Books you've deliberately stopped reading?

The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula le Guin - supposed to be a groundbreaking classic, put me off science fiction for life

I've read the whole thread to see if anyone else mentions my number 1 "I have got to stop reading this before I lose faith in the human race". Iseenodust I'm with you on The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. It's not even that long, but I didn't see the point of going further than about page 60.

Others on here I've managed, but things like 50 Shades I've made a conscious decision to not even start. Also The Lovely Bones. No one's mentioned that one though, am I wrong? I just thought I'd be too emotional to get through such subject matter.

I had completely forgotten about Brick Lane. I took so long to read it - just didn't want to pick it up - that I forgot the plot and, in the end, stopped and gave it to my SIL who didn't like it either. It was tedious and it shouldn't have been. Disappointing.

So many books on here that I have LOVED. Just to add a bit of balance Cloud Atlas and Wolf Hall are 2 of my absolute all time favourite books! I also loved the Book Thief, last half of Shantaram (first half VERY annoying I agree), Curious Incident etc...

I agree re: Lord of the Rings - yawn

But 3 books that have burnt themselves onto my memory as I hated them and had to stop:

The Accidental by Ali Smith - hated all the characters within 10 pages
Before I go to sleep - complete load of unbelievable crud, couldn't carry on with it
Waterland by Graham Smith - a bleak book about fens and eels, every page seemed to be about eels .... Why???? Hated it!

Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies infinitely better as sage plays. Ditto the Curious Incident
As a librarian (retired) I used to have to read widely for professional reasons and felt it was almost rude not to finish a book...but having retired and realised life is too short to persevere...
I too don't enjoy Dickens .
Fifty Shades was truly awful, not just the style but the premise that young beautiful girl in effect sells herself to rich man. Ugh . (However it did get me through the very first time I flew alone- have flown a lot, but don't enjoy it and was oddly nervous. Was gripping in a horrible way. Didn't notice we'd landed) I suspect the French guy next to me was reading my Kindle over my shoulder . So glad I paid £2.58 for it .And have deleted.

I managed 3/4 of Brick Lane until I realised that I didn't care what happened to any of them.

I read Bridget Jones on holiday and loved it,I thought it was done well.

I disagree about American psycho completely

We need a fans of Wolf Hall thread :o

I admit to almost being a little afraid to read it, after seeing some of the comments on MN, but didn't find it at all difficult or boring.

It helped a lot that I'm interested in that period of history and have read several other books (fiction and non-fiction) about the Tudors.

It's alright, Halsall, come over here: safety zone for Wolf Hall lovers!

Isee, I second you about The Children's Book. I did finish it, but only because it was for book club and I was on holiday with loads of time on my hands. It was one of the most self-indulgent, boring books I have ever read. And long. And boring. And full of pretentious, tedious people. And did I mention that it was boring?

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace brought me to my knees. I love this writer, read all his non-fiction stuff but could not get past the first few pages of I.J. This makes me sad....

I put down the third installment of Bridget Joneses in disgust. I just hated everything about the book. I was especially pissed Mark had been killed off, done and dusted.

It by Stephen King was tossed in the bin before the half way mark.

For some unfathomable reason, I took a book by Wally Lamb on holiday with me once. Why, why, whyyyyyyy. It was utter tosh.

Also, Sophie Hannah. Ye gods. The Other Half Lives made me want to rip my own eyes out. Full of vile, weird people who behaved nothing like anyone you've ever met, and to call the plot incomprehensible is the understatement of a lifetime. That one made it to the charity-shop bag in double-quick time.

I did read (and loved) Wolf Hall though

Wolf Hall - turgid, boring crap
American Pyscho - actually tore this into pieces and put in in the recycle bin, it was so dreadful.
Anything by Dan Brown - although to be fair, after the rubbish that was Da Vinci, I've ignored his books.
There was also an horrible book by some sort of TV presenter, who's name I can't recall, nor the title of the book, that also went to way of Pyscho - seem to think it was about a Canadian town, where strange, nasty magical things happened. Whatever - hated it!

Oh yes add The Satanic Verses. Just could not get into it at all.

The childrens book by AS Byatt - life is just to short to plough through that.

The wasp factory by Iain Banks - plain vile.

I very rarely give up.

at Ethel! Of course it ends well, which version are you thinking about?

Pride and Prejudice. It's just shitting awful and I heard it didn't end we'll.

I've tried 4x with The Book Thief! I think I need to accept I'll never read it.

50 shades made me very very angry!

The Slap

The Secret History

Goldfinch (sending a theme here? )

Wolf Hall

The Hundred Year Man who Climbed out of the Window

Yawn fest!

"What they do in the dark" by Amanda Coe. Was in the style of Kate Atkinson but darker, and it was ok until almost the end. Then I guessed what was going to happen and it was so horrid I stopped as would have haunted me for ages. I had to take it straight back to the library as didn't even want it in my house.

I think the only one I have ever done this with is American Psycho. Just too horrid. I ended up putting it in the bin outside rather than still have it in the house with me.

Oh loads. I used to berate myself but got over it. .
Of the ones considered classic, Catch 22 and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Stop dissing Wolf Hall! It wasn't an easy read but very much worth it. Ditto Bring Up The Bodies.

Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons.

I'd read something by Stephen King praising the book, and I often really enjoy the books he recommends, but I just couldn't keep reading it.

It's about a small group of people who are able to enter the minds of just about everyone else on the earth and force them to act against their own will, to do anything.

Mostly that seemed to involve performing sex acts on the mind controllers and standing helplessly while being raped. Hated it so much I actually had to get it out of the house.

There was some complicated hierarchy of mind control people who seemed to loathe each other, but they all used their powers to take part in some weird game and got together once a year to compare scores based on which of them forced whom to do what.

Not fiction, but I've put down Martin Gilbert's "The Holocaust". Three times. Forced myself to the end, but I'll not be visiting any similar books in the future.

I usually skim read anything getting boring, getting faster and faster - David Copperfield I finally got through by skipping over about 400 pages of annoying wifey not getting round to dying. The last 200 pages were quite good.

The Historian, terrible dreck.
Island by Aldous Huxley - like Brave New World only with tedious philosophy instead of plot
Some Danielle Steele novel which used the word 'sexy' at least once a page to mean pretty much nothing.
100 years of solitude - tried twice, gave up. Dreamy mysticism isn't my thing.
Far from the Madding Crowd - too irritating. Loved Mayor of Casterbridge, managed Tess and Jude (big mistake), but just no.