Bad Books or wish I hadn't bothered!

50 shades was absolute rubbish. I've tried Hilary Mantel twice and cant get on with her at all, even though it's a period of history I love. Girl on the train and Gone Girl were wasted on me. Cant do with Dickins or Brontes.

I nearly always try to finish any books I start but completely failed with Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I agree with NanKate. It was written in an odd way. There were two Roberts in it and I couldn’t tell which was which and also it wasn’t made clear who was speaking. Only did about three chapters.

Suedonim
Yes me too. Fabulous kids books but kids books nonetheless. Always felt that adults reading them were just getting down with the kids which is fine ......but not for me.

I like being in a book group because it has encouraged me to continue reading books I would have abandoned with the 100 page rule, and I have found by persevering, that some initially difficult books have been surprisingly rewarding.
Not all, of course.

It's easy for me only to read within my comfort zone, and not challenge myself unless I have to.

Yes, Dorothy Parker, like Oscar Wilde, says all the things I want to say, but so much more elegantly.

I admit to doing just that, once, throwing a book aside, but only lightly.
It was a library book, Antonia Fraser's description of her life with Harold Pinter; not recommended, yet I enjoy her historical biographies.

I couldn’t get on with Hilary Mantel either .I seem to recall,it was written in “historical present tense “:which I can’t bear. (was it?)
Withering Heights is probably one of my favourites but didn’t even bother to look at Fifty Shades.

Can I stick the Harry Potter books on here? I know they’re hugely popular and all that stuff, but truly, I couldn’t get into them. All the time I read, my brain was going ‘This is a kids book, this is a kids book this is a kids book.’ I gave up.

terribull I read all of Jonathan Strange but the tv adaptation is much easier.

I really wish I had the self-discipline to abandon a book partway through. The number of times I’ve read a book in its entirety, and been thoroughly disappointed that I haven’t been able to enjoy it, are too many to mention.

The only problem is that I’m far slower at reading a ‘bad’ book than the good ones so I’m going to try adopting the 100 page rule and see whether that stops me wasting hours of my life that I’ll never get back

I'm another who "once I've started, I'll finish" probably on the basis that there have been a couple of books where I did have to get quite a way in before the plot developed into what eventually turned out to be a really enjoyable book. "Atonement" fell into that category for me, I remember thinking "I hate this book" up until page 70 or so and after that couldn't put it down. I did give up after about 120 pages of "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" there was just another 800 or so bloody pages I think. I also wish I'd given up on "The Luminaries" another tome I found dull! dull! dull!

Glad to hear I’m not the only one who couldn’t get into Wolf Hall. I must be a pleb but I much preferred CS Sansom’s Shardlake series, though the last one was a bit of a plod. I just looked at 50 Shades in the bookshop and was horrified by the appalling writing, ditto anything by Dan Brown or Jeffrey Archer. On the other hand, I’ve read and reread Hesse’s Narcissus and Goldmund over the last 40 years.

Rivers of London. Hideous book we were reading for book club and which divided the group, 70% hated 30% loved.
On the other hand best book from book club All the light we cannot see, one of the best books I’ve ever read

I'm afraid I'm a committed 'if I start I have to finish' reader. It has led to me reading some rubbish but I really don't see any harm in reading rubbish sometimes. Interesting how some people's favourites are others baddies.

Narrow Dog to Carcassonne by Terry Darlington was our book club choice.....about taking a narrow boat across to France. Dont bother.

GagaJo, I could written that word for word! I also love all those and decided to give 50 Shades a try, but couldn't get over the appalling writing!

eazybee @15.58 - Nice Dorothy Parker quote ?

Henry James.

Always thought it was my duty to read him. Really enjoyed TV dramatisations of a couple of his books way back in the 70s but he is so tedious to read.

I'm another who can't bear Wuthering Heights though I generally like Victorian literature.

I hate to admit this but I do find Dickens a bit tiresome. So much descriptive stuff to wade through.

Why is the member who doesn't ever read the book in the book club I wonder Sussexborn?

Wolf Hall left me cold, so I didn't get far into it. A 100-page rule is a good idea. I've been reading a lot of Muriel Spark's books and while some of them have been great, there are some that are a real effort to get through. Most of them are pretty short though!

I re-read Jane Eyre recently and I’m sorry to say I thought it was a load of nonsense.

As for the 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of a Window (or whatever it was called) it made me want to scream - and not with pleasure.

Speaking of Ishiguro, another bad book for me is Remains of the Day. Loved the film. Thought I'd enjoy the book. No.

As for Wolf Hall - it took a couple of goes and a lot of googling of characters, but in the end I loved it. Loved the telly version too, which helped put the flesh on the bones of the characters.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Total load of rubbish. I had to read it for my book club and we all hated it. I'm just about to start Wolf Hall, with no great expectations that it will be good. My friend tried to read it and said she had to compile a list of characters, that she continually referred to, to try to keep track. Sounds like hard work. Also, just remembered Doctor Zhivago, each character had several different names, so very confusing, and nothing much happened.

My reading group has a 100 page ‘rule’. Some books take a while to get in to. Always interesting how some people thoroughly enjoy a book and others dislike it intensely. We even have one member who is yet to read any of the books!

Not a book to be tossed lightly aside; it should be thrown with great force.

Love it, eazybee!

Like others I found Wuthering Heights boring, but I did finish it. Now I reckon I can give up on books that I'm not enjoying. Quite often I find that if something has won the Booker prize then it's not for me.

Oh, The Gathering! I read that recently. It was dire. In fact for some unknown reason I’ve lately had a run of books set in Ireland. They've all been depressing, except for one by Graham Norton, which I think was called Holding.