Books that were recommended to you but turned out to be absolute pointless drivel - the wasted hours you'll never get back - a warning list for others!

The Time Traveller's View is a set text on the A level course I teach... don't like it and the film is even more awful

Anything by Robert Jordan - book 13 just released written by someone else because the original author pegged it before finishing it - that's what you get for milking it! I can't believe I read the first 5 (but am glad I read them out of the library and didn't fork ou any hard-earned dosh for them).

Staines - I like The Number One LDA too - and also failed with a couple of his others that I tried. I think the LDA ones are really gentle and feel-good - no thinking required but like having a nice cup of tea and a piece of cake! :)

The Secret. I CANNOT believe that my mother bought the hardcover version and paid postage costs from the US to send it to me. Who reads (and believes) that kind of shit?)

Oh yes, I remember the Celestine Prophecy bollix.

Another one for me: Cold Comfort Farm. Wtf happened there then? Only read it last year and couldn't work out if it was a love story, a funny yoke thing about inbreds shagging sheep and each other, or a serious treatise on mental illness. And I never did understand the something-nasty-in-the-woodshed thing.

It just whoosshed completely over my head.

I do like the lady detective books. They are simplistic, but I LOVE mma ramotswe. Tried one of his others set in Edinburgh, didn't like it at all.

any ian mcewan
time traveller wife
lovely bones- schlocky rubbish
brick lane
any alexander mcall- inane chunter

bit sad to hear of so many Larsson refusniks. Won't tell sis -it will only upset her. and then she will hack into and drain your bank accoounts.

What I don't get about Alexander McCall Smith, is that it seems he has the potential to be very funny, he just never gets there Everything is just mildly amusing in a 'heard it somewhere before' kind of way. He also throws out storylines and potential plot twists without acting on them, which is very irritating. After finishing Corduroy Mansions I just sat wondering - 'and then what?' If you aren't going to develop certain ideas, it would surely be much better not to include them? If it is his intention to leave the reader mildly puzzled and unsatisfied, fine, but I'm guessing it's not.

I used to love Dick Francis too,& when somewhat older than teenage - he had some good plots & a couple of interesting characters too (1 in particular, an ex-jockey; name escapes me)

I suppose they are the male equivalent of chicklit though

OK I'm off to bed to read my latest Emily Barr. Nighty night. Don'y stay up MNing too long.

i loved dick francis when i was a young teenager - thought he was the height of sophistication!

kiki - tons! i had a thread on here a couple of weeks ago for light hearted reads which had some fab suggestions on it. here, but unfortunately i'm too addicted to my iphone at the moment and haven't read any of the books i ordered. my bookshelves look great though.

Let it go GotArt! Just read the last page and save yourself time and effort.

I'm reading one right now and every night I open the damn book I think about how utterly rubbish it is and I should get a new book for I am compelled to finish what I started, but it is so awful... the writing, the story, the characters are so cliche. Its Dick Francis/Felix Francis, "Dead Heat". (What you didn't just see was me having to actually get up and go see what the fuck the name of the book was even.) On the cover is "The New Bestseller" and all sorts of endorsements on the inside about how fabulous and riveting it is. Its just awful, but I must finish it. I think the porter did it, so I have to be sure.

I have a confession though; I love Dan Brown!

I agree Beertricks. But I've read them all and have to wait for the next. Actually, am not so keen on Corduroy Mansions.

The Accidental Tourist is the most memorable IMO (& not just because of the film!)

Glad it's not just me staines. Any book you were recommended that you really loved?

yes, celestine prophecy got recommended to me too, very bloody paolo coehlo. the same person recommended chicken soup for the soul to me, but i had learned by then.

Oops "Celestine"

Did anyone mention The Celstine Prophesy?
Bloke at work raved about it and insisted on lending it to me. I had to sneak it back on to his desk to avoid talking about it but he came over to ask what I thought anyway. Embarrasingly bad.

I like Anne Tyler as well. Yet I can never remember which books I've read, what happened in each one or why I liked them

god, i think i'm the least selective reader out here. i like anne tyler too. the last one i read was digging to america and i really enjoyed it. however, i'm trying to remember what i liked about it and all i'm coming up with is food and toddlers....

I think the early Anne Tylers are a bit more engrossing than the later ones - I agree nothing much happens, but then they're all about families & relationships & what goes on in people's heads - I wouldn't say dull though, & very witty sometimes too.