well, THAT was the worst book ever!

[Coruscation]

hobbish I don't remember the title of the book (long time ago read)

just that they talked about abuse (emotional, phisical and  ummm scrabble related) to keep women in "their places"

about a third of the way into the book that was all it talked about

I do that all the time. "Hey, Dad, what was that book with the whip trees and some artist guy, and people would be asleep in suspended animation for periods of time to prolongue their lives; and the process really hurt, but no one ever remembered it? I forget what it was about or who wrote it; but i want to read it again." 

Thanks!

The suspendd animation bit sounds like a book by Orson Scott Card. I can't give you an exact title though.

[snoopygirl]

I just finished the worst book for book club. Its called God's Own Country. I had to wait three weeks for the bookstore to get my copy. It was not worth the wait.

First of all the book had no quotes and no lines even to tell you where the quotes were. So annoying. I couldn't tell half the time if the main character was saying these things or thinking them. If he was saying them outloud he was an idiot. Acutally he was an idiot for most of the book. Reviews said he was a comic tragic figure. I didn't think so. He was antisocial and dealt with the girls he liked by doing horrible things to them. I wanted to throw the book across the room when he kidnapped a girl and tied her up with a rope and then the book made out like we were supposed to feel sorry for the main character. I don't think so.

[Harriet Jones]

Add me to those who hated The DaVinci Code. I thought Dan Brown had the worst writing style ever. Not to mention all the inaccuracies etc. It was one of the few books I never finished and am disgusted by it to this day.

I thought The DaVinci Code was OK, so I read some of this other books.  Those were seriously awful!  Especially Digital Fortress, ugh.

[Piratelvr1121]

Isle of Dogs by Patricia Cornwell--Cornwell tries to write black comedy and fails really really badly. Some reviews compare it to Carl Hiaasen, which is an insult to Carl Hiaasen. See, Carl Hiaasen can write black comedy and write it well. Patricia Cornwell couldn't write black comedy if it meant the firing squad. Features characters blessed with such names as Trish Thrash, Unique First, Major Trader, Hooter Shook. One chapter features talking crabs and fish, another has a dog that can type. No, really. Just go check out all the one-star reviews at Amazon.com if you want a good laugh. They're way more entertaining than the book!

I started reading this last night!  And finally googled it because it was so weird....  I finished at page 11.

My mother recommended that book to me, as she is a big Cornwell fan, partly because the Scarpetta books take place in the area where she grew up.   I didn't like it and told her as much.  She said "Oh it's a black comedy, keep reading, it'll get better!" I finished the book still not terribly impressed.

[Jules1980]

A Tale of Two Cities.  Couldn't make it past the first chapter.  Finally just gave up, bombed the AR test, told my teacher why.  I was an avid reader and she let me choose another book to test on to replace that grade, since it wasn't just a case of me not wanting to read it.  I really did want to read it and like it, since I liked other Dickens novels.  

I also read Jane Eyre in high school and was meh about it while my friends all raved about it and read it over and over.  

Tried reading Sense and Sensibilty, couldn't get into it either.  Then we watched the 1981 miniseries in class.  HATED IT WITH A PASSION. I wrote a letter to my boyfriend during class that whole week.  THen it was announced that we would be tested on it so I went to video store and managed to get the 1995 remake with Alan Rickman and Kate Winslet in it.  LOVED IT.  Loved it so much, I went and got my book back and read the whole thing in a weekend.  Further proof that Professor Snape can make anything good!

[Linley]

Am I the only one who actually like The Historian? I loved the dreamlike quality and the idea of tracing Dracula through academia.

I tend to agree with the other E-hellions on the other books though.

I liked it. It's actually about the only book involving vampires that I like. However, I didn't care for her second book, I read about fifty pages and gave up. Life's too short.

[Everlee]

I hate pretty much anything that's considered a 'classic'.  They just bore me to tears.  I've managed to make it through a few of them, though.

I hated The Road and Wicked.  Those I at least managed to finish.  There's been a ton of books that I just can't even make it very far in.  The Stand, The Lord of the Rings, Tess of the d'Urbervilles.

There's also been a ton of newish paranormal books that are raved about on the blogosphere, but I just thought were trash.  I think they're proof that any pre-teen girl will read a book about a vampire and love it even if it's horrible.

Not that I am an avid devotee of YA vampire fiction or anything.  *cough*cough*  

Am I the only one who actually like The Historian? I loved the dreamlike quality and the idea of tracing Dracula through academia.

I tend to agree with the other E-hellions on the other books though.

I liked it. It's actually about the only book involving vampires that I like. However, I didn't care for her second book, I read about fifty pages and gave up. Life's too short.

Oooh I LOVED The Historian.  I lent my book to my ex-SIL and she lost it.     Now I have to re-buy it.

[Giggity]

Add me to those who hated The DaVinci Code. I thought Dan Brown had the worst writing style ever.

Oh, I don't know that you can truly say that, what with John Grisham and Danielle Steel. 

[Giggity]

We read a *lot* of multicultural stuff that year, as that was that year's theme.  It was sort of annoying, because we hadn't read any Shakespeare, Austen, or Dickens yet in high school at all.  But we sure had to make sure we got our Toni Morrison in!

I have never read anything by Toni Morrison that was worth ANYTHING. I think she's a lousy writer who "writes" terrible, unlikable characters. I know enough unlikable people in real life. I don't want to spend my leisure time with them.

[newbiePA]

Am I the only one who actually like The Historian? I loved the dreamlike quality and the idea of tracing Dracula through academia.

I tend to agree with the other E-hellions on the other books though.

I liked it. It's actually about the only book involving vampires that I like. However, I didn't care for her second book, I read about fifty pages and gave up. Life's too short.

I  LOVED The Historian.  Agreed, the only vampire book I have liked.  I never bought the whole "misunderstood vampire" thing, and this Dracula was pure evil. 

I also LOVE the Great Gatsby.  I love all Fitzgerald, actually. 

But it's ok that everyone doesn't like every book.  It's actually pretty fun to see various peoples responses to these books.   I personally hate any and all Dickens.

newbiePA

[Miss Misery]

Hannibal by Thomas Harris--way to ruin Clarice. Ggaaahhh!!!

Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris--basically the story of how Hannibal Lecter became a monster. There's a quote by Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs about how you can't reduce him to set of influences, yet that's exactly what happens here. Gggrr....  I guess I can't entirely blame Harris for this abomination since he was pretty told that if he didn't write the prequel, they'd find someone else who would. 

[General Jinjur]

Knocked Up - Confessions of a Hip Mother-to-Be by Rebecca Eckler. I bought this because it was fifty cents at the thrift store and I figured we had at least one thing in common at the time, so how bad could it be? Real bad. The author spends endless pages whining about how she's so faaaaat (here I should point out that the disgustingly fat weight she was at when she gave birth was less than what I weighed BEFORE) and her designer clothes don't fit and it's so haaaard being pregnant and how dare her on-the-side boy toy bring her the WRONG ICE CREAM and it's so grooooosssss how you're supposed to produce a human out of your ladyparts so she opted for surgery instead, and and and....

This woman was just unholy awful. I'm not really a judgy person when it comes to what other people do with their kids, but she had me hoping she'd give the kid a break and put her up for adoption at the end. No such luck. I hated this book so much I had to mail it to a friend so she could also read it and share the pain!

[LadyClaire]

Am I the only one who actually like The Historian? I loved the dreamlike quality and the idea of tracing Dracula through academia.

I tend to agree with the other E-hellions on the other books though.

I liked it. It's actually about the only book involving vampires that I like. However, I didn't care for her second book, I read about fifty pages and gave up. Life's too short.

I liked it, too.

[POF]

We read a *lot* of multicultural stuff that year, as that was that year's theme.  It was sort of annoying, because we hadn't read any Shakespeare, Austen, or Dickens yet in high school at all.  But we sure had to make sure we got our Toni Morrison in!

I have never read anything by Toni Morrison that was worth ANYTHING. I think she's a lousy writer who "writes" terrible, unlikable characters. I know enough unlikable people in real life. I don't want to spend my leisure time with them.

My thoughts exactly..... Juana ... are you my long lost sister  , I think I agree with you a lot ..especially on books.

[LadyClaire]

"Guenevere, Queen of the Summer Country" by Rosalind Miles.

I'll just cut and paste the review I wrote for it on Amazon:

The more I read this book, the less I like it. It's an entertaining enough read, if you're not looking for anything even remotely deep and serious. The characters are very shallow. Guenevere wavers between being a strong woman, and a silly, narrow-minded twit. Mostly, she's the silly twit who goes so ballistic at the mere mention of a christian that you halfway expect her head to start spinning around, ala "the exorcist". Oh, and she has visions. Lots of visions. Doom and gloom visions that seem to be there just so she can put her hand to her breast and feel faint and filled with doom and foreboding.

Often times, this book seems to be more of a romance novel in disguise. Guenever loves Arthur. Oh, she loves him. Oh Arthur, oh my love, oh my heart, oh Arthur, Arthur! Arthur, meanwhile, cries a lot. He's always weeping over something, or moping about Merlin. Arthur is perhaps the most shallow character of the lot. There's no depth to him at all, especially later in the book. He starts out promisingly enough, but after Guenevere enters the picture, he turns completely irritating and weepy and..just..blah. Great king? I think not. Someone get the man a box of tissues and some midol.

Also, someone needs to inform the author that there are more color combinations out there than white and gold. Yes, we get it. Everything is white and gold. The dresses? White and gold. The wedding? White and gold. The color of their days? White and gold. The chamber pots? probably white and gold, too. Find another descriptor.

Merlin is a lech who seems to pretty much be a crazy loon who enjoys wreaking havoc, when he's not attempting to hop into bed with much younger and unwilling women. Morgan is so clingy and weepy at the start that it's really irritating..obviously crying a lot runs in the family.

I'm not even halfway through the book yet, and I hope it gets better. It's good enough for some mindless entertainment, but I enjoy books with a little more depth than this..especially when they concern the legend of King Arthur.

Oh, and the phrase "thigh-friendship" really, really gets on my nerves.