Books You Finally Got Around to Reading - And Wish You Hadn't

[HLS]

The Cornwalls Are Gone by James Patterson. I was hoping to like the book but I did not. I rushed myself threw it

[Paperbackstash]

Classics or well-known I hated and don't get the hype about -

Where the Red Fern Grows
The Sun Also Rises
Girl, Interrupted
The Orphan's Tale
The Thorn Birds

[lazyreadr]

Despite his success definitively

A Song of Ice and Fire from George R. R. Martin

I bought the first 3 books as a combination deal and never read the 3rd book. And the first 2 books were just tediously carrying on, way too long. That is one book series where the movie version is certainly much better than the books.

The story telling style is already pretty simple and bland, way to complicated turns in the books, a conglomerate of characters heavily slanted for drama, very shallow descriptions and just no drive in the whole story at all.

[Victoria]

The Sword of Shannara Trilogy! Why, oh why didn’t I just say uncle? I guess I kept reading in the hope that the time I’d already invested wasn’t a complete loss... It was. After that 1200 page slog, I learned the valuable lesson that it’s ok to bail out.

[Uncle Robin]

Midnight's Children - ugh! Rushdie writes well, but the way the book revels in pain and filth made finishing it a painful slog. I'd hoped to enjoy it because of very literally owing my existence to Partition, but it was one of the most profoundly unpleasant reading experiences of my life. Give me A Suitable Boy any day.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Victoria

The Sword of Shannara Trilogy! Why, oh why didn’t I just say uncle? I guess I kept reading in the hope that the time I’d already invested wasn’t a complete loss... It was. After that 1200 page slog, I learned the valuable lesson that it’s ok to bail out.

I have very fond memories of this trilogy.

I should have let them remain fond memories. I think the second and third have held up better than the first but the first is ... not as good as I remember. I'm not going to try the others and ruin my nostalgia.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Victoria

The Sword of Shannara Trilogy! Why, oh why didn’t I just say uncle? I guess I kept reading in the hope that the time I’d already invested wasn’t a complete loss... It was. After that 1200 page slog, I learned the valuable lesson that it’s ok to bail out.

Hmm... I tried this many years ago. I do not recall if I finished it, but I presume I did because I almost always did back then. I do know the result was that I never touched another book by this author.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Victoria

The Sword of Shannara Trilogy! Why, oh why didn’t I just say uncle? I guess I kept reading in the hope that the time I’d already invested wasn’t a complete loss... It was. After that 1200 page slog, I learned the valuable lesson that it’s ok to bail out.

I have to disagree. I've read some of the series and I do like it.

[pdurrant]

The Satanic Verses. I abandoned it about 1/3 of the way in. I don't remember enjoying any of it at all.

I also gave up on The Name of the Rose. I just couldn't get interested in it.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I have very fond memories of this trilogy.

I should have let them remain fond memories. I think the second and third have held up better than the first but the first is ... not as good as I remember. I'm not going to try the others and ruin my nostalgia.

As they say, ‘been there, and done that’.

[lazyreadr]

I also gave up on The Name of the Rose. I just couldn't get interested in it.

Interstingly the movie is quite decent. Seems to be a similar case to Song of Ice and Fire, where the book wins from beeing put into TV. For the majority of the books it is luckily the other way around.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The Satanic Verses. I abandoned it about 1/3 of the way in. I don't remember enjoying any of it at all.

I also gave up on The Name of the Rose. I just couldn't get interested in it.

I gave The Name of the Rose 2 stars, and I'm kinda proud of the review I wrote about it. These days my writing ability is so meagre. I'm thinking to write some fanfic and see what happens.

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I also gave up on The Name of the Rose. I just couldn't get interested in it.

Ah... The Name of the Rose... I had given up on that one, too. But then I got measles... It was in my student days and I had several exams coming, but I couldn't concentrate on any study material without developing a terrible headache... And there, in the bookshelf, The Name of the Rose... Oddly enough, I could read it without getting the headache... In the end I loved that book.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by Victoria

The Sword of Shannara Trilogy! Why, oh why didn’t I just say uncle? I guess I kept reading in the hope that the time I’d already invested wasn’t a complete loss... It was. After that 1200 page slog, I learned the valuable lesson that it’s ok to bail out.

One of my favorite authors, but I accept that any author and any book is not for everybody. In science fiction, I prefer action/adventure and my sister prefers hard science, so we rarely have books in common in that genre (how can she hate Heinlein?).

For me, Gone Girl was a complete slog of depression. Same thing with Girl with Dragon Tattoo. I even tried reading the second book but gave up after a few chapters. I'm not going to say the story sucked, but it certainly did not draw me in and I skip on the remainder from those authors. John Scalzi - Red Shirts is so popular. I only keep it in my Audible library because my sister likes it. Yep, the one that prefers hard science.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Tarana

One of my favorite authors, but I accept that any author and any book is not for everybody. In science fiction, I prefer action/adventure and my sister prefers hard science, so we rarely have books in common in that genre (how can she hate Heinlein?).

For me, Gone Girl was a complete slog of depression. Same thing with Girl with Dragon Tattoo. I even tried reading the second book but gave up after a few chapters. I'm not going to say the story sucked, but it certainly did not draw me in and I skip on the remainder from those authors. John Scalzi - Red Shirts is so popular. I only keep it in my Audible library because my sister likes it. Yep, the one that prefers hard science.

I liked Red Shirt, if only for the concept. Scalzi is one of those authors where I usually like the ideas more than the actual writing. I enjoy the books, but they are mostly a one shot deal for me. Still, like they say, different strokes for different folks.