Books You DIDN'T Like

[Erinn]

I did not like The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy...most of his books are kind of tedious but this one, man, I did not care one whit for any of the characters. Even the main character didn't care about the story or anybody he met on his so-called journey. BOOOOORING. To the nth degree.

[[deleted user]]

Leah wrote: "Hannah wrote: "I went on a great big superlong road trip and brought a bunch of audiobooks, one of which was Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon (who I'd never read before) and it was PAINFULLY bori..."

I feel like I need to give him another try, I mean, Kavalier & Clay won a Pulitzer, it can't be ALL bad, haha. Maybe I'll check out Mysteries of Pittsburgh!

[Meagann]

Erinn wrote: "I did not like The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy...most of his books are kind of tedious but this one, man, I did not care one whit for any of the characters. Even the main character didn't care abou..."

I have complicated feelings for Cormac McCarthy in that I actually really like his stories, but really hate his writing style. I haven't read The Crossing though. I'm not sure I could handle the words.

[Megan]

Allie wrote: "Andrea wrote: "Everything Dan Brown wrote after "The DaVinci Code." They are all basically the same story - Not sure why I keep reading!"

What frustrates me most about Dan Brown is that all of his..."

Allie, I completely agree this. One of my bookish pet peeves is when a character is impossibly smart in so many different areas. I work at a think tank, so I'm clearly surrounded by people who are truly impossibly smart about certain things, but his characters are on a whole different level. Any one of them can name the maker of a piece of furniture or the artist of an obscure painting (while also giving you the history surrounding that painting and artist), quote entire paragraphs from books from a dozen different genres and eras, explain complex physics concepts, and then finish the evening off by making you a 5 course gourmet meal. Ugh.

[Lauren]

Tawnia wrote: "I also didn't like Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail or Eat, Pray, Love, which everyone in my book club loved, I couldn't even finish them. "

I kinda liked Eat, Pray, Love, but I couldn't make it past the first couple chapters it when I re-read it. But Wild, oh my goodness that book was awful. I wanted to slap the author through most of it. I don't think she really learned anything by the end, either.

[Hayley]

"The fault in our stars" and all john green novels so far. Just find them so deliberately quirky and overly sentimental. They cause me pain.
As do most of Jodi picoult's as some others have said! Her writing is manipulative to the point of clunky. Although she did write one of my favourite books - "the storyteller" - so I keep trying her again and again!

[Alicia]

While we're incurring wrath... Like Water For Chocolate. Hated it.

[Brigitte]

I tried Dan Brown's Angels and Demons and only made it about 1/4 the way through. His characters are paper thin and he just makes things up about art, which pissed me off to no end.

I like seeing what everyone calls their shelves for books they don't like. I have one called "rage-quit". The Eye of the World (the first of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series) and Finnick of the Rock are on there for the same reason - whiny children.

[Kim]

Gone Girl! That ending was horrible, as we're the characters.
Also Watership Down. I'm sure many would disagree, but we dissected it to death in Grade 9 English and I've not been able to tolerate rabbits since.

[Bonnie G.]

Brigitte wrote: "I tried Dan Brown's Angels and Demons and only made it about 1/4 the way through. His characters are paper thin and he just makes things up about art, which pissed me off to no end.

I like seeing ..."
I could not get through DaVinci Code for the same reason Brigitte. I know very little about the pre-Christian views on Jesus, but I know that story, and so I knew the Mary "twist" and knew that a ton of the books details were totally inaccurate. And don't even get me started on issues with the design of French churches and museums.

[Meagann]

I absolutely despise the Twilight series. I mean, there is just too much wrong with the creepy stalker "I won't bite you, but I will watch you sleep because I never do. Don't tempt me though. Be super safe because it'll be your fault if I mess up" super-controlling vampires. I think they mirror rape narratives too closely. And then there's the whole turning First Nations peoples into animals, which is a whole other issue mirroring post-colonial rhetoric. To summarize, I can't even.

Oh, and if I hear Stephenie Meyer talk about how she's an English major one more time, I think I'll have to enlist Ursula from the Little Mermaid to see if she can strike a deal with her to steal her voice for a thesaurus. I mean, how is it you have a four year degree and one of the only descriptors you have for abs is "marble." Ugh.

These are not books that young girls should be reading for too many reasons. They make me angry and sad and punchy. Strong feelings, yo!

[[deleted user]]

Meagann wrote: "I absolutely despise the Twilight series. I mean, there is just too much wrong with the creepy stalker "I won't bite you, but I will watch you sleep because I never do. Don't tempt me though. Be..."

*applause forever* I'm so bummed those books became as popular as they did. (Though I guess if it hadn't been them, it would've been something else? I feel like there will always be a terrible book to pop up and seize the throne.) (Speaking of thrones, rape fantasy seems to be popping up everywhere these days. GoT, 50 Shades, I dunno, it's...problematic and a lot of other things.)

[Meagann]

Hannah wrote: "Meagann wrote: "I absolutely despise the Twilight series. I mean, there is just too much wrong with the creepy stalker "I won't bite you, but I will watch you sleep because I never do. Don't temp..."

Sadly, it would have probably been something else. Can someone just write something that bolsters young girls' confidence instead of punishing them for their emerging, unique sexualities? Can't someone write something for young girls where female characters are in control, self-determining and brave?

For the record, the Twilight books are on a bookshelf I created called "Burn After Reading," which I haven't done, but I feel like when the winter comes, I might not be able to hold myself back.

[[deleted user]]

Meagann wrote: "Hannah wrote: "Meagann wrote: "I absolutely despise the Twilight series. I mean, there is just too much wrong with the creepy stalker "I won't bite you, but I will watch you sleep because I never ..."

I feel like these books exist and then they get banned. I never read Judy Blume when I was younger (my biggest regret *sobsob*) but I feel like she is the anti-Meyer. And the Alanna series by Tamora Pierce is supposed to be good and empowering, and it wound up banned because there's consensual sex (the horror!).

Nothing like a good ol' fashioned book burning. A friend of mine had one for bad comic books (there are so many) and if you got yourself a full burn shelf, I would recommend doing an outdoor fire. It's a not a pleasant smell.

[Erin]

Megan wrote: "This might not be a popular opinion, but I really, really did not like GONE GIRL. The first *twist* was interesting, and I think really well done, but it ended up complicating a lot of the characte..."

"Amy also felt like a misogynist's dream character..." AMEN to this. I despise this book with a passion, and every time I hear a friend say he or she liked it, I secretly (or not so secretly) question what other hateful ideas he or she supports.

[SPOILER] Making a female character a sociopathic, manipulative liar does NOT make her "even" in getting back at a somewhat pathetic and dumb husband. The book had no characters to root for, even though at times I felt like the author intended us to think Amy was some kind of modern feminist hero for making everyone bend to her will. Maybe I'm wrong in my reading of it, but it made me sick to my stomach and I instantly deleted the book from my Kindle.

[Casey]

The Engagements. I loved the description and the cover- I thought it was going to be a like a Peggy Olson novel and I found myself jarred by the changing voices of the vignettes and not nearly enough time spent with Peggy-ish character. Just ugh (not Fug).

[Casey]

Lauren wrote: "Tawnia wrote: "I also didn't like Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail or Eat, Pray, Love, which everyone in my book club loved, I couldn't even finish them. "

I kinda liked Eat, Pr..."

OMG I HATED Eat, Pray, Love (which I very snarkily started to refer to as Eat Prey, Love) with the fire of a thousand suns. I finished it, but with malice in my heart. It invokes the same thing in me as GOOP- I find myself offended by the smug undercurrent that just feels insidious. Yuck.

[Allie]

Is it weird that I can't bring myself to create a "couldn't-make-myself-finish-this-awful-book" shelf, because then I'd have to mark said awful books as "read"?

[Alicia]

Brigitte wrote: "I like seeing what everyone calls their shelves for books they don't like. I have one called "rage-quit". The Eye of the World (the first of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series) and Finnick of the Rock are on there for the same reason - whiny children. ..."

Mine is called "abandoned" but at the moment it only has one book in it!

I did actually finish that first Wheel of Time book, but I thought it was ridiculously pedestrian. No trope unturned.

[Linda_CA]

My shelf for awful books is called "suckage."

[Leah]

Erin wrote: "...and every time I hear a friend say he or she liked it, I secretly (or not so secretly) question what other hateful ideas he or she supports."

Well that's not quite fair. Liking a book =/= approving the opinions presented. Same goes for the authors. Maggie Stiefvater discussed this one at length recently. There are readers who mistakenly assume that, because an author writes about a certain topic or creates a character who behaves in a certain way, that they think that way too.

I personally enjoy reading gruesome thrillers. The more graphic the murder, the better. Does that mean I'm some sort of sadistic killer? That's news to me!

[Leah]

A lot of you have been listing popular books you hated. Mine? Divergent.

[Linda_CA]

Leah wrote: "Erin wrote: "...and every time I hear a friend say he or she liked it, I secretly (or not so secretly) question what other hateful ideas he or she supports."

Well that's not quite fair. Liking a b..."

I like gruesome thrillers AND graphic true crime books. Fear me. :D

[Nikki]

These are my one-star, least-favorite reads. They have little in common, but as I think back on reading them, I have strong visions of yelling at the books while I read. Usually things like, "What the f***?!?" or "That makes no sense" or "Have these people suffered head trauma?" So, pretty much the kinds of things I'd yell while looking at Carrie Bradshaw's clothes.

The Nanny Diaries
Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later
Atlas Shrugged
The Passage by Justin Cronin

[[deleted user]]

Kimpelkey wrote: "Yes!! That book made me so mad because I have loved everything I've ever read by Michael Chabon, so was expecting more of the same. So disappointed! I slogged through about 100 pages, didn't car..."

Dang, so clearly I picked the wrong book to start with! That's good to know, at least. I think you're right about editors, I mean, look at Stephen King, I don't think anyone's been editing him since the 80s.

[Joanie]

I just finished Hornet's Nest by Patricia Cornwell and was so thoroughly disappointed! It was almost as if it had been written by a teenager who had absolutely no idea how to describe physical attraction/tension, who had a narrow world view, and/or was simply out of their depth when it can to story structure. All I can imagine is that Cornwell turned her computer or typewriter over to some aspiring young writer, read the first couple paragraphs and said, "yeah, sure. This'll do. People buy my books all the time -- doesn't even matter who writes it. It'll sell. I'll give you half the profits if you can finish it"

[Darcie]

Elizabeth wrote: "I am going to incur some wrath here, but when has that ever stopped me. Gone with the Wind. Hated it. By about page 165 I wanted Scarlett O'Hara to drop stone dead and be forgotten and I didn't giv..."

I know what you mean! I picked up GWTW from my school library in junior high only because it was the biggest book in the fiction section. I finished it and only afterward did my mom wonder what was keeping my attention for so long! I tried to read it again as an adult and couldn't get through it. And to think Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer for it...

[Casey]

Leah wrote: "A lot of you have been listing popular books you hated. Mine? Divergent."

Ditto on that one- I thought it was terrible.

[Kate]

Hayley wrote: ""The fault in our stars" and all john green novels so far. Just find them so deliberately quirky and overly sentimental. They cause me pain.

ME TOO. I thought I was the only one. They try so hard to be quirky, but really, a lot of the characters just seem unlikeable and unreal (Augustus Waters, I'm looking at you!).

I also think our culture has a weird obsession with youth and young people knowing more than older people (which is appealing when you're young and an idiot but dumb when you actually gain life experience) so I hated the way that John Green writes precocious teens versus stupid adults.

So... yeah, not into John Green.

[Hayley]

Yes that's exactly it kate! John green's super-cutesy "gosh aren't these teens wordy and smart, don't you want to be in their gang" tone really riles me. I think maybe I'm just past the age for enjoying his writing but then lots of adults love his stuff and good YA books should be loved by all ages!

[Erin]

Leah wrote: "Erin wrote: "...and every time I hear a friend say he or she liked it, I secretly (or not so secretly) question what other hateful ideas he or she supports."

Well that's not quite fair. Liking a b..."

I made this comment because some of my friends who loved Gone Girl DO have some twisted thoughts about "female empowerment." (Notice they are still people I call my friends). Could I have used a /sarcastic font/ (if available) when writing the above quote? Yes. :)

[Joanie]

Meagann wrote: "I absolutely despise the Twilight series. I mean, there is just too much wrong with the creepy stalker "I won't bite you, but I will watch you sleep because I never do. Don't tempt me though. Be..."

I think I love you, Meagann! That's just such an awesome summarization of how I feel about the series and Stephenie Meyer.

And, as you said in response later, "Can someone just write something that bolsters young girls' confidence instead of punishing them for their emerging, unique sexualities? Can't someone write something for young girls where female characters are in control, self-determining and brave?" AMEN!

When this popped up on GFY, this is what I wish I could have written when I said I had a problem with the series. While, yes, it's great to get people reading, reading books that victimize or marginalize young women isn't something I'm a big fan of. What sort of ideas are they developing about sex and love? Had I read something like this when I was younger, would I have ever dared to acknowledge I'd been date raped or would that have just fallen under the "that's what happens to girls" umbrella? Would I have known what a stalker was and known there was danger?

Part of me wonders what the hell Stephenie Meyer experienced as a younger woman that this is her idea of romantic and sexy.

Okay, I can't even think about this any longer because my rage will overflow into an obscenity-laden rant of mythic proportion and I don't have time for that today (or any day, for that matter -- who needs to get that angry?!)

Sigh.

[Alicia]

Has anyone read anything by Megan Abbott? I read this article http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014... yesterday and thought she sounded worth checking out!

[Lauren]

I tried, I really did, but I did not like Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It made me break one of my long standing rules which is, "always see a book all the way through, even if you aren't wild about it." I just couldn't get into the characters at all- found them all drawn with a broad brush and not very interesting. I wanted to like it- I really did, but, nope.

[Karen]

What ticks me off most when reading a book is just plain bad writing -- at least, that's what I notice first when reading a book. So while I loved the fact that the heroine in the "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" series was brilliant and badass, I could not get see past the piss-poor writing (plus the fact that every woman in the book wanted to sleep with the reporter). And while I thought that Isaac Asimov had some interesting ideas in "I, Robot," I thought that was one of the worst-written books I'd ever read.

It's not always bad writing that sinks a book for me, though. This might be sacrilege, but I've never liked "The Catcher in the Rye" -- even when I first read it at 15, I thought Holden Caulfield was just a brat. While I appreciated it more when I read it again more than 20 years later, I still can't bring myself to actually like it. And "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" was just moronic. I still can't believe they made a movie of it.

[Danielle]

Karen wrote: "And "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" was just moronic. I still can't believe they made a movie of it."

I had a bunch of books stored at my parents' house, so when I moved into my house & started unpacking, I was looking forward to finding my copy of 'Bridget Jones' Diary', which I remember laughing out loud reading. I go through all my boxes and for some reason, I didn't have the first but kept 'The Edge of Reason.' I have no idea why I would've kept that book and am mad at myself.

[Pam]

Kim wrote: "Gone Girl! That ending was horrible, as we're the characters.
Also Watership Down. I'm sure many would disagree, but we dissected it to death in Grade 9 English and I've not been able to tolerat..."

Kim, that is the point of the book, how horrible both characters are, and now they're stuck with each other forever. It was the perfect ending, IMO!

[Bonnie G.]

Michelle wrote: "Anything by Salman Rushdie makes me stabby. The Moor's Last Sigh made me lose my mind. Also, The Tin Drum was just dreck, in my opinion, and could barely get through a third of it. However, they ar..."

So glad to see someone else hates Rushdie! I have read 3 of his books, and I thought they were all horrible. I just don't get the hype. We will have to agree to disagree on Gunter Grass :) I thought Tin Drum was amazing when I read it 30 years ago on my first trip to Austria. Not sure if I would think so now, but it blew me away at the time.

[Elizabeth]

Bonnie wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Anything by Salman Rushdie makes me stabby. The Moor's Last Sigh made me lose my mind. Also, The Tin Drum was just dreck, in my opinion, and could barely get through a third of it...."

Early Rushdie is much, much better. I think both "Midnight's Children" and "Shame" are wonderful. I haven't liked anything since those, though. EXCEPT the novel he wrote for his son early in the fatwa period. "Haroun and the Sea of Stories" is a brilliant, very funny fantasy about a boy who saves his father and the idea of storytelling. I read it with my eighth graders every year. It would be a great beach-weekend read if you like, say, Madeleine L'Engle or Joan Aiken or Susan Cooper or similar.

[Kim]

Elizabeth wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Anything by Salman Rushdie makes me stabby. The Moor's Last Sigh made me lose my mind. Also, The Tin Drum was just dreck, in my opinion, and could barely get through..."

I agree, Elizabeth. Midnight's Children and Shame were both jaw-droppingly great books. I tried the next couple he wrote, but was really disappointed.

[Bonnie G.]

I will have to read Midnight ' Children. Thanks for letting me know there is Rushdie worth reading! I actually skimmed Haroun once when I forgot to pack a book on a trip to visit a friend. It is not my sort of book but i could see its charms.

[Lori]

I just finished The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and I really didn't like it at all- I found the main character super irritating and was not invested at all in the story.

[Laura]

Leah wrote: "Hannah wrote: "I went on a great big superlong road trip and brought a bunch of audiobooks, one of which was Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon (who I'd never read before) and it was PAINFULLY bori..."

I hated Telegraph Avenue too! I forced myself to finish it as a challenge. So terrible and painful and boring.

I HATED Jess Walter's We Live In Water. I looooved Beautiful Ruins, and was expecting more of the same. I didn't realize until 75% of the way in that this was a collection of short stories and not stories that would eventually tie the plot together.

I also hate Jen Lancaster's books, esp Twisted Sister. UGH SO TERRIBLE. I love her blog, but she should stick to that.

[Beth]

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. HATED. IT. Simply could not understand what everyone was raving about. The only thing I liked about it were the dogs!

[Joanie]

I just remembered another book I didn't much care for:

Our Lady of the Forest by David Guterson. The method he used for telling the story is, to say the least, was irritating. He employed the most curious conceit of not using quotations for dialogue, which made the reading slow as you often had to backtrack to figure out which character was speaking. There was also little in the way of clarification for certain characters and their motivations for helping the protagonist, for acting as they do, for believing as they do. At some point, you almost wonder if it's worth the effort it takes to finish the book.

The story itself was interesting, but the writing style was on par with some of the worst migraines I've had in the past.

[Ashley]

Ooh, this is such a great discussion! I agree with a lot of those listed here - I couldn't get into The Goldfinch (I'm embarrassed to say that it bored me), The Interestings (ditto), Beautiful Ruins (it seemed a little...cheeseball?) or How I Live Now (the writing was beautiful, but it also made me feel detached from the story).

[Michelle]

I JUST read 'Those Who Save Us' last week, and I definitely won't be reading that one again. I'm actually kind of cross with the friend who lent it to me, because she should have known to warn me...

I have a particular passion for German history, and this book addresses an important topic, but it does it with an unreasonable level of graphicness, and not only that, it doesn't use any quotation marks around the dialogue!

The story is reasonably compelling, but if books were rated like movies, it would get an R for violent non-consensual sexual content. I'm quite traumatized, because the cover gave no indication that it was going to be that gruesome. Blerg. Trigger warning! :P

[Margaret]

Erin wrote: "Megan wrote: "This might not be a popular opinion, but I really, really did not like GONE GIRL. The first *twist* was interesting, and I think really well done, but it ended up complicating a lot o..."

I didn't hate Gone Girl but I hear what you're saying -- this is exactly how I felt about Lisbeth Salander from the Dragon Tattoo books. I read the first one because they were so insanely popular and many of my friends raved about them, but I thought Lisbeth was an unrealistic sociopath who nonetheless desperately wanted to have sex with the incredibly boring writer. I wonder if there are people who liked Lisbeth Salander but hated Gone Girl? My opinion may be colored by the fact that I found the Dragon Tattoo books almost unreadable, possibly due to the clunky translation.

[Margaret]

Beth wrote: "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. HATED. IT. Simply could not understand what everyone was raving about. The only thing I liked about it were the dogs!"

Ooh, thank you for giving me the opportunity to say this once again (my friends are sick of hearing it): I liked the Story of Edgar Sawtelle the FIRST time I read it, when it was called HAMLET. I'm not sure what the point of rewriting Hamlet was. Absolutely nothing new or interesting or pertinent was added to the story with this new version (except for the dogs.) In fact, if the entire thing had been written from the point of view of the dog, that might have been worthwhile. Otherwise? Not so much.

[Allie]

Margaret wrote: "Erin wrote: "Megan wrote: "This might not be a popular opinion, but I really, really did not like GONE GIRL. The first *twist* was interesting, and I think really well done, but it ended up complic..."

I really loved the Dragon Tattoo series, but I was kind of meh on Gone Girl (I loved the writing but hated the story). I could suspend belief on Lisbeth being kind of unrealistic/sociopathic because she was such a badass in the second and third books, whereas Amy was basically a sociopath with no redeeming qualities.