Book dislikes

I did get to the end of it, Granfromafar, but I'm not sure it was worth it!

I'm currently reading a book I don't like. It's called Landscapes, by Robert Macfarlane. It's about the world of nature and the language around the natural world but it's rather dull.

I am really struggling with Cloud Atlas (David Mitchell), as mentioned by suedonim. Don't like to admit defeat but may have to with this, especially as I have a pile of books waiting to be read which I'm sure I'll enjoy more. Can't understand why I don't like it after reading all the reviews on the fly-leaf singing it's praises!

I agree with you about Captain Corelli Mandolin. Couldn’t get into it. I used to like Jane Austen but now I can’t think why..... too long winded.

I dislike anything by Barbara Taylor Bradford, Virginia Andrews, Henry James, the book Captain Corelli's Mandolin, and Tender is The Night by F Scott Fitzgerald. The TV series of the last book was inspired, with it's silent moments etc., not as good as the book IMO. But, just a thought, do we automatically prefer the thing we experienced first, the book, TV series or film? Curiously I read all the Harry Potter books, and watched all the films, loved every single second of both.

NottooOld Hotel du Lac was written by Anita Brookner. I think it was her only novel to win the Booker. I really like Anita Brookner's writing but it was probably my least favourite book of hers - depressing/gloomy rather than sad/poignant (I think there's a difference).

I really can't remember what I read as a child, apart from Famous Five, Secret Seven, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys. I wasn't at all well read - no Wind in the Willows, Winnie the Pooh, Beatrix Potter, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, etc. etc.

I must have got bored with the formulaic stuff I was reading because I started on adult books at around the age of 12/13 - The Bell Jar (Victoria Lucas/Sylvia Plath), being one that made quite an impression.

Of course, there were also the compulsory school books, and, as I went to a few schools, I read quite a range: Lord of the Flies, Cranford, My Family and Other Animals, Huckleberry Finn, Moonfleet, etc. etc. I initially thought Cranford was exceedingly boring but gradually started to appreciate it, likewise The History of Mr Polly.

I have just read that some schools in the US are no longer using To Kill a Mockingbird or Huckleberry Finn. This is apparently because it is believed they do not aid local cohesion and also make students "feel uncomfortable" because of the racist language used. My feeling is that it would be a good opportunity to discuss these sorts of issues, rather than brush them under the carpet but I do understand why some young people might feel vulnerable.

Rather than ban books (and I think there is probably an argument for not using books that are out-and-out bigoted - I don't think HF and TKMB are but maybe others would disagree?), perhaps other action should be taken. How about all young people being taught how to recognise and challenge inflammatory language and underlying prejudices, and how to act calmly but assertively when they encounter prejudice and racism in real life? I think aggression and violence (including violence against oneself) is often caused when people do not feel confident or competent enough to peacefully challenge words and deeds that are hurtful or insulting.

Hate - anything by Philip Pullman, Hilary Mantel, Dan Brown, most American novelists, anything Mills and Boon.
Love - everything by Jane Austen, Dickens, Trollope (A), Tolkien, Ruth Rendell, Robert Harris, Brontë (A,C&E), Elizabeth Goudge, Dorothy L Sayers. Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor, Friendly Persuasion by ?. Sorry I could go on for hours and you didn’t even ask for “likes”!!
Jalima please persevere with Green Dolphin Country and all the other E Goudges, they’re worth it.

A very interesting thread. I am the sort of reader who reads nearly anything including sauce bottle labels and cereal packets. I love Mantel (like others, I can't wait for her next book), early Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine (sad that there will be no more) and I also love Wuthering Heights and Lord of the Flies. I don't like Harry Potter or Dan Brown (too wordy and complicated), Jodi Picoult's books are all the same, Bill Bryson is alright in small doses. Jane Austen has never appealed although I know it should and neither has Dickens or Shakespeare. I used to like Joanne Harris (Chocolat?) but have gone off her now. Hotel du Lac (was that Anita Shreve?) was just depressing. I don't like most chicklit. Does anyone remember Malcolm Savile and the Lone Pine Club books? I loved them when I was in my early teens but I think they are out of print now.

I am relieved to find I am not alone in disliking Hilary Mantel's Cromwell books. Her style is idiosyncratic - for example, referring to Cromwell as 'he' or 'him' throughout. Makes him sound like God! I prefer reading straightforward history rather than these pretentious works.

Some good tips here I think. I'm really looking for recommendations and have just downloaded Green Dolphin Country.
I sort of know what I like and only very rarely give up on a book. I recently and very sadly gave up on Jane Harris's latest book 'Sugar Money'. I found I really disliked the setting and I don't like reading about stressful situations or sort of adventure books. I felt guilty about it as I've loved her other books.
Tolkein's attraction completely eludes me. Sci fi is a complete no no as far as I'm concerned. Crime novels also a no! I just like reading about people.
Barbara Pym, Anita Brookner, Jane Gardam type books for me every time. Although I do love Evelyn Waugh and really enjoyed George McDonald Frasers books about his wartime experiences.

I hate The woman in white by wilkie collins.
It's on the bookshelf in front of me ethel - and I've never read it. Perhaps I should try!

Cant stand Almonds and raisins either or harry potter

I hate The woman in white by wilkie collins. I love wuthering heights and jane eyre. I cant get away with Dan brown or other contemporary writers of crime fiction. I love anything by caro frazer and louise cooper for escapism

I must admit to preconceived prejudices about one or two of the books mentioned, such as Fifty Shades which I have never wanted to read.

Oh my! Except for Grisham whose books I have never read I am head over heels in love with most of the authors and titles mentioned above. I think a lot of them are difficult and not easy for those used to the modern idiom but a childhood solitary in many ways made me an obsessive reader and I am in tune with the difficult classics. Having to teach them gave me an insight too. I cannot imagine a world without ‘Wuthering Heights’!

Has anyone ever come across Maisie Moscoe's Almonds and Raisins series?

Thought I was the only person in the 1970s who hated Lord of the Rings. A battered copy tucked under the arm was a necessary accessory in those days. ?
I like early Bill Bryson but find the later ones too scaffolded with obvious research. Similarly I love the Hilary Mantel Cromwell books, but have tried others by her and hated them. I read that she is so fond of Cromwell as a character, she is resisting writing the third part of the trilogy and killing him off. Understandable but annoying!

I think about 18 is the time to read Lord of the Rings. Sorry but I love Harry Potter, I think J.K.Rowling is a great story teller. Hated Philip Pullman's trilogy though, didn't like any of the characters.I like Dickens, Austen and the Brontes, but can't stand Hardy! I loved Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies and am eagerly awaiting the final book and I also love C.J.Sansom's Shardlake books. Dan Brown is a dreadful writer but I do enjoy his books.

I’ve given up on many books over the years. The most recent was LYREBIRD by Cecelia Aherne. Absolutely unbelievable!!

For my sins I like Dan Brown, I have the latest one in my reading pile

I'm glad that I'm not the only one that couldn't finish 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' and 'Wolf Hall'. - I did read the '50 Shades' series which were badly written and ridiculous but at least I didn't lose the will to live after 50 pages like I did with the other two.

Don’t like anything by Dan Brown. Forced myself to finish his first and loathed it.
Liked Captain Corelli but not the film, in which there was the Captain and he had a mandolin but there the resemblance to the book ended.

I read Fifty Shades of Gray Trilogy, utter rubbish, I was lent them by a friend or else I would never have bothered.

I only tend to read books I like the sound of but I have struggled on with some & wondered why I bothered but once I've started a book I have to see it through as I find some books suddenly make sense

Hate Fantasy & Sci-Fi, can't see the appeal of Harry Potter. Loved Enid Blyton as a child.

Hated Lord of the Flies (William Golding) and Sons and Lovers (D.H. Lawrence), both required reading at Secondary school. Can't read Tolkien although I have tried more than once. Barbara Taylor Bradford cured me of feeling obliged to finish a book whether I liked it or not.

On the other hand there are so many wonderful books out there that I have read, have yet to read and maybe reread.

Never Let Me Go by Kazou Ishiguro - hated it, and would never read anything else he's written. Can't understand why he got a Nobel Prize for Literature!

I will read anything by Ruth Rendell, now, sadly, no longer with us. I'm also a Margaret Atwood fan. Iris Murdoch's books I loved, but with reservations, and was shocked by her dementia and subsequent death. I adore Terry Pratchett, and will re-read him at any time. I recently read Philip Pullman's Book of Dust - brilliant as always. I do struggle with Jane Austen - should try harder. May give up on Kate Atkinson's too-lengthy "God in Ruins" on my Kindle - a writer I usually like. Love Hilary Mantel's psychological/historical novels.