Books you've deliberately stopped reading?

The Appleyard.

Utter rubbish.

One not bow, wtf?!
I meant to say I really struggled to get into Cloud atlas but was reading it for a book club I was in and I'm glad I stuck with it.

Another bow who gave up on Shantaram and Wolf Hall! Feel a bit guilty about both, my DH really wanted me to love Shantaram.

I threw Dreamcatcher by Stephen King in the bin. It made me feel physically ill and I'm a super long term King fan.

Titus Groan

The Lost Symbol is possibly the most badly written book I've ever attempted to read.

The Goldfinch (although I suspect I will give it another try as MIL said it was wonderful, but I was on a rather cramped plane having been up since the back of 3 in the morning, so I suspect I wasn't best placed to appreciate it).

I enjoy urban fantasy and it's fair to say that there are quite a few aspiring / self-published authors in the genre. I've given up on a few of those, but the only one that had me wanting to hurl my Kindle across the room was Shades of Desire by LM Pruitt. Worst Mary Sue ever and I've read some of the Anita Blake novels.

I did make it through On the Road but thought it was a pile of self-absorbed mince. DP has a copy of Cloud Atlas kicking about somewhere but having read the blurb I concluded it was not for me.

There have been others, but they have slipped my mind. Little Women almost joined them in the past week or so, but I managed to plough to the end. God, it was DULL.

I agree. It was dull as dishwater.
The only exciting part was when Beth died.

I liked Wolf Hall too. Haven't read the sequel yet though.

Another Dickens hater here . Cannot bear the hideous characters and their stupid names.

I actually really liked Wolf Hall, but gave up on the sequel.

Mehsmum I tried reading Oliver Twist as a teenager but gave up. I have never been tempted to pick up another dickens- so fusty!

Harry Potter no. 4.

I should have guessed when I saw it was three times bigger than the first ones.

Rowling had got so successful she was able to browbeat her editors into letting her keep page after page of pointless drivel instead of getting on with the story.

Also Wolf Hall.

Has anyone actually finished reading it?

I think we could start a Dickens Haters thread...
So good to see that I am not alone!

I def meant On The Road. Jack Keroac (sp?)

I haven't pick up The Road

Oddly I too have given up on some books listed here and I rarely give up on books but have rejected:

American Psycho - yikes. Someone said it's supposed to be a fantasy and all in his head. Oh so that's ok then?!
The Book Thief - my friend who reads everything gave up as well. I don't even know why I gave up but I did.
50 Shades. So, so, so, so very bad.
All novels by Joseph Conrad apart from Heart of Darkness. I have a mental Conrad block.

I refuse to read Room or We Need to Talk About Kevin so am safe there. Oh, and anything by Cormac McCarthy because the two I did read still make me feel like crying years later.

Too many to remember. MIL passes on piles of books to us. If I dont like it then I stop reading it.

Lord of The Rings - I tried five times and can't get past page three (I think there were all of two incredibly long and convoluted sentences in those three pages, and they were about absolutely NOTHING!)

Sea of Poppies. I was supposed to read it for book group but couldn't actually understand a word of it - the dialect was impossible if you weren't familiar with that way of talking.

Other than those two, I try and pride myself on finishing all books, even Life of Pi, which disturbed me tremendously and I still feel sick when I think of it.

Not at all, Fuzzpig

Hurrah Humpty - I love Cloud Atlas too, once I got past the third chapter and worked out what was going on. The language just fizzed, specially in the futuristic chapters. However, I did enjoy Little Dorrit too sorry!

50 shades. Fuck off with your "inner goddess"
Loads of chick lit shite downloaded on kindle. Flat out love was a good example.
The pursuit of happiness
Great expectations / anything by dickens except the Christmas carol. It is liberating to admit you don't like dickens.

Little fucking Dorrit.
Still passed English A-Level, wrote an entire essay on the bloody book without finishing it. I loathed it with vehement passion. I reckon if Dickens were writing his sexist pile of repetitive claptrap today, he'd be serialised in the Daily Fail.

Loved Cloud Atlas though!

Oh bless you mission ! Once you get past the nasty skin bits it becomes a bit of a lump in throat , stingy eye kinda book promise!
Do me a favour and never ever ever ever pick up American psycho as you seem to be of a delicate disposition !

ComeHeather please, please, try again to
read Wild Swans. It is a fantastic tribute to the women in a fantastic family that went through the toughest of times.

It really is worth it.

I can't finish The Satanic Verses or the Famished Road.

the Slaaaaaap.

Have done it with a few books but Oh the joy in putting down that book and deciding that my life would be absolutely fine without getting beyond page 8 finishing it.

I read Crime and Punishment as a teenager, then tried to read it again around 32 when just off antidepressants and found that I just couldn't stand it.

I really don't like to give up on a book, but the one I did was Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks.
I got about a third of the way through, but hated the characters so much I just didn't care what happened to them, and gave up.

I really disliked Far From the Madding Crowd that I had to study at school for a similar reason, though I had to finish that one. Steered very clear of Thomas Hardy ever since, though!

Similar to others:
The Slap
There's Something about Kevin
Fifty shades
The one with Ukrainian Tractor in the title
Quite a few Jane Austin and other classics.
The Dubliners