Really Rubbish Books

I know this is an old thread.

Have just finished ‘Murder in Paradise’ by Ann Cleeves.

Cannot believe it was written by the author of ‘Shetland’ and ‘Vera’.

So boring. Only finished it because fortunately it was a shortish book.

I know they are popular, but I absolutely HATED Gone Girl, and Girl on the Train.

I feel like so many of you on this thread that I don't want to waste time reading to the end of a book that doesn't grab me. I usually give it a chance up to 50 pages, but if it hasn't grabbed me by then it goes into the charity shop bag.
I found 'Never let me go' by Kazuo Ishiguro such a waste of time, but because I'd heard so much about it I skipped the middle 200 pages and read the beginning and the end. Apologies to his fans!

Oh, diggingdoris, Kazuo Ishiguro is the writer I can never forgive for the time I wasted finishing his books....

oh good, I'm not alone then!

Loved the FAR Pavilions and thought my dil would like Jewel in the Crown series. She hated it and gave up because of the way the Indians were treated by their masters. That was only of its time and lent a lot to the plot.

Last book by Hilary Mantel about Thomas Cromwell think it was Bring up the Bodies,enjoyed the others but the last one so many characters had to keep referring back to remember who was who .
Too much like hardwork

vampirequeen

I hate Dickens. There I've said it and now I'm going to hide behind the sofa . It's not the stories but the way they're written. The only book of his that I finished was Hard Times. I had to read it as part of my degree. I called it Hard Going and forced myself to read a chapter each day until it was over.

NotAGran55

The Thursday Murder Club . Dull dull dull . I gave up on the audible version after 2 hours .

I was very disappointed in both the book, and in he audio book I tried afterwards. I even tried the audio book a 2nd time a few months later, and immediately remembered why I'd disliked it so much initially

I got "The Dice Man" when it was raved about in the 70s, and finally got round to reading it this year. Because I'd had it so long and it was such an "in" book in its day, I thought I should finish it. It was such a load of codswallop that I couldn't inflict it on any charity shop and it ended up in the compost heap. At least it made room for something more readable on the shelf.

As said above Dickens is a hard read because the style is that of the time of his writing. Dickens then was really popular and his episodes written for paper readers in serial form were eagerly awaited here and abroad. Think of the crowds at the quay side in America awaiting the outcome of The Old Curiosity Shop.
I read Dickens in my teens and enjoyed what I read (Great Expectations, Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield, A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist). However, a few years ago I started to read more of his novels and couldn’t understand why I found his writing such hard going. I could only guess that all the modern reading I have done over so many years has set my literary expectations of the written word.

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The girl on the train, couldn't get any further than page 10. Meghan Markles Freedom, was given a secondhand copy, page 2 was more than enough.

Gosh, where to start? Like many of you, I feel a compulsion to finish a book once I have started. I sort of know what to avoid by now. My list is quite long and contains set books I had to read as well as unfortunate discoveries of my own.
Sons and Lovers D H Lawrence, Mrs Dalloway Virginia Woolf, The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown, The Thursday Murder Club Richard Osman, The Twyford Code Janice Hallett, St Joan George Bernard Shaw, Northanger Abbey Jane Austin, The Betrayed Kate Kray and Dear Amy Helen Callaghan. There are many more but, on a positive note my list of likes is much longer. This is my personal choice and it is only my opinion that they are rubbish.

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism Max Weber.
The Devil's Code John Sandford.
Magical Inheritance: A Harem Fantasy Adventure Jack Pinkhunter.

Diggingdoris

I feel like so many of you on this thread that I don't want to waste time reading to the end of a book that doesn't grab me. I usually give it a chance up to 50 pages, but if it hasn't grabbed me by then it goes into the charity shop bag.
I found 'Never let me go' by Kazuo Ishiguro such a waste of time, but because I'd heard so much about it I skipped the middle 200 pages and read the beginning and the end. Apologies to his fans!

Well, I’m a big fan of KI and have read all his books, so I accept your apology😁
At least you’ve been honest and said his books aren’t for you, but I take issue with the title of this OP, and I know it’s an old one, ‘books that are rubbish.’
There are some badly written books about it’s true, but mostly it’s our own opinion that books are dull, boring, need serious editing and so on.