Books you wish you'd never bothered to finish?

Thought of another one - My Lord John by Georgette Heyer. It's a real shame because that was the book she really wanted to write but oh my goodness, what tedious stuff. She crammed in so many historical facts and detail that the story was completely lost.

I adored the Poisonwood bible so when I bought The Lacuna I couldn't wait to get right in. I tried. And tried again. And tried again. Then officially gave up.
Sorry Barbara Kingsolver I think your book is pants. I wanted to like it.

The Lacuna was tedious. Surprisingly so, since I've loved everything else Barbara Kingsolver has written. It was very well researched and historically interesting, but she seemed to have forgotten to write any interesting characters or actual plot.

I have a copy of The Lacuna somewhere up in the loft, unread and unloved. Never fancied it....

Read Life of Pi and enjoyed it although rather a quirky read. Looking forward to the film though!

Salmon Fishing In The Yemen was a very easy read and perhaps rather lazily written but so quick to read that I can't imagine anyone not finishing it!

White Teeth- Zadie Smith, absolute tosh

Chocolate- Don't remember the author

Still thinking of you- Adele Parks, so tedious.

I would say the Life of Pi but I did give up on it. A load of rambly old supposition about what animals are supposed to think.

I read a Freya North book once - it was all there was in a campsite 'library' (load of paperbacks left behind) in France and I had nothing to read. Gawd I hated it.

Remarkable Creatures - it stated off ok but never really hit the spot. Something or other about the woman who discovered fossils.

I liked Brick Lane but I felt it ran out of steam about 2/3 of the way in and fizzled out.

kweggie very witty.

Thumbwitch it was really the ending of SFITY, it felt rushed and desperate. I won't spoil it for you. I also thought the characters were stereotyped. It just seemed amateurish to me.

It does start quite well....

How Late It Was, How Late. The single most tedious 'novel' I've ever had the misfortune to plough through.

A Suitable Boy bored me to tears.

I did like Salmon Fishing, Tiger's Wife and Life of Pi though - and Never Let Me Go is definitely worth a read - I liked it a lot.

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. I still feel resentful and almost angry about the time I wasted on that rubbish. ploughed my way through most of it before abandoning it before the end

Agree with The Memory Keeper's Daughter, The Historian and Brick Lane - would also add White Teeth.

I really liked The Magus when I was 19 but not sure I would now!

Another vote for The Magus. Had to read it for school. Dreadful.

The Stranger in the Mirror....
supposed to be an exploration of what it 's like to be a middle aged woman -oh misery!

American Psycho - it's the only book I've ever knowingly consigned to the dustbin too - horrible, horrible book!

Atonement - I thought it self indulgent, yuck

I'm going to start a new thread-
Books I'm too embarrassed to say I've never read........

What was bad about Salmon fishing in the Yemen? I quite fancied reading that - is it just interminably dull?

Ha, just came on this thread to say that godawful Wally Lamb book, then saw someone else had nominated it. Absolute self-indulgent tosh.

Also, 'Perfume'. It was a book club choice so I had to read it, but good grief...appalling.

Sadly I've wasted far too much of my life ploughing through terrible books. These days I discard without guilt if I'm not enjoying them; there's too much that I do want to read.

Salmon fishing in the Yemen - awful awful awful. Also East of Eden seemed never-ending.

I like a lot of the rejected ones though, the book thief, never let me go, Norwegian wood, a suitable boy, the boy in the striped pyjamas - all good for me!

I know this much is true- by Wally Lamb, I really enjoyed 95% of it but the ending was just awful.
Loved Wolf Hall. Loved Midnights Children too. But I do rather like magic realism.

Last of the Mohicans, and every other book by James Fenimore Cooper. The film was bearable, but the books were atrocious. Wish I'd never bothered.

The latest Sophie Hannah one. Can't even remember what it was called now but was utter shite.

It is a shame that Wolf Hall is mentioned as a book that is being plodded through. I read it over 2 days and was gripped, as was my DH and he never usually reads fiction.

I persevered with Midnight's Children and thought the end was rewarding, but as mentioned earlier I hate magical realism, so would not seek it out again. It felt like I'd ticked a big gun off my serious author list.

now i quite enjoyed Cloud Atlas, and One Day, and i managed to get through Labrinth, but i have tried to read the Historian twice and i just cant get into it - same with The Lovely Bones....

i quite fancy reading Never Let Me Go but i saw the film the other week and it left me feeling so sad, im not sure i could manage it.....

i really must make some time to read again - when i commuted to work by train it was great - i could read for an hour a day....now i find it hard to find the time to do it!