Disappointing Reads from 2015

I tried my very best with 'We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves,' by Karen Joy Fowler because it was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize the previous year.
It's the one about a chimpanzee living with a family. But I found it laboured and dull as ditchwater. The only interesting bit was signposted in the first page. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be surprised by it or if it was supposed to be obvious. Just like watching cardboard dry.

The godawful misogynistic tripe that is The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair. Badly written, overly long. And most imporrantly normalises/romanticises an affair between 34 yr old man and 15 year old girl 😡

The Taxidermist's Daughter by Kate Mosse. Saw the author herself comparing it to The Woman in White. She is kidding herself, thought it was pretty trashy.

I kind of liked How to be Both, although I did prefer the easier bit about the girl to the bit about the artist

The Tea Planter's Wife was awful.

Interesting thread- some of these books I really enjoyed, I couldn't get into Ghostwritten by David Mitchell at all and I usually enjoy his books.

Daddy Love by Joyce Carol Oates.
The Farm by Tom Rob Smith (particularly disappointing as I'm a huge fan and think Child 44 an almost perfect book).

How to be Both was the one book I read this year that I wish I could forget.

I am halfway through J by Howard Jacobson and go through times of loving and hating it. Worst book for 2015 for me was Ali Smith's How to be Both - just awful.

Disclaimer by Renee Knight. It sounded so promising, it delivered very little other than disbelief and a feeling of pissed-offness at the husband.

The Ice Twins by SK Tremayne. Again, promised a lot, delivered little, had a very important plot twist that just seemed so unrealistic that the rest of the book was a bit pointless.

The String Diaries by Stephen Lloyd Jones. It could have been better, I didn't realise it was just the first book, and the twist at the end annoyed me because they hadn't hinted at it at all, so it felt shoe-horned into the plot to justify a second book.

Second Life by SJ Watson. I liked the other book, this one didn't live up to expectations I felt.

The Girl In The Red Coat by Kate Hamer. It just wasn't what I was expecting and I didn't enjoy it.

How I Lost You by Jenny Blackhurst. Unrealistic plot and revelations, I really didn't like it, didn't believe it, lost all interest in it. It was just implausible from start to finish. I won't read one of hers again on purpose.

The Orphan Choir by Sophie Hannah. I've promised myself this is the last one of hers I will read, it was nonsensical and dull.

Oh I liked Us but probably because I had really low expectations and picked it up in a charity shop!

Didn't like US either. None of the characters were remotely likeable.

Hated Us by David Nicholls. SUCH an irritating, immature pack of self involved idiots....

Also Mr Penumbra's 24 hour Bookstore was v disappointing.

Driving Over Lemons , again, v disappointing and I love a good travel/culture shock book

Also hated CJ Sanson's Sovereign . SO BORING

I quite like Michel Houellbeq, Platform was amazing and weirdly prescient so curious to know what his new novel is like. ( having said that, I do sometimes struggle with male authors as I find them to often be pretty misogynistic, even if they are not aware of it on a conscious level...or maybe they are?)

I wasn't mad about The Goldfinch because I couldn't see why he wouldn't have binned the stolen pic early on or at any point throughout the story.

Why give yourself so much hassle - didn't really seem sensible or believable. But the story was well told.

That bloody stupid minkey book, total pish

Boohoo - I'm at Chapter 3 of The Girl on the Train and just getting drawn in, wonder if I'll finish it.

I broke my rule with it, of reading the 1 and 2 star reviews before I buy. There were so many 4/5 stars I skipped that and thought it MUST be good.

The Tea Planter's Wife was v shallow and unconvincing to me. Ceylon in the 50s (I think that was when it was set) must have been soooo exotic and fascinating, somehow that was missed... or superficially described.

Agree the Five People You Met in Heaven was dull after the first few people. Elizabeth is Missing - frustrating to read, so I jumped to the end to see what happened.

I am haunted by Sweetland by Michael Crummey which I read recently- though not sure it is everyone's cup of tea.

After seeing so many mumsnetters mentioning The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom, I bought it to see what it was like.

It is dire. Absolutely stupidly simplistic writing, bloody ridiculous (an 83 year old, with walking stick, being the chief safety and maintenance guide for theme park type rides ffs?!) ,as dull as dish water etc etc.

How anybody can claim it causes them to question life I don't know. Unless they're are simplistic as the writing that is

Gone Girl. So badly written. Also the characters were unsympathetic and I couldn't identify with any of them.

Well I loved Harvest and the Children Act, but I was disappointed by:

City of Bones - ridiculously unoriginal YA fantasy
Girl on the Train - terrible and predictable
Go Set a Watchman - very disappointing sadly

I thought Elizabeth is Missing was good in parts.

Gorbachev and his memoirs! German title translates as "Everything in its own time" but on googling it's apparently not that in English. He is so inscrutable, that man. He gives such a polished perfect just human enough account every time he talks about himself. I don't feel like I can trust what he writes? He has this whole image sorted out - the good hearted slightly bumbling politician who couldn't quite manage to do what he set out to do but had a jolly good shot at it. I don't think we're getting an objective account. How do other people feel about Gorby? (my late grandfather also looks enormously like him which is slightly weird, though my grandmother approved of the comparison...)

A book about the 7th January Paris events, but then what can you expect from a book written so soon afterwards.

"Third Culture Kids" - ok but didn't learn that much to add to what was already on the internet. Would still recommend if anyone here is bringing up kids in a culture/country that's not their own.

Was expecting to hate the Houellebecq one that came out in January but it wasn't so bad. Would criticise the fact that he did go ahead and have it released right after Charlie Hebdo more harshly than the novel itself...

I enjoyed the beginning of Harold Fry but found it got more tedious. However, I was on a very long train journey when I was reading it and it was the only book I had with me so read it to the end.

The Buried Giant just wasn't my sort of book although I'm a big Ishiguro fan normally.

Also The Unbearable Lightness of Being was a huge disappointment. Possibly because it was nothing like I expected it to be.

The Ice Twins is also on my tbr pile barry.

Destiny you are so right, Harold Fry was such a depressing read.

The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Found it sooo depressing and pointless.

Fault in our stars

Really struggling with Elisabeth is missing,going to abandon I think!!!