Bad Books or wish I hadn't bothered!

Winter by Ali Smith. Very weird in a disturbing way

I've never 'read' a bad book. By that I mean if it doesn't grab me in the first few pages, that's it. Life too short to waste time reading a book you don't like. It's not as if there aren't many around, is it?

Most of the books which win prizes; recently 'The Gathering' by Anne Enright. Dreadful.
Not a book to be tossed lightly aside; it should be thrown with great force.
I have tried and tried with Virginia Woolf, read several books to the end, but don't enjoy.

Thanks for the UG update.

Emma by Jane Austin
I know sacrilegious but it was just a book of genteel women gossiping and twittering

Loved the film then understood the book.

Loved
The old curiosity shop
To kill a mockingbird
Heidi
Going to re read all my childhood books again

I’m getting ready to be shot down in flames ?

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. It was written in such an odd way I didn’t know who was who, admittedly I only read about 20 pages.

I loved it on the telly with Mark Rylance. ?

Hope UG is ok I have missed her posts but haven't read the good morning one for a few days and she normally posts on that

UG is in lockdown in Spain I think.

Sussexborn I struggled with “The New Achilles”. I couldn’t get to grips with the politics. It did get slightly better toward the end.

I also couldn't read Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children. A few of the books named on here as awful are some of my favourites!
Very personal thing I guess, but also depends at what age you first read the book, ie as a young romantic teen for example.
I have also found that the least enjoyable books read conscientiously for my book group, have provided us with the best discussions, unlike ones we all like.

The Lovely Bones gave me nightmares.

Urmstongran gave me permission to ditch books I’m not enjoying on the 50 Books. Year thread. I’m usually stoically plough one to the end.

Where is UG, anyway? Haven’t seen her around for a few days.

Poppy , i thought the film was dire too.
My bad book ( one of them ) The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill.

LOVE:
To Kill a Mockingbird
Shipping News
The Bell Jar
Brave New World
Wuthering Heights

Yes, hated Shades of Grey. I wasn't offended by the sex but I was HORRIFIED by her poor writing. Urgh.

I hate books with silly wet women as the leading character

Madam Bovary
Wuthering Heights
Anna Karenina

I usually read a book to the end even if I have to persevere but one book recently defeated me.
It was a debut novel by Catherine Lowell called The Mad Woman Upstairs.
There was a decent story trying to get out but the writing was awful. Figures of speech were laid on with a trowel. The final straw for me was ... ‘ His cheekbones were like sunken battleships.’
I decided life was too short and gave up.

Life's too short to bother with books you hate. Does anyone have one book they hate but love the rest written by the same author? I disliked Tess of the D'Ubervilles but I love the rest of Hardy's work even the poetry.

The Lovely Bones, awful. Some of Kate Atkinson, I just can't focus on it. To Kill a Mockingbird, some of it great ,some of it longwinded. Catcher in the Rye loved it as a young 'un.

The Eleoner Oliphant thingy, dull.

Please don't bash me for not writing sentences, having a bad day

Virginia Andrews and that Flowers in the Attic book. Sheesh. I was a very Junior Librarian and it was insanely popular with teenaged girls. It was horrible.

Currently struggling with J K Rowling’s “The Casual Vacancy”. I have yet to find a sympathetic character in it, all self serving, nasty individuals. I’ll keep trying for now but may well give up.
Have to say I lived The Lovely Bones, and also enjoyed Brave New World, but that might be because it was part of my evening class A level English Literature class and the tutor was outstanding.

MiniMoon Star of the Sea was one of my favourite books ever. A Richard and Judy's Book Club choice in the same time as the ghastly, for me at any rate,The Lovely Bones which was the overall winner for that year, an appalling book imo. Star of the Sea was runner up, another reason why I wanted to chuck "the bones" across the room. I do remember finding Joseph O' Connor's s book hard to get into initially but for me it was a masterpiece. However, one man's meat and all that!

Midnight's Children - didn't even get to the end of 1st chapter - oh and Moby Dick.

Loved John Boyne 'Ladder to the Sky', though.

I’m currently reading Down & Out In Paris & London by George Orwell. I’ve never read it before, to my shame. I am not feeling the love at all. I’ll finish it just so I can say I’ve read it but it’ll go on my Bad Book pile.

I was really pleased when I found a copy of The New Achilles by Christian Cameron on the library shelf but I just can’t get in to it. It was in the first few days of the corona virus announcements so that may have unsettled me. The library has closed now so I’ll keep it and try again in a week or two.

Another member of my reading group went to an enormous amount of trouble to get 10 copies of Wilt together as it had helped her through hard times and she hoped to share the experience with us. I’ve started it about three times but really not my type of book. This was pre-CV.

It seems that the more hype a book has now the less actual content in the story. I deliberately picked light easy reads when I last visited the library (a small satellite branch) and that seems to be working.

Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor. A murder mystery set aboard a ship taking Irish emigrants to America during the potato famine. I really tried to enjoy it, but sad to say I became so fed up with it that I didn't finish it.

Poppyred I can’t help it ! I hope it wasn’t me who recommended ?