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Original poster

I just read a terrible book

687 replies

Orangeis · 06/02/2023 11:29

Bring me back, B A Paris.

What a load of absolute tosh. A man's partner dissapears, 6 years later he gets with her sister and lives with her. The big twist is.....the new girlfriend is actually the missing sister. He didn't realise this as she had a different hair do.
That's hours of my life I'll never get back. I feel like taking the book in to the back garden and burning the bugger.
What's your worst book and why?

OP posts:
hazelnutlatte · 06/02/2023 14:41

Year One by Nora Roberts - recommended by someone on here I think. I like dystopian fiction and thought the premise sounded good.
I've never read such a pile of shite in my life! Total rip off of Stephen Kings the stand, but minus the interesting characters and any plot development. I had to go and check that I hadn't accidentally bought some self published fan fiction by mistake.

Agree with everyone on the Thursday murder club but shocked that someone hated a walk in the woods by Bill Bryson!

Timesawastin · 06/02/2023 14:39

Essexgirlupnorth · 06/02/2023 13:49

The shopaholic books wanted to give the main character a slap

A book a friend wrote and self publised that was trying to be 50 shades and was just awful

The baby trail by Sinead Moriarty really disliked the main character so couldn't get invested in the story.

I have no guilt not finishing books I hate now as far too many other books to read.

She succeeded then, as 50 shades IS just awful

Timesawastin · 06/02/2023 14:36

MissHavishamsMouldyOldCake · 06/02/2023 14:35

Oh yes, I love Possession too. The film adaptation featuring Gwyneth Paltrow and some pretty looking himbo though...least said the better!

Ah, right, will take that off my rental list then

Timesawastin · 06/02/2023 14:36

Chemenger · 06/02/2023 12:54

I really like quite a few that have been named. The one I hated (along with the film) was Life of Pi. Meant to be deep, actually just boring. And, of course Jane Eyre, which is the worst book ever written, tedious book about a tedious, whiny woman.

Ha! Someone else who doesn't think it's the jewel of Western literature 😉
Give me Mrs Gaskell every time

MissHavishamsMouldyOldCake · 06/02/2023 14:35

Oh yes, I love Possession too. The film adaptation featuring Gwyneth Paltrow and some pretty looking himbo though...least said the better!

Laquila · 06/02/2023 14:34

peachgreen · 06/02/2023 12:48

Ditto Cloud Atlas which I adored (the less said about the film, the better)

Also loved Cloud Atlas, but didn't really get on with Slade House and the one about clocks - I think they were the same guy.

CaptainMyCaptain · 06/02/2023 14:33

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I didn't like this either. I had previously read Mr Loverman by Bernadine Evarista and loved it.

MissHavishamsMouldyOldCake · 06/02/2023 14:33

apparently. Tutor did have form for oddness - she claimed to be a medium in touch with William Blake.

Grin

Probably did loads of acid in the 60s in front of some William Blake prints. William Blake seems the kind of artist that academic types who did lots of acid would try and contact.

Laquila · 06/02/2023 14:32

Timesawastin · 06/02/2023 14:29

'Possession' is bloody wonderful

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Ahhh I LOVED Possession.

Laquila · 06/02/2023 14:32

Shantaram is, by some measure, the worst book I've ever read. I really enjoyed the Richard Osman books though! Pleasingly non-higbrow 🤣

Also disliked The Time Traveller's Wife (and indeed most books with a title formatted as The XXX of [exotic place name], or The XXX's [close female relative]).

ICanHideButICantRun · 06/02/2023 14:31

Hadn't you read BA Paris's first book, Behind Closed Doors? After that I vowed never to read another by her. Truly awful.

Timesawastin · 06/02/2023 14:29

BellePeppa · 06/02/2023 14:19

I get the impression all those Man Booker winning books are rambling, tedious affairs.

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'Possession' is bloody wonderful

JohnPrescottsPyjamas · 06/02/2023 14:29

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. A load of pretentious claptrap and an excuse for the author to share his perversions and sick violence and call it ‘culture’ I remember everyone raving about it at the time but I suspect it was a case of the Emperor’s New Clothes. No one actually wanted to admit it was rubbish and the plot impossible to understand.

Alphabetasoul · 06/02/2023 14:29

Chocolat three chapters in the book was In the charity bag

MissHavishamsMouldyOldCake · 06/02/2023 14:27

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 06/02/2023 14:16

I disliked it so much I started a thread about it 🤣.
www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/4409708-How-to-kill-your-family-by-Bella-Mackie-CONTAINS-PLOT-SPOILERS?reply=113007426

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I've just read your thread. Wow, she really did regurgitate Kind Hearts wholesale for her novel! And I distinctly remember reading that her novel had such an original premise with a clever twist.

Puh-lease,

Timesawastin · 06/02/2023 14:27

BellePeppa · 06/02/2023 14:26

I read that and found it really disappointing. I think the premise was very interesting and could have made for a very good read but the actual book was pretty shallow and silly and very unsatisfying.

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Seconded AND The Alchemist. Charity shop fodder both of them

Timesawastin · 06/02/2023 14:26

VikingLady · 06/02/2023 12:08

I barely managed any of The Thursday Murder Club.

I used to belong to a book club and almost all our reads were hard work - they felt like homework! Particular lowlights would be David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas and the Ukrainian Tractor thingy.

I think it's award winning books, tbh. They try too hard to be clever. Honestly, if Stephen Fry can write readable novels with engaging characters, strong story lines, layered messages, imagery etc then it's clearly doable.

Can he? News to me. The Hippopotamus managed to be both trite and sleazy.

BellePeppa · 06/02/2023 14:26

samsmum2 · 06/02/2023 13:40

@Haus1234 couldn't agree more. After all the hype over The Midnight Library, I decided I had to read it. Repetitive, vacuous drivel.....

I read that and found it really disappointing. I think the premise was very interesting and could have made for a very good read but the actual book was pretty shallow and silly and very unsatisfying.

suki32 · 06/02/2023 14:25

I've often wondered about the wisdom of Booker Prize judges. The Milkman and The Promise come to mind. Both were, at best, plain boring.
In the chick lit department, Queen Bee by Jane Fallon was utter drivel. She has loads published though. I wonder if it's a case of quantity over quality.

SafferUpNorth · 06/02/2023 14:24

HyggeTygge · 06/02/2023 14:14

Yeah, if it's about women they must be straight unless otherwise specified!

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I absolutely hated Girl Woman Other too. Certainly NOT because it's about lesbians but because the writing style is just soooooooo pretentious. It all just feels stilted and self-conscious.

AinmÁlainn · 06/02/2023 14:23

@IcakethereforeIam God, yes the Hundred Year Old Man. If only he'd fallen and broken his neck while clamouring out he could have saved us all the drivel.

@SirChenjins if you've read two Judi Picots you've read all of them. Twice

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 06/02/2023 14:22

GloomyDarkness · 06/02/2023 13:57

MrsDanversGlidesAgain I have to admit I've tried no other D. H. Lawrence books as I was so underwhelmed by Lady Chatterley's Lover - I was a bit worried I may have written him off too soon but maybe not.

I studied English decades ago at university and recall a friend going to her tutorial on DH Lawrence. She and the tutor settled themselves down and then without any preamble the tutor said 'Of course, you realise Lawrence was a fascist and a pervert?' - which put a bit of a dampener on things, apparently. Tutor did have form for oddness - she claimed to be a medium in touch with William Blake. Couldn't help thinking it would have been more useful if it was the author of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight so she could ask (presumably) him WTF THAT was all about.

Lady Chatterley - bloody hell, Mellors is a misery, however good the sex.

HyggeTygge · 06/02/2023 14:21

I like Piranesi a lot but can see why it's not for everyone. The 'explanation' was a bit crap but I enjoyed it.

Patineur · 06/02/2023 14:20

Piranesi is an unbelievable pile of crap. I can't understand why it was even published, I think people were conned.

I read the Thursday Murder Club but was frustrated by a massive plot hole that was never explained, so haven't read any more in the series.

BellePeppa · 06/02/2023 14:19

Monkeyrules · 06/02/2023 14:16

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton is as thick as a telephone directory and rambles on and on with so many plots that never come together.

The worst thing is it won the Man Booker prize and if you don't like it some intellect wannabe is always there to point out they love it because Eleanor's rambling makes one question what we want from a story.

Well I want a good plot and if you're writing a book which is over 800 pages long you owe it to the reader.

I will never read a man booker prize winner novel again!

I get the impression all those Man Booker winning books are rambling, tedious affairs.