What is the worst book your book club has every dragged you through?

[Danestress]

And when you hate a book club pick, how honest are you?

 

I don't know how to go about telling my book club how much I hate reading books like "The Crown" by Nancy Bilyeau (our current selection) without hurting feelings. It's stupid. It's not literature. Its first 100 pages just attempt to set up the historical context for a reader whom the author assumes has zero knowledge of Tudor England (and I mean rock bottom zero). I don't know if I can make myself finish it.

 

It's just. so. bad.

 

I feel much better just getting that off my chest. Thank you.

 

But honestly, do you tell your book club friends when you think a book is a waste of time? We have fabulous, heated debates about some books, and most of the time, we read books I am glad to read, even if I wouldn't have picked them. I can't think of another book this lame that we have ever read. So perhaps it's not worth making a fuss over. What is more, I adore the women. I am starting to think, though, that I don't love anyone enough to read this kind of garbage ever ever again. Would it be unkind to say so?

 

Okay, seriously, what is the book you have most hated reading for your book club?

Edited July 1, 2012 by Danestress

[jujsky]

Heart of Darkness. I refused to read it. I read it in high school and loathed the book -- I was not about to read it a second time for book club.

 

Another book club book I hated was Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell. I couldn't get through it. It was so painfully BORING!

 

I have no qualms about telling my book club if I hate the selection and why. Most of the books are good (right now we're reading A Visit From The Goon Squad and so far, I like it) but every so often we get stuck with a cruddy choice.

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

Not My Will by Francena Arnold and My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira.

[Lady Florida.]

Although I'm no longer in this particular book club, the books we read in it that I didn't care for were: The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted, The Time Traveler's Wife, and Twilight. The only one I actually couldn't finish was the first one.

[Dolphin]

.

Edited July 2, 2012 by Northwest_Mama

[PrincessMommy]

There were many... but two that come immediately to mind are

 

The Shack

and

Portrait of a Lady

[Melinda in VT]

Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco

 

We all hated it, even my DH, who was the one who picked it.

 

Hope, A Tragedy is in second place only because there was so many fewer pages to hate.

 

And yes, we are honest about it, but not mean to the one who picked it.

[Danestress]

but if I loved Foucault's Pendulum and you hated it, I might feel a bit superior. Maybe I am a better reader, Eco being such an intellectual and all ;)

 

I guess my gripe with this book we are reading is that it's just DUMB and I don't know how to discuss it apart from that. How do you have a book club discussion about why you didn't like a book with no literary merit? I feel like I would just be telling my friend, "you have terrible taste in books." lol.

Edited July 1, 2012 by Danestress

[Danestress]

and interestingly, the same lady picked it as picked The Crown. I would say those are the two books I have most disliked.

[Melinda in VT]

but if I loved Foucault's Pendulum and you hated it, I might feel a bit superior. Maybe I am a better reader, Eco being such an intellectual and all ;)

 

:lol:

 

I had to go read Name of the Rose, just to show that I was smart enough to get Eco. :tongue_smilie:

[Denise in Florida]

ACK...I hated Kite Runner sooooo bad I wanted to spork my eyes out. :lol:

 

I read it and then I nominated "Tale of Two Cities".

[PeacefulChaos]

Well, we had all parenting and self-help type books (we weren't technically a book club, we were a moms group). I hated Parenting with Love and Logic and Anonymous.

I wasn't outspoken during the time. Apparently people knew how I felt, though, because they'll praise the books when I'm not around but not when I'm there. :tongue_smilie: :lol:

[mom2jjka]

Prom and Prejudice....just...ugh. :rolleyes:

[Stacia]

Yep, I'm totally honest about the books we read. We choose by consensus, so it's not like anyone can really feel badly if a choice is a total dud. If a book is really awful, I usually don't even finish it. (At that point, I just go to book club for the dinner & socializing. :lol:)

 

Years ago, we went through a spell where we picked a lot of duds in a row. I used to buy every book club book, but that cured me of it. (Why waste $ on a book I might hate, plus I rarely re-read books anyway.) I began siding w/ the gal who liked to get books from the library. These days, whatever we pick has to be available through the library system.

 

There are various ones that stand out as really bad picks (imo):

Wuthering Heights (ugh -- hated, hated it)

The Hours

The Egyptologist

The Patron Saint of Liars

and a few others that I'm forgetting the titles of (because I stopped reading partway through)

[Ali in OR]

We have no problems in our group admitting that we hate a book. I think we all despised A Reliable Wife, even the one who chose it! I personally have had problems with the two Jodi Picoult books that have been chosen and will never pick up a book by her on my own.

[Danestress]

Prom and Prejudice....just...ugh. :rolleyes:

 

but my sister gave me a book called, "Pride and Promiscuity" that I had to send to Goodwill after merely scanning the chapter headings. Very naughty. But funny title.

[Stacia]

I don't know how to go about telling my book club how much I hate reading books like "The Crown" by Nancy Bilyeau (our current selection) without hurting feelings. It's stupid. It's not literature. Its first 100 pages just attempt to set up the historical context for a reader whom the author assumes has zero knowledge of Tudor England (and I mean rock bottom zero). I don't know if I can make myself finish it.

 

It's just. so. bad.

 

...

 

I don't love anyone enough to read this kind of garbage ever ever again.

 

I would totally say exactly those things at book club. (Of course, I'm blunt like that.... :tongue_smilie::lol:)

 

Hey, as Oscar Wilde says, "True friends stab you in the front." So, I say be bold & speak your piece. Then nominate a Wilde piece as your next selection. :D

[justasque]

I guess my gripe with this book we are reading is that it's just DUMB and I don't know how to discuss it apart from that. How do you have a book club discussion about why you didn't like a book with no literary merit? I feel like I would just be telling my friend, "you have terrible taste in books." lol.

 

Could you perhaps break it down a bit to be able to articulate *why* you hated it? Was it simplistic sentence structure, bad character development, tedious descriptive passages, unbelievable characters, etc?

 

We had a "bad" book in a co-op once, and we used it as an example of bad writing. For example, one character was kind of hard to get a sense of; we looked at the passages where he was described and realized the simplistic language used to describe his appearance, as well as simplistic dialog, was the problem. We compared the passages to similar ones in a book we liked, and found significant differences in structure and vocab. Perhaps something like that, adapted to the particular problems with the book?

[Danestress]

Maybe the problem is that people have differing views of what a book club is for. I don't need a group effort to process a Jodi Picoult book. It's not that her books are so terrible, but they don't really require a team to get the most out of them. I don't really need the discussion, you know?

[Stacia]

Maybe the problem is that people have differing views of what a book club is for. I don't need a group effort to process a Jodi Picoult book. It's not that her books are so terrible, but they don't really require a team to get the most out of them. I don't really need the discussion, you know?

 

:lol:

 

Girl, you just need to speak your mind at meetings & vote for some meatier stuff. :001_smile:

 

ETA: We had one of our best book club discussions over the book The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Have you read it?

Edited July 1, 2012 by Stacia

[VeganCupcake]

My current book club book is one I am hating--The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Could we have any more anachronisms and flowery similes? Ugh, the writing is just terrible. I already told one of the ladies in the club that I hate it, so my secret's out. :lol:

[Melinda in VT]

:lol:

 

Girl, you just need to speak your mind at meetings & vote for some meatier stuff. :001_smile:

 

ETA: We had one of our best book club discussions over the book The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Have you read it?

 

This is one of my all-time favorite books. I didn't read it as part of a group, but I agree it makes for excellent discussion.

[dangermom]

I think we all hated The Swan Thieves (that's my review). It was SO SLOW. And there was WAY too much painting. Also early on in the Twilight craze my friend made us all read that too, and she was in the minority in liking it.

[redsquirrel]

For some reason we picked DaVinci Code. This was years ago. I think a bunch of people got it for Christmas? OMG, that was horrible. But, we did have a couple people who often felt like they didn't enjoy our more literary works who enjoyed DaVinci Code. They got mad at me when I called it a crap book. They kept insisting that is a matter of taste. I said that enjoying a book or not is a matter of taste. There are plenty of well written books that are not to my taste. Heck, there are even some poorly written books that I have enjoyed because the story was compelling. But, crap is crap.

[MSNative]

For some reason we picked DaVinci Code. This was years ago. I think a bunch of people got it for Christmas? OMG, that was horrible. But, we did have a couple people who often felt like they didn't enjoy our more literary works who enjoyed DaVinci Code. They got mad at me when I called it a crap book. They kept insisting that is a matter of taste. I said that enjoying a book or not is a matter of taste. There are plenty of well written books that are not to my taste. Heck, there are even some poorly written books that I have enjoyed because the story was compelling. But, crap is crap.

:lol:

 

I also disliked that book. Add me to the dislike list for Kite Runner and The Red Tent.

 

Have high hopes for In The Garden of Beasts which is the current read.

 

I agree with PP who said it all depends on your group. I've been in some that would be totally offended if you said you thought the book was slow, boring, etc. I generally look for book clubs that will push me beyond my usual book selections and challenge me to see why others like the books they chose. Perhaps you could couch your dislike that way - "Though I can see how the (tedious, mind-numbing) beautiful details could really appeal to readers, I found it challenging to stay focused through all the descriptions (and would rather drop sharp rocks on my feet)." 'Course if you have to go through that sort of word olympics, you may want to consider a new book club. That's what I did. I like the more direct, honest, cocktail drinking type of club.

[Melinda in VT]

:lol:

 

I also disliked that book. Add me to the dislike list for Kite Runner and The Red Tent.

 

Have high hopes for In The Garden of Beasts which is the current read.

 

 

 

We read In the Garden of Beasts in February, because I'd heard good things about it on the board. :001_smile: I really liked it.

 

Of course, I should be reading my book club book, but I can't seem to get into it. I can't read anything else, because I should be reading that book . . . so I hang out here instead. :glare:

[melbotoast]

I agree on The Shack. Although it definitely generated a lot of discussion! I passed around a couple books on (actual) near death experiences afterwards that people seemed to like better.

 

Most recently the book club (but not me fortunately) read Bloom. Apparently it is 95% whining and terribly written.

Edited July 1, 2012 by melbotoast
sp

[Recovering Sociopath]

Agree on The Shack. It is the worst prose I have ever seen seriously tendered as a good book.

 

"And finally his heart exploded like a flash flood, releasing his pent up anger and letting it rush down the rocky canyons of his emotions."

 

Really? Really???

 

It was like the written equivalent of a Thomas Kinkade painting. I let the book club know it, too.

[Farrar]

Maybe the problem is that people have differing views of what a book club is for. I don't need a group effort to process a Jodi Picoult book. It's not that her books are so terrible, but they don't really require a team to get the most out of them. I don't really need the discussion, you know?

 

Maybe your book club needs a mission statement.

 

Or maybe you just need a new book club. :D

 

Sometimes I think light, fluffy or junky novels are fun to talk about - they can raise different issues. But not always. And not for everyone.

[Danestress]

Could you perhaps break it down a bit to be able to articulate *why* you hated it? Was it simplistic sentence structure, bad character development, tedious descriptive passages, unbelievable characters, etc?

 

 

 

I can list a few reasons I hate it, if you please (delicate curtsy).

 

I hate the stilted dialog that was intended to sound very 16th century, but was just distracting.

 

I think it's a bad sign when the niece of the Duke of Buckingham has to explain to another character who the Duke of Buckingham was and what happened to him. I'm pretty sure everyone in England was aware of what happened to the Duke of Buckingham.

 

Likewise, I think when an author labors extensively to establish what ought to be common reader knowledge ('see, the Dominicans were a Catholic order, and Henry had a grudge against the Pope,' or 'Catherine came from Spain the marry Henry's brother, but he died so she married Henry,' or 'the Tower is where political enemies were jailed in London' it is an irritation.) Let the people who don't know that look it up. Your readers know how to google. You just tell the story and let them sort out the gaps in their knowledge.

 

I feel so much better. Thank you for the opportunity to gripe.

[cin]

I'm sure I'll get in trouble for this one, but Pilgrim's Progress, original version.

[shanvan]

I think it's a bad sign when the niece of the Duke of Buckingham has to explain to another character who the Duke of Buckingham was and what happened to him. I'm pretty sure everyone in England was aware of what happened to the Duke of Buckingham.

 

:laugh:

[Melinda in VT]

I think it's a bad sign when the niece of the Duke of Buckingham has to explain to another character who the Duke of Buckingham was and what happened to him. I'm pretty sure everyone in England was aware of what happened to the Duke of Buckingham.

 

Likewise, I think when an author labors extensively to establish what ought to be common reader knowledge ('see, the Dominicans were a Catholic order, and Henry had a grudge against the Pope,' or 'Catherine came from Spain the marry Henry's brother, but he died so she married Henry,' or 'the Tower is where political enemies were jailed in London' it is an irritation.) Let the people who don't know that look it up. Your readers know how to google. You just tell the story and let them sort out the gaps in their knowledge.

 

I believe the technical term for this is "infodump."

[Danestress]

I just looked it up on Amazon, and there were well over 500 comments, so obviously this is a book that generates conversation!

[kewb]

Hands down-The Time Traveler's Wife. I despised that book and was honest with my book club. My book club went the way of the dodo last year. Everyone just got too busy. I really should try to start it up again.

[Danestress]

I stayed up until wee hours to finish it, and was all weeping during church. I think a lot of people were praying for me that day, wondering what the heck was wrong with me, lol.