Disappointing Reads from 2015

[Quogwinkle]

Following on from Southeast's best reads from 2015, I've been thinking about the books that have disappointed me ie not lived up to expectations, have been over-hyped by the media or were just not that enjoyable for me. I know one person's favourite book can be another's hated book, tastes are all different, but these are the ones that I haven't enjoyed as much as I was hoping I would.

1. Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
   
2. The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
   
3. Funny Girl by Nick Hornby
   
4. The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (nowhere near as funny as The Rosie Project)
   
5. Stoner by John Williams (so depressing)
   
6. A Song For Issy Bradley by Carys Bray (just didn't like the claustrophobic religious element)
   
7. Wake by Anna Hope (shows WW1 books are hard to get right)
   
8. Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

[FredaMayor]

The Girl On The Train, which I found cynical and unengaging in style over content, pointlessly episodic and bearing the sticky fingerprints of an author with an eye on selling film rights. An annoying let down after the hype.

[EnglishGirlApproximately]

Purity by Jonathan Frantzen. I was so looking forward to it after loving his earlier books but it was so slow going.

[bigbadbarry]

Quog I gave the buried giant up halfway through, just couldn't go on any longer.

[OrangeSquashTallGlass]

Elizabeth is Missing was very hit and miss in our house. I stayed up into the night to read it because I couldn't put it down (and absolutely sobbed over it too). While dp cant be bothered to finish it and cant see what all the fuss is about.

[AgentProvocateur]

Agree with Elizabeth Is Missing. Was so looking forward to it after it had been recommended by various friends. I didn't enjoy it at all.

[Quogwinkle]

That's interesting about Elizabeth is Missing. I thought I might get flamed for not liking that one . I did struggle through to the end of The Buried Giant. It was a struggle though and I really didn't like it.

One more that I've read recently - most people seem to have loved it - Brooklyn by Colm Toibin. I've read it twice now and still am disappointed. It feels emotionally detached to me. I couldn't warm to the story at all. Still think nothing of his I've read has ever quite come up to The Blackwater Lightship, which I loved. I still want to see the film though, when I get round to it.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Loads - but I think the one that annoyed me the most was Merrily bloody Watkins.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Just remembered 'Longbourne' - loathed it.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

And, 'Breakfast of Champions'- really, really hated that.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

And '2001 A Space Odyssey' - so, so boring.

I'll stop now!

[RhuBarbarella]

for Remus.
Duma Key. Okay, I finished it but it wasn't Kings best.
Mat Haig the Humans must be one of the worst books from this year, trite, shallow, crap.
And I had some hopes for Tom Holland as a vampire book writer. Hah, I say, silly me! Exceedingly silly and boring.

[Sanchar]

Might not count as it wasn't published in 2015 but 'the woman in black' was utter, utter, non scary shite.

Everyone was raving about how scary the book was and how they couldn't sleep after etc etc. I love a good scary book so was really looking forward to good scary read.
It wasn't. At all. In the slightest.

So boring, so predictable and a ripoff too, £5 I paid for a mediocre ghost story eBook.

[southeastdweller]

Maybe I'm getting fussier the older I get but about half of the 75 books I've read this year I've been underwhelmed with. These are my biggest disappointments:

A Single Man - Christopher Isherwood
What the _ is Normal?! - Francesca Martinez
Outline - Rachel Cusk
After the Crash - Michel Bussi
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Losing it - Helen Lederer
I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith
Crooked Heart - Lissa Evans
A Spool of Blue Thread - Anne Tyler
The Green Road - Anne Enright

The one I really hated (and regret finishing) was How to be Both, by Ali Smith. What a load of pretentious shite that was.

Another on here who couldn't see what all the fuss was about with Elizabeth is Missing.

[BestIsWest]

Lots of disappointment here too. Lots I gave up on. Books I finished but didn't like were:

The Girl on the Train
The Girl in the Red Coat - Kate Hamer
How I Lost You- Jenny Blackhurst
The Ice Twins -SK Tremayne

My most hated book though was The Children Act - Iam McEwan. I wanted to punch my Kindle after reading it.

Also bits of Clud Atlas which I loved and hated in equal measure.

[crookedhooker]

Another one for Ice Twins and The Well it was awful. I like Merrily Watkins .

Havent read much this year due to family circumstances but hoping to read a bit more this year.

[LadyDeadpool]

The Girl On The Train
Suicide Forest
The Stand
The Selection
Top Secret Twenty One.
Tricky Twenty Two (Why do I keep punishing myself with this series?!)
The Good Neighbour - Which I couldn't even remember until I read the goodreads synopsis. Stupid ending.

[CrossfireHurricane]

I was very disappointed with A spool of blue thread also.
Some of Anne Tylers books are absolutely sublime but this wasn't one of them - shame.

[BumgrapesofWrath]

I gave up on Elizabeth is Missing, I just found it so tedious.

Found The Girl on the Train quite gripping though.

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

Oh dear, Elizabeth is Missing is my next book club book! I have to read it by Jan 6th.

[AgentProvocateur]

See, I liked Children Act. And I'd forgotten about After The Crash that a PP mentioned. Truly a heap o'shite.

[Kennington]

The girl on the train- but I don't like amnesia plot lines as I think they are a cop out.
Goldfinch disappointed too - it started well and halfway through I got bored.

[Marrou]

J by Howard Jacobson and Harvest by Jim Crace. Possible both published in previous years but I read them this year. They were both utterly dire.

[Marrou]

I liked The Children Act, it stayed with me for some time.