Worst book(s) you read in 2020

[makingitupaswegoon]

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 ...

Crawdads x100.

I didn't actually mind Normal People but that's because I was comparing it to the ghastly Conversations with Friends, which I hated. Hated all the characters, hated the premise, hated the stupid plot point of the narrator having agonising abdominal pain, going to see a specialist for the first time ever and being told immediately 'you have endometriosis'. Because frankly that's about as likely as a whole herd of pigs flying I may have ranted about this before So on top of hating it, I didn't believe it either.

I don't think I read any really poor books last year which is a bit usual, I can usually pick out one stinker.

If I had to choose my least favourite it would probably be The Nightingale but it did have some really tough competition.

Normal People - soooo dull
The mundanity of the description bored me to tears. “Marianne picked up a corkscrew, screwed it down into the cork and pulled it out, then poured 2 glasses of wine” not quoting verbatim but that kind of thing all the way through ... snore... how does this stuff get published and who is her editor 🙈

My hands down winner would be " Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad . I could work out the point of the book and was convinced there were chapters missing from my copy. Nothing really happened and the writing was tedious. I love other writers of the era, but just because it's a classic doesn't mean it's good.
I loathed the Goldfinch and agree chunks could have been left out, it was self indulgent and I didn't bother to finish it.
I read Girl, Woman Other, and was underwhelmed. Glad I got it through BorrowBox and didn't pay real money for it

.

That should be could Not work out the point if the book

The Knot by Mark Watson..utter rubbish.

@YewandOak

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. Struggled to finish it. Waste of time and money.

I agree. I am genuinely baffled as to what all the fuss is about

The Throwback by Tom Sharpe. Started out thinking it was quite funny (despite it being quite unpc but that’s of its time I guess). Unfortunately, the plot got so confused and farcical I just couldn’t bear it. Just got too ridiculous. I realise farce is supposed to be ridiculous but I think it should still be plausible and this just went into fantasy farce. Plus, the main characters were, without exception, horrible and self absorbed. Shame, as I had never read any TS before and he’s very popular.

The Haunting of Hill House. Oh, it was beyond bad.

The Binding - Bridget Collins - unutterable crap. I keep giving her another chance but every book I've read is getting worse.

Also, The Chilbury Ladies Choir by Jennifer Ryan - utter rubbish from start to finish.

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

*loved

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

@IntermittentParps

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.

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.

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

I can’t imagine Sally Rooney’a crying into her pillow at night because I hated Normal People.

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. 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?

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!

Hamnet - not bad. But not good either.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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