it back lol
We were forced to read it in my AP Lit class because my teacher was SUPER obsessed with it and preached the genius of the book, but . . . I’ve been reading classics my entire life and my literary instincts just rebelled against whatever Beloved was.
I had to read it for school and to pour salt in my wound we had to watch the movie. I wanted to like it, but I could not.
@Sharifah I expected a lot because the writer is from Princeton, and I want to go to that school. But I was heavily disappointed and very annoyed by the entire thing ?
@Ergene, maybe you should choose another school. You might end up with poor writing skills.
@Bonnie Fortunately I’m not interested in the class the author teaches! And there’s always the literature capital of Oxford in England.
What does she teach?
@Bonnie Robert F. Goheen Professor of Humanities . . . I actually do like the humanities but there are other more specific humanities classes I’d rather take
Ergene Kim, Toni Morrison’s books are always slightly confusing to me. I got through the Bluest Eyes and reread for a better understanding, but Beloved was a burden I beared and would never revisit. And I still love Oprah in spite of the movie.
It was horrifying, but I read the whole thing.
@Sharifah my friend @Kara disliked Beloved as well but read Bluest Eye and recommended that I read it, so I probably will and make my judgement on it once more. I agree that Beloved was a burden though. A burden I did NOT want to bear
@Ergene Let us know how that goes…
@Ergene I had to take my time with the Bluest Eyes. I liked it.
Something by Harold Robbins. I threw it in the trash.
The Girl You Left Behind
MOBY DICK!!
It was too much. I didn’t like it either. Not for me.
Same here!
Beloved
Freaking hated that book I didn’t even finish it just skimmed the ending for my class discussion
I had to read it for school too! Highly acclaimed confusion
50 shades ?
Duma key
Scarlett. I loved Gone With the Wind and was excited to start a sequel but it was truly awful. Poorly written, characters didn’t ring true, and the plot was not believable.
It was!
I knew better than to even try.
Twilight and 50 Shades. Unbelievably, both became best sellers and movies. ??
@Jessica
Let the Great World Spin
Really though.
I hated that Alaska book we did
I feel what I feel and I won’t apologize for it
Into the Wild??
YES. I HATED HIS PONTIFICATING
I had no idea you hated it that much lol also “Her” pretty bad
I often think about how much I disliked him. Him and the people from the book where they take a road trip
There is no worst books!
Forget Me Not…. author not worth mentioning. It was self-indulgent and predictable. Mostly self-indulgent.
The Great Gatsby.
I just did not like the main character. He bothered me. It could have been that I read it at the wrong point in my life. ??♀️
Marco Martinez lol. I’ll try. ?
It’s one of my favorite all time books about youth, naivete, & the inability to control one’s destiny.
Marco Martinez It’s a wonderful book. I catch something new each time I read it.
That one I loved!! Thanks ?
Twilight
A portrait of an artist as a young man
Finished? The Black Dahlia
Unfinished? The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates
Summer People by Marge Piercy. And Piercy is one of my favorite authors.
Warm Bodies, stick with the film.
Hands down the sword of truth series.
It’s interesting to see how many disliked 50 Shades. I tried 3 times to read it and just couldn’t get past 60 pages. Considering all the hoopla, I thought it was just me……..
To the Lighthouse and Unbroken
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
This may be blasphemous ?, but the 30 word sentences of Pride an Prejudice drove me INSANE.
Love the movie couldn’t sit through the book. Total snooze fest
It wasn’t the worst but I just could not get into “The Night Circus”
Reading it now. But having a hard time?
It’s weird but I like it.
@Agnes I’m pretty good at following a non linear storyline but I couldn’t finish it. It was beautiful written but also incredibly boring.
I couldn’t read that either.
50 Shades was pretty bad but it was so bad it was good.
Tried to read: A Clockwork Orange. Did read: Life of Pi
I felt like life of Pi was confusing, it jumped around a lot, but I was like 16 when I read it so idk if that changes things lol
Clockwork, much like Trainspotting, takes patience. Both are worth the effort, but the language is difficult.
Cloud Atlas
The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong
“American Psycho” by Bret Easton Ellis, which is a shame because I love the movie. 🙁
Same, loved the movie only finished 1/3 of the book.
Don’t bother with “Less Than Zero” by the same author. The movie was much better.
@Emmy he wrote Rules of Attraction too right?
Yes.
That was probably the most tedious book ever!
“The Turn of the Screw” just the writing was so confusing!
Heros of the Frontier by Dave Eggers – awful
The Notebook or To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mocking Bird is good but the movie is better. Unusual for that to be the case.
I think I watched part of the movie but they sure ran the book to the ground in all of the schools I went to in high school. I read that book so many times I lost count. lol
Testimony by Anita Shreve. Such detailed sexual acts of children was very very disturbing. I can’t figure out why the author felt this needed to be described so graphically it was horrible. After the first few chapters it went right into the garbage. It was disgusting trash I will never buy one of her books ever again
I love her books. I hope you will read other books which were great in my opinion. I don’t recall that book.
The Grapes of Wrath. Just hated it.
Another one was A Ghost Story by Peter Struad I think his name is. Anyway, every character had generic names and the writing reminded me of something I’d have written myself in middle school.
Peter Straub…and you’re right about Ghost Story..lol..but not as bad as the movie, which starred (believe it or not) Fred Astair..lol
THEY MADE THAT INTO A MOVIE!!?!?!
Yea…Melvin Douglas and Frec Astair..lol
Goodnight beautiful.
Forgot the author
Another one…. The Lord of the Rings series. I seriously can NOT sit through and watch/read any of the movies or books without falling asleep.
Oh really? I completely enjoyed the Lord of the Rings series, and it is probably one of the only fantasy series that I like. However, I can see where you may think the story may get long and dragged out, so I respect your opinion 🙂
Loved the movies. Forced myself to get through the books
I tried so many times to love it, I want to, and I probably could if I really sat down and gave it time. I think it just lost me in a lot of areas. I respect yours ?
Flowers in the Attic. Blecch.
Poorly written junk, yet oddly entertaining.
I so hated that book.
It was disturbing.
Read it when it was first published, at which point I decided that continuing to read a book hoping it would get better was a waste of time.
Eileen by Otessa Mosfegh & The Last Bad Man by Miranda July….ick. ??
Didn’t like Eileen by Otessa Mosfegh either. I have no idea why it was on the Booker Prize list.
Looking for Alaska or 50 Shades
The Manny – had to read it w a book club that didn’t last very long bc they weren’t readers.
Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor ?
A virtuous woman
Gone Girl YUCK ?
Dr. Sleep
Where do I begin…..
Divergent….sucked.
The first Sookie Stackhouse Book…..I could not get past her damn name.
Scarlett
Beowulf
I couldn’t read that.
Anything by Faulkner. I can’t stand his books.
johnathan livingston seagull
Fifty shades books…Stopped after 50 pages
Alas, Babylon. Maybe it would be different if I read it now but in 9th grade it was the most boring book I have ever read.
It’s a toss up between Flowers in the Attic, Atlas Shrugged, and Moby Dick.
Flowers in the attic is what made me become a huge reader
Sometimes what appeals to one reader doesn’t appeal to another. It’d be boring if everyone liked the same thing. 🙂
HATED Moby Dick
Yep, I read that whole series and loved it.
@Sarah I always say if we all liked the same thing, what a boring world we would have!!!
VC Andrews was my obsession in high school. I tried to reread Flowers in the Attic as an adult and couldn’t get into it at all.
The hearing trumpet by leonora carrington
The Shack.
Loved that book! ??♀️
An Xin ?
I thought it was beautiful.
I loved The Scarlet Letter
I couldn’t read the Shack.
Worst book ever IMO.
The Goldfinch.
Ooh I hated that one too!
‘A Soldier of the Great War’ (novel) – HATED IT!!! ?
Probably the ones I was assigned to read in high school. If it wasn’t assigned, I would probably eventually choose it on my own later. I’m almost 50 now, and some are more work to get through than others. No worst comes to mind.
Gerald’s Game, S King
The movie was so bad ?
Fates & Furies
Agree! It was pretty awful.
Aww, I liked that one.
American war
Eat, Pray, Love
omg yes
The movie was terrible too. IMO
yes it was
Wasn’t a fan of Big Magic either.
I didn’t like this one either. It was disappointing.
Lincoln in the Bardo
I listened to it which I think make a real difference
I could not finish Wild Animus by Rich Shapiro. So egotistical! Yuk!
Wuthering heights
Absolutely!
Life of Pi
Sorry Mom, Moby Dick – hated it.
Running with Scissors
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Can’t say it’s the worst, but I sure hated the book Jewel, by Bret Lott. It was so depressing. I could not find any redemption in the book at all. I don’t mind sad books (in fact, most of my favorites could fall into that category), but this book was a tragedy for nearly every character. What did all y’all think?
Most of Tom Clancy books. Too much explaining or reasoning too little actions.
The virgin suicides !
No! One of my favorites. I felt haunted after I read it. I can see though how it wouldn’t be for everyone, definitely had its own “style”.
50 Shades of Gray.
Centennial
Needful Things.
I do feel like I need to say that there are books that are terrible because of plot (which is why I chose Jewel) and books that are poorly written, for which I would offer the Twilight books. Terrible, lazy writing!
I did not like The Husband’s Secret, but I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority!
I didn’t like it either! I kept reading thinking there would be a surprise twist. Too predictable and boring!
I put it down. Keep thinking I need to finish it.
The ending just pissed me off. So I wouldn’t bother. ?
Twilight series. I repent the time I spent reading them.
Also Chetan Bhagat books.
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Catcher and the Rye.
Truth
I wanted to like it..And I very well hope you do!
The little Paris bookshop by Nina George and look who’s back by timur vermes
I didn’t like the Paris bookshop, either! I kept at it but was glad to hit the last page.
@Cheryl I struggled all the way to the end ?
Metamorphosis. Absolutely hated it.
I really liked metamorphosis but each to there own ?
This is the end.. it’s so bad I don’t remember the author
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris? Loved that one but might not be the one you disliked
@Tom oops it’s actually called this is where it ends lol
Angela’s Ashes
Anything by Nicholas Sparks
Someone either dies or gets their heart broke. Too depressing.
Dude. I can’t stand Sparks.
His books are like a 1950’s Harlequin Romance novel and a 2000’s Hallmark channel movie that got blended by a sharknado and nothing good was left after all the bits were flung.
Twilight. Or at least what I read of it. One of only two books I’ve ever given up on.
hopeless by Colleen hoover -_-
Sounds appropriate …lol
50 shades of grey trumped even bridget jones’ diary. And that’s said a lot.
I dislike intensely, Franz Kafka’s books!!! AND Marie Renault’s “The King must Die” TORTURE!!!! It went on forever about nothing!!! ??
You can’t be serious.
I most assuredly am!! About both. To which were you referring: Kafka, or Renault?
Renault. So much happens in that book!
I went to a Prep school, and we had to read it in Senior year English class. I just remember wanting Everyone to Die after the third chapter, not just the king, ???
The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman
Didn’t like that one either.
@Rachael I had such high hopes for it, too but alas…. ?
They Were the Mulvaneys. Very sad destruction of a loving family over ignorance and bias. I couldn’t finish it, too depressingly stupid.
Belle du Seigneur. Albert Cohen. Unbareable.
Matrix of creation I don’t remember the author
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
The Shining by Stephen King.
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.
My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Loved The Shining
I’ve read two books by Elizabeth Strout and didn’t like either one.
Amm any dean koontz lol.
Them look very bones.
It was a free book I downloaded somewhere. I don’t do that anymore. 🙂 I won’t slam the author. She was probably doing the best she could.
That almost sounds like it needed a “bless her heart” at the end. lol
Certain Prey by John Sandford
Tough question because if I truly hate a book, I am unlikely to finish it. That said, in college, I had to read The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper. I tried but I found it quite a slog.
By Ray Bradbury
@Karen I loved that one. Not as much as some of Bradbury’s other stuff though.
I had to read it my junior year in high school and hated it. Maybe I should try again someday…?
One of my all time favourites
What do you guys love/ hate about it?
Child 44 – Tom Rob Smith
Villette by Charlotte Brontë
OMG, I loved this book!
@Amber had to read it for school at age 15… I thought it was the most boring book ever forced on me!
Ah, there’s the rub. I read it voluntarily in my twenties. ?
Yhe Corrections by Jonathen Franzen.
Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde. It started out great, but she seemed to have forgotten the vampire’s backstory twice and retconned her lore as she went. If you don’t mind inconsistencies, go for it but LORD.
twilight series.
But I just loved them…movies were dfntly bad compared to d books ?
To the lighthouse by v Woolf
If it’s bad at 50 pages I stop. Too many good books to waste time on a bad one.
Toss up: Jonathan Livingston Seagull and A Passage to India. Both a major waste of time.
Don’t tell mummy by toni maguire?
Coralline
Life is too short to read a bad book. Ever since I learned that quote , I stopped reading books that I do not enjoy.
50 Shades of Grey
50 Shades!
Armada (by Ernest Cline), a kind of Ready Player One sequel
I liked it
Lincoln in the bardo. It was a painfully boring book.
Probably I’m the only one who didn’t like it but ‘Girl With Dragon Tattoo’
I completely agree! I’m just starting it, but I’m wondering if it’s worth finishing, I just can’t get into it!
@Emily not worth it at all. I threw it against the wall. It was so bad. Nothing happens
Finally my kinda people… before this I was the only one who hated the book ??
I did like the book as a whole but hated the ending
@Sharon I predicted the ending when I was half way through
I didn’t finish. Couldn’t get into it.
I respect both of those comments it fascinates me how different people respond to different kinds of books
Could not get past the first few chapters
I’ve tried to read this 4 or 5 times now. Get to around 200 pages and just give up. So boring!!
That first Jack Reacher novel. I got stupider with every page.
Chop chop by Simon Wroe. I really tried and it took me weeks to even get half way through. Normally in that time I e read a fair few books. I just couldn’t get what the storyline was or where it was going.
Gone girl
Twilight and on second place The Arrivals
50 shades. Managed 20 or so pages as it was a gift from a girlfriend. So badly written
Bleak House by Charles Dickens. reading it 3 years now. on page 120 of 340.
I too hated 50 Shades. So very stupid.
50 Shades of Grey. Utter amateurish writing and a hackneyed plot.
I read it simply because I loathe judging something without giving it a fair chance. Big mistake in this case…?
I’d touch it with a barge pole, only to shove it deeper into the dustbin. I wouldn’t even recycle it because I wouldn’t want the thought of that crap being anywhere near good people
I thought I could do better !
harry potter
I always thought, great story, writing no
Your reason?
Mine or Khloe’s
both ?
it wasn’t my taste in books
As I said I thought the story was great, real imagination, etc etc. I just found the writing style almost non-existant, I don’t know how to say it really. I have read childrens writing with more style, I know it’s a childrens book but I have read a few apparently childrens books and found much more soul, feel, and flow in the whole thing. I didn’t not enjoy them, and liked the stories, just lacked the literary nuance for me
I hate to be the harbinger of doom but I would edit your “flare” before the J.K. Rowling mob pop in and stone you for apostasy 🙂
@Chris i take your point, I’m going to try nuance instead, but I will put my helmet on for the duration
Nothing wrong with the sentiment @Harriet, you have picked the wrong flare. I think. It should be flair 🙂
Bit strong @Harriet 🙂 An edit would suffice!
Songs of the Humpback Whale; High Rise; Dubliners; The Shack; Tomorrow When The War Began; Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence; Come Home; Chaos (Patricia Cornwell); The Nest;. And I agree with many above (although I never read 50 shades….glad I skipped it)
Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology
Oh and ‘Holes’ by louis sachar. I had to read it back in high school, I hated it then and it still haunts me. Non existent imagination or creativity, writing style much the same. Fortunately I could go home and get lost in Lotr, or pratchett, or something with substance
Movie was better
Chopper Read’s books
The Hobbit, the entire 50 Shades abortion, Catcher in the Rye.
50 days before my suicide
Waldens pound in college
The English patient
Bridges of Madison County
Beautiful Creatures I couldn’t even get past the first chapter
Yuck! Awful.
Gabriel’s inferno.
The Marble Faun… ugh!
Gone Girl!!!!!!!!!!
The shack!
Agree, it was stupid.
Agree!
Oh no, I love that book.☹️
@Anindita bol
Tor ki?
The year I met you
Cecelia Ahern
Hai bhai same!!!
Vinegar Hill
The Bridges of Madison County, Girl on a Train, Outlander to name a few!
Hated outlander!
@Paula Thank you. Everyone else loves it! Thought I was the only one.
@Janet I tried to like it and yeah, I just didn’t. But that’s why there are millions of different books ❤️
Any James Patterson. Regret every. Single. One.
The Celestine Prophesy, the Da Vinci Code, the Kitchen House, and, of course, Fifty Shades of Grey.
Those are pretty bad ahaha
Catcher in the Rye
Agreed
I just read The Woman in Cabin 10 and it tops my “worst recently read” list for sure
I could NOT finish it! I was 3/4 of the way and and I said out loud…”Why on earth am I wasting my time on this!”
The Handmaiden’s Tale
Yes! I couldn’t finish this one either ?
I slogged my way through…wasn’t the worst. ?
Agreed.
It wasn’t my worst read but certainly one of my most boring ones.
Started it, gave up, but maybe will give it another try some day.
The Torrents of Spring by Ernest Hemingway. Badly written, incomprehensible satire, but historically important. For Hemingway mocked his writing idol in this book and then followed it up with “The Sun Also Rises” and “A Farewell to Arms”.
Lincoln in the Bardo.
Scarlett.
Yes, yes yes! I forgot how angry that book made me!
Fifty Shades of Grey.
Dune. And I had high hopes of it.
It’s interesting how people’s tastes differ – a couple of my favorite books are on this list (Outlander and Dune). My three worst books I’ve ever read were Wicked, The Corrections, and 50 Shades of Grey.
I rather liked Wicked, although I haven’t read any of the sequels.
The Corrections was my second worst book. It is the book that gave me permission to not finish a book no matter how much money I invested in a book.
I couldn’t finish Wicked. Glad I’m not the only one that didn’t care for it.
El Paso by Winston Groom. Pretty cover, lousy book. A dime novel in a 477-page format.
The martian
Billy Budd. Thank you HS English class.
I loved that from HS 10th grade required reading 🙂
Off topic a tad but please please (if you haven’t already) go on amazon and read the review for 50 shades.. There is this one that someone did that literally counts how many times what’s her face says ‘oh my’ or ‘ohh’ haha it’s like 300+ and then other people added their counts it’s hilarious. A lot of people actually just enjoy reading the reviews for the book more so than the book itself.
The Shack.
A friend of mine gave me this in 2010 and I have yet to crack it.
That would be my 2nd worst! Hated it so much!
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
50 shades of grey. Not my usual type of book but wanted to see what the hype was about. Got to chapter 4 and confined it to the charity bin. I thought the writing was dreadful.
Lady Midnight
donna tart the secret history
A bit slow pace but I liked it, well written
@Nadya its very popular but the only time iv given up half way through a book, bored the arse off me
Really a good read for me.
Noooooooo!
I tried to listen to the audiobook last week and got bored. Couldn’t finish it.
The Leftovers
The Hottest State by Ethan Hawke.
The Lovely Bones. What a waste of time.
I saw the movie. O M G it was sooo creepy!!!
The book is terrible. No resolution, no good characters. It sets up a terrible thing happening to a child and then just rides on that horrible tragedy. I wound up throwing it across the room after I got close to the end. I’d love to get those wasted hours of my life back.
I love it, personally.
@Sierra My feelings EXACTLY. Worse book I ever read. I felt the same way at the end, but you’ll always remember that.
Harry Potter
Tess of the D’ ubervilles ?
Gratuitous sadness. Felt like being punched in the gut for two or three days.
All the Light We Cannot See
My favorite book!
If this is the worst book you’ve read then you’ve been very fortunate in your selections.
I know many people love this book, but I found the characters shallow, some scenes unbelievable, not ringing true… the book has a certain rythme, but the end comes as a fast forward and all gets bunched together, sort of like a copy paste. I don’t consider it to be good literature.
But it is not the absolute worst book I’ve read. That would have to be « Fifty Shades of Grey », which was recommended to me by a woman sitting next to me on a plane.
And you are right, I have been very fortunate on the whole!
YA book red queen
Just returned best seller Lincoln in the Bardo to the library without finishing it. The book bored me to death. Maybe that was the author’s point!
I can’t see why so many people love this book.
My “best of 2017!!!!”
That’s bizarre to me, though people like different novels for different reasons. I didn’t like The Martian either, and everyone loved that as well.
I don’t read bad books. If it doesn’t catch my attention I stop ?
Christmas Carol
I just bought that book.
Paulo Coelho ‘Adultery’
Same
Gosh, he’s pretty good as an author.
I have that book. Haven’t read it yet.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Leap Years, a graphic novel.
Looks like 50 Shades wins the prize. I wouldn’t touch that book with a 39 1/2 foot pole.
It gets progressively worse as you read more, the first book did kinda suck me in which is why it’s so bad; you get invested and you have higher expectations, lol.
Or a 9” pole ?
The Hour I First Believed or Housekeeping. It’s a tie.
The World According to Garp. ?
Nooooo, loved Garp.
@Bonnie I loved that book too.
Saints at the River was pretty awful. I usually like Ron Rash, too….
I’m sorry, but Ron Rash? ? Sounds like a really bad porn name. Once again, sorry.
Love Ron Rash
me too
I was pretty sure that 50 Shades was not in my wheelhouse so I never read it!
The One and Only by Emily Giffin and Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King
50 Shades of Grey
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Writing was okay but everything else sucked
I completely agree. I don’t think I even finished it.
Finished it but it was hella confusing. Suddenly someone (not saying who due to spoiler) died and I didn’t even understand until suddenly there was a funeral ?
My husband and I read this recently and both loved it! We can’t get it out of our heads and keep talking about it haha!
The Isle of Dogs by Patricia Cornwall
I never finish a bad book! Lol
I don’t waste my time if I don’t like it. I e quit about as many books as I have read and that’s a lot!
It make me feel bad for the writer if i don’t finish them wish i could just stop when i know thats bad ?
That’s hard because give up on ones I consider wasting life time. Also research my books on good reads so hardly miss. I will say death trade jack Higgins .. boring
I don’t finish a bad book either!
Lives of the Monster Dogs. had to read it for college. ugh…
War and peace. Ugh
I am soooo with you! W&P is spectacularly awful. I’m trying to re-read it, a chapter at a time, and my translation supposedly received high reviews, but it’s a hot mess, in my opinion. ??♀️
Glass Castles by Jeanette Walls. Pure fiction posing as true story very badly written.
YES, hated it and didn’t believe it.
@Bonnie The mother!!!!!
I know someone who is related to the author. True story.
And I thought it was very well written.
Tripe
Susan Michel I absolutely loved that book and after, went to the theatres to see the movie. Then I read all the articles online about it that I could find. I totally believe that happened.
@Bonnie you really shouldn’t call someone’s life “tripe”
@Susan the book was tripe.
@Bonnie whatever.
Yes
Eat, Pray, Love. I couldn’t believe when I watched Oprah and saw women who had taken the same trip.
That book was a sham.
That book was bad.
I didn’t get to the end, I wasn’t enjoying myself and reading is supposed to be an enjoyable time.
Como entrenar tu dinosaurio -.-
I don’t read more than 100 pages of a bad book. I tried with The Pale King – it was brilliant but I couldn’t read more.
The Wasp Factory was just terrible
Gone Girl. Okay, that’s not fair. I never read it to the end.
I loved that book. But my dad hated it. Can’t figure out why.
At least you tried ! Hahaha
Agreed! That book was terrible. I pretty much hated all the characters and wanted to throw the actual book across the room about 5 chapters before it ended. Sadly, I’m a completist and finished it. The movie was far better and I rarely say that!
Oh, I agree. I thought I was the only one who hated it! But it’s not the worst.. it’s in my top 10!
I’m sorry…I know Eudora Welty is greatly extolled as an author, but I despised Delta Wedding.
On the other hand, I liked it. ?
And that’s why we are are entitled to our opinions…I kept reading and reading, waiting for something to happen…
I often really like books where nothing happens. I know, odd, huh…
@James not at all, if the characters, dialogue, observations, etc. are interesting!
Fifty Shades…DNF ?
I couldn’t either – the writing was awful.
“Beloved”…. too weird for me; “A Fine Balance”.
The first thing they teach you in library school, #2 and #3 certainly apply here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_laws_of_library_science
Okay I just remembered the A Portrait of The Artist As a Young Man by James Joyce, one of the only books that I have ever read that I literally couldn’t understand. That really sucked because I had to write a paper about it.
As a young man
Yeah that. I was blocking the title.
LOL – I was lucky enough never to have had to read it, and one look at the first page convinced me I didn’t want to try.
Crime and Punishment and Moby Dick. I skimmed them for Literature in College. It did not go well?
OMG Crime and Punishment, just kill me now???
I like Moby Dick, but it was definitely hard going.
I loved Crime and Punishment but it helps to be a young person buried in existential angst when you read it. ?
Scarlet Letter, 1982 and Farenheit 451.
Eat, Pray, Love. I read it as part of a book club I once belonged to. I felt every minute I spent reading it was totally wasted.
Love your comment, had to read it, with a gun at my head????
Haha! I never read it!
Watership Down. And I’m not sure why. I read it when I was pretty young, in elementary school and though I finished it, it.was.pretty traumatic. I’m going to.have to.reread it to understand and remember why.
To Kill A mocking Bird. Idk I just didn’t enjoy it, and I feel like schools need to introduce better books with similar purpose. This is way too backdated.
My wife only recommends good books……so I have really liked all the ones I have read.
I must have read one that I thougt was the worst, but I can’t remember the title.
And, Running with Scissors. Only book I’ve ever thrown away. Got to the rape scene and couldn’t stomach another word. Made me angry
The bible. The bit I read anyhow before deciding it wa a load of shite. No way Moses lived to be 900 years old. This is where I returned th book
Oh ye of little faith. The Bible is epic.
What bible did you read? According to Deuteronomy, Moses lived to be a hundred and twenty. Now Methuselah….
A lot of history in the Bible, however, I find it impossible to follow the timelines, so many people wrote it. I cannot understand the dialects it’s written in. Impossible for me to read and comprehend.?
Hey @Marvin, It was about 15 years ago now, so no chance of remembering which bible or who wrote it. Which ever one was in the Sligo Library. And ok, sounds like you know the bible, and if it wasn’t moses lived to 900, it might’ve said Noah. But book definitely stated this as a fact, and I’ll tell you now for a fact, none of em lived that long. At least not on earth.
The “what bible “comment was meant to be facetious. As for the bible, it is best read as a collection of myths. Both you and I know better to take it literally as a book of facts or history.. Read as a book of fiction, yes, it can be quite epic.
I never knew it was meant to be a book of fiction, now I know it is but if I wanted a book on fiction, I’d get something from Arthur Conan Doyle or something. Do all them nutty catholics know it’s a work of fiction?
Maybe you should be just the man to tell em, and the pope too hah.
It wasn’t meant to be…But it is. ☺
I couldn’t get through A Prayer for Owen Meaning. Anyone else?
I loved that book
Lincoln in the Bardo recently.
I must say there are some pretty fantastic “worst books” listed here. But to each their own.
Wind in the willow
Wind in the Willows is a classic, one of my childhood favorites
Have never been able to get into The Book Thief.
I loved that book ?
Listen to it instead
I loved that book, so beautifully written
The Giver….
Awe I loved the giver
@Kira I read it a few years ago. I honestly wasn’t a reader when I read it. I might try again
@Grace I read it when I was a kid so I might not think as much of it now. But I really enjoyed it when I read it. Very interesting concept
@Kira I read it in 7th grade. Right before The Outsiders which made me become a reader. ?
@Grace Hey, any book that gets you to read is a good book
I had to read Main Street by Sinclair Lewis for a lit class at the U of Minnesota. The prof apologized in advance but it was required for that class because – Minnesota. But, he was the guy who told us to read Jerzy Kosinski so it was worth it.
Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel. I truly hated it and only finished it because it was thankfully short.
a cliché…..Fifty shades of grey.
Along those lines… The Cinderella fairy tales by Anne Rice. Thought would be lite reading- didn’t finish and burned them???
The Sleeping Beauty trilogy? It’s definitely not a light read.
Sorry… got tales mixed up!! Didn’t like them!!
My first drafts
The Bible. First volume was alright but then the author started on a weird path and never came back
Couldn’t get through 50 shades
The conquest of rome by Matilde Serao
Cold mountain
Little Bee
Yes, hated the ending! I was so angry at the author for the lame last few chapters. Arghhh. I adored the first third, raved about it to my reading buddies and then was so mad about the stupid scene on the beach. It was so implausible. I don’t think that I have ever been so furious with an author before. Lol
Never found the pleasure in ever picking up a book that I never liked..
Cordelia Bedelia
Cordelia Bedelia? Is that an actual book? I’m familiar with the children’s books “Amelia Bedelia.” Hmmm
@Leah yes, your title is correct. It just goes on and on.
@Rad wow. Who knew?
@Leah are you the author?
@Rad hahaha, NO!
OMG the Police Procedure Manuel, when I was a rookie, not only read but be tested on the most arcane points. Aaaargh.???
Hahaha! You win
I’ll raise you teaching policy and procedures!!!
@Carmel Wow, that’s a tough one my wife is a retired head of Math Department, so I feel your pain.???
@Michael I think what we do on the job and what someone thinks outside of that…. 2 very different things!!!
@Carmel Excellent point,!???
Like why do you not wear a tie on tie but one with a snap, why do you make sure that your ammo is not to close to your battery on your radio, for women why can’t your hair go below the collar of your blouse.??
Because if you are I’m a fight the tie comes off, the ammo in proximity to the battery has been known to discharge,and in fights men an women use women’s long hair as a pull-down weapon ???
My microbiology text book.
Oh Bonnie I can only imagine the amoebas and synapses you had to endure.???
I hear you. Every statistics textbook I’ve found to teach class.
Almost Moon by Alice Sebold. I felt that as a follow up to The Lovely Bones this second (third?) book was just terrible. It didn’t seem to be going anywhere and the main character was extremely unlikeable.
Agree on that. I loved “Bones” & didn”t like almost moon even a little bit.
It’s gathering dust on my nightstand…so many books, so little time.
I thought her second book, Lucky, was very good, especially considering it was about an experience in her own life.
Dune is considered a classic in sci fi but for me it was raw torture. I also loathed The Old Man and The Sea.
Couldn’t agree more…on both! Ugh!
The Secret
Great Expectations and Fountainhead.
I liked The Fountainhead but I was 18 and an anguished art student. Dickens is another matter. No more authors who were paid by the word for me!
Atlas shrugged
I found it interesting