The Worst Books of All Time (4584 books)

The Worst Books of All Time

What do you think are the worst books ever written; the ones you least enjoyed reading. People may have differing opinions on books such as My Sister's Keeper, Harry Potter, Twilight, etc. Please respect everyone's opinions, even if you think their opinion is downright stupid.

all votes add books to this list

1	Twilight (Twilight, #1) by Stephenie Meyer 3.63 avg rating — 1,002,300 ratings score: 331,098, and 3,339 people voted	My rating:
2	Breaking Dawn (Twilight, #4) by Stephenie Meyer 3.75 avg rating — 473,150 ratings score: 251,080, and 2,555 people voted	My rating:
3	New Moon (Twilight, #2) by Stephenie Meyer 3.62 avg rating — 523,276 ratings score: 211,938, and 2,179 people voted	My rating:
4	Eclipse (Twilight, #3) by Stephenie Meyer 3.81 avg rating — 502,999 ratings score: 196,873, and 2,037 people voted	My rating:
5	Miles to Go by Miley Cyrus 3.42 avg rating — 3,197 ratings score: 136,535, and 1,396 people voted	My rating:
6	Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America by Ann Coulter 3.33 avg rating — 951 ratings score: 73,811, and 770 people voted	My rating:
7	The Shack by William P. Young 3.51 avg rating — 111,421 ratings score: 57,391, and 587 people voted	My rating:
8	Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought by L. Ron Hubbard 2.35 avg rating — 306 ratings score: 51,618, and 543 people voted	My rating:
9	Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert by Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation 2.86 avg rating — 128 ratings score: 51,111, and 539 people voted	My rating:
10	The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2) by Dan Brown 3.61 avg rating — 782,626 ratings score: 47,309, and 488 people voted	My rating:
11	The No Spin Zone: Confrontations with the Powerful and Famous in America by Bill O'Reilly 3.00 avg rating — 719 ratings score: 45,834, and 486 people voted	My rating:
12	Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price by Joseph Smith Jr. 4.60 avg rating — 10,636 ratings score: 44,744, and 471 people voted	My rating:
13	An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems by Glenn Beck 3.78 avg rating — 2,383 ratings score: 41,445, and 445 people voted	My rating:
14	Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus by Miley Cyrus 3.62 avg rating — 217 ratings score: 39,548, and 427 people voted	My rating:
15	The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama 3.68 avg rating — 31,762 ratings score: 37,871, and 395 people voted	My rating:
16	Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism by Sean Hannity 3.29 avg rating — 605 ratings score: 37,729, and 409 people voted	My rating:
17	The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials #1) by Philip Pullman 3.84 avg rating — 325,023 ratings score: 36,639, and 380 people voted	My rating:
18	An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It by Al Gore 3.73 avg rating — 3,057 ratings score: 35,075, and 367 people voted	My rating:
19	Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell 2.91 avg rating — 11,078 ratings score: 33,748, and 359 people voted	My rating:
20	Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism by Sean Hannity 3.32 avg rating — 498 ratings score: 33,645, and 368 people voted	My rating:
21	The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner (Twilight, #3.5) by Stephenie Meyer 3.54 avg rating — 59,129 ratings score: 26,506, and 290 people voted	My rating:
22	The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane 3.05 avg rating — 30,840 ratings score: 26,055, and 272 people voted	My rating:
23	The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3) by Dan Brown 3.44 avg rating — 111,712 ratings score: 25,858, and 271 people voted	My rating:
24	The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck 3.69 avg rating — 7,035 ratings score: 24,686, and 273 people voted	My rating:
25	Atonement by Ian McEwan 3.75 avg rating — 120,500 ratings score: 24,237, and 253 people voted	My rating:
26	Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 3.38 avg rating — 405,004 ratings score: 23,666, and 250 people voted	My rating:
27	Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier 3.66 avg rating — 58,953 ratings score: 23,522, and 247 people voted	My rating:
28	Evermore (The Immortals, #1) by Alyson Noel (Goodreads Author) 3.60 avg rating — 64,293 ratings score: 23,445, and 247 people voted	My rating:
29	I Want to Tell You: My Response to Your Letters, Your Messages, Your Questions by O.J. Simpson 1.92 avg rating — 74 ratings score: 23,311, and 256 people voted	My rating:
30	The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here for? by Rick Warren 3.63 avg rating — 32,912 ratings score: 23,244, and 251 people voted	My rating:
31	Scientology 8-8008: How to Increase Your Spirituality Ability from Zero to Infinity by L. Ron Hubbard 2.61 avg rating — 59 ratings score: 23,113, and 255 people voted	My rating:
32	Animal Farm by George Orwell 3.70 avg rating — 673,709 ratings score: 22,668, and 236 people voted	My rating:
33	Confessions of a Shopaholic (Shopaholic, #1) by Sophie Kinsella 3.46 avg rating — 219,490 ratings score: 21,996, and 234 people voted	My rating:
34	The O'Reilly Factor: The Good, the Bad, and the Completely Ridiculous in American Life by Bill O'Reilly 2.99 avg rating — 566 ratings score: 20,961, and 242 people voted	My rating:
35	Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 3.88 avg rating — 354,884 ratings score: 20,580, and 217 people voted	My rating:
36	Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy 3.60 avg rating — 48,512 ratings score: 20,426, and 216 people voted	My rating:
37	To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 4.19 avg rating — 1,013,117 ratings score: 18,995, and 205 people voted	My rating:
38	The Giver (The Giver, #1) by Lois Lowry 4.11 avg rating — 318,883 ratings score: 18,880, and 198 people voted	My rating:
39	Who's Looking Out for You? by Bill O'Reilly 3.27 avg rating — 642 ratings score: 18,600, and 212 people voted	My rating:
40	Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert M. Pirsig 3.64 avg rating — 45,071 ratings score: 17,878, and 191 people voted	My rating:
41	Interview With the Vampire (Vampire Chronicles, #1) by Anne Rice 3.86 avg rating — 141,237 ratings score: 17,674, and 189 people voted	My rating:
42	Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel 3.38 avg rating — 16,600 ratings score: 17,588, and 188 people voted	My rating:
43	The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros 3.48 avg rating — 31,672 ratings score: 17,544, and 189 people voted	My rating:
44	The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger 3.74 avg rating — 751,942 ratings score: 17,506, and 183 people voted	My rating:
45	Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 3.51 avg rating — 71,578 ratings score: 17,232, and 183 people voted	My rating:
46	Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 3.33 avg rating — 87,745 ratings score: 16,548, and 175 people voted	My rating:
47	On the Road by Jack Kerouac 3.64 avg rating — 89,663 ratings score: 16,526, and 174 people voted	My rating:
48	The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer 3.90 avg rating — 26,244 ratings score: 16,394, and 177 people voted	My rating:
49	Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield 3.70 avg rating — 6,704 ratings score: 16,383, and 180 people voted	My rating:
50	Bridget Jones's Diary (Bridget Jones, #1) by Helen Fielding 3.62 avg rating — 270,348 ratings score: 16,236, and 177 people voted	My rating:
51	The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank 3.11 avg rating — 69,727 ratings score: 16,143, and 175 people voted	My rating:
52	Dude, Where's My Country? by Michael Moore 3.31 avg rating — 5,723 ratings score: 15,985, and 176 people voted	My rating:
53	Glenn Beck's Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine by Glenn Beck 3.81 avg rating — 3,158 ratings score: 15,469, and 179 people voted	My rating:
54	Introduction to Scientology Ethics by L. Ron Hubbard 3.09 avg rating — 82 ratings score: 15,467, and 180 people voted	My rating:
55	Forrest Gump by Winston Groom 3.67 avg rating — 10,049 ratings score: 15,063, and 161 people voted	My rating:
56	The Shipping News by Annie Proulx 3.66 avg rating — 37,244 ratings score: 14,877, and 160 people voted	My rating:
57	The Pearl by John Steinbeck 3.26 avg rating — 51,688 ratings score: 14,589, and 158 people voted	My rating:
58	Quran / القرآن الكريم by Anonymous 4.29 avg rating — 9,495 ratings score: 14,278, and 158 people voted	My rating:
59	Holy Bible: King James Version by Anonymous 4.32 avg rating — 40,508 ratings score: 14,045, and 155 people voted	My rating:
60	The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve 3.37 avg rating — 37,850 ratings score: 13,924, and 148 people voted	My rating:
61	The Obama Nation by Jerome R. Corsi 3.38 avg rating — 273 ratings score: 13,153, and 147 people voted	My rating:
62	The Red Tent by Anita Diamant 4.09 avg rating — 147,423 ratings score: 13,006, and 141 people voted	My rating:
63	Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1) by Frank Herbert 4.00 avg rating — 201,967 ratings score: 12,413, and 137 people voted	My rating:
64	Portrait Of A Killer: Jack The Ripper -- Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell 3.30 avg rating — 11,015 ratings score: 12,130, and 134 people voted	My rating:
65	Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden 3.96 avg rating — 539,878 ratings score: 11,973, and 132 people voted	My rating:
66	Congo by Michael Crichton 3.32 avg rating — 43,219 ratings score: 11,554, and 128 people voted	My rating:
67	House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III 3.62 avg rating — 30,818 ratings score: 11,408, and 124 people voted	My rating:
68	Catch-22 by Joseph Heller 3.95 avg rating — 151,595 ratings score: 10,597, and 114 people voted	My rating:
69	Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein 3.78 avg rating — 110,763 ratings score: 10,556, and 117 people voted	My rating:
70	Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto by Mark R. Levin 4.08 avg rating — 2,052 ratings score: 10,536, and 126 people voted	My rating:
71	The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell 3.12 avg rating — 14,514 ratings score: 10,444, and 114 people voted	My rating:
72	1984 by George Orwell 4.02 avg rating — 600,333 ratings score: 10,310, and 111 people voted	My rating:
73	The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #1) by Lemony Snicket 3.72 avg rating — 79,607 ratings score: 10,308, and 111 people voted	My rating:
74	Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë 4.04 avg rating — 437,694 ratings score: 10,076, and 109 people voted	My rating:
75	Digital Fortress by Dan Brown 3.38 avg rating — 96,256 ratings score: 10,014, and 111 people voted	My rating:
76	A Wrinkle in Time (Time, #1) by Madeleine L'Engle 4.04 avg rating — 202,003 ratings score: 9,677, and 106 people voted	My rating:
77	The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 3.74 avg rating — 547,697 ratings score: 9,544, and 107 people voted	My rating:
78	Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 3.87 avg rating — 373,130 ratings score: 9,541, and 103 people voted	My rating:
79	Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov 3.79 avg rating — 218,653 ratings score: 9,525, and 106 people voted	My rating:
80	Anthem by Ayn Rand 3.57 avg rating — 37,844 ratings score: 9,503, and 110 people voted	My rating:
81	The Nanny Diaries (Nanny #1) by Emma McLaughlin (Goodreads Author) 3.26 avg rating — 170,638 ratings score: 9,501, and 108 people voted	My rating:
82	Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential by Joel Osteen 3.86 avg rating — 3,059 ratings score: 9,480, and 116 people voted	My rating:
83	Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked Years, #1) by Gregory Maguire 3.39 avg rating — 204,309 ratings score: 9,402, and 101 people voted	My rating:
84	Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville 2.91 avg rating — 5,401 ratings score: 9,370, and 102 people voted	My rating:
85	Hannibal (Hannibal Lecter, #3) by Thomas Harris 3.43 avg rating — 18,793 ratings score: 9,338, and 105 people voted	My rating:
86	Love Story by Erich Segal 3.48 avg rating — 14,504 ratings score: 9,305, and 106 people voted	My rating:
87	The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey 3.80 avg rating — 41,820 ratings score: 9,301, and 108 people voted	My rating:
88	Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell 3.75 avg rating — 86,743 ratings score: 8,993, and 96 people voted	My rating:
89	Wizard's First Rule (Sword of Truth, #1) by Terry Goodkind 4.10 avg rating — 45,772 ratings score: 8,929, and 98 people voted	My rating:
90	A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce 3.54 avg rating — 38,697 ratings score: 8,826, and 96 people voted	My rating:
91	Ulysses by James Joyce 3.72 avg rating — 27,230 ratings score: 8,781, and 97 people voted	My rating:
92	Le Divorce by Diane Johnson 2.70 avg rating — 2,449 ratings score: 8,470, and 97 people voted	My rating:
93	Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 3.94 avg rating — 525,962 ratings score: 8,360, and 93 people voted	My rating:
94	The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner 3.82 avg rating — 49,190 ratings score: 8,118, and 89 people voted	My rating:
95	Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, #1) by Orson Scott Card 4.22 avg rating — 256,563 ratings score: 8,049, and 89 people voted	My rating:
96	The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd 3.88 avg rating — 423,939 ratings score: 7,845, and 89 people voted	My rating:
97	The Awakening by Kate Chopin 3.58 avg rating — 49,689 ratings score: 7,843, and 88 people voted	My rating:
98	Deception Point by Dan Brown 3.46 avg rating — 102,784 ratings score: 7,747, and 90 people voted	My rating:
99	The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen 3.67 avg rating — 46,469 ratings score: 7,677, and 87 people voted	My rating:
100	The Bible Code by Michael Drosnin 2.71 avg rating — 812 ratings score: 7,674, and 91 people voted	My rating:

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4,584 books · 11,651 voters · list created May 20th, 2008 by Michael Economy (votes) .

Tags: abominable, abomination, awful, bad, disgusting, dislike, disliked, hated, horrendous, loathed, resented, worst

like 44 likes

Lists are re-scored approximately every 500 seconds.

People Who Voted On This List (11651)

Michael
347 books
145 friends

Elizabeth
1300 books
1057 friends

Otis
601 books
1497 friends

Alfonso
393 books
146 friends

Rena
157 books
29 friends

Cynthia
2360 books
233 friends

Ruth
2119 books
232 friends

Suziqoregon
762 books
82 friends

More voters…

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Comments (showing 1-50 of 2,077) (2077 new)

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message 1: by Jason (new)

Jun 23, 2008 04:19pm

um...
the grapes of wrath?...
absalom! absalom!...?
WUTHERING HEIGHTS!?!?...

i don't understand...

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message 2: by JG (The Introverted Reader) (new)

Jun 23, 2008 10:05pm

Anyone else notice how many of these were probably required reading for high school English classes? Coincidence? I know 3 of the 7 I voted on were required reading for me.

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message 3: by S.G (last edited Jun 25, 2008 08:28am) (new)

Jun 25, 2008 08:23am

I'm with Jason and Lisa, with no standards for rating a book on GR, (Imp. the biggest drawback on GR at present). These lists are pure hype with no base and make no sense.

The easy to find category POPULAR of the total ratings make a whole lot more sense. There I think the truth of how GR members feel about the books they read lays.

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message 4: by Wifey (last edited Jun 25, 2008 08:35am) (new)

Jun 25, 2008 08:35am

To Lisa-
I read it. I'm a conservative and a Texan, which puts me pretty far right, but I have enough sense to fact check the footnotes. It appears that Ann's readership and her publishers do not.

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message 5: by Darcy (new)

Jun 25, 2008 02:51pm

a lot of the books are some of my favorite books of all time and I think this list is a bunch of crap. Twilight for one is a wonderful book and I loved it so much I read the series twice. A great and terrible beauty is another great book and the series, while it takes some time to get into, is totally worth readin in the end. And are you seriously telling me that the grapes of wrath and pride and prejudice are 2 of the worst books ever written? Whoever made this list may have a couple things right but the rest of the list is complete shit. Thats just my opinion but coming from someone who has a passion for reading and doesn't do it just becuase my teacher or proffessor told me to I think I might know what I'm talking about.

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message 6: by David (new)

Jun 26, 2008 10:44am

"Smart guy" knocks big sellers, Oprah's book club, en vogue lit, and even Pynchon, Fitzgerald, Faulkner and Golding. What an incoherent, silly list. I regret having bothered to read it.

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message 7: by Suzanne (new)

Jun 26, 2008 12:52pm

Some of my very favorites are on this list...but it is a free country. This is art, and like all forms of artistic expression, beauty can be in the eye of the beholder.

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message 8: by Amanda (new)

Jun 26, 2008 06:29pm

It's perfectly okay to not like any book you want, but I defend my assertion that The Bridges of Madison County is the worst book ever printed. It was so bad I wanted to smack the author for allowing trees to be cut down to make paper to print his execreble excuse for a book. The story was crap, the writing was crap. That there are people out there who thought this was ROMANTIC is astounding to me. IT WAS GARBAGE.

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message 9: by Patty (new)

Jun 26, 2008 07:34pm

I love the diversity of people. Some of these books I thought were okay, some I disliked but can't say they were the worst ever written and some I actually liked a lot. It's what makes a list like this work, different opinions, different life events that influence those opinions. It's great!

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message 10: by Sharon (new)

Jun 27, 2008 09:33am

The list was just opinion. Every one has their lists of favorites. I like a lot of the books on this list, but some of them are real crap. Funny how a lot of them were required reading in school...and that may be why they were disliked. Honestly, Tess of the D'Urbervilles was PAINFUL reading in 9th grade, as was the 'classic' Of Mice and Men. My memories of those books are not fond ones.
Each has their own opinion, and the list is interesting. Many of the "Oprah" books are on this list, which is amusing to me. There have only been about 3 books on her "bookclub" that are really worth a read to me. I often wonder if Oprah actually reads the books before choosing them. A large majority of her choices are CRAP. But again, we all have different tastes.

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message 11: by JG (The Introverted Reader) (new)

Jun 30, 2008 05:54am

It sounds like some people think this is one person's list. It's not. One person started the list and then the rest of us voted for the books we hate. The higher we place the book on our own mini lists and the more votes a book gets, the higher a book is placed on the main list. If you're unhappy with some of the choices other people have made for this list, go add the books to other more positive lists. It's all pretty democratic. If you look closely, a lot of books show up on both the "Worst books of all time" list and the "Best books ever" lists. Everyone's entitled to his or her own opinion.

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message 12: by Jacek (new)

Jul 01, 2008 05:04am

Ender's Game and Dune on this list? This list looks soooo not convincing.

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message 13: by Elizabeth (new)

Jul 01, 2008 10:19pm

This list is AWFUL! Some of the greatest books on earth ever written are on that list, everyone may be entitled to their own opinion, but some people's opinions are inconceivably, WRONG.

The people who added some of those books have a warped sense of what good writing is.

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message 14: by Galia (last edited Jul 02, 2008 06:33pm) (new)

Jul 02, 2008 06:31pm

definitely this list is the worst idea of what is bad!

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message 15: by Lisa (new)

Jul 03, 2008 06:06am

I'm not sure how some of these books could ever be picked as the worst books ever. And it is totally a specific political edge here, none of the horrible liberal/democrat books seem to be listed.

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message 16: by Laura (last edited Jul 05, 2008 08:31pm) (new)

Jul 05, 2008 05:20pm

In point of fact, Lisa, several of the so-called "liberal/democrat" books are listed. Of course, I think you listed most of them yourself (maybe that tells you something?), but they are listed.

I'm curious, btw: Could you explain the basis for your opinion that An Inconvenient Truth is one of the worst books ever written? I'm really curious about the reasoning supporting that view. Is it because you think that book is scientifically unsound, or because of something else?

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message 17: by deleted member (new)

Jul 08, 2008 10:07am

Wow, these are the worst books of all time? Seriously?

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message 18: by Eliza (new)

Jul 09, 2008 10:32pm

The da vinci code is probably one of the worst books.
no one has ever read it. only bragged about how good it was "because tom hanks was in the movie, and tom hanks did forrest gump, so that has to mean it's good, because forrest couldn't do stupid movies after that."
puhhlease. a book based on a supposed "non fiction" story and the chances of that ever happening are slim to none.

but i do have to say the great gatsby is probably the best book i've ever read. so obviously the creator of this list is blind to literary genius.

maybe someone should create a dumbest persons list of the 20th century. because the creator would definitely rank between a politician and a priest.

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message 19: by Laura (new)

Jul 14, 2008 06:55pm

Eliza, there is no "creator" of the list. Many people have added books to the list -- anyone can do so and many people have. So the list has a "creator" only in the same sense that, say, the Empire State Building had a construction worker.

For reasons unclear to me, this fact seems to be hard for many people to grasp. Maybe someone can explain it to me?

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message 20: by Garrett (new)

Jul 15, 2008 06:50am

What is up with this list, it's complete bogus, it needs revamping, somethings not right here...you get the picture goodreads.

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message 21: by Michael (new)

Jul 17, 2008 05:09pm

the question is not: how many of my favorite books are on the list?

its more: how many books that i voted on are other peoples favorites?

i do think its awesome how like 80% of the books on there are required school reading

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message 22: by AJ (new)

Jul 21, 2008 11:15am

People generally don't think things through (myself included). I really liked your "empire building / construction worker analogy. A similar explanation ought to be posted by the Listopia logo.
It's pretty interesting that people naturally want to blame a "creator".

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message 23: by Jeremy (new)

Jul 21, 2008 01:47pm

This list should be called: "Books I had to read in high school but didn't like at the time."

The Great Gatsby? Really? Catcher in the Rye? It like people just thought of books they'd heard of and listed them.

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message 24: by Kellyjean (new)

Jul 22, 2008 03:13pm

So almost all of my favorite books are on this list :) Next time I need to find a good book, I'm going to check out this list :)

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message 25: by Theresa (new)

Jul 25, 2008 03:00am

I'm new here so I don't know how this list works, but I have to disagree with most of the choices.

Of course, I tried to counter the "bad list" vote by pressing the "vote" button thinking that it would give me a choice of clicking "yes" this deserves to be here, or "no" these people are crazy and it should not be on this list. Ooops!

I guess that's not what that button is for :-/

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message 26: by JG (The Introverted Reader) (new)

Jul 25, 2008 08:44pm

Theresa, I'm pretty sure that if you click where it now say "voted", you can undo your vote.

If you want to counteract the votes a book received on this list, go vote for that book on another list like "Best Books Ever" or something appropriate like that.

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message 27: by Linda (new)

Jul 26, 2008 09:13pm

I just find it hilarious that some of the books on this list are ALSO on the BEST Books List. Just goes to show that it's a matter of taste. Come on people - the BIBLE??? Even if you don't believe what is written there, the literary and historical value alone excludes it from a list of bad books!

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message 28: by Kara (new)

Jul 28, 2008 02:44pm

It amazing that some of these books are also considered timeless classics...maybe these books were a little over over people's heads in high school. Trust me, they are much better (and understandable) as an adult!!

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message 29: by Aparna (new)

Jul 29, 2008 03:35am

This is unfair.....
No Danielle Steele OR RL Stine or the "Silhoutte" series!! :-p

According to me, half these books seem to be here as a "challenge" to vote against good, enriching books.... and people who HAVE voted on this list would probably be those who think it "radical" to oppose solid, fundamental writing skills. (I exclude Theresa :-) )

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message 30: by Tams (last edited Jul 29, 2008 06:24am) (new)

Jul 29, 2008 06:21am

I'm totally agreeing with Kellyjean. But maybe that is just because I love to read a book and think of how dumb some people must be to be afraid of another person's imagination. I mean come on people. Are you really afraid of free thought? Truthfully, I'm surprised that none of Anne Rice's "Beauty" series, or something along those lines is on here. Then it could truly read like a list of my favorites! Pathetic.

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message 31: by Marla (new)

Jul 29, 2008 01:49pm

this is a joke, right? most of these books are great. i hope all goodreads members vote so we can get some perspective, for god's sake.

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message 32: by Maggie (new)

Jul 29, 2008 02:41pm

People are clearly voting against books out of spite, or out of some misguided attempt to claim their own unconventional/nonconformist taste. Just because you didn't like reading classic novels in school doesn't mean they are the worst books of all time.

I totally agree with Jeremy's comment below: this list should be renamed "books I was forced to read but was too immature/busy/stupid to understand or enjoy"

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message 33: by Dimitra (new)

Jul 29, 2008 08:57pm

The Da Vinci Code?

Seriously... are there really that many Catholic extremists out here?

I do agree with some of the choices like "Go Ask Alice" for example (I never really understood that one), but "A Child Called 'It'? "American Psyco? Heck... even The Giving Tree!

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message 34: by Jason (new)

Jul 29, 2008 10:54pm

checked in on this list for the second time and it still makes about as much sense as the best books list...

i really don't understand who is doing the voting for these books...
and i certainly don't understand the reasoning behind them...
it's really very disappointing...something like this should be taken seriously...

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message 35: by Nikki (new)

Jul 30, 2008 04:25am

"It amazing that some of these books are also considered timeless classics...maybe these books were a little over over people's heads in high school. Trust me, they are much better (and understandable) as an adult!"

...No, dear, I'm voting based on whether I liked the books. Sorry if that stings, but to my tastes, Pride and Prejudice sucked. It's not like the book is over my head, I just don't like it.

P.S. I read a lot of classics when I was eleven and loved them. Quit being patronising, hmmmmm?

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message 36: by Nikki (new)

Jul 30, 2008 04:27am

I think people are voting based on whether they liked the books, not on their perceived literary/historical value in educated circles. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as people realise that -- just as there's nothing wrong with someone giving a book only one star because they personally didn't get on with it.

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message 37: by Jason (new)

Jul 30, 2008 08:25am

Clearly, some users are defining a bad book as one in which its characters suffer tragedy and/or die. Perhaps these books may qualify for a "saddest books ever" award instead.

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message 38: by Laura (new)

Jul 30, 2008 11:05am

Dimitra, you really don't understand why "A Child Called It" is on the list? What's not to understand?

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message 39: by Jonas (new)

Jul 30, 2008 01:59pm

This list is all over the place. Really lame.

If you look at the people who voted for some of the 'good ones' you'll notice that they voted it "1 out of 1" their worst book ever. Obviously, they had a bad emotional reaction to it or something and decided to lash out by posting it here. That's too bad, because I would have hoped that this list would reflect the good taste of us bibliophiles (that includes all of us) and be comprised of the truly tacky and horrible. Like Anne Coulter's books, for example.

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message 40: by Heather (new)

Jul 30, 2008 02:19pm

What are some of you people smoking? Some of my favorite books (and Best Sellers!) are on this list. Tough crowd!

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message 41: by Nikki (new)

Jul 30, 2008 02:40pm

I've said it before and I'll say it again... just because you like something doesn't mean everyone does. And just because something's a classic or a bestseller doesn't mean you have to like it.

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message 42: by Carol (new)

Jul 30, 2008 02:49pm

I'm sorry, but I just don't get this list. How can we take a 'worst book' list seriously that has Catcher in the Rye, One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Scarlet Letter on it? I mean, really! I understand that some people hate Harry Potter, and I don't have a problem with that, but just because you happen to not like a book that is a classic, doesn't mean that it is a bad book. Honestly - Don Quixiote?? There is a reason that it has been read for CENTURIES.

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message 43: by Brittany (new)

Jul 30, 2008 04:45pm

I may be a kid, but I have read a few books on this list. And most of them were pretty good. I mean, 'The Giving Tree?' That's a childhood classic! How is THAT the worst book ever?

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message 44: by Michael (new)

Jul 30, 2008 05:03pm

I don't know if this book was ever actually published by Llewellyn; I was originally commissioned to do the cover illustration. So I go to read the original manuscript. Years later it still sticks in my mind as the worst written and poorest ploted book with bad prose and terrible dialogue and charactered developement that I have ever read.

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message 45: by Kristin (new)

Jul 30, 2008 05:14pm

Pride and Prejudice? The Great Gatsby? The Grapes of Wrath?

all classics and some of the books here are on the Modern Library Top 100 which proves that your list is stupid and uninformed. What a waste of time.

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message 46: by Debbie (new)

Jul 30, 2008 05:34pm

Agreed that including time-proven classics on a list of "worst books ever" just makes Goodreads look ignorant and illiterate. Clearly many of these books are NOT the worst books ever or people wouldn't have enjoyed them through the decades and centuries. However, A Million Little Pieces got my vote - I couldn't even finish it. Aside from the fact that the author made a lot of it up, I'm sick of drug addicts and criminals thinking their stories contribute anything at all to the world.

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message 47: by Kelsey (last edited Jul 30, 2008 06:01pm) (new)

Jul 30, 2008 06:00pm

Either you people are crazed psycho-maniacs, or this list was made by some egotistical, conceited, not well read person who reads only during a small portion of the day. I, however, read at least three hours a day and some of my favorite books appear on this list. My Sisters Keeper? The Five People You Meet In Heaven? Harry Potter? Anne Frank? Tuesdays With Morrie? The Giving Tree? Twilight? And that's only off the first page! I think maybe some people are judging books on whether or not they liked them. Instead, we should judge them on whether or not they are a good piece of writing, and whether or not they are destined to be a classic, like we learned about in my Honors English class, taught by the most wonderful English teacher in the world, Mrs. Bartholow. So please, try to not be opinionated, and only judge the writing.

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message 48: by Karen (new)

Jul 30, 2008 06:45pm

I am finding it hard to vote on alot of that list as I really haven't read alot so I am going to base alot of it on the stuff i have read and reallywasn't impressed with.

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message 49: by Terri (new)

Jul 31, 2008 06:54am

I have to admit that I have read a lot of these books, and even though some, Like Pride& Prejudice and Catcher in the Rye, I didnt care much for, I didnt think they were the WOrst books of all time. Only one on the list (Paortrait of a Killer) qualified as that to me. And in fact, a large number of the books on the list I absolutely loved.

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message 50: by . r a c h a b e t h . (new)

Jul 31, 2008 08:56am

Perhaps I'm being a bit silly, but isn't "of all time" rather broad? I mean, I get it if the list's title is the "worst of 2008/2007/1960/insert year here" or the "worst romance novel" or even "the worst Western classic," but "of all time?" That's going a little too far.

Also - Wow, some of these comments are harsh. :/ Some people might hate a book, some people might love it, but there's no need for personal attacks.

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