I just read a terrible book

[Orangeis]

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?

I’ve read Kate Atkinson’s The Pleasures of Men, and while it passed the time enjoyably enough I can’t get past one of the female characters being called Edwarda. Eh??? That name sounds like something a 6 year old might have made up.

they should definitely use that as the quote on the cover, if they decided to do a reprint.

I also could not read To The Lighthouse. I had got half way through it and realised I had no clue about what was going on.

I read a book recently which I bought in a charity shop knowing it was crap, but I expected "agreeably crap" i.e. poor writing but good plotting IYSWIM like another one I'd read by the author. But no.

It was a detective story and the heroine spends the first 50 pages of the book - before any crime has happened - meeting quite a large number of interchangeable men at their workplace, maybe about 10 of them who all do a similar job. One of them then gets done in and the next 200 pages are spent with her trying to work out which one of the other interchangeable men did the killing. I was desperately hoping for a plot twist however obvious but no, just the world's slowest exposition of the world's most boring crime.

It was Rattle His Bones by Carola Dunn (?) if you're interested in what to avoid.

I hated The Midnight Library so much that, by the end, I was actually genuinely angry with myself for having taken the time to read it (I find it very difficult to break my 'I'm going to finish you out of spite' habit).

My sister refers to him as 'the Poundland Paulo Coehlo' - I should have listened to her.

Also pleased I found this thread because a mate of mine was banging on about A Little Life and how great it is the other day - based on the general tone of the reviews here, looks like I've just saved myself a few hours of my life. 😄

I've read it twice and am planning to hike the Appalachian Trail as a result - love it 😊

that's not kate atkinson!

I have found that Bryson's books have got less and less engaging as he has got older (or maybe as I have got older).

Bill Bryson has just turned into a grumpy old man and it's tedious (if you like travel books try Tim Moore or Charlie Connolly)

Has anyone mentioned Never Let me Go? another one everyone said i must read and it made me so bloody angry. NOTHING HAPPENED. And it was super obvious very early on what it was about. And there is no discussion of ethics or morals. Another one to be cast aside with great force

The Bridge of San Luis Rey and Tuesdays with Morrie, both book club staples almost made me cry with frustration.

You can't pay to join a book club ever again. There is always some silly moo who suggests those so called books.

Ooops. Kate Williams. My mistake. 😳😂

Probably nothing like the same style of writing.

I think the Thursday murder club books are a bit emperor's new clothes. He gives the air of a clever man therefore his books must be clever and if I say I like them people will think I am clever.
I thought her fearful symmetry was a let down after time traveller's wife which I loved.
Someone recommended Susannah Gregory so I've just started the butcher of Smithfield.

@GoldenCupidon
I am always confused about why other women like the story about the friends who don't seem to actually like each other much - is this what people's lives are like??

Yes, this!!!

Thank goodness. I thought it was just me. Cannot believe he has given up his day job to write more of this drivel.

Skip to the end. Great concept but I just got bored and couldn't even be bothered to skip to the end to find out what happened.

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine 😡 just thinking about that book gives me the rage

It didn't put you off??

I've not read the Thursday Murder Club. It seemed too hyped. But now that you all hate it, I'm almost tempted to read it to see how bad it is You've all worked some reverse psychology magic on me!

He probably hasn’t for long. He’s a media personality so most of his earners will be presenting and maybe the odd advert. I doubt he’s slaving over a hot laptop.

I couldn’t finish The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah yet I quite enjoyed her other books.

Oh god, One Day. The main character is a total shit and we're supposed to be sad for him.
I had to do DH Laurence for A Level. Turgid pretentious shite.
I quite like The Time Traveller's Wife. It's also amazing how much Steven Moffat ripped it off for Amy Pond in Doctor Who..

Google tells me he's sold over 3 million books. I'd say writing is earning him far more than the BBC afternoon quiz show gig.

I read it too OP I was furious at the end I can’t believe I wasted hours of my life on it the ending was so lazy

I've done worse, and read all three. AND contemplating pre-ordering the fourth one, out in September this year.

And I hated the damn books. Utter far-fetched, claptrap nonsense. I kept reading, waiting for the punchline, which never came.

Very true, I don’t think the author expected a Pulitzer Prize. And totally agree about Jamie Dornan 😜

Me too.
So very out of kilter with her other ones