Books to avoid

[Redglitter]

Plenty of threads for recommendations but what books would you advise people to avoid

For me it's 'Her' by Harriet Gray

A total non story with a dreadful ending. I actually thought my kindle had forgotten to download the last chapter. Don't know if the author was running late for her deadline or what but ugh avoid

Shantaram, yeah, massive ego trip, I liked most of it but around 100 pages from the end I just couldn't take any more of his 'derring do' and I abandoned it

We Need To Witter On About Kevin
Useful thread!
Unfortunately many of these are on my bookshelves, bought but not yet read, saving for holidays - hmm.
My own rage is saved for 'Possession' - dire tripe.

I think my memory had deleted the Wiman Who Went to Bed for a year. Utter drivel.

I've read plenty of not so great books, but mostly I just forget about them and move on. If there was one book I wish I could unread, it's We Need to Talk About Kevin. Several years on, I still feel tainted.

Can I also add When God Was a Rabbit. Another overhyped, pretentious load of old codswallop.

I had Shantaram on my shelf for years but finally acknowledged I was never going to pick it up (it was such a huge doorstep of a book and I did most of my reading on my work commute at that point) so I got rid of it.

I love Possession - probably my favourite most read novel along with The Secret History - but I can see how others wouldn't like it. It is ok to skip all the poetry bits, I reckon.

I wish I could unread
great expression!
Marshmellow yes it was the poetry bits that stuck in the craw - all those manufactured bit of 'great poetry' so self-indulgent.

loved Shadow in the wind, so interesting. 5 people in heaven was enjoyable too.

Woman who went to bed for 100 years - gave up
Gone Girl was good apart from the ending!
The Miniaturist - weird
Miss Smillas Feeling for Snow - gave up, several times

I disliked the Miniaturist intensely.

Didn't like time travellers wife this romantic notion of these two being in love at different stages, he's a grown man & she's a child er....
Post birthday world by Lionel Shriver, woman leaves long time partner for snooker character, her understanding of East end life/culture/ British sport all wrong .. and as for the writing in the sex scenes truly terrible makes Kevin seem literary
Gave up with Wolf Hall

I REALLY liked WNTTAK, it spoiled anything else for me for weeks afterwards.

The Children Act - I just felt completely manipulated. In fact, you can keep anything by Ian McEwan.

Us - terrible unlikeable characters.

The Crimson Petal and the White. I loved the first third of this, it started so well and then just went on and on and on and stopped.

A couple already mentioned, When God was a Rabbit, Gone Girl and the stupid Kevin book.

Can I also add, The Mistress by Martine McCutcheon, awful drivel.

I loved Posession. Skipped all the weird poetry stuff though.

I don't really hate many books I read tbh. I love some if the ones mentioned here though particularly the Donna Tartt books, David Mitchell books, A Prayer for Owain Meany and The Historian.

I suppose fifty shades was predictably abysmal and I loathed Violin by Anne Rice (but I guess I liked her other stuff as a goth teenager and have grown up since then!).

Also, I think Kathy Reichs has an appalling writing style and Jasper Fforde's books get increasingly smug in chronological order.

I loved possession but disliked other a s byatts - the 'frederica' ones. I don't know why after not really enjoying Virgin in the garden I persisted - I guess I felt she's a good writer so it must be me missing something but maybe some things are better missed.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin - tried twice and gave up both time

The Kite Runner - got to the end and wondered what all the fuss was about

There would be others but I have since adopted a rule that if I'm not enjoying a book by the end of the third chapter, I give up

Hated the one shopaholic book I read just wanted to slap the main character

Errol I've read 3 of the Fredrica books and I did struggle - she is such an unlikable character herself and AS Byatt is always trying to cram in all her Big Ideas about art and literature and so on.

But the second book, Still Life, I do re-read every so often because I like Stephanie, the sister - she's much more sympathetic than wretched Fredrica.

Agree with lots of these-the main problem with both Gone Girl and One Day was I disliked all the characters.

I would add Game of Thrones (really boring and too many characters), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series (kept going thinking it would get better), Behind the Scenes at the Museum (trying too hard be clever) and anything by Louise Bagshawe/Mensche (no further comment necessary).

Marshmallow - yeah, but what happens to Stephanie is one of the things I didn't like.

Errol I know - I kind of re read it hoping the end might be different this time round...

Totally agree about Dawn French. Her sentence structure is awful. I kept having to reread passages of her first book as it didn't make sense. It just didn't flow!

One Day - very boring and unlikeable characters

The Slap.
Hateful people and the author has never been to Bali.
We are all completely beside ourselves.
Like a boring animal rights lecture where nothing actually happens.