Really Rubbish Books

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.

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

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 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.

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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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

oh good, I'm not alone then!

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

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!

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

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.

Well I think Middlemarch is a brilliant book, up in my top ten ever probably, but To the Lighthouse, well I’m in full agreement, a load of rubbish.
Also read one Agatha book, again, absolutely ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as the television series based very loosely on the books.

And Agatha is supposed to be this very endearing character - but she's really, really unpleasant.

I didn't know she was supposed to be endearing, Fanny - I thought she was meant to be supremely irritating.
Perhaps it's just us ?

Strangely, I really dislike audio books and dread the day when I may not be able to read for whatever reason.

I'm sure it's someone's favourite but I found Middlemarch so incredibly dull. Well written perhaps, that must be why it's still read today but it wasn't exactly a galloping plot.

I like to alternate between a classic and a modern read. As I've just finished a good book by Mark Billingham I thought I'd try To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. It's a slim volume but by 'eck it's dull.

Agatha Raisin ?
I recently wanted to listen to something very unchallenging to go to sleep to, and I like Penelope Keith's voice.
But oh my goodness, what a load of complete and utter rubbish.
MC Beaton wrote dozens of the things. Awful stuff. And Agatha is supposed to be this very endearing character - but she's really, really unpleasant.

One of the advantages of being in a book group is that you don't have to finish a book you don't like. You can stop whenever you want to. You are reading for pleasure not studying for an exam. It's always interesting to find what the rest of the group think. I remember giving a score of 1 or 2 (out of 20) when others were raving about it and marking it as 18 or 19.

No, thinking about it, it wasn't Gone Girl I read but I saw the film, which I didn't like.

The book that intrigued me but which was ultimately a disappointment was Before I go to Sleep.

Started The Time Traveller's Wife, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, The Slap, The Paying Guests and quite a few more that received rave reviews but which I just couldn't get into. The characters in The Slap I found particularly obnoxious and unlikeable. I was intrigued by Gone Girl but it was ultimately a letdown as the denouement was, in my opinion, completely unbelievable.

I’ve read Gone Girl and Girl on a Train, did nothing for me although I did finish them.

MerylStreep

Up until a few weeks ago I’d never read a book recommended by someone I didn’t know, but a poster recommended
Where The Crawdads Sing. I absolutely loved it: one of those books I never wanted to end.

I have a friend who up until a few years ago read the most awful rubbish ( I make no apologies for that statement)
One day I gave her The Far Pavillions: she absolutely loved it. It changed her reading choices.

Oh, that’s interesting MS. I’ve got Where the Crawdads Sing on my kindle and couldn’t get into it, so I’ll give it another try. The Far Pavillions - Yes! An amazing book that stayed with me for a long time.