The Results: 2017 Bottom of the Barrel

[Carol/Bonadie]

Barkskins- Annie Proulx
Camino Island by John Grisham
Dark Matter- Blake Crouch
Hardcore Twenty-Four by Janet Evanovich
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
No Ordinary Billionaire, J.S. Scott
Sunfail by Steven Saville
The Hades Factor, Robert Ludlum & Gayle Lynds
The Other Woman. Hank Phillippi Ryan
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come & Get It by Ree Drummond
The Terranauts, K.C. Boyle

[Dan in AZ]

I think it's interesting that there are some pretty well known authors on this list. You'd think with their experience and editors they'd be able to stay off the bottom of the barrel.

[BarryP]

Maybe some of them did not know to quit while they were ahead.

[David]

I was too late to get in on the voting, apparently, but luckily I didn't waste my time on any of these gems. Just curious: What made a bad book a bod book? Were they generally abandoned somewhere before the end, or did readers soldier on to the final ugly scene?

[Maureen]

Having lived in Mississippi when Grisham started out and having bought a first edition of a Time to Kill from the original printer (and then like an idiot donating it to library-goodbye thousands) I think I am required by law to read and mostly enjoy his books. Like so many authors his first was really his best.
There are several authors on this list you could not pay me to read-Hawkins, dead Ludlum and Evanovich (please just kill off Grandma). For the rest I will take the word of the participants.

To semi-answer- same old same old. Same old tired characters, same old tired plots, of plot twists just for the sake of the twists, not for the story.

I highly recommend Ree Drummond's rum cake. In fact I might make one this week.

[Shomeret]

I don't list bottom of the barrel because for me the bottom has fallen out. It's way below competently written, but uninspired and formulaic. That would an OK read for me. I'm dealing with people who upload their books without editing and ask me for a review because I have a blog. Sometimes these books sound interesting and original, and maybe they would be if they cleaned up their manuscripts.

[David]

Thanks for the lost-treasure story, Maureen, and the comments. With limited time to read (mostly while climbing the Stairmaster at the Y), I rely a lot on reviews to keep me off the road of crappy "literature," so your feedback is helpful. I read across a wide range of adult and YA fiction and nonfiction, with the main criterion being that someone or something has to recommend it.

[David]

Shomeret wrote: "I don't list bottom of the barrel because for me the bottom has fallen out. It's way below competently written, but uninspired and formulaic. That would an OK read for me. I'm dealing with people w..."

I get what you mean. I've read (or started to read) some awful self-published stuff. I'd put it in a whole different barrel and then take it to the toxic waste dump. That's not to say that there's not good independent writing, also, but digging through all the first drafts posing as finished stories (books, even!) is a chore I don't want.

[Melodie]

Maureen wrote: "I highly recommend Ree Drummond's rum cake. In fact I might make one this week...."

I like Ree Drummond and just about every one of her recipes I've tried. Her new cookbook, however, was a waste of time for me. I've got the others and have tried at least 3 or 4 recipes from each one. The new one didn't have a single one that interested me. I sent it back to Amazon for a refund!

[BarryP]

This year I soldiered on, looking for redeeming value. Some years I have not. A book that sacrifices its story for a political agenda goes low in my grading, a book with logical disconnects likely will not be finished.

[Ann]

Wow Maureen! I loved the first Grisham, and actually liked Camino Island. I didn't list bottom of the barrel books, I just don't finish those; I dont have patience for poorly edited or plotted books.
Maureen wrote: "Having lived in Mississippi when Grisham started out and having bought a first edition of a Time to Kill from the original printer (and then like an idiot donating it to library-goodbye thousands) ..."

[Carol/Bonadie]

I'm late to this thread but will admit to being a reader of one of the books listed. I stuck with the book until the end because I wanted to like it and hoped it would eventually take a turn for the better. I've seen the author at readings and really like her. I found the main characters a bit clichéd and the central crime and those perpetrating it were just all over the place. I'm holding onto the book I bought at her signing until I decide whether to continue with the series and get to it. It's been a year and I'm not feeling it yet.