topic Re: Worst Book Ever Read in Book Club

Worst Book Ever Read

ALRATIBA — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 16:13:21 GMT

This topic was inspired by @Travone reply in another threead:

This is off topic, but I thought I'd share. We always talk about the books we reccommend. Our library is hosting a group this month and the topic is what was the worst book you ever read. I can't wait to see the differences of opinion and the discussions that come out of it. I'm sure there are many books that some think are the worst ever and others loved.

I read that and immediately flashed on a book I had to read for a English class in college (English Major).

Piers Plowman ... written (in MIddle English) by William Langland in the 14th century.

I'm sitting here laughing to myself! I went to Amazon thinking that maybe I should revisit the book and read it again ... I might actually enjoy reading it now years later. After "looking inside" ... nope. Not going to do it!

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

SWEET — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 16:18:30 GMT

Too many to type so here's my did not finish books from my Goodreads shelf:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/52277469-jane?shelf=did-not-finish

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

QVCkitty1 — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 16:48:02 GMT

I’m sure there are many, but these days with my kindle I can download a sample, and that gives me a good idea whether I will like it or not.

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

sashamatthews — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 17:09:22 GMT

There is nothing by Faulkner I would ever touch again.

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

ALRATIBA — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 19:14:01 GMT

@QVCkitty1

Kindle's "sample" facility is so useful. I delete about half of the samples I try.

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

Justice4all — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 00:45:56 GMT

I never read a book I didn't like...why bother when there is so much good to read?

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

Alter Ego — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 22:03:14 GMT

The first books to spring to mind are the 50 Shades trilogy. Extremely amateurish writing that felt like the author googled everything. And I’m not even talking about the naughty subject matter (although that too.) I literally mean everything. The first book at least had the redeeming quality of having some unintentionally funny dialogue.

Why read all three then? Because I follow the trends. But every time I saw someone write it was the “best book they ever read”, I wanted to scream that they need to read more books!!

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

ALRATIBA — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 22:51:15 GMT

@Justice4all wrote:
I never read a book I didn't like...why bother when there is so much good to read?

@Justice4all

Totally agree ... Left on my own, no problem "Required reading" is a whole other story.

But - it's always useful to be exposed to other types of writing.

Read "The Educated Imagination" by Northrop Frye.

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

reiki604 — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 23:01:28 GMT

@Alter Ego wrote:
The first books to spring to mind are the 50 Shades trilogy. Extremely amateurish writing that felt like the author googled everything. And I’m not even talking about the naughty subject matter (although that too.) I literally mean everything. The first book at least had the redeeming quality of having some unintentionally funny dialogue.

Why read all three then? Because I follow the trends. But every time I saw someone write it was the “best book they ever read”, I wanted to scream that they need to read more books!!

This is exactly what I thoughtl of when reading the OP. I never got through the 3rd book and angry at myself for struggling through the 2nd.

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

Justice4all — Sun, 07 Apr 2019 17:55:08 GMT

@ALRATIBA

Honestly, I never had required reading I didn't like!

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

icezeus — Sun, 07 Apr 2019 18:02:06 GMT

Before I re-discovered the Library, and let's face it. When the books are free there is no reason to read a book that you don't like. I use to purchase a ton of books. Till this day the book that stands out to me for being just stupid, and actually made me stop reading the author who use to be one of my favorites was Tommy Knockers, by Stephen King.

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

teganslaw — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 22:47:46 GMT

I never finished reading Stephen King's book Dreamcatcher.It was bad; the only reason it got published, IMO, is because of who the author is.

Another book I didn't like is The Sun Also Rises. I know it's a classic about the "lost generation" , but the book didn't work for me. Zelda Fitzgerald's quote comes to mind: "It's about bullfighing, bullslinging, and bull##. "

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

CANDLEQUEEN — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 18:14:47 GMT

If a book doesn't catch me by 100 pages, I stop reading it......I have way too many books to read than to waste time with one that doesn't grab me......I would have to check at home to find a few that I did end up reading that I absolutely didn't like.......

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

sensibleshoppingsoothes — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 17:21:51 GMT

I agreed with several on your lists, but "Three Junes" was one of my all time favs, a huge best seller, and a prize winner. My very diverse book club loved it, too. And, as they say, that's why they make chocolate and vanilla.

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

Bridgegal — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 18:18:16 GMT

I'm sure there were others long ago but I recently read The Outsiders by Stephen King and it was horrible. I still can't believe I finished it.

#2 would be The Reckoning by John Grisham and I love his books. Not this one!!

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

gardenman — Wed, 17 Apr 2019 10:54:17 GMT

I'm just glad none of mine have made this list. (At least so far.) My worst book ever read was a Michael Crichton book. I don't even remember the title now, but it was dreadful. It read like it had been written by ten different people then cobbled together. I typically never throw a book away, but that one found the trash. I just couldn't believe how bad it was.

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

bachspal — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 23:45:59 GMT

I loved The Last of the Mohicans movie so much that I thought it would be great to read th original James Fenimore Cooper novel. To my surprise, it was really boring, tedious and unreadable. Keep in mind, young boys had been reading this book for generations! I'm really patient with slow starters, and will usually hang on to the end, but not this time. Fortunately, I can watch Daniel Day-Lewis in his prime whenever I want!

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

this is my nic — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 03:06:24 GMT

Fifty Shades of Grey/Gray! I bought it after reading a Kindle preview and I don't mind an occasional adult topic. OMG! I actually felt brain cells dying after a few pages! DD, also purchased it thinking it would be an interesting adult story. Her reaction was the same as mine.

How did this stupid thing generate additional books?

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

this is my nic — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 03:11:12 GMT

@bachspal

Totally agree about both the book and the movie! Yes, DDL in his prime ---WOW! The scenery in the movie is fabulous, filmed in NC mountains which are about 3 hours away from me! The music is wonderful and won the Academy Award.

Re: Worst Book Ever Read

esmerelda — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 03:20:25 GMT

@Alter Ego wrote:
The first books to spring to mind are the 50 Shades trilogy. Extremely amateurish writing that felt like the author googled everything. And I’m not even talking about the naughty subject matter (although that too.) I literally mean everything. The first book at least had the redeeming quality of having some unintentionally funny dialogue.

Why read all three then? Because I follow the trends. But every time I saw someone write it was the “best book they ever read”, I wanted to scream that they need to read more books!!

@Alter Ego I bought the trilogy and didn't get past...I think it was...page 21 of the first book. Sold the whole thing on ebay. The movies on the other hand....

The worst book I ever read...I don't remember the title. I DO remember I bought it in a thrift store and left it in the trash at O'Hare Airport.