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Original poster

Worst book(s) you read in 2020

136 replies

makingitupaswegoon · 29/12/2020 11:55

So I haven't participated in the 50 book challenge this year and was planning to ask for your best / worst reads during 2020 but see someone else has started a thread on best reads.

But I also want to know what to avoid. What did you spend your time reading that you really wished you hadn't wasted your time on or gave up on partway through?

Usually there's a good few 'must reads' that are absolute pants ... 'girl on the train' and 'we are all completely beside ourselves' spring to mind ...

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Original poster
makingitupaswegoon · 28/01/2021 10:28

I started this thread primarily because there are too many books and I don't have time to waste reading disappointing books. I do think the problem is very much a lack of editing or publishers jumping on a genre /theme to make quick bucks when something becomes popular. And I think it's great that what one person may hate, another may love.

I have just reread 'Tender is the Night' which I hated in my 20s but now I am a couple of decades older can now more fully appreciate.

OP posts:
sofiathe2nd · 27/01/2021 21:31

@CleverCatty

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne - hated the plot, characters and found it totally unbelievable.

The Familiars by Stacey Halls. How this got published I'll never know...

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler, incredibly slow moving and I just couldn't get into it.

Agree with ‘The Familiars’ no idea how anyone can rave about it
thecognoscenti · 27/01/2021 14:33

Girl, Woman, Other. There were bits I liked, primarily the stuff set in the past, but a lot of it was so preachy. Like she'd written an essay and at the last minute decided to make her words come out of the characters'. It was ok but not amazing.

CleverCatty · 27/01/2021 14:21

Anything by Caitlin fucking Moran - have been given a book of her's 'How To Be A Woman' by SIL.

Never read something so complete and utter tosh and smug-ridden as that though must admit did watch 'Raised By Wolves' and laughed at that.

Moran seems to be a figurehead, iconic voice for some women.

CleverCatty · 27/01/2021 14:18

@Pukkatea

Oh and my thoughts on Milkman - so strange, I read it and was desperate for it to be over, I was hating it so much. But now I think about it a lot, I feel like it got under my skin.
Couldn't finish the Milkman - found the dialogue hard to follow and just wasn't invested enough in the plot and characters.
CleverCatty · 27/01/2021 14:17

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne - hated the plot, characters and found it totally unbelievable.

The Familiars by Stacey Halls. How this got published I'll never know...

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler, incredibly slow moving and I just couldn't get into it.

dementedma · 22/01/2021 22:18

Piranesi. Recommended by so many. Incredibly imaginative but so fucking weird I have no.idea what was going on.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 22/01/2021 16:59

@Pukkatea

Oh and my thoughts on Milkman - so strange, I read it and was desperate for it to be over, I was hating it so much. But now I think about it a lot, I feel like it got under my skin.
I feel exactly like this about Milkman!!
IntermittentParps · 22/01/2021 15:48

I hated The Discomfort of Evening too, and I don't have a weak stomach for 'nasty' books. I just felt it was all being done for shock value, not to really say anything.

Pukkatea · 22/01/2021 11:16

Oh and my thoughts on Milkman - so strange, I read it and was desperate for it to be over, I was hating it so much. But now I think about it a lot, I feel like it got under my skin.

Pukkatea · 22/01/2021 11:09

Queenie was a definite disappointment but oh my days, do NOT read The Discomfort of Evening. I can appreciate it is 'literary' but it was absolutely revolting, and I have a high tolerance for revulsion.

OhWhyNot · 21/01/2021 23:05

You Should Have Known (The Undoing not sure why they changed the name). What nonsense and NK character was so smug and self absorbed it was hard to feel any pity for her (so I didn’t) it was badly written with unfinished threads of the story

I gave up on Milkman how much rambling can you read

My favourite book ever is Wuthering Heights and Crawdads is in my top 5

midsomermurderess · 21/01/2021 19:45

It's maybe not be the worst, but I found 'Crawdads' thoroughly underwhelming. I ended up putting it down and not picking it up again. The Sparsholt Affair, not that recent, was pretty dull too. I usually enjoy Alan Hollinghurst

dementedma · 21/01/2021 18:44

Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow was another one that defeated me. It was dreadful

JaninaDuszejko · 21/01/2021 17:57

The majority of books mentioned here are best sellers, several have had film or TV rights sold. Normal People was a TV sensation in the spring. The reason why these books in particular are so disappointing is because of the hype surrounding them.

marmiteloversunite · 21/01/2021 17:53

Miss Smilla's feeling for snow by Peter Hoeg tipped me over the edge. It was for a book club and I actually threw it across the room when I finished. The ending was bloody awful.

PersonaNonGarter · 21/01/2021 17:44

Hamnet - not bad. But not good either.

Not really feeling it for Shuggie Bain so far, maybe it will get better...

HarlanWillYouStopNamingNuts · 21/01/2021 16:27

Personally I loved The North Water but I know not everyone does. If it's not doing it for you I would move on - it gets more over-wrought as it is goes on, particularly towards the end. I think my point is, if you're already not enjoying it, it's not going to get any better!

IntermittentParps · 21/01/2021 15:09

I can’t imagine Sally Rooney’a crying into her pillow at night because I hated Normal People.
Grin
No, quite.

I actually have a 'live' one. Have just started The North Water. Raved about, Booker long-listed, cover and back cover and inside cover festooned with glowing reviews from the great and the good. Subject matter and era right up my alley.

So far, I'm underwhelmed. Sad The descriptions are not vivid and the world isn't coming to life for me. The much-vaunted grittiness and violence seems to be by numbers. Much of it, and the swearing and misogyny etc, seems to be there to provoke rather than arising organically from character/situation/milieu.

Anyone read it? Do I just need to give it time and I'll get into it?

dementedma · 21/01/2021 13:53

Oh, The Starless Sea was such a disappointment. Tried twice, gave up twice. Recycled it.

mammmamia · 21/01/2021 13:32

Agree that it’s a matter of taste but can’t say I feel too much for the authors. They write it and put it out there, they expect some criticism. And most of the authors mentioned on this thread are commercially successful. I can’t imagine Sally Rooney’a crying into her pillow at night because I hated Normal People.

Readingandrighting · 21/01/2021 13:28

@IntermittentParps

Grin I know — I just think it’s a very negative thread to create in the first place. I feel for the authors to be honest. I’ll be off now - I’m not looking for an argument. Smile

IntermittentParps · 21/01/2021 12:29

Woah! This thread is negative
TBF the title does give a hint of what you're likely to find in it.

Readingandrighting · 21/01/2021 00:21

*loved

Readingandrighting · 21/01/2021 00:20

Woah! This thread is negative Grin Books are a matter of taste & preference. I love Eleanor Oliphant.

Swipe left for the next trending thread