How Bad Can It Be?

Has anyone started a book and found it to be so bad that they quit reading it?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alice on February 11, 2010 at 11:35am

I'm reading the Sookie Stackhouse series now. that is the only vampire series besides Twilight that had top sellers. The Sookie books are like the adult version of Twilight.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was book one and they are now up to book three. I;m way behind. I'll have to make time for the Girt with the Dragon Tattoo soon!

Permalink Reply by Summer's Mom on February 10, 2010 at 9:15pm

I really had trouble with a book called The Scent of Sake - it felt like I was back in middle school. Gave up half way through.

Permalink Reply by Mendy Miller on February 10, 2010 at 11:04pm

I tried to read 'Fury', by Salmon Rushdie. I think it might have been a good story, but it was so bogged down in litterary illusion, I couldn't get down to the plot. I was psyched to read a book by a writer who wrote something on the Catholic "DO NOT READ" list ( The Satanic Verses), but it proved to be too much work! Mr. Rushdie, you will have to corrupt others more intellectual than me. I read for pleasure!

Permalink Reply by Alice on February 11, 2010 at 11:48am

I tried to read that too (Satanic Verses) because everyone made such a big deal out of it and I just couldn't get through it. I don't like when writers try too hard to sound sophisticated. The book House of Leaves was the same way, very pretentious.

Permalink Reply by Alice on February 11, 2010 at 12:04pm

Oh, another awful book that I really wanted to give up on but forced myself to finish (I bought it in hardcover and didn't want to feel like it was a complete waste of money) was called Firethorn by Sarah Micklem. It sounded good and I liked the cover (yes I judge books by their cover, so sue me) but it ended up being so awful. The story was boring and lacked substance and the author threw in these sex scenes along with a lot of other gritty sexual content that either disgusts you or leaves you feeling dirty (and not in a good way). The whole thing was a mess. I heard she was going to make it a trilogy but I don't know if that actually happened or not. I don't know who would read them after reading the first. Even if someone wanted a steamy novel, there are much better ones out there that aren't complete trash.

Permalink Reply by Potus on September 11, 2011 at 11:16pm

I could not get through Anna Karenina. One day I will try again but I got just past halfway and gave in. It was so difficult to keep anyone's names straight without writing a list and halfway in it seemed none of the many stories would ever interconnect. I gave up when I realised I didn't care what was happening and was only reading it to finish it.

My mother gave up on the Harry Potter books in The Chamber of Secrets. I don't think it was that she didn't like them- she likes watching the movies and she thinks that anyone could create all that is incredible, but the books didn't quite appeal to her enough to stick through the whole series.