Books that you thought you'd love but didn't.

The Thursday Murder Club

It just didn't live up to the hype . Actually rather boring but it was a gift . Of course I had to say I loved it and now she has bought me the bloomin sequel. I still haven't read it 9mths later

Many people love it, so definitely try it. I suspect it might be a book you need to immerse yourself in, on a holiday or something like that. I've always tried to read a few pages a day and it's never worked for me. I've given up twice.

I felt the same way about Bleak House for years but read it round the pool one year and could not put it down. I am determined to read it one day!

The Thursday Murder Club. I got it for Christmas 2020 I think, I'm still forcing my way through it, I can only manage about 5 pages at a time. I keep thinking, everyone loved it, it must get better, but it doesn't...

Sally Rooney, but I was so bored by the first few paragraphs of whichever one I attempted that I probably haven't given her a fair shot.

MC Beaton - I've attempted at least one but it was so clearly dashed off in a hurry. It read like an early draft rather than the finished version. In my late teens, I loved the Regency romances she published as Marion Chesney, her own name.

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. It had such good reviews but the characters were so boring and self absorbed and the book included so much detail about utter dross, it made me want to stick pins in to my eyes

Is wolf hall worth a read at all? I’ve got it on my list but I’m getting put off!

Agree with Wolf Hall. I so so so want to like it.

What a Carve Up by Jonathan Coe -- came highly recommended, turned out to be a virtue-signalling satire of things that happened 20 years previously, with all the subtlety of a brick.

Evelyn Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy -- the first one is one of the funniest books I've ever read, the second is OK, the third is just drowning in bitterness.

The Farm by Richard Benson -- OH loved it and insisted I read it, I can see why people like it but I just felt like I was being over-shared at.

The Shepherd's Life -- James Rebanks. Could the chip on the author's shoulder be any bigger?

I liked Wolf Hall though.

Yes and she was pretty much terminally ill when she wrote that 😢

Do you mean 'The Woman Who Went To Bed For A Year'? I agree it was - mostly - bad, but I'd forgive ST - almost - anything because Adrian Mole is one of the finest literary creations of all time.

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. My book club read it and raved about in a month I was taking exams, so didn't read the book. It was recommended by someone who's taste I ususally really like but I found it really, really, annoying. I hated the style of narration, couldn't warm to the characters and wasn't at all interested in what happened.

I thought The Push was really overrated. The ending was a bit meh.
agree with crawdads and Shuggie Bain but I will.give that one another go.
9 perfect strangers was awful!

Thank you! So many people rave about this and it looked just my cup of tea. Then she jumped into bed with the detective and I was all WTF where did that come from and why

@Amortentia , her Jackson Brodie books are great, but I can't get into the others. A friend loved Behind the Scenes at the Museum, but I couldn't get into it at all.

Kate Atkinson - Behind the Scenes at the Museum- Back in the days when I would force myself to finish a book no matter how much I hated it. I was so enraged by the time I got to the end I nearly set fire to it.

A couple of years later I tried another one of her books and gave up almost immediately, dreadful stuff.

the woman who didn’t get out of bed for a year-I read the first chapter

Same, thought it was awful.

Also the 100 year old man who jumped out of the window, what a load of irritating unfunny nonsense that was, couldn’t finish it.

Yes to all of that! ^

Same

50 shades of grey
everyone I know loved it
i thought it was the biggest pile of utter shite I’d ever read

the girl on the train-even my mil hated it which is saying something

the woman who didn’t get out of bed for a year-I read the first chapter

this is going to hurt-the hate he has for women jumped out with every word

I thought I would love 'I'm Thinking of Ending Things'. I saw the trailer on Netflix and was intrigued. I read the kindle sample and was even more intrigued. Ordered the book and lost interest almost straight away. No spoilers but I found the ending ridiculous. I feel like I am being unfair but it didn't work for me.

I think you either connect with the St Mary’s books or you don’t. A friend hated it too whereas a few of us are obsessed fans and dream of being at St Mary’s ( like I used to dream of being at Malory Towers as a girl). There’s a who,e load of merchandise and fan groups and everything! 😁. It’s definitely a Marmite book though.

Ah, you’ve named two of my favourite books. I found The Goldfinch plodding and dull, which was such a disappointment.

The 100 Year Old Man who jumped out of a Window and Ran away made me want to do the same.

Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory, the first in a series about the Cousins’ War (War of the Roses). So, so dull and stilted but I used to love her Tudor books...

All these were recommended to me by different people.

I agree with other pp that The Thursday Murder Club is horribly twee. My friend recommended it and I so much wanted to like it. And I didn’t like This is Going to Hurt at all.

I loved Me Before You by Jojo Meyes! And Eleanor Oliphant and Life of Pi!

I had a friend recommend A Little Life to me - she said it was just the type of thing I like. I thought it was the worst book I’d ever read. Badly written, boring, poor characterisation. I only finished it because I wanted to be able to say it was rubbish beginning to end. Then I went online and saw people gushing about how amazing it was. I was flabbergasted. I know there’s no accounting for taste, but there’s lots of books I can read, and appreciate that they aren’t for me but aren’t bad books. This one was just bad.

Are you thinking of The Fireman by Joe Hill? They're both Stephen King's sons. I preferred his Nos4r2.

Literally the only book I can’t finish. My brain shuts down I hate it so much