Worst book you had ever read?

lablovr108

The time travelers wife, I think im in a minority though as it seems pretty popular!

This is another one that I started and wasn't able to finish.

lizdavis07

I mostly read true crime but for a change i decided to read my first Stephen King book "IT" im down to my last 100 pages finally.. I might read another one of his not sure yet. Im like the above poster though if im not captivated early on I toss it. Great post though Id like to see what NOT to read.

All I can say is I hope you don't end up with the same feelings on King that I have. Love his books. Hate his endings.

The ending of the Dark Tower nearly killed me. I love King, and I will concede that some of his works are stronger than others. I had purposefully waited to read the Dark Tower series until book 7 was out. He almost killed m the Summer he released The Green Mile one portion at a time. So I just waited, knowing that The Dark Tower was his masterpiece.

I won't spoil it for anyone, but I was just about destroyed at that ending.

i hear ya! I wish I would have stopped where he said stop! lol

Impossible. I daresay there isn't anyone alive who read their way through that massive series, got to the place where Stephen says, OK, don't go on, you won't like this....and then actually stopped. I can't imagine anyone who could show that much restraint.

Ok, I seriously have this series unread, staring at me on my bookshelf, and now yall are going to make me cry.....:sad:

sarahgilmore

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was the absolute worst

I didn't get that ending. At all. Maybe it's cos I was about 15 when I read it but I couldn't tell if she lived or died.

ski0721

Eat, Pray, Love. Blah!:ohwell:

bananso

Anything by Nicholas Sparks! It's formulaic and written at a 3rd grade level.

skinnybearlyndsay

Also, I struggled with Mansfield Park.

It took me a YEAR to get through Mansfield Park. I also didn't like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It wasn't funny like everyone else inthe world though.

bananso

OMG I LOVE THE TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE!

dollymixsix

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was the absolute worst

I didn't get that ending. At all. Maybe it's cos I was about 15 when I read it but I couldn't tell if she lived or died.

Oh my I LOVED that book! I read it when I was about 12 and really liked it.

McPenguin

Wuthering Heights. UGH. I had to read it for High School. My mentor said it was on the curriculum because "it's a classic" and the "depths and layers of meaning" in the story make it an interesting study.

SURE.

I am an avid reader. I'll read almost anything. But you can't pay me to EVER read that book. I tried for WEEKS to read it, and kept falling asleep every 2 pages. Eventually, I had to read Cliffs Notes, learn who the characters were from a chart, and wing it for all my projects. I averaged 98% on all 6 projects - including a lecture - without reading it.

And I'm thoroughly convinced that we can over analyze books to the point that the authors would roll over in their graves if they knew. Wuthering Heights was considered a smut book - no better than a Harlequin Romance "novel" back in the day. Now it's "brilliant"?!? Well, we're all entitled to our opinions I guess.

tinkermommc

Ugh Twilight...I suffered through the first one because everyone kept telling me it got better and 'have you gotten to the good part yet?' I never got to the good part. And I didn't read any of the other books to keep looking for it!

GoldenGirl1979

i had to read "the cartel" for book club last year & i think that was quite possibly the worst book ever written... i think it killed a few brain cells :grumble:

nerdyandilikeit

Worst were these sci-fi books my dad ALWAYS tried to get me into - Dragons, something about Pern, He had SHELVES AND SHELVES of em. Sorry dad - I'm the D&D, cape-wearing weirdo you'd like me to be. I'm whole different breed of weirdo.

This is my mom. Dragon Riders of Pern. Anything Dragons really. Blech.

pastryari

DRAGON TATOO SERIES READERS!!! do not give up. As someone mentioned above about The Hunger Games series, there is a lot of storyline to the Tatoo Girl Series. It is such a fantastic read once you get into it. If you finish the first book, there is no way you cannot read the other two. My opinion, the second one is the best as far as action, but you still will want to read the last one to see what happens to Salander and Mikel.

THIS!!!! At first, I almost gave up on it because of the first 50 or so pages. DON'T GIVE UP. Such a fantastic series!!

nerdyandilikeit

anything written by Dan Brown.

*high five* I finished the DaVinci Code by sheer force of will, and a little stubbornness.

I will admit, I actually liked Angels & Demons. But I wasn't impressed with the Da Vinci Code and the Lost Symbol was just...awful. I won't be reading anymore of his books.

Yeah, Angels and Demons was *slightly* better. I won't touch the Lost Symbol. Life is too short.

skinnybearlyndsay

anything written by Dan Brown.

*high five* I finished the DaVinci Code by sheer force of will, and a little stubbornness.

I will admit, I actually liked Angels & Demons. But I wasn't impressed with the Da Vinci Code and the Lost Symbol was just...awful. I won't be reading anymore of his books.

Yeah, Angels and Demons was *slightly* better. I won't touch the Lost Symbol. Life is too short.

I didn't like The Lost Symbol either. It was stupid...but Dan Brown's book "Digital Fortress" was really, really good.

sillygoose1977

I absolutely hate The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. What a bunch of hype for a huge crappy book with awful characters. Not sure it's the worst I've read but I remember being really pissed off that I wasted so much time on it.

There are certain authors I refuse to read because they spew the same crap in every book: Jodi Picoult, Nicholas Sparks, Kristin Hannah. I also hate Jane Austen. So sue me, she was a whiner.

Others mentioned that I totally agree with: Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Almost Moon, Sound and the Fury

MyTime1985

Bill Clinton's My Life. Worst book ever and I've read A LOT of books! It was painful.

collarbonescollarbones

Wuthering Heights. UGH. I had to read it for High School. My mentor said it was on the curriculum because "it's a classic" and the "depths and layers of meaning" in the story make it an interesting study.

SURE.

I am an avid reader. I'll read almost anything. But you can't pay me to EVER read that book. I tried for WEEKS to read it, and kept falling asleep every 2 pages. Eventually, I had to read Cliffs Notes, learn who the characters were from a chart, and wing it for all my projects. I averaged 98% on all 6 projects - including a lecture - without reading it.

And I'm thoroughly convinced that we can over analyze books to the point that the authors would roll over in their graves if they knew. Wuthering Heights was considered a smut book - no better than a Harlequin Romance "novel" back in the day. Now it's "brilliant"?!? Well, we're all entitled to our opinions I guess.

I was about to reply to someone who mentioned the Bronte sisters earlier, we did Wuthering Heights for A-level as part of our gothic module, and I'll have to admit the first time I read it I HATED it, especially the beginning where it's in the present day, however my teacher loves it (we even went on a trip to the town in Yorkshire where the sisters grew up and visited the ruins on the moors that inspired the book...) and it must've eventually rubbed off on me because I love it too!

A book we did in english that I did not appreciate however, was "Enduring Love" by Ian McEwan UGHHHH, glad it didn't put me off reading "Atonement" though!

Anyone ever tried reading "A Clockwork Orange" by Antony Burgess? Set myself a goal of reading a few penguin classics and I wanted to read this before watching the film, JESUS it's basically written in another language, certainly struggled! Once you get used to the slang language it's written it though it gets easier and I enjoyed it in the end...probably won't attempt it again though, the film is enough for me!

smantha32

Books I hated... hm... The lovely Bones, Of Mice and Men, Violin by Anne Rice, Catcher in the Rye
Great Expectations.. MOST BORING BOOK EVER.
Steven King - I like him mostly, but most of his books seem to be the same. I can figure out how they're going to end.
I know there are more, but these are the ones that come to mind.

dwtouch4

I love books, I even enjoyed the books they make you read in high school english class. The only book I ever read I couldn't stand was "The Great Gatsby". I know its considered a great example of American Literature but I just don't get why its so revered.

My1985Freckles

Books I hated... hm... The lovely Bones, Of Mice and Men, Violin by Anne Rice, Catcher in the Rye
Great Expectations.. MOST BORING BOOK EVER.
Steven King - I like him mostly, but most of his books seem to be the same. I can figure out how they're going to end.
I know there are more, but these are the ones that come to mind.

I actually liked Of Mice and Men (it's sad, but I liked it). Read a whole bunch of Steinbeck that year. We were studying the Great Depression. I didn't care for The Grapes of Wrath or The Pearl.

My1985Freckles

I love books, I even enjoyed the books they make you read in high school english class. The only book I ever read I couldn't stand was "The Great Gatsby". I know its considered a great example of American Literature but I just don't get why its so revered.

Agreed. I read it am still am not exactly sure what the oint was... At least it was fairly short though.

dwtouch4

Books I hated... hm... The lovely Bones, Of Mice and Men, Violin by Anne Rice, Catcher in the Rye
Great Expectations.. MOST BORING BOOK EVER.
Steven King - I like him mostly, but most of his books seem to be the same. I can figure out how they're going to end.
I know there are more, but these are the ones that come to mind.

I actually liked Of Mice and Men (it's sad, but I liked it). Read a whole bunch of Steinbeck that year. We were studying the Great Depression. I didn't care for The Grapes of Wrath or The Pearl.

I also like of Mice & Men. I didn't like The Pearl really either. Never read the Grapes of Wrath though.

LuckyLeprechaun

I daresay there isn't anyone alive who read their way through that massive series, got to the place where Stephen says, OK, don't go on, you won't like this....and then actually stopped. I can't imagine anyone who could show that much restraint.

Seeing as I haven't read them yet, I will most definitely stop when he says to stop, thanks to these reviews!

[/quote]

If you are actually able to stop, my hat's off to you. I doubt you'll be able to resist. I didn't even try.

smantha32

Worst were these sci-fi books my dad ALWAYS tried to get me into - Dragons, something about Pern, He had SHELVES AND SHELVES of em. Sorry dad - I'm the D&D, cape-wearing weirdo you'd like me to be. I'm whole different breed of weirdo.

This is my mom. Dragon Riders of Pern. Anything Dragons really. Blech.

I actually used to like this series, but it's one of those deals where the author kept writing book after book after book long after he should have let the whole thing die. Same with the Anne Rice vampire novels. At some point you're just like "jeez, enough already."

lostsanity137

I love the Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon as well...until the ending. Still love the book, and I think I will always have a special place in my heart for King, but I agree that his ending can often be a load of WTF? XD

LuckyLeprechaun

Ok, I seriously have this series unread, staring at me on my bookshelf, and now yall are going to make me cry.....:sad:

It's worth reading, but King just kind of painted himself into a corner, and so when Roland finally enters the Tower (that's not a spoiler, right? We all know that's gonna happen sooner or later) there's just no ending he could've come up with that would have been satisfactory.

After I calmed down, I was OK. It took about a week, though. Then my take on it was, "Well, it's the only ending that could be."

LuckyLeprechaun

I love books, I even enjoyed the books they make you read in high school english class. The only book I ever read I couldn't stand was "The Great Gatsby". I know its considered a great example of American Literature but I just don't get why its so revered.

Ditto! Most "should" books end up being my favorites, (East of Eden, I love you) but Gatsby is a mystery to me. Why anyone thinks it's anything... is beyond my understanding.

johnsscarlett

"The Shack" Terrible, horrible!

lilRicki

I mostly read true crime but for a change i decided to read my first Stephen King book "IT" im down to my last 100 pages finally.. I might read another one of his not sure yet. Im like the above poster though if im not captivated early on I toss it. Great post though Id like to see what NOT to read.

All I can say is I hope you don't end up with the same feelings on King that I have. Love his books. Hate his endings.

I usually give up on a book if I'm not enjoying it too. My gf will read a book to the end in almost every case. She's hated her way through many.

The one I really should have loved but just could not get into was Confederacy of Dunces.

OMG I hated that book, I hated the main character! That's what made it so good, it evoked so much disgust and hatred. I find that if I'm bored than the book is dumb, but if it causes extreme emotion like Confederacy of Dunces did, than even though I was filled with hate, it was a good book lol.