Popular book that you didn’t enjoy

crawdads just awful, sentimental, predictable but also highly improbable rubbish, one of the few ‘real’ books I took on holiday as a treat recently ( kindle reading a v different experience) , so very disappointed ..

Captain Corelli's Mandolin - I was so disappointed with this as I loved Birds without wings.

Station eleven - no matter how many times I have tried with this book I inevitably give up!

The Night Circus - another one that left me totally underwhelmed.

Hated American Dirt. Unrealistic, depressing and just left a nasty taste in the mouth.

Conversations with friends - found ok, but massively overhyped.

Couldn't get into Elena ferrante or Richard Osmans books either..

Life of Pi, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Time Traveller's Wife, A Spool of Blue Thread - all popular books which I didn't enjoy.

Alias Grace, The Handmaid's Tale - both of those I did enjoy and also The Catcher in the Rye - even though it's a teenage boy's carping about his life...! Earlier popular books like Emma, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility (more classic types) I also enjoy. I have never been able to read (I'd love to be able to) past the first chapter of Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game (have read the short stories at the back though) and I love The Prodigy by him.

It's rare I don't get into a book but if I don't, I know almost straight away. I tried The Time Traveller's Wife years ago, didn't feel it. I have recently attempted Richard Osman but a few pages in I wasn't getting it and started another book instead. I have The Midnight Library in my stack of books to read. I absolutely loved Gone Girl, thought it was a brilliant read. Just shows everyone has different tastes.

I didn't much like the keeper of lost things. It got great reviews. But it was really twee, boring and pointless.

I wish I understood the hype about Sally Rooney. I suspect I’m just old.

Thursday Murder Club shocked me with how bad it was. I mainly hated the patronising stereotypes of old people. Found the writing offensively bad. Couldn’t finish it.

Late to this thread but absolutely normal people, also ghosts by dolly alderton was absolutely fine but definitely nothing beyond a competent book. If it wasn't written by her I'm not sure it would have got the acclaim.

There's a few mentioned that I hated, and a fair few I've absolutely adored.
I'm currently struggling with Last House on Needless Street. I'll persevere, but it's hard-going.

Never let me go was so depressing- I hated it. I know that’s point, but it was just so bleak and the characters did nothing for me. All suffered through the film - also not enjoyable or interesting.

I liked Time Travellers Wife, but can see that the premise is troubling (grooming). I couldn’t get into Captain Corelli’s Mandolin but keep trying- been on my bookshelf 20 years and I keep giving it a go every now and then

Brené Brown Daring Greatly. Awful book, just waffling on about herself, navel gazing middle class American lady. Didn’t resonate much with me or our bookclub.

What a load of shite!!

Normal People. Cannot understand how it became so popular. Disliked the boy and didn’t care for the other characters.
The Time Travellers Wife - boring, boring and repetitive.
Then there was the Kate Atkinson one Life After Life if I remember correctly.

Her other books The Virgin Blue and Lady With Unicorn I read - and were interesting but they lacked in plot somehow I thought, or enough to keep me interested and fairly well written but forgettable. Falling Angels however, I felt the plot was fairly good, subject matter was interesting and on the whole I really enjoyed this book.

Her latest book A Single Thread - I read this and liked it to a certain degree but I actually found it quite depressing and found went off at a tangent.

I really liked a book by Kate Pullinger called Weird Sister about an American woman coming to an old English town to be married - turns out she's not whom she seems. I hadn't seen much or researched much on her other works - but have just found The Mistress of Nothing which looks great and will order that.

I also have read two books I have really liked and reread by Frances Sherwood - Green which charts the life and growing up of a Mormon teenager in 1950s America - it's an interesting tale with twists and turns which was published in 1995. Her second book, I was recommended to read, she published in 1993, loosely based about the life of Mary Wollstonecraft, a couple of reviewers say they found it very crude - but I found it fascinating, full of detail and entertaining.

I'm always interested in what turns people off. I found both The Goldfinch and Mantel's Cromwell books extremely good but too long. I found Girl on the Train had a great set-up which propelled me through the first part, but by the second half, it dragged and then morphed into something slightly fantastical (if not contrived) - the affair, the deception, the baby's death etc. Also, you could tell it was written by an inexperienced writer. Oliphant ditto. You before me double ditto. 50 shades was great for what it was meant to be, though not my cup of char. Ishiguro is an interesting one: love his writing, some of his books are my favourite ever ( Never let me go ), others were lacking so much in 'heart' is the best way I can put it ( Remains of the Day ). His pull-back style certainly leaves the reader emotionally distant from the characters.

I think overall I can love a book that is well written but lacking somewhat in plot ( Girl with a pearl earring, The light between oceans ). I can enjoy but not love a plot-y book that lacks big style ( Thursday Murder Club ). It's a rare book that combines both and I count We need to talk about Kevin as one that does.

Then come the books of ideas that either turn me on or off. Hated the idea behind Life of Pi, loved I saw a Man.

On books that I simply hated: Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh has to be up at the top. Well written, in its way, but getting into the heads of the most awful characters - I couldn't bear to finish it.

Oh thank god it's not just me re Crawdads I just don't want to carry on with it, so now I won't but I'll watch the film when it comes out. I adored The Thursday Murder Club though. It was a comforting read.

So many books on here I just found irritating too.

I preferred The Goldfinch and Wolf Hall as Audible books but had to keep rewinding the latter but I finally finished it. I was very determined for some reason to get to the end.

Thanks. Just ordered a copy.

Yes, The Hare with Amber Eyes.

The one about the Netsuke sounds interesting. Is it the hare with the Amber eyes. Not heard of it but I might give it a go. It gets good reviews on Amazon.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves !

• came out about 2014 - was listed for the Booker Prize - not a popular opinion but I found it a bit ‘meh’!!

Spidey I enjoyed the one about the little amber ornaments (netsuke) though I have forgotten the title. I found the family history really interesting.