well, THAT was the worst book ever!

[afbluebelle]

Anything by Nicholas Sparks.. my mother and every other female in the family love him and find him to be sensitive and profound. I think he is a pompous windbag

The Kiterunner... just didn't like it. No reason why. (Another recommendation from my mum)

Harry Potter series. No particular reason, just didn't really like it. Bored me to tears (eyestrain).

[Snowy Owl]

I loathed "Catcher in the Rye."  We had to study it at school and I found it incredibly dull and (to my mind) nothing happens.  

I also had to read quite a bit of Thomas Hardy especially  "Jude the Obscure"  which has to be one of the most depressing things I've ever encountered.  

I was interested by Wuthering Heights but didn't particularly enjoy reading it.  I couldn't see why everyone else in class seemed to view Heathcliff as this romantic leading man.  I found him most unpleasant, egocentric and damaged. When I read the book now, I keep hearing the cast of Criminal Minds profiling him as an unsub  

I also find Philippa Gregory very annoying and particularly don't know what Elizabeth I ever did to her, because she really doesn't like her and that is clear in every book she's ever written mentioning her.  

[Firecat]

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

That's got to be one of the Gor books by John Norman (I think that's the name). What's really scary? He's a philosophy professor.

[geordicat]

Enchanters by David Bryan Russell.  Oh deity it was bad.  SO very bad.  My mom's boyfriend knows the author and got me a copy.  I tried.  I really did try.   i got to the part where she changed to a fairy (from a normal human) and flitted off to the land of lemon colored lemurs and mini copper colored unicorns.  I had to put it down.  every few months I get asked about it again and how much I liked it.

http://www.enchanters-book.com/

[Piratelvr1121]

I read "A Separate Peace" in high school but can't remember what happened in it at all.  Yeah it was that memorable.  

I tried to read "The Fountainhead" because it was mentioned in Gilmore Girls and I felt like checking out the books that Rory seemed to like.  I couldn't get through the whole thing, or even the first few pages.  Dull, dull dull.....

I like the movie "Sense and Sensibility" but had a hard time getting through the actual book.  Wouldn't say it's a bad book, just hard to get through for me.

Maximum Ride series.  I enjoy the books alright individually and enjoy the characters but end up dreadfully confused when going from one book to the next.  In one book Max has children (half humans, half birds I think? It's been a while) but in other books it is not mentioned at all.    

[Firecat]

Just remembered one more series I can't stand - The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever. I nearly threw the first book across the room within the first few chapters, and never picked it up again.

Why? White font for spoilers below:

The main character has leprosy. He gets sent to a world where he doesn't have it. And pretty much the first thing he does is rape a girl.

[Suze]

Just remembered one more series I can't stand - The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever. I nearly threw the first book across the room within the first few chapters, and never picked it up again.

Why? White font for spoilers below:

The main character has leprosy. He gets sent to a world where he doesn't have it. And pretty much the first thing he does is rape a girl.

we agree there -- hate that book

[rose red]

I also find Philippa Gregory very annoying and particularly don't know what Elizabeth I ever did to her, because she really doesn't like her and that is clear in every book she's ever written mentioning her.  

Also Anne Boleyn.  I keep thinking "Jeez lady.  Did they kill your ancestors or something?"  Her hatred is very obvious as is her worship of Katherine of Aragon and (Bloody) Queen Mary .

[artk2002]

I've made at least 3 tries at Thomas Covenant.  Still have the books in the hopes that somehow I'll like them.  But since I want to kill the "hero" within the first 20 pages, and he doesn't grow at all through the first book (or the second, I think I've made it that far), it's very, very painful.

Add me to the "Wicked" list as well.  None of the characters was very sympathetic... I just couldn't care about any of them.

[Just Lori]

OK, I'm going to date myself, but I read "Flowers in the Attic" when the original V.C. Andrews was still alive.  We all read the series in middle school and thought we were very sophisticated.

Years later, I still see a lot of her books.  Are they still all the same?

[supernova]

I also find Philippa Gregory very annoying and particularly don't know what Elizabeth I ever did to her, because she really doesn't like her and that is clear in every book she's ever written mentioning her.  

Also Anne Boleyn.  I keep thinking "Jeez lady.  Did they kill your ancestors or something?"  Her hatred is very obvious as is her worship of Katherine of Aragon and (Bloody) Queen Mary .

Hmm.  Just from that, I would suspect that perhaps Ms. Gregory is Catholic.  I have no idea whatsoever; it's just what I would suspect, given the information at hand.  And no disrespect for followers of that faith meant whatsoever.

[Linley]

Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying."  We had to read it in high school.  It was so bland, so boring, so...not good.  I later saw it on my mom's bookshelf, as it was the Oprah Book Club selection, and I warned her about it.  She later agreed with me after reading it and will not be reading any more Faulkner. 

I hate Faulkner with a deep and burning passion. Unfortunately, my father thinks he's one of the great masters of the Western world.

[lady_disdain]

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!

That would be Hyperion, which is a great book that shouldn't be mentioned in this thread You do need a strong stomach for it, though.

I agree with The Historian and I warn you all from "The Swan Thieves", by the same author. I didn't recognize the name at first, so I started reading. Very predictable and dull.

I will also cast my POD with The Magicians (dull, annoying characters that I just wanted to shake and tell them to get a life), Dickens (he was paid by the word and it shows) and Wicked.

[Hillia]

I also find Philippa Gregory very annoying and particularly don't know what Elizabeth I ever did to her, because she really doesn't like her and that is clear in every book she's ever written mentioning her.  

Also Anne Boleyn.  I keep thinking "Jeez lady.  Did they kill your ancestors or something?"  Her hatred is very obvious as is her worship of Katherine of Aragon and (Bloody) Queen Mary .

I'm almost finished with The Constant Princess now - the story of Katherine of Aragon - and enjoying it, but I haven't read any of her other works yet.

[Corvid]

The Scarlet Letter - I was doing fine reading this despite my issues with the tone and dense symbolism...until I idly wondered what would happen if Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg (from a favorite series of fantasy novels) showed up at this, that or the other point in the story.  Now I can't even see a copy of the book without breaking into giggles.

!!!!!!  What have you just done to me, giving me that image!  And it won't stop here!  It'll spread to other books!  I think it's alreading infiltrating Harry Potter!

Granny vs. Voldemort...oooh!  Vimes vs. Voldemort!