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Top Ten Books to Avoid
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Stephanie
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Jan 12, 2009 09:26AM

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I would like to see Amy Tan try it.

I was really looking forward to the novel since the setting was Salem, Mass. However, by half way through the book I was totally confused as to what the heck was going on. There seemed to be discrepancies, things just flat out didn't make sense. But still, I hung in there thinking it'll be one of those books with a jaw-hanging ending and well worth it. Nope. It wasn't. Totally unsatisfying and confusing. Such a shame, because I had such high hopes for it.

2. THE BOOK THIEF BY MARKUS ZUSAK!!!"
Haleemah, what didn't you like about The Book Thief?

I loved The Book Thief. I thought it was beautifully written, moving and unique. I actually found the story to be uplifting and hopeful rather than dark, although it is set during the Holocaust, which isn't exactly a proud moment in history. I read it in a single sitting, and loved it so much that I gave away my copy and bought another one to keep.

2. THE BOOK THIEF BY MARKUS ZUSAK!!!"
The Phantom Tollbooth?! Are you on crack?
It was one of the few books I read as a kid where I actually came out feeling a bit smarter. Of course, I've loved language for as long as I can remember, and it is a book about language, but I cannot imagine anyone, especially a bibliophile, disliking it.

Thanks for input Becky!

Heart of Darkness
The Scarlett Letter
Grapes of Wrath (I have considered giving this one a second chance though)
Mirror Mirror by Gregory McGuire (I actually really enjoyed Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister and I liked Wicked, but I couldn't even tell you the point of this book it was so horribly boring)
Lost by Gregory McGuire (Couldn't even finish it)

I couldn't get through the first 10 pages of Life of Pi! I usually keep that to myself though, since everyone else seemed to think it was the best thing since... well, anything else. I think that would be an interesting thread as well - books everyone else seemed to love but you couldn't get through two chapters without falling asleep!
I would also include on that list:
1. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by MT Anderson
2. Beloved by Toni Morrison
3. Atonement by Ian McEwan
And yes, I know, one or all of these are your favorite books of all time.... unfortunately, I couldn't get to the end of them to find out why!

I did enjoy atonement though

In no particular order:
1. Lord of the Flies - Just eww. Despised every moment.
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - To me, this book was a lot like watching Rocky Horror Picture Show. Crude; and I kept reading, waiting for it to get better, and then it ended. It was so crass, I couldn't BELIEVE it was in the YA Fiction section.
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey - Oye... I just finished the audiobook last weekend. It wasn't even that it was bad. It was just SO INCREDIBLY BORING! I thought it would pick up... but oh, gosh. And THEN, I was like, "Oh, well, maybe it's just because it's the audiobook. I'll watch the movie and see if it's any better." OH MY GOSH. I thought I would kill myself. It was EXACTLY THE SAME, except with bad 1960s special effects! And I got on Netflix afterward to see what people had rated it, and everyone's like, "This is the best movie of all time!", and I'm just like... SHOCKED! Is there something wrong with me? I was FLABBERGASTED.
4. Prom - Random YA Fiction book, but as a teacher's pet, overachieving, college-educated person with a full-time job married to a graduate student who will (hopefully) someday be a Veterinarian... I COULD NOT relate to the main character, who was this girl who was barely squeaking by her senior year, in detention all the time, dating a high school dropout, no plans for college or for life... I couldn't relate. Physically couldn't do it. And that's what makes a book good in my opinion--being able to get inside the character's shoes... Experience what they experience... Feel what they feel!
5. Don't kill me. Jane Eyre - I at least gave it 2 stars. The above books got 1. Is this book supposed to be some kind of twisted love story? *shakes her head* What the hell kind of love story is that? GEEZ!! "Sorry! We can't get married because I have a crazy wife I keep locked up in the attic!" Oh, geez. The gothic thing. I'll never understand.
6. And, in that same vein, Wuthering Heights - Sorry, Bronte sisters! You were born in the wrong era for me. This book is SO COMPLETELY TWISTED. It's full of hatred and selfishness and greed and it's just awful! The whole story is just atrocious! Maybe I live in a happy-go-lucky little bubble, but holy CRAP. I can't handle the utterly depressing nature of books like this.
7. Gone With The Wind - Okay, honestly... I haven't read it. BUT, I will be avoiding it at all costs. I can't imagine liking a book of a movie I hated so passionately. Again with the rude, abusive, hateful, ... And then the ending... *rolls her eyes in disgust* I can't even think about it.
NUMBER ONE BOOK TO AVOID
The Giver.
excuse my language but that book was fucking weird : /
That book messed up my poor little 6th grade mind.
(I had to read it in school, otherwise I've NEVER would have read that book.)
The Giver.
excuse my language but that book was fucking weird : /
That book messed up my poor little 6th grade mind.
(I had to read it in school, otherwise I've NEVER would have read that book.)

Oh, Beloved is one of my favourite books, though I did read it for school, so perhaps that forced me to get more into it than I otherwise would have?


The Giver.
...men having babys?! wtf. "
I just read that book like... 4 or 5 months ago. There weren't any men having babies.... Ummm... The main dude's dad took CARE of babies, but the babies were had by women... Just fyi. The book WAS really weird though. Very trippy...
Also:
Susanna wrote: "Sara - I suspect watching 2001: A Space Odyssey while on LSD would help immensely. LSD would probably not enhance the book experience, however."
Ohhhhhhh.... was that the missing ingredient? I have a feeling there are a lot of movies that are "better" when you're on something... ;)
Sara wrote: "Brenda Sue wrote: "NUMBER ONE BOOK TO AVOID
The Giver.
...men having babys?! wtf. "
I just read that book like... 4 or 5 months ago. There weren't any men having babies.... Ummm... The m..."
Ohhhh! Yeah, that was it! Someone even wrote a sequel to that book, but the only thing was that the sequel wasn't even written by the same author. : / kay..
No thanks to that sequel : |
The Giver.
...men having babys?! wtf. "
I just read that book like... 4 or 5 months ago. There weren't any men having babies.... Ummm... The m..."
Ohhhh! Yeah, that was it! Someone even wrote a sequel to that book, but the only thing was that the sequel wasn't even written by the same author. : / kay..
No thanks to that sequel : |


I thought I'd hate Wuthering Heights for that reason, but I love it. I don't think Emily Bronte wanted people to root for Catherine and Heathcliffe. Heathcliffe was obviously a poor excuse for a human being and Catherine/Heathcliff are prime examples of the Toni Morrison theme of "too much love." Their love was this horrible addiction that destroyed them and everyone that cared about them. I thought their psychology was really interesting and I did find a couple to root for later on (Cathy/Hareton, who, as the author points out, represent the best of their parents without their tragic flaws). Plus, the thing that made me like the book even more was that I could totally see all the Bella/Edward fangirls of Twilight loving Catherine/Heathcliffe and thinking that their obsessive love is the epitome of true love (not trying to get fans of Twilight to hate me by comparing the two couples; your mileage in how similar you see the two books will vary. I will admit that obviously Edward would not psychologically destroy innocent people like Heathcliff is more than willing to do and even Edward proclaims at one point in the series that Wuthering Heights is a hate story and not a love story).
That said, easy to see why you'd hate the book. The main (and most famous) couple are pretty atrocious people.

That said, easy to see why you'd hate the book. The main (and most famous) couple are pretty atrocious people. "
Some people really identify with Bella, and I had no problem stepping into her shoes, but I'm not actually like her very much, I don't think (except for the lack of athleticism and abundance of clumsiness). I agree with Edward. It's a hate story.
As for the similarities... I can see how people would think they're similar. Bella and Edward's love really is an addiction for them. But because they are both good people, it doesn't destroy them and the people around them.
I like to think that, in general, people are good. It's really hard for me to read a book where the characters are just... evil...

It would normally bother me, too. I don't know why it doesn't in Wuthering Heights. Maybe because it is an older classic so I engage differently than I do with a modern novel. But I just ended up finding their psychology fascinating. Even if I don't like the characters, I found them really interesting. And things pretty much worked out in the end (except for some of the unfortunates who got caught in the crossfire and died before the novel ended) so it wasn't bleak and depressing.

It's so interesting that you would say that. I can approach a lot of different types of books differently... but I have a serious issue with older classics--both books and movies. I don't like many of them. I don't know why, but I think I am expecting it to... not READ like a modern novel, because the language is obviously going to be different... but to have the same feeling as a modern novel. And they never do. I'm not sure how to get over that. I LOVE modern novels.

Becky wrote: "What sequel? I've never heard of a sequel to The Giver, let alone one by a different author. There are two companion books [b:Gathering Blue|12936|Gathering Blue|Lois Lowry|http://photo.goodreads.c..."
That's what I meant, a companion book.
That's what I meant, a companion book.


Lori,
I strongly disliked Heart of Darkness as well.
Except I wasnt made to read it in school.... I read it because it was on the Lost Lit List.... and I forced myself to finish all 90+ pages of it. It was very very painful.
I strongly disliked Heart of Darkness as well.
Except I wasnt made to read it in school.... I read it because it was on the Lost Lit List.... and I forced myself to finish all 90+ pages of it. It was very very painful.


I did book on CD also... I just.... it was just toooooooooooooooooooooooooo ssssssllllllllloooooooooooooooowwwwwww for my taste. I thought we'd never get away from the ape-men, and then the stuff in space draaaaaaaaaagged on, too! But that's okay--I'm glad someone enjoyed it.

I am glad to see atonement on this thread, Santina. I was so mad when I did finally finish it. I mean, that stupid girl ruined their lives, for heaven's sake. How is writing a book atonement for THAT?????


I am glad to see atonement on this thread, Santina..."
I am just impressed you made it to the end of Atonement! I couldn't get that far.
Another one that, if it hadn't been for the Winter Challenge, I would have thrown across the room - or hid under the bed - or used it as a doorstop - or done anything else with it other than finish it...
December. Ick ick ick.

Ohhhh, how I love the Giver, and all of its companions. Lois Lowry holds hallowed ground in my heart and on my bookshelves. Please don't talk to my 6th graders about this, as they will find any excuse not to read! :):):)

Atonement
Wicked
Certain Girls
Lord of the Flies and Girl with the Pearl Earring are both up there too.
Also...I did not at all enjoy Water for Elephants, although I know no one agrees with me there.

There was no coherent narrative, no system of letting the reader know whether we are in the past, or the present, or a "rememory" or what. At times its even unclear who is doing the narrating. It wasn't interesting enough to me to justify making me work as hard as it did. I don't mind difficult subject matter, I just want it to be worth my time. And this wasn't.
I'm sure that there are people who like this book. But really, I can't see why.

Mandy wrote: "I didn't much like The Glass Castle, it was okay but nothing spectacular and you know there are people out there doing it hard and also doing it a lot harder. Good for her for writing it but not s..."

1. The Old Man and the Sea (I just can not get into Hemingway in general, but this one in particular makes me cringe!)
2. The Red P..."
You should try Steinbeck's Winter of Our Disconent or In Dubious Battle. They are not as juvenile or melodramatic.

1. Of Mice and Men I just couldn't get past the dead animals or the ending... I cried and then I got really really angry that anyone would write a story like that. Sick bastard. I've never been able to read another Steinbeck.
2. The Cay I read this ages ago and it bored me to tears. T_T
3. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister The only reason I haven't read Wicked yet, this was such a randomly bad retelling of a fairytale.
4. And just because The Cat in the Hat it used to make me so angry as a little girl that this rude cat would come in and mess up their house! That's not fun! It gave me anxiety.... lol

1. The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stoutt (this is what I would give a sociopath as her sole book to read in prison, real punishment).
2. The Year of Eating Dangerously by Tom Parker Bowles. He's supposed to be a food critic, but I'd never heard of him. His mother is the odious Camilla Parker Bowles, Princess Diana's nemesis and Prince Charles wife (now). I guess that sort of fame helps get your book published even if its unreadable crap.
3. Brief Intervals of Horrible Sanity: One Season in a Progressive School by Elizabeth Gold. She hates all students, thinks they are criminally-minded, retarded and with the morals of alley-cats. She never for one moment considered that her year in a liberal school was so appalling because she was a really crap teacher whose dislike and condescension to her pupils oozes out of her. (She's really a poet as she repeatedly tells the reader). Aggggh. Save all kids from teachers like this.
Madeline - I'm not a Dr. Seuss fan either.

- Paulo Coelho's The Witch of Portobello -- I usually enjoy Coelho's books but this was the first book where I was rather disappointed. The format of the story was interesting (people who knew the main character talking about her) but I found the main character, through these perspectives and such, to be flightly, annoying and irresponsible. By the end of the novel I also had no idea what was supposed to be the point of it all =(
- Juan Gomez-Jurado's God's Spy -- I thought the novel was going to be interesting because it was set in the Vatican and everything but I found myself trudging through the novel quite a bit. All of the characters were so annoying, even when some of the characters' "dark pasts" were revealed. The author also introduced a rather fascinating revelation way too late in the plot, which by then I didn't really care for.
- Miriam Toews's A Complicated Kindness -- I heard such wonderful reviews about this book and I tried liking it but yeah, after a while it felt like the story wasn't really going anywhere. =(

Books mentioned in this topic
The Lays of Beleriand (other topics)The Catcher in the Rye (other topics)
The Martian Chronicles (other topics)
The Old Man and the Sea (other topics)
The Things They Carried (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
V.C. Andrews (other topics)Charles Dickens (other topics)
Steve Berry (other topics)
John Steinbeck (other topics)
Dan Brown (other topics)
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