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What's the WORST book you've read all the way through?


PeachyDoodle
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Usually, I stop reading books if I don't like them (things like Twilight, Hunger Games, Outlander, etc...). Unfortunately, I continued reading these all the way through & hated them...

 

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Perfume by Patrick Suskind

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

 

:ack2:

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A toss-up between The Mayor of Casterbridge and Age of Innocence. 

 

Character makes a mistake, and has regrets, but doesn't learn from it. Fair enough, humans are stubborn. 

 

Character makes the same mistake, and has more regrets, but still doesn't learn from it. 

 

Character makes the same mistake, weeps with regret, and reader is convinced that they have finally learned from it. 

 

Character gets chance for redemption, and . . . oh dear god, makes the same bloody mistake, you have GOT to be kidding me! 

 

Not my style. "People are idiots who will never, ever learn" is a short sentence that does not need to be expanded into a novel. 

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So far everyone's listing books I haven't read, except for The Door in the Wall. That one wasn't as much of a slog for me as The Cat of Bubastes. It was one of those you're supposed to read because it's good for you. Ha ha--builds character. lol.

 

I generally give up on books I'm not enjoying so I can't think of anything outside of required reading from high school that I made myself suffer through.

 

Oh wait. There was that book for ds2's summer reading. He attends a small Christian school and up until that year the summer reading included a biography about how the person lived out their faith. But this book wasn't at all about the man's faith. It was just about how he was raised in a horrible situation and went on to become a healthy and successful persIon. Which could be a good story anyway but this one wasn't. It started off interesting but then it was such a slog to finish. Not just because it wasn't about faith; it just got boring. I can't even remember the title.

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Madame Bovary

 

Bleh!

 

Twilight. :lol:

Twilight here, too. Girl meets guy. Girl can't stand the guy. Girl is suddenly, inexplicably, and "irrevocably" in love with the guy. Some stuff about vampires happens, and somehow manages to not be remotely interesting. 10 pages from the end of the book something interesting finally happens. The end.

 

I slogged through just so I could say that I read it. It only confirmed my prejudice against reading books that "everyone" is raving about. I never end up enjoying them. (that goes for the first Harry Potter, too *gasp*, but I wouldn't say it was the worst book I ever read).

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(I'm so sorry. Please, nobody come to my house to cause me bodily harm.)

 

Outlander. Vol. 1. 

 

I only liked one character and it wasn't Jamie.

 

I despised Outlander, but I didn't finish it, so it doesn't count. You did better than me; I can't even think of one character I liked.

 

 

Moby Dick. I had to read to the end because it was for a class. But left to my own devices, I would have chunked it after the first two chapters.

 

The Notebook. That one I did chunk. At the wall when I finished it.

 

You know, I didn't mind Moby Dick (although I admit to skimming the 37 chapters in the middle about different types of whales). The Notebook was ghastly, but I didn't throw it at the wall.

 

The one I did throw was the last book in the Divergent trilogy. I'm embarrassed even to admit I read those. They just got worse and worse, but I was so invested I had to see how they turned out. Veronica Roth should be ashamed to call herself a writer.

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(I'm so sorry. Please, nobody come to my house to cause me bodily harm.)

 

Outlander. Vol. 1. 

 

I only liked one character and it wasn't Jamie.

 

 

Which character did you like? I actually made it through 5(?) books before I just didn't care about the characters enough to go on.

 

The one I did throw was the last book in the Divergent trilogy. I'm embarrassed even to admit I read those. They just got worse and worse, but I was so invested I had to see how they turned out. Veronica Roth should be ashamed to call herself a writer.

 

I forgot about Divergent! I liked the first book, the second was ok, hated the third but made myself finish to see how it turned out. Wasn't worth it.

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Canadian Meds by John Moynihan.  My review: https://mamareader.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/canadian-meds-by-john-moynihan/ Free books are usually decent, sometimes great.  This one was not worth the whatever it is digital books are "written" on.  And, yet, because I'm me, I couldn't stop reading until I was done with it.

 

Although the book I'm reading to my boys may win for "worst book."  It's Snake Oil by T Ford.  It is *terrible.*  And I feel a little bad for saying that because it's written by a homeschool mom.  My boys are not enjoying it (but I'm committed to giving an "honest review" so I must finish it).  My daughter (who is a writer) listened to me read a couple chapters and was seriously horrified (and that's with me fixing some of the grammar and incorrect words as I read!).  Even my dyslexic, decided non-writer, son told me he hoped I didn't just let the boys read it to themselves because he could hear how bad the writing was.

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Giants in the Earth.

 

Mandatory reading in high school English. The plot is as follows:

 

They were miserable.

They became even more miserable.

Eventually misery permeates EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY.

 

The book makes the dreariest of Dickens appear as a Fairy Tale Happy Ever After in comparison.

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Cloud Atlas.  I thoroughly resent the hours lost to that book.

 

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt.  I kept hoping there would be something redeeming about it.  Nope.

 

I am sure there are others, but I tend to throw the books out if I hated them and then promptly redirect those brain cells to something useful.

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Some children's books come to mind for me, especially Love You Forever and anything by Shel Silverstein.   :leaving: 

 

I disliked Catcher in the Rye and Orlando, but I'm not convinced that I haven't read worse books that I'm just not remembering at the moment.  

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I despised Outlander, but I didn't finish it, so it doesn't count. You did better than me; I can't even think of one character I liked.

 

 

 

 

 

Which character did you like? I actually made it through 5(?) books before I just didn't care about the characters enough to go on.

 

 

 

 

Oh, the old guy with the cozy house and the bearskin rug, or maybe he wore a bearskin, or maybe he was a bear...I can't remember. I think they'd left the prison and traipsed through the snow to his house. I remember thinking, "Finally. I would like to know more about this guy, and I can actually envision the setting."

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I was going to say Billy Budd, until purplejackmama reminded me of Grapes of Wrath. Billy Budd was the shortest book we had to read in one high school literature class and quite possibly the most painful. And then we had to read Grapes of Wrath over spring break. That pretty much ruined break.

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The one I did throw was the last book in the Divergent trilogy. I'm embarrassed even to admit I read those. They just got worse and worse, but I was so invested I had to see how they turned out. Veronica Roth should be ashamed to call herself a writer.

 

:iagree:  The last book was horrible!!

 

 

I agree with many that have been mentioned, especially Wuthering Heights. My husband asked me to read that to help him with a class he was taking, and it made me want to pull my hair out.

 

The last really bad book I read was the last book of the Maze Runner series. It was so bad! I felt like the author was just filling blank space to make it a trilogy. :thumbdown:

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(I'm so sorry. Please, nobody come to my house to cause me bodily harm.)

 

Outlander. Vol. 1.

 

I only liked one character and it wasn't Jamie.

Ugh, reading this now for my book club. Didn't list it because I am not done with yet. I am not enjoying it.

 

Just thought of another couple I read for book club that I didn't like:

The time Travelers Wife

The Book Thief

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I also thought Because of Winn Dixie was horrible. It was like the book came after the movie (which I never saw but heard was cute).... and maybe it did, I dunno. All I know is that it was awful.

 

The book came first and the movie was based on it.  I've never seen the movie either, but I liked the book.  2000 for the book, 2005 for the movie.

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Ugh, reading this now for my book club. Didn't list it because I am not done with yet. I am not enjoying it.

 

Just thought of another couple I read for book club that I didn't like:

The time Travelers Wife

The Book Thief

 

I'm casting my vote for The Time Traveler's Wife as well. I bought it before a long road trip, and anticipated a really good read based on recommendations and reviews. I finished it because I had a lot of hours on my hands, but left it at a campground book exchange. 

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Oh gosh, I loved several of you guy's worst books!

 

I think Twilight was pretty bad, though. I did find it intriguing in a way--I think it was written in a way that made me want to know what was going to happen.

 

I don't have much patience with books that don't grab me.

 

I also think some books hit me because I can relate to something happening in my life, so what may be an "ok" book becomes a fabulous book to me because of my life. Lovely Bones was like that for me.

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The Pearl. I threw the book across the room when I was done.

Yes!! I had to work through this with a couple of my tutoring students. How many depressing stories with a sad ending do they have to make these kids slog through?!
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