What Not to Read

[Petrichor]

Admit it. Somewhere in your head, you've got a list of those books that make you cringe whenever you remember them. You fling your hands up in disgust whenever you hear them mentioned. You flee in terror whenever you see them. Those awful, terrible books that just make you whimper whenever you think about them.

Maybe it was that cute little romance that suddenly went horribly bad? That thriller that went bizarre? That mystery that could be solved about three pages in and you had to suffer through about three hundred pages of incredibly dense characters trying to ram the answers through their incredibly thick skulls?

Post 'em here, so that your fellow ToOers won't have to suffer through them like you did.

(Erm, minor stipulation here: only post books you've actually read, or at least taken a stab at. No "aaaah! twilight is the dumbest series ever becuase Edward is lame and so is Bela!!!11one11!1 im never going to read it because it looks soo dumb." Just thought I'd mention that.)

Currently at #1 on my list of what not to read: A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine.
While I'm aware that I'm outside the target range for this book, I still pick up Ella Enchanted every now and then and enjoy a quick read-through. A Tale of Two Castles was just... bad. Blegh.

So, what are some of your worst reads?

[Woody]

Diary of a Wimpy Kid SOOOOO DUMB!!! Worst. Books. Ever.

[Wooton Z. Bassett]

lol, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is pretty good, how can you not like it?

Well, I really didn't like the book Heidi.

[Laurie]

Spring for Susannah by Catherine Richmond. While this book is marketed as Christian romance it contains content that IMHO should have been left out. Ironic that I did not like this book but enjoyed the second book by this same author.

[Woody]

lol, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is pretty good, how can you not like it?

It's just so... dumb. That's really the only word for it. It's about three quarters full of pictures, and the "humor" is far from funny.

[Laura Ingalls]

lol, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is pretty good, how can you not like it?

Well, I really didn't like the book Heidi.

Aww, Heidi is a classic! I've read many times...love it. I suppose it is more of a girl's book though...

[Wooton Z. Bassett]

lol, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is pretty good, how can you not like it?

Well, I really didn't like the book Heidi.

Aww, Heidi is a classic! I've read many times...love it. I suppose it is more of a girl's book though...

I like most girls book, such as Little Woman, Anne of Green Gables, Alice in Wonderland, Little House on the Prarie books, I just didn't like Heidi all that much.

[Jesus' Princess]

For me it would have to be The Phantom Tollbooth. I honestly disliked every minute I spent reading it. It was a school assignment, or else I probably wouldn't have finished it. I don't know what my main problem was with it, I just thought it was dumb, and not very interesting. I know tons of people love this book, it's just not me.

@Wooton Z Bassett: Heidi's such a good book! I loved it I love old books about girls though

[Musical Shutterbug]

For me it would have to be The Phantom Tollbooth. I honestly disliked every minute I spent reading it. It was a school assignment, or else I probably wouldn't have finished it. I don't know what my main problem was with it, I just thought it was dumb, and not very interesting. I know tons of people love this book, it's just not me.

What. What. What. Is. This.

I adore The Phantom Tollbooth. That book is a part of my childhood! I love the creative storyline, the characters...and the witty lines are the best ever

[Jesus' Princess]

For me it would have to be The Phantom Tollbooth. I honestly disliked every minute I spent reading it. It was a school assignment, or else I probably wouldn't have finished it. I don't know what my main problem was with it, I just thought it was dumb, and not very interesting. I know tons of people love this book, it's just not me.

What. What. What. Is. This.

I adore The Phantom Tollbooth. That book is a part of my childhood! I love the creative storyline, the characters...and the witty lines are the best ever

I know, lots of people like it I'm not a big fantasy lover, (unless it's dystopian futuristic fantasy, then I like) so that's probably why I didn't like it. I don't know, I did read it in 6th grade, so maybe over the summer or something I'll try it again. Maybe

[Danielle Abigail Maxwell]

Twilight, because the series was honestly the WORST written series I have EVER read - I regret ever reading them....

And um.... I could get a lot of hate for this... but I cannot read classics. That goes for anything by Jane Austen, Victor Hugo, C.S. Lewis, and Tolkein. I'm not saying on a factor of "not-well written" as they probably are, but I can't get past the boring side of the plot... I unfortunately must have an ADHD brain that does not allow me much time to process long winded paragraphs and trying to think about words. These days, reading is a challenge in and of itself, and I own thousand-page medical surgical nursing books, half highlighted from my own skimming... key word "skim" (plus, they are a lot easier to understand). And usually interest is in there somewhere. I just have no interest in things written by those four main authors.

[Anna><>]

I really did not like reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I also did not like reading Blindness by José Saramago. They both were kind of gross, and while I understood the messages they were trying to present, they were just nasty.

[TigerintheShadows]

Lord of the Flies and The Hunger Games. Sweet gracious, I cannot rightly stand those books. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should probably mention that I loathe books with excessive, graphic violence to the aforementioned degrees.) I also agree with Woody; the Wimpy Kid books have been going on for far too long.

Also, don't read The Scarlet Letter if you're not patient with description. Hawthorne is known for his wordiness.

[Jesus' Princess]

The Hunger Games.

Nooo! The Hunger Games are good

Each to her own I suppose

[Astronomer]

I must say, Moby Dick is on my list. The original is just far too long. I prefer the Children's Illustrated Classics version with a picture on every other page and only about 150 pages long.

[Cbriggs45]

hunger games my best friend asked me to read it.. a womans take on war tactics.. boggled my mind.. the story was sad. (in a noose and body hanging type of sad)

and the people that can not read C.s Lewis have little to no clue about the written word. i may be flirting with the lines of the rules for posting the narnia books are not all he has done. the man was a genius. but hey.

new moon. drivel. long. the other twilight books. werent as bad as i hear the venom spewed on them. did it lack things.. sure.. but hello its fantasy you have to allow for some swiss cheese sized holes.

[American Eagle]

The only book that I disliked upon finishing was "The Day of Small Beginnings". I friend lent it to me in support of home-churching, but the book failed in its delivery. >_> I hated almost all of the characters and the writer's bias preachiness drove me up the wall. In spite of that, I think real people who have a house church are pretty cool.

[Arkán Dreamwalker]

I like most girls book, such as Little Woman, Anne of Green Gables, Alice in Wonderland, Little House on the Prarie books, I just didn't like Heidi all that much.

Alice in Wonderland is in no way just a girl book! It's for all!

[Sherlock]

Hmm...

Old Man and the Sea, maybe I'm just biased against Hemmingway's style. I find that it is too terse or something.
Empire of the Ants , which I read because it was likened to "Watership Down" and ended up being nothing at all like that book.

Pretty much every short story or book I had to read in English 101 in college was terrible. Grapes of Wrath, the Red Convertable, etc etc. With very few exceptions I'm generally not a fan of the so-named Great American Authors.

[Sparrow]

Unfortunately, I have a lot of these. For your perusing convenience, I have arranged a few of my (least) favorites on a scale of scarring to stupid.

Scarring
Graceling by Kristen Cashore. Quite probably the worst book I have ever read--on so many levels. 'Nuff said.
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta. Following very close behind Graceling.

Pretty awful
Delirium and Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver. The first two books in a dystopian trilogy based on one concept: What if love was considered a disease? I gave the first one a shot and didn't like it very well, and the second one was even worse. I'm not even sure why I tried to read book two at all. Blegh.
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Lots of people adore this book, but I found it slightly disturbing, extremely weird, and very depressing.

Just plain dumb
Empty by Suzanne Weyn. I read this when I was on a dystopia kick a while ago, and it may very well have been the book that set me off the genre for a while. It reads more like a long pamphlet than a short book, with some of the most shallow characters I've ever encountered. As in, the most character growth one girl goes through during the course of the book is realizing that she looks just as cute in glasses as she does wearing contacts. Seriously?
A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan. When I first heard about this book, my reaction was pretty much, "Sci-fi Sleeping Beauty? Coooool!" And then I read the book. And it wasn't.
Enchanted by Alethea Kontis. Basically a mish-mash of way too many fairy tales. Generally unremarkable except for poor writing and some weirdness.
Starring Me by Krista McGee. In a rash moment, I actually purchased this book, and am now anxiously awaiting the time when I can donate it to the next library booksale.

I have more, but...