S/O What's the worst book you've read

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youngishbear

Thu, May 09 2019, 11:08 pm

Laiya wrote:

Anyone read Pride and Prejudice, or Sense and Sensibility?

Pride and Prejudice

I enjoyed the book, but the plot has become such a trope. It made it hard for me to fall in love with Austen the way so many people do. I enjoy novelty and the unexpected too much.

youngishbear

Thu, May 09 2019, 11:10 pm

Kiwi13 wrote:

Somewhere a few pages back someone asked about the themes in The Giver (sorry not sure where exactly that post is)... it’s about the impossibility of a truly utopian society and the immorality that ensues when people try to artificially create it. Someone, in this case the Giver, as well as several others (to a lesser extent) whose jobs entail secrets that are forbidden to tell (euthanasia of the old and the sick and the runaways...) will always need to carry the burden of imperfection for the rest of population. The ending is incredible - the main character escapes with the baby and sleds down a real life hill to the real world. He hears music ahead, which I think in the book is termed “hearing beyond” (“seeing beyond” referred to colors) and it goes on to say that he thought he also heard music coming from behind him, but perhaps it was only an echo, which was such a powerful way to express that the “perfect” world he left behind was never truly free or autonomous- it was only a cheap imitation of real life.

My two cents about The DaVinci Code... Angels and Demons (sequel) was MUCH better. I actually really liked it.

Did anyone mention the YA books “The Face on the Milk-carton” and “Whatever Happened to Janie?” I loved the concept of companion books instead of sequels. It was also an interesting story. I was really into it.

Another cool YA book, though morbid, was “The Killer’s Cousin.”

I skipped your first paragraph as soon as I realized you were summarizing a book that's still in my reading pile...

But yes I remember "The Face on the Milk Carton" and "Whatever Happened to Janie" but only vaguely. What a trip down memory lane...

youngishbear

Thu, May 09 2019, 11:12 pm

Laiya wrote:

Flowers for Algernon! It wasn't enjoyable reading at the time, but it left a lasting impression.

I LOVED this story, even though everyone else hated it and refused to discuss it. Maybe they couldn't see past their disgust towards the mouse.

youngishbear

Thu, May 09 2019, 11:14 pm

Kiwi13 wrote:

Oh and I really enjoyed The Hitchhiker’s Guide books, even though when I read them I was too young to really understand a lot of it. Very fun though.

I'm so glad I discovered these at the right time. Never read anything funnier before or since, until my recent discovery of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.

Wait. How has a worst book we've read thread morph into a list of favorites?

Laiya

Thu, May 09 2019, 11:17 pm

youngishbear wrote:

Spoiler alert

Done!

gingertop

Sun, May 12 2019, 6:28 am

Israeli_C wrote:

Rav Shalom Arush's "Women's Wisdom" (I know we said no frum authors, but I doubt he's on the internet, nevermind this site)
So backwards and wrong. Especially the part saying that women shouldn't have female friends because it might distract her from her husband (!!)

DrMom

Sun, May 12 2019, 8:29 am

Laiya wrote:

Anyone read Pride and Prejudice, or Sense and Sensibility?

Of course!

The former is one of my all-time favorites. Such vivid characters.

The latter is a bit of a hot mess, not Austen's best work, IMO. The Ang Lee film adaptation is lovely, although they took some liberties with the plot.

etky

Sun, May 12 2019, 11:02 am

gingertop wrote:

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer.

I thought I would love it. I did laugh out loud several times in the first few chapters. But then it got so tiring. All the hyperbole, the bad grammar, the stereotypical fools of the shtetl...

This. Maybe I should have persevered more but I couldn't get past the language. Was just too taxing to read.

etky

Sun, May 12 2019, 11:07 am

Anyone read Edith Wharton? The House of Mirth? The Age of Innocence?
I loved them both.
Also loved all the Tolstoy and Jane Austen novels that I read.
Anyone read Giants in the Earth by Rolvaag?

etky

Sun, May 12 2019, 11:11 am

Ravenclaw wrote:

Oh my gosh yes!!!!!
This book is terrible. And I read the next one, Perals in the Wind, halfway because I was hoping it would get better. It didn’t. And then I finished reading a recap of the series on Wikipedia out of curiosity and my goodness, V. C. Andrews is one seriously messed up individual.

Horrible, horrible books.
Unfortunately I read them when I was very young and didn't know better.
Even now, decades later, I shudder at the memory.

aricelli

Sun, May 12 2019, 11:11 am

So this book is different than the ones we’ve been discussing- I recently read “diary of a baby” by Daniel Stern m.d. and I just loved it as it gave me huge insight into the enigmatic world of tiny new people! His other book I’d want to read is The Birth Of A Mother

Laiya

Sun, May 12 2019, 10:21 pm

Anyone read Perfidy?

Mommyg8

Sun, May 12 2019, 10:23 pm

Laiya wrote:

Anyone read Perfidy?

By Ben Hecht? I think I read it many years ago.

paperflowers

Sun, May 12 2019, 10:57 pm

Laiya wrote:

Anyone read Perfidy?

I didn’t like it. Not because of the content (which is uncomfortable but I can handle some discomfort) but because of the writing style.

I guess you can say it’s the “worst” book in that it was bad enough to get pulled off shelves everywhere. But I love banned books.

Laiya

Sun, May 12 2019, 11:04 pm

paperflowers wrote:

I had no idea it was banned! Where? I think we read it in seminary.

imorethanamother

Sun, May 12 2019, 11:43 pm

allthingsblue wrote:

Danielle Steele book, Beauchamp Hall. I actually started a thread to complain about it.

Best book I've read: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

I had to comment to say I loved that book! It's not the best book I've ever read in my life, but it was just such a great book.

I HATE;
Anything by Jody Piccoult (everyone acts ridiculous in all her books)
Bast-ard out of Carolina (soooo horrible. Depressed me for days.)

imorethanamother

Sun, May 12 2019, 11:54 pm

shanie5 wrote:

Rebecca-the only book my grandmother ever read twice. The only bookI could NEVER finish! And I tried at least twice!

I loved Rebecca. Perhaps the only classic I actually liked in high school. You can throw stones at me now. I can't stand most classics. Edgar Allen Poe, Shirley Jackson, Jayne Eyre, Lord of the Flies, Ray Bradbury and a small handful of others are the exception.

imorethanamother

Sun, May 12 2019, 11:56 pm

EMEN wrote:

I was really mad when I got to the end of Under the Dome. It was the laziest ending ever.

YES. So odd. Stephen King will always be a favorite of mine, though. Although some of his books are painfully difficult for me to wade through. 1963 is a prime example.

sequoia

Mon, May 13 2019, 12:07 am

Israeli_C wrote:

That’s fine, I prefer male friends anyway.

youngishbear

Mon, May 13 2019, 12:14 am

Laiya wrote:

Anyone read Perfidy?

I did. It was a fascinating read.

It's not easy to find now.

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