Disappointing Reads from 2015

Elizabeth is missing was a dire book, directionless and waffly. Such a shame as the premise of the book is so fantastically original.

A Little Life was bizarre and nasty and I agree that it is really, really not a Christmas book. Station Eleven and Daughter by Jane Shemilt both annoyed me with silly plotting. I hated Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee.
I was also a bit disappointed with Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham. It was fine but I was hoping I'd love it enough to want to read the whole series. The same with The Green Road by Anne Enright. I love her and I hoped it would be a classic but it was just OK.

I couldn't get into A Little Life and I tried with a hardback copy from the library and the kindle version I bought. Gave up after 100 pages but will try again with the paperback when it's out in the spring.

I've also got The Ice Twins in my tbr pile.

I quite liked the children act - I also quite liked Elizabeth is missing. My most disappointing read that I actually finished was the first outlander book. People rave about it but I just found it really trashy. And nearly 900 pages long. It would have to be pretty bloody good to need that many pages.
I've got the ice twins on my pile.

Agent, I cannot think of any novel less suitable for some nice Christmas reading! I've no objection to sadness at all, my problem with A Little Life is that it is, as I said, misery porn, with hugely detailed sexual abuse, violence and self-harm in the past and present of the main character, who is also disabled and in chronic pain. It's no spoiler to tell you this, it's made plain from the start. What I found particularly objectionable is that, while we know the main facts of the abuse in the past all along, the full description of the details is held over till two thirds or so through the novel, like some kind of cynical moneyshot.

Castadiva, that's next on my list I've been looking forward to reading it in the break. Is it just terribly sad (which I love) or actually about abuse (which I hate)?

Haniya Yanahigara's A Little Life, which was incredibly lengthy misery porn with perfunctory characterisation and a rather nasty joy in detailing abuse.

Yeah, me too. One of my favourite books from last year #totallymissespointofthisfred

See, I loved Harvest.

I liked The Children Act, it stayed with me for some time.

J by Howard Jacobson and Harvest by Jim Crace. Possible both published in previous years but I read them this year. They were both utterly dire.

The girl on the train- but I don't like amnesia plot lines as I think they are a cop out.
Goldfinch disappointed too - it started well and halfway through I got bored.

See, I liked Children Act. And I'd forgotten about After The Crash that a PP mentioned. Truly a heap o'shite.

Oh dear, Elizabeth is Missing is my next book club book! I have to read it by Jan 6th.

I gave up on Elizabeth is Missing, I just found it so tedious.

Found The Girl on the Train quite gripping though.

I was very disappointed with A spool of blue thread also.
Some of Anne Tylers books are absolutely sublime but this wasn't one of them - shame.

The Girl On The Train
Suicide Forest
The Stand
The Selection
Top Secret Twenty One.
Tricky Twenty Two (Why do I keep punishing myself with this series?!)
The Good Neighbour - Which I couldn't even remember until I read the goodreads synopsis. Stupid ending.

Another one for Ice Twins and The Well it was awful. I like Merrily Watkins .

Havent read much this year due to family circumstances but hoping to read a bit more this year.

Lots of disappointment here too. Lots I gave up on. Books I finished but didn't like were:

The Girl on the Train
The Girl in the Red Coat - Kate Hamer
How I Lost You- Jenny Blackhurst
The Ice Twins -SK Tremayne

My most hated book though was The Children Act - Iam McEwan. I wanted to punch my Kindle after reading it.

Also bits of Clud Atlas which I loved and hated in equal measure.

Maybe I'm getting fussier the older I get but about half of the 75 books I've read this year I've been underwhelmed with. These are my biggest disappointments:

A Single Man - Christopher Isherwood
What the _ is Normal?! - Francesca Martinez
Outline - Rachel Cusk
After the Crash - Michel Bussi
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Losing it - Helen Lederer
I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith
Crooked Heart - Lissa Evans
A Spool of Blue Thread - Anne Tyler
The Green Road - Anne Enright

The one I really hated (and regret finishing) was How to be Both, by Ali Smith. What a load of pretentious shite that was.

Another on here who couldn't see what all the fuss was about with Elizabeth is Missing.

Might not count as it wasn't published in 2015 but 'the woman in black' was utter, utter, non scary shite.

Everyone was raving about how scary the book was and how they couldn't sleep after etc etc. I love a good scary book so was really looking forward to good scary read.
It wasn't. At all. In the slightest.

So boring, so predictable and a ripoff too, £5 I paid for a mediocre ghost story eBook.

for Remus.
Duma Key. Okay, I finished it but it wasn't Kings best.
Mat Haig the Humans must be one of the worst books from this year, trite, shallow, crap.
And I had some hopes for Tom Holland as a vampire book writer. Hah, I say, silly me! Exceedingly silly and boring.

And '2001 A Space Odyssey' - so, so boring.

I'll stop now!