i am beginning to seriously resent books that i read and then they are shit

The slap..crap, absolute crap, got bored about 1/3 of the way through. i have gone back to it a few times, but again i flip loads of pages as it just does not hold my attention.

I LOVED all of Bill Bryson and will be getting his latest, looking forward to that.
Read that " thousand rising suns" i think its called, enjoyed that but read it in 2 days...so ready for another good read.

"disgusted" i meant...doh!

I feel the same, annoyed that i have wasted my time on them.
Larson books, the slap, Picoult...all utter utter shite and drivel.

I feel offended that people put glowing reviews actually ON the books themsleves...clearly they have not read them OR are being paid to say those things.
I am very fussy, admittedly, and really good books are a rare jewel and i have found maybe 4 really good books in my entire 41 years of life.
Some times i am desperate though for a good read, and so will pick them up only to be discusted at the crapness of them.

I completely agree with this thread.

I don't mind books which are written to be fun, and aren't highbrow or meaningful - just a good story. (I think Marian Keyes is a good example.) That is a skill.

I really mind books which 'have a story to tell' - and they invariably involve abusive or cruel behaviour towards a child, too, if they're not along the lines of 'let me shove down your throat the parallels between a historically inaccurate person I made up and this modern-day woman looking for meaning in life'. SO WEARING.

Richard and Judy did everyone a favour, though, with that book club, because in the main, that's the kind of book they featured. Easily avoided thanks to those stickers. [snob]

Give it up. Pig - it's dreadful. I was also v v disappointed in An Interpretation Of Murder.

Trying to get through Fingersmith at the moment, I'm not enjoying it but don't like leaving books. Especially hard because I've got the new Mark Billingham to read and am desperate to get started. Worst book I tried to read was The Interpretation of Murder - dreadful.

Zoomed through the Larsson books but felt pretty dirty by the end of them. Too much gratuitous violence masquerading about highlighting violence against women. One Day was beyond irritating as he was such a tosser.

Really enjoyed At Home with Bill Bryson read while reading a holiday trashy novel called The Last Duchess. They both covered many of the same things: namely rich Amercans in the 19th century/ the UK class system and were a very guilty pleasure.

(hides nervously behind cushion) The Hare With the Amber Eyes...I know I should have stuck with it as it becomes very exciting(!) but honestly, those first pretentious first chapters!

I nominate When God Was a Rabbit (the best thing BY FAR (shouting here in frustration!) was indeed the title. I came to the end and thought - so what? I didn't care about any of the characters except Jenny Penny. And the book felt it had absolutely no point.

The thing about novels hyped to be best sellers at the moment is the pointless addition to, it seems, every novel of Reading Group questions to hype it up. I feel like I'm being targeted as "you'll feel intelligent and be seen as so if you're reading this".

I'm reading a lot of teen/YA books at the moment as I am finding the quality of the characters and story far superior - if you get off the Twilight bandwagon. But even here, like with so many in the best sellers/reading group genres there are so many fomulaic books.

Old house/garden with secret going back to past is becoming yawnsome!

Oh and The Memory Keeper's Daughter - I felt the same. I threw it across the room as I hated everyone in it!

I'm trying to get my "to read" shelf back into manageable proportions at the moment, but don't have huge amounts of time to read just for leisure. I hate having to slog through a book, especially if I'd beed looking forward to spending some "me time" with it.

Agree about Labyrinth, never finished johnathan strang & mr norrell either - it was too long for the amount of interest I kept in the characters - got half way twice!

I am pretty much ok about giving up on crap books. Recently I dropped a reliable wife and cleft, despite them coming highly recommended. My teeth were grinding so that's a good sign to give up. Jonathan franzen is my current fave modern author. But its all very subjective isn't it?

Has ANYONE either liked or got to the end of The Slap? I gave up.

I liked the Larson books but Jodi picoult makes me want to pull my fingernails out.

Yep, hated One Day and Labyrinth. Have only read one Jodi Picoult book and I thought it was rubbish so haven't read anymore.

Would like to respectfully submit 'The Forgotten Garden' by Kate Morton as possibly the worst book of all time. Just AWFUL. By the time I finished it I was hoping that all the characters died in freak accidents and that the sodding garden got turned into a theme park.

Quite liked the Larson books though.

I have been thinking exactly the same thing today just finished an absolutely crap book called 'The very thought of you', and was wondering how it ever got published. Agree about 'The Slap', 'One Day', 'Labyrinth', but would like to add anything by Jodi Picoult, 'The Island' and all of the Stieg Larson ones. So many people have recommended the above and I can't understand why.

I understand your pain

I have recently bought a kindle and it has taken me about 7 books to realise that there is a reason some are free, and that most E books are beyond bad.

God I HATED 'every last one' - partly because I nicked it from my sister without reading the blurb or anything and thought I was reading a completely different kind of book than it turned out to be.

It was a spammy advertising type thing pointing to a book om Amazon.

I got about 2 chapters into 'The Slap' and gave up, because I didn't give a flying fuck... Glad i'm not alone.

Apparently you should deduct your age from 100, and then read up to that page in a book. If you are not enjoying it by then you are allowed to give up. So (for example) I am 21 (in my head) so I only need to read a rubbish book up to page 79, then I can pack it in.
Too many books, so little time. Don't waste it on 'The Slap'......