Your least favourite book... and why?

[Angela]

Agreed - EPL was a shocker!!!!

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

Oh don't get me started on Eat, Pray, Love!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Definitely agree on EPL!!

[Andrea]

Glad it wasn't just me!! So many people raved about it, I thought there was something wrong with me lol. It was definitely a shocker!!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

So much so that I won't read any more of her work!

[Angela]

Me neither Brenda - she is on my black list ;)

[[deleted user]]

The last novel I actively disliked was Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish.

My review here, the gist of which is that it was bloated and not worth the paper it was written on. I really think it was the coloured type that annoyed me, more than anything else.

[B the BookAddict]

My least favourite is probably Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey; for his own special weird type of prose, random capital letters in the middle of sentences, lack of punctuation, an incredibly large number of characters - most with little or no character development. This novel got rave reviews; I expected so much and got so little.

I'd heard him likened to the talented David Foster Wallace. Someone was being cruel to Wallace with this analogy!

[Liza]

Angela wrote: "Me neither Brenda - she is on my black list ;)"
Blacklisted for me too, after that totally self-indulgent EPL!

[Clare]

I have a few - Uncle Tom's Cabin, Jane Eyre, Catcher in the Rye (I truly loathe Holden Caulfield) and The Hobbit.

I know I should probably be shot.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Clare wrote: "I have a few - Uncle Tom's Cabin, Jane Eyre, Catcher in the Rye (I truly loathe Holden Caulfield) and The Hobbit.

I know I should probably be shot."

Uncle Tom's Cabin
Jane Eyre
The Catcher in the Rye
The Hobbit

[Liza]

Brenda wrote: "Clare wrote: "I have a few - Uncle Tom's Cabin, Jane Eyre, Catcher in the Rye (I truly loathe Holden Caulfield) and The Hobbit.

I know I should probably be shot."

Uncle Tom's Cabin
[..."
I agree, Brenda, Catcher in the Rye was so boring... never could work out what all the hype was about, with that book.

[Angela]

Brenda wrote: "Clare wrote: "I have a few - Uncle Tom's Cabin, Jane Eyre, Catcher in the Rye (I truly loathe Holden Caulfield) and The Hobbit.

I know I should probably be shot."

Uncle Tom's Cabin
[..."

The Hobbit is on my Summer reading list but I've heard it wasn't too good. Although some say the Lord of the Rings books are amazing in comparison... does anyone have a view on this before I put them all on my 2014 list?

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

Personally they are both on my list of favourite books of all time. But you have to enjoy fantasy at least a little bit to really get in to them. Make sure you read The Hobbit first though. Not just because it comes first but also because it is a bit like a child's book compared to The Lord of the Rings

[David]

Brenda wrote: "Clare wrote: "I have a few - Uncle Tom's Cabin, Jane Eyre, Catcher in the Rye (I truly loathe Holden Caulfield) and The Hobbit.

I know I should probably be shot."

Uncle Tom's Cabin
[..."

Clare, I thought that 'Lord of the Rings' was one of the most boring books I've ever tried to read, I could not make head nor tail of it and so I'll be up against the same firing squad as you.

[[deleted user]]

The Ruby Red (or precious stones) trilogy which is much hyped on booktube was extremely disappointing. Managed only to read 1 1/2 books before ditching it. One of my least favourites ever.

[Ashley]

The Scarlet Letter. I can't stand Hawthorne's writing at all.

[[deleted user]]

Angela wrote: "Agreed - EPL was a shocker!!!!"

Phrynne wrote: "Oh don't get me started on Eat, Pray, Love!"

Didnt finish the book but enjoyed the movie

[[deleted user]]

Brenda wrote: "So much so that I won't read any more of her work!"

I thought the same and reluctantly read The Signature of All Things which it turned out to be very good, for me anyway. Total deviation from EPL

[Liam || Books 'n Beards]

Oh how did I forget to say The Lord of the Rings?

[Angela]

Stop kicking a dead horse Liam :-P

[★ Jess]

Divergent is the biggest pile of shit I've ever read in my life. On the upside, if this can be not only published but successful, I have no doubt that I will one day be a bestselling author.

[Liam || Books 'n Beards]

★ Jess wrote: "Divergent is the biggest pile of shit I've ever read in my life. On the upside, if this can be not only published but successful, I have no doubt that I will one day be a bestsellin..."

I have similar confidence.

[Yan]

Maybe it's because I have simple taste or I just never bother reading books I gather I wouldn't like but my least favourite book is Romeo and Juliet. Maybe the play works better but as it books it's really dull read. Also the characters, maybe that's the whole point but I don;t really find teenager's love life to be so amazing.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Yan wrote: "Maybe it's because I have simple taste or I just never bother reading books I gather I wouldn't like but my least favourite book is Romeo and Juliet. Maybe the play works better but as it books it'..."

Romeo and Juliet

[Valerie]

The Aunt's Story
I read this to support my daughter who had to read it for school Literature. I absolutely suffered through it, not understanding any of it, finding it pretentious and boring.
When the teacher withdrew it from the list, I was furious! I'll never get those hours back!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Valerie, I notice you are a new member - welcome to the group:) Don't you absolutely hate wasting hours on terrible books!!

If you'd like to introduce yourself here https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... the others can say hi too:)

[Deb]

Catcher in the Rye was the first book I ever disliked so much I almost did not finish it. I was in my teens at the time. I found EPL a totally forgettable book, one could almost forget it while reading, it was so meaningless, thank goodness I did not pay for it.

My current most despised book is (As Brenda well, knows, she has read my review) is . It shares a small shelf that I have named 'Travestys' with such gems as


Unlike most others on the list The Shipping News is not badly written, arrant lies or badly researched - I just really could not stand it.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Deborah wrote: "Catcher in the Rye was the first book I ever disliked so much I almost did not finish it. I was in my teens at the time. I found EPL a totally forgettable book, one could almost forget it while rea..."

The Shipping News was also one I disliked! Read for our bookclub, and very few liked it:(

I haven't read The Catcher in the Rye and have no desire to do so:)

[Elaine]

Brenda wrote: "Deborah wrote: "Catcher in the Rye was the first book I ever disliked so much I almost did not finish it. I was in my teens at the time. I found EPL a totally forgettable book, one could almost for..."

Oh no, really Brenda? I loved The Shipping News. My one would have to be The English Patient. I just could not get into it. One of the few books I've read...well not read...that was confusing and disjointed right from the get go. Couldn't get past the first few pages and it takes a lot for me to give up on a book.

[Michele]

Shantaram - it started off excellent and then went completely downhill and ruined the entire book. I hated it so much that I gave it to my husband to use as a rest under the wheel of his bike as the thickness was perfect. I would never normally treat a book so badly...lol

[Deb]

I gave The Shipping News to my birds to chew. They love demolishing books and watching this one turn to confetti gave me a feeling of vindictive pleasure.

[Adrian]

I love talking about books I hate...good thread!

My wife reads very little fiction (being a science-based professional, I suppose). She did finish EPL and was amusingly scathing in her assessment of it. As a struggling writer myself there's nothing I hate more than crap books that turn into fads, thus giving their authors the opportunity to wallow in mediocrity for years to come.

Books I've hated myself? The Celestine Prophecy (what a pile of pretentious puke!)...I tried to read two sci-fi books by Iain M Banks that people were raving about (utterly pointless)...simply couldn't get into the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (thought it read like it had been written by a 15 yo) and put it down after about 30pp. Ice Station by Matt Reilly (one dimensional, improbable action) suffered the same fate.

As for Shantaram, I quite enjoyed it but felt ripped off that he never wrote about the immediate aftermath of the escape. Just kept alluding to parts of it - which sounded interesting. It was a tad pretentious with the philosophical meanderings at the end of every chapter, but a pretty impressive piece of work really.

[Marianne]

Such is life by Tom Collins so boring I just could not finish it! And that's saying something because very few books defeat me.

[Kathleen]

I'm with Michele- 'Shantaram'!! More like SHAMtaram. I find autobiographies are one big 'boring dinner party guest'. Don't let me get started on 'Once I was Princess'. Are there any good ones out there? Didn't finish Shantaram, wish I hadn't finished Once I was Princess.

[Deb]

Adrian - I totally agree with you about The Celestine Prophecy, it was loathsome!

And I also agree about fad books, it is a sad thing when a halfway decent author gets so much notoriety that everything they write afterwards gets published - no matter how under-edited, badly written or just plain indifferent it is...

[Sally906]

I loved The Celestine Prophecy but read it as fiction. Had no idea that the author meant it for real so that may have coloured my opinion :)

I agree with Shantaram though was a did not finish for me. Mind you one of my work mates has been ploughing through it for weeks and is loving it.

[Adrian]

Redfield wrote the Celestine Prophecy as non-fiction?

*edges carefully from the room*

[Angela]

I like the Celestine Prophecy too - fiction or not it set my mind to wonder.

[Sally906]

Adrian wrote: "Redfield wrote the Celestine Prophecy as non-fiction?

*edges carefully from the room*"

To be fair Adrian he presented it as fiction - but lots of people took it as 'gospel' . The author certainly had his belief system invested in the book and in an interview said it was a parable ie fiction telling the truth in a way people could understand.

He expands on this in his definitely non-fiction book The Celestine Vision: Living the New Spiritual Awareness where he writes about the effects of the first book on people around the world.

It appears to be one of those books which people either hate or love.

[Adrian]

I didn't hate it for the subject matter. I hated it because I thought it was really poorly written. It's nearly 20 years since I read it but I seem to remember thinking it was repetitive, vague and the narrator's voice was extremely unconvincing - especially near the end when he was peevishly whinging about something trivial, but we're expected to believe he's turned into some high level philosophical genius - capable of invisibility through will power!

Few books I actually finished have irritated me as much as that one.

[Adrian]

A book I didn't actually hate, but simply couldn't understand the hype was The Secret Garden by Donna Tartt. Back in the mid-90s when everyone was just raving about it I read it with great anticipation...got to the end and shrugged. I know a lot of people really love that book but it's a head scratcher for me.

[Andrea]

I wouldn't say I hate it, but I've decided to re-shelve Little Women, which I was reading for the December monthly challenge. As I'm at 45%, I figure there's a chance I might come back to it one day.

I was wondering how people manage this situation in terms of their Goodreads lists? For now I've had to put it back on my 'want to read' shelf, which I think is a bit of an overstatement and will affect my Goodreads recommendations.

Any ideas?

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Andrea wrote: "I wouldn't say I hate it, but I've decided to re-shelve Little Women, which I was reading for the December monthly challenge. As I'm at 45%, I figure there's a chance I might come back ..."

Do you have a "did not finish" shelf Andrea? I have one of those for books I don't want to finish and am sure I won't go back to...

[Dana]

I also have an abandoned shelf. I mark them as read to get them out of my hair, but if I am doing a challenge I make sure I finish an extra book to make it technically correct. I don't have to many unfinished books, but I like to keep track of them. sometimes a different frame of mind means I can finish a book a few months down the track and maybe even enjoy it.

[Sally906]

I just quietly delete my DNF books :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Sally906 wrote: "I just quietly delete my DNF books :)"

Haha!! lol

[Kathryn]

Sally906 wrote: "I just quietly delete my DNF books :)"

I have a shelf for unfinished books - I don't want to make the same mistake down the track and try again! And yeah, I know I might like some books better at another time, but if they're making it onto this shelf, they're pretty bad!

I also have another shelf for temporarily abandoned books - books that I had to return to the library before I finished or books that I just couldn't get into but think I might like another time or long books that I need to put aside for a little while...

[Sally906]

Kathryn wrote: "Sally906 wrote: "I just quietly delete my DNF books :)"

I have a shelf for unfinished books - I don't want to make the same mistake down the track and try again! And yeah, I know I might like some..."

I was once given an ARC of a debut Crime book by a very close friend of mine and I could not get into it and gave up after the first chapter. He didn't push me as to why a review hadn't been forthcoming and the book was released. Was an immediate hit and friends in some of my groups were raving over it. 3 months after it's release they decided to do a book discussion so I thought I had better pick the book up. Not sure what was different but this time I was sucked in from page one and read it non-stop to the very end. Gave it 5 stars and have read every single one of the following 12 books in the series.

By not keeping a record it gives a book a second chance :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Wow that's an amazing story Sally! Any clues on the book title? ;)