Top Ten Books to Avoid

[Celeste]

I've a list for you too. I agree with some of your chooses and disagree with others, but these are my 10:
1. A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar. I haven't found anything beautiful about this man or the book. It's very boring and technical.
2. The Other Bolyne Girl by Phllipa Grepory. I know stones are being thrown in my direction as you read, but I just could understand the facination about this overly long book.
3. The News From Paraguay by Lily Tuck. Too violent for me.
4. In Camelot's Shadow by Sarah Zettel. I found the story so far fetch I didn't even finish it.
5. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Again I'm ducking.
6. Dragonspell by Donita K. Paul. Why this series hasn't found it's way into Religious Fiction is just beyond me. I have nothing against Religious themes, but I would like to choose to read it.
7. The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright. This is Religious Fiction. This concept was a good one,but the writing was not up to the task.
8. Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquirel. I liked this story until the end, and than it just died.
9. The Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. I just didn't like the story, it wasn't my cup of tea. Sorry Emma, my daughter loves it too.
10. Heat by Bill Buford. I love to cook, so I thought I'd like to read about becoming a chef, I did not.

I've enjoyed reading everyone else's opinions.

[Abigail (42stitches)]

Hehe...This is pretty funny. Part of the reason why I also joined "Books I Loathed" But I will share a few here, in no particular order.
Lord of the Rings- 1000+ pages of beautiful prose, and that's how it ends? Made me sad.

100 years of Solitude- It reminded me of Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. The first half was diturbing and interesting, the second half was...something else.

The Satanic Verses-WTF? Why is this so...um...boring?

The Other Woman (Eric Jerome Dickey)- Predictable in the worst way.

At Home in Mitford- I wanted desperately to like this for some reason, maybe it's because small towns freak me out. But I liked Welcome to Eudora, so I don't know what went wrong here.

The Da Vinci Code- In the words of my favorite art history professor, "You know, his name was LEONARDO?!" IMO It's brief tour of all the famous paintings that have already been beat to death in every art history text book ever written. Oh and a lackluster love story was tacked on at the end. The only thing that redeems it is that Audrey Tautou stars in the film. Lovely.

A Light in August- I thought the story was really unoriginal.

Anything by Ann Perry- Her characters never grow up or change. Makes for a very boring story.

Angels of September (Greeley)- I like the idea that hell is your worst fears made real, but the wrting was so crappy I felt like I was reading a Harlequin romance novel. With Irish priests in it.

The Onion Girl- Normally I love parallel universe stories, but this one was horribly written and way too predictable. I knew how it ended before I was halfway through. I hate being able to guess what happens.

[Liz]

Michelle, I agree with yo that Jodi Picoult's endings can be obnoxious, but they do make you think.
Otherwise, I fear I don't have much to add to this list. I can think of one which was from my adolescent years (or at least more of an adolescent than I am now...now I at least have my own apartment and do my own cooking!) Anyways, avoid:
Twins by Caorline B. Cooney It is about twins, as the subject line suggests, and one of them is in her nature very mean spirited and helps commit a few murders as a teenager...this book was morbid and I didn't entirely see it's purpose in the end. It just kind of wound up being, "The evil twin is dead, that's all that matters."

[Jamie]

These are the only books I've really hated (and I can't believe I finished any of them):

Shes's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
The Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery by Joanne Fluke
Wizard's Hall by Jane Yolen

[Sarenna]

I know a lot of people really liked these books, but I just couldn't get through them

1. We Need to Talk About Kevin - got halfway through and gave up

2. How to Be Good - probably just where I am in my personal life, but I couldn't stand the characters

3. Son of a Witch - which is weird because I really liked Wicked (maybe I'll try this book again later)

4. Memory Keepers Daughter - for all the hype, it was just blah in my opinion

5. She's Come Undone - depressing

6. Hamlet - I probably can't stand this play because it was ruined for me in high school. We tore it to pieces. I think it's so sad when schools ruin books like that. Honestly, I don't think I needed to analyze every freaking word in that play to "understand" it.

7. One for the Money (ducking for cover). I just couldn't get into that series for some reason even though all my friends have raved about it.

[Justine]

1. Siddhartha - My number one. It was required reading in high school and I HATED it.
2. The Red Badge of Courage - The same, only not as bad as Siddhartha.
3. Heart of Darkness - More required reading. I've loved reading my entire life and I don't know why they try to make it so hard.
4. Inkheart - Only because I recently tried reading this. I tried so hard. I forced myself halfway though it and gave up. I just didn't care for any of the characters.
5. The Thirteenth Tale - I actually finished it because I thought the end would pay off. It did not. I heard such great things about it but it wound up being very predictable.
6. Slam - I usually really love Nick Hornby. My boyfriend keeps this on our toilet and I had the misfortune of reading it while overcome with food poisoning.
7. Don't You Forget About Me - I'd been looking for Jancee Dunn's memoir-y book and came up with this load instead. Maybe I'm just not at a place in my life where my biggest worry in my ten year reunion. She's a reporter - she should just stick to the facts.

[Liz]

Well, Justine, at least you remember reading Heart of Darkness. I read it three years ago and can only remember that part of it took place on a boat.
I also didn't like The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (sp?). I just could not get into the story.

[Laura]

Mirror Mirror by Gregory Macguire. Ugh! Supposed to be a play on Snow White told from the dwarves perspective but its just boring, strange and off-putting in general.

[Haley]

All I've got is:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy



The dialogue made me want to strangle myself. And all he did was describe the setting over, and over, and over, and OVER again. I was so frustrated I could not even finish the book. For all I know it was a decent story. His writing was just awful.

[Justine]

Liz,
I have no idea what happened in Heart of Darkness anymore. It's a painful memory I've repressed. All I know now is that it was terrible. Haha.

[Darla]

ok, so I can't really think of very many that I didn't like. Here's three I can think of off the top of my head:

Lord of the Flies. I didn't enjoy the book or the movie. I know that it's suppose to make a statement about life without rules or 'government' but it doesn't engage me enough to really care. sorry.

Of Mice and Men. Ok, so the only real reason I don't like this book is because I think the ending is bullshit. I'm not one of those people who need a fairy tale ending or anything, however, it totally pisses me off that Lennie gets it in the end. End of story. I threw the book across the room the first time I read it. I still own it, but I'm afraid I may never pick it up again.

Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins. This is the only modern one I can think of. It's my own fault, really. I asked for it for Christmas and got it. The only reason I was intrigued is because Drew Barrymore was always reading it in the movie "50 First Dates" and in the commentary she raved about it. So I thought, "hey, why don't I give that a try!". Wrong, so wrong. The fact that I got through it amazes me still today. I can't even describe it. Stupid comes to mind. Cheap smut comes to mind. Possibly a drug induced hallucination comes to mind. There aren't enough words. Quite literally the only reason I made myself finish it was because it was a present.

I can't really think of anymore. (Thank God) :)

[Kate]

1. Heart of Darkness
2. Siddhartha
3. The Stranger
4. Scarlett Letter
5. Lord of the Flies
6. Animal Farm
7. Things Fall Apart
8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (loved all of them except for this one)

9 and 10 will come eventually. I do like Dan Brown. I really like the short chapters and the turns I didn't see coming. I know a lot of you guys don't like him, but I really do. I love mysteries though.

[Lori, Super Mod]

Abigail,
I just bought Satanic Verses.. it was hardcover for a buck and couldnt pass it up. Hopefully I will like it.... but your making me nervous. Its too long of a novel for it to be sucky....

Ha! I have to agree with all the Heart of Darkness haters. Such a short book, so you think I would have flown through it. Nope! I read it just this past year due to it being linked to Lost... and hated hated hated it. The whole thing. Just ugh!

[Sarenna]

I forgot about Heart of Darkness. I couldn't stand that book. And The Piano Tuner (which was too similar to Heart of Darkness for my liking).

[Mary]

I've had Heart of Darkness on my to read list, but I am not going to waste my time now! Thanks for the heads up!

[Jenny]

The only book I've hated was 'The Historian'!! Snore!!!! I can't even remember it. Only read it about a year ago! Couldn't tell you characters names or anything! Clearly made a lasting impression :P

[Mary]

The only problem I have with Good Reads is that I can't drag myself away from it. I'm not getting anything done. There are times when I avoid telling people that I love to read for fear of what they will recommend to me- "The Notebook"?!

Anyway, in no particular order:
1. The Notebook. Or anything elseby Nicholas Sparks.
2. Billy Budd
3. The God of Small Things
4. Pillars of the Earth
5. Last of the Mohicans
6. Atlas Shrugged
7. The Twilight Series
8. David Copperfield

Now, I will focus on the positive. Because I love pretty much everything I read!

[Kiwi]

In no particular order:

1. Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare- I despise this "work of art" with a passion.

2. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen - The main characters are irritating and not likeable.

3. Imagining Argentina by Lawrence Thorton - The whole thing was...painfully prolonged and tedious.

4. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi - What's the point of writing about what you read? Besides, the author was too exaggerating sometimes.

5. The House on Mango Street by Cisneros Sandra - Horrible...writing.

6. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison - Deep and boring.

7. Uglies by Scott Westerfield - I can't go past page 124 no matter how hard I try. It's dumb and the characters are irritating.

8. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier - I've never read anything so retarded in my life.

9. Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick - The movie was okay but the book just doesn't cut it.

10. Silas Marner by George Eliot - Eh...

[Kellie]

Jamie...
You just brought me back to I time I'd like to forget.
I was pregnant with my daughter and for some reason I started reading those Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery books
I was so nauceous from morning sickness these books made me so ill.
That was the only thing I remembered about them.
That and I think the mystery part was pretty lame.

[Jamie]

LOL! Sorry Kellie!

[Kellie]

OK...
Here are some of my least favorites....

1)Love in the Time of Cholera
2) Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
3)The Last Kashmiri Rose-Barbara Cleverly
4) Saving Fish From Drowning-Amy Tan
5)Hotten Tot Venus-Barbara Chase Riboud
6)The Human Stain-Philip Roth
7) The English Patient
8) The Christmas Journey-Anne Perry
9) Girl Interrupted
10) The Accidental-Ali Smith

[Jeane]

Kiwi, I wonder how many peole would share your opinion about Pride and Prejudice? :-) I find it very weird of myself that I adored it so much. I feel like it is some pieve of art written and I can reread it over and over like I can rewatch the favourite works I know from my favourte painters.

[Sarenna]

Fiona - I saw Apocalypse Now several years ago. Honestly, I couldn't tell you if I liked it or not. Maybe that says something in itself? As far as the Piano Tuner, I couldn't make it past the first 50 pages, so maybe it got better after that?

[Kiwi]

@Jeane: I know, I know. I despise a lot of books that people like reading. But then again, I'm on the teen romance bandwagon.

[[deleted user]]

I Robot
First Love, Last Rites

[Jeane]

As long as you enjoy the books you read!

[Maurean]

I'm w/Jeane...this is a hard topic for me because I think ALL books have a valid readership, and just because *I* couldn't find anything redeeming in its covers, doesn't mean someone who luved it is "wrong", or vice versa...I think I just don't want to hurt any feelings of those who loved these titles!! LoL.

Having said THAT, my oh-please-NO-I-can't-read-another-page! books (while I doubt I can come up with ten) would include:

~Breaking Clean by Judy Blunt
~Communion by Whitley Strieber
~Escape the Night by Richard North Patterson
~Everything's Illuminated by Jonathan...somebody
~Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco (this one wasn't so much the tale, as the self-indulgent writing style that landed this on my list.)
~Jennifer Government by Maxx Barry
~Mystery by Peter Straub (I couldn't get outta that damn trailer park!)


So, that's only eight, but I suppose I've pi$$ed off enough folks with that list - no need to search my brain for others! LoL

[silvia]

lol

maurean,

I Love Eco and actually focaults pendulum is one of my favourit books ever. I would call is writings a lot of things but I would never come up whit self-indulgent. why would you call it that?

[Maurean]

I had the feeling after reading that book, that Eco is quite impressed with himself...he has a great grasp of the language (and of the human 'condition', as well), and for that I give him credit as is due, but I felt he made this tale overly complicated and long, simply to read his own words...I found it self-indulgent. *shrug*

(Please don't hate me cause I'm critical! lol...)

[silvia]

I thougth it was that. just wanted to make sure.
and maybe you're rigth but then I know so many authors (especially were in portugal, but I guess it happens all around the world) that are so full of them selfs and think they now so much. He actually does, so I guess in my book he earned that rigth.

(dont hurry I'll try to find ither reasons to hate you lool)

[[deleted user]]

Of course you don't have to like every book you read! That being said it's Safran Foer and I bet that name will be unforgettable in 10 years.

[Maranda (addlebrained_reader)]

Here are my top ten books to avoid/I didn't enjoy:

1) Heart of Darkness ~ Joseph Conrad
2) A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius ~ Dave Eggers
3) Forever ~ Pete Hamill
4) The Corrections ~ Jonathan Franzen
5) Da Vinci Code ~ Dan Brown
6) War of the Worlds ~ H. G. Wells
7) The Lovely Bones ~ Alice Sebold
8) The Little Friend ~ Donna Tart
9) The Perfect Storm ~ Sebastian Junger
10) All the Pretty Horses ~ Cormac McCarthy

[Maurean]

Maranda - Have you read anything else by Pete Hamill? (I only ask because I believe I read something by him - Snow in August - and I rather enjoyed it, if I remember correctly)

You're list includes a few I'm not overly fond of either, so perhaps I'll steer clear of "Forever"...

[Maranda (addlebrained_reader)]

Maurean,

I have not read anything else by Pete Hamill but I remember that book literally taking FOREVER to read!! My best friend absolutely loved it and I've recently been thinking I should re-read to make sure I truly didn't like it. It was extremely difficult for me to get through. I read it for a book club and the first 20 pages effectively broke off 3 of the 5 members of the group. I finished it but it was teeth-grinding work for me.

[Maurean]

I read it for a book club and the first 20 pages effectively broke off 3 of the 5 members of the group

Alrighty then - yeah, I think I'll pass on "Forever"...

(I've never read Donna Tart, but I think I have one of hers on my wanna-read list)

[Maranda (addlebrained_reader)]

If the Donna Tartt book you have is The Secret History...definitely read it!!! One of the best books I've ever read!! If it's The Little Friend you can pass it...LOL! She took 10 years to write her second book and I didn't care for it at all...too bad...

[d4]

Wow. What a bunch of haters. Lmao.

I could write an entire thread wondering how some of these books could end up on such a list. Most of the ones I'd challenge are classics. Maybe some of you just hated them because you were forced to read them. As far as more recent books go, I'm wondering why I saw The Road twice when it is one of the best books I've read this year, but... eh... no use arguing.

Instead I'll throw my two cents in...

Books I actually REFUSE to read:
DaVinci Code
Twilight
War and Peace

The last one because someone whose opinion I value suffered through it and sent me quotes which were just... awful.

Books I wish I hadn't bothered with:
Tropic of Cancer
Molloy
Crash (J.G. Ballard)
The Last of the Mohicans

That's all that comes to mind at the moment.

[Lynlee4]

I love this thread! My true stinkers:

Anna Karenina
Animal Farm
Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood
The Maximum Ride series by Patterson
The Jester by Patterson
The In Death series by JD Robb
The White

And I struggled with Suite Francaise

Woo - felt good to get that off my chest :)

[Abigail (42stitches)]

I'm sorry Lori, I hope for your sake you enjoy it, but if you didn't at least it was only a dollar, right?

Lol @ Kiwi: "Deep and boring." That is so apt of a lot of books, especially ones forced upon us in the school setting. I read TBE recently and it was, well kind of deep and pretty boring. Luckily I listened to an audio so I could distract myself enough and still get what was going on...

@ Maureen: If you didn't like Jennifer Government and it wasn't a style issue, you might like Syrup better. I though it was a riot. And much better than JG.

[Jamie]

Ofmatt - So, why do you "REFUSE" to read Twilight and The DaVinci Code anyway? I used to share your thoughts on Twilight (I've never been interested in vampire-related material and I thought the premise sounded kind of stupid), but I eventually gave in and ended up loving it.

[Dylan]

Here's my list:
Julius Caesar-All shakespear seams to end the same: "I hate my life!" slits wrists Where's the plot?
Animal Farm-This was o.k., but the ending was a bit dissapointing
Romeo & Juliet- Romeo was stupid and the ending sucked. Also what do teenagers know about true love?
That's all I can think of right now. I'll keep you posted.

[Kiwi]

@Ofmatt: Don't tell me your name's from The Handmaid's Tale...that book is so stupid.

Anyway, I don't think you should hate a book that you haven't read yet. Da Vinci Code was extremely well planned out and interesting. And Twilight is the most romantic teen novel I've ever read. And btw, some of the books were "forced" on us 'cause we didn't like them. I actually read some really good books that belong on the summer reading list, like The Color of Water or One Hundred Years of Solitude for example. And your opinion might defer from other people, so don't be surprised if your favorite book ends up on someone's "Top 10 Books to Avoid" list. That's all. =)

@Abigail: I read TBE last year. Couldn't finish it, used Sparknotes. But I got the gist of it. They have to understand that this is the 21ST CENTURY, and that we need to read 21ST CENTURY books.

@Dylan: Yes, that's what I thought about Romeo & Juliet. It's dumb. It's retarded. Romeo is not charming at all, Juliet's a spoiled brat, and you can't possibly be that crazily in love in 4 days...and die for it. I guess overexaggeration is a vital element in Shakespeare's days. Sad. Though I did enjoy The Merchant of Venice.

[Dylan]

I haven't read that one. I saw Hamlet, and to me it was hillariously performed. When someone got killed by a sword, the person had trouble getting it through cleanly. He pushed a little in at a time and the farther the sword went in the louder the guy screamed. I laughed so hard. :D

[Petra X]

I saw a Hamlet in London last year and Ophelia lying dead sneezed. Some of the cast laughed as well as the audience and the dramatic effect was ruined.

[Darla]

My two-cents on any Shakespeare, is that it needs to be watched, not read. I've read quite a bit of his work, but it tends to seem lifeless and I don't retain much of it for very long. He can be absolutely wonderful if he's performed well. :)

I have to agree with Kiwi on the book forcing issue. I've never thought of mandatory reading as forced unless A.) The writing sucked B.) It absolutely did not appeal to me.

As far as not giving books a try... I had MANY people tell me to read His Dark Materials trilogy for well over a year. I finally agreed when someone actually gave me their own copies. Then it took me over a month to finally talk myself into cracking the cover. I've read the series a total of 3 times. The first time I read the series I did it in about 5 days. They are one of my favorite series of all times. So, you never know, it's just like eating vegetables, sometimes you just need to give them a chance :)

[Abigail (42stitches)]

I certainly never minded reading whatever was forced on me. I don't think I ever disliked a required book until I read Frankenstine. And that was more of a bore and a let down than anything else. I only read TBE (for fun btw) because I heard it was horrifyingly graphic and got curious, but I found it rather dull. Maybe I'm desensitized. *shrugs I just didn't see it, or somehow missed the worst part. I don't know.

I loved The Handmaid's Tale. I though it was so funny! And not to be critical, I'm really curious, but I see a lot of parallels between Romeo and Juliet and Twilight. They seem oddly similar to me now that I'm thinking about it...

[d4]

Jamie: Neither of the series caught my interest of their own merit. With that being said, I don't care to read books just because it seems that everyone else is reading them--which isn't to say that's the only reason anyone reads them, but it would be in my case.

[d4]

Kiwi: Don't tell me your name is from the fruit!

Relevance to this thread: Zero.

I didn't say I hated any of the books which I listed but haven't read; I simply stated that I won't be reading them. I understand that people have differing opinions. That's why I made a point not to go out of my way to criticize the books liked by the people who listed some of my favorites as their least favorites.

[Darla]

I'm confused... it feels like it's getting heated in here....

[silvia]

it dont think theres spmething wrong whit deciding/refusing to read a certain book... there are so many books to read. we all have to make choices. there's nothing wrong in saing I wount read that book cause I dont think I'll like it, or even cause I dont like all the hype around it...