Books you can't bloody stand...

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ugh. I had to read that my junior year of high school and it was the only time I ever Spark Noted anything in my academic career.

Let's also add Middlemarch to the list.

Oh dear, I love Middlemarch. But I also love Thomas Hardy, so I know that I have unusual book tastes.

I have to mention, again, Life of Pi. Now that there is a movie coming out everyone is talking about it again, and I could never bring myself to get even 50 pages in.

I have to mention, again, Life of Pi. Now that there is a movie coming out everyone is talking about it again, and I could never bring myself to get even 50 pages in.

Me neither!

Oh dear, I love Middlemarch. But I also love Thomas Hardy, so I know that I have unusual book tastes.

I don't think that's unusual, Jennie! Middlemarch is generally viewed as one of the best books ever written - and I'd agree!

Anna Karenina. I made my 2nd attempt this summer to read/finish it. I just can't. It was interesting for the first few hundred pages, then.....snoozefest. I don't mind long books, IF they hold my interest, but I just hated this. I don't even care how it ends.

Anna Karenina. I made my 2nd attempt this summer to read/finish it. I just can't. It was interesting for the first few hundred pages, then.....snoozefest. I don't mind long books, IF they hold my interest, but I just hated this. I don't even care how it ends.

I am with you on this one, FallGal! I just finished Anna Karenina a few days ago (because I really hate it when I don't finish novels!), and it was a LONG journey to get through. It was obvious  that Tolstoy was using the novel as a vessel for delivering his philosophies on politics and the state of Russia at the time...which is great and all, but I just wanted to know what was happening with Vronsky and Anna! 

I hope Anna and Vronsky had better chemistry in the book than in the latest film. The book sat on my shelf for years before I finally Oxfamed it and I saw the film a few weeks ago. I ended up liking her husband way more than Vronsky, who was a simpering wuss. 

I don't think that's unusual, Jennie! Middlemarch is generally viewed as one of the best books ever written - and I'd agree!

Yeah, it's definitely not unusual. I'm just not a fan of Victorian literature. I've found that people either think Middlemarch is a classic or a sedative. I'm in the sedative camp.

Just finished Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. What rubbish! 

The Enigma of Arrival by V.S. Naipaul
The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

I had to read EoA for a class a few weeks ago and thought that it just might overtake TC (another for-class read, though from years ago) for my all-time least favorite book, but I think TC still edges it both for one really cheesy line about demons or nightmares or whatever to be found 'at the bottom of a bottle' and for failing so spectacularly in trying to depict contemporary teenage culture.  For example, this sentence actually happens and is not a joke:

"Because the skivviest thing you can do is be disloyal to someone.  Macbeth killed his own king, man.  That would be like Eminem taking down Dr. Dre."

On the other hand, this sentence actually happens and is not a joke in EoA:

"The handwriting spoke of a woman absolutely at peace, sexually fulfilled, without anxiety."

An unknown woman's handwriting on a bill told ya all that, did it? 

Spare me.

Just finished Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. What rubbish! 

I agree! I kept going with it hoping it would improve but it got worse and worse.
I thought something about Americans (even soppy immature twins) moving to London might prove interesting. 

The Enigma of Arrival by V.S. Naipaul
The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

I had to read EoA for a class a few weeks ago and thought that it just might overtake TC (another for-class read, though from years ago) for my all-time least favorite book, but I think TC still edges it both for one really cheesy line about demons or nightmares or whatever to be found 'at the bottom of a bottle' and for failing so spectacularly in trying to depict contemporary teenage culture.  For example, this sentence actually happens and is not a joke:

"Because the skivviest thing you can do is be disloyal to someone.  Macbeth killed his own king, man.  That would be like Eminem taking down Dr. Dre."

On the other hand, this sentence actually happens and is not a joke in EoA:

"The handwriting spoke of a woman absolutely at peace, sexually fulfilled, without anxiety."

An unknown woman's handwriting on a bill told ya all that, did it? 

Spare me.

I agree. There were parts about TC that I did like but I found it too predictable. There were many moments that should have been 'aha!' bits but ended up being dull because I guessed it nine chapters prior. I think Picoult is a gifted writer, but she's a bit of a one-trick pony. Also can someone please explain to me how someone's breath can smell of coffee and regret?

That reminds me... I disliked Handle with Care by Picoult. I picked it up on a whim at the airport (anyone else notice that Picoult is quite big in the UK?) and found it too similar to My Sister's Keeper. The ending was a cop-out, too predictable. Too many plots that never really developed. To redeem Picoult, I am reading 19 Minutes and I really like it so far. 

I agree. There were parts about TC that I did like but I found it too predictable. There were many moments that should have been 'aha!' bits but ended up being dull because I guessed it nine chapters prior. I think Picoult is a gifted writer, but she's a bit of a one-trick pony. Also can someone please explain to me how someone's breath can smell of coffee and regret?

The one positive impression I remember having about TC was that it managed to be a bit of a page-turner  (when I wasn't so disgusted with it that I was literally throwing it across the room) , which I guess is to say that she builds tension well.  Although that's somewhat offset by the predictability you pointed out.

I actually think I can explain how someone's breath could smell like coffee and regret, but my explanation wouldn't be very G-rated and I've a hunch it wouldn't have been what Ms. Picoult had in mind.

The Perks of being a Wallflower.

I remember a bunch of my friends liked it when we were in middle school. I didn't read it then. In recent years I have still been hearing A LOT about it so I decided to read it. I didn't think it was bad, but I cannot stand the hype this book gets. People quote it left and right, acting like it changed their life. I understood what was going on but it didn't "speak" to me or "inspire" me like people act like it does. It's clearly a teenage book, very easy to read with a middle school setting, yet 20 year olds are obsessed with it. I think it has been getting even more popular lately with the movie that just came out.

Just finished Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. What rubbish! 

Hated that book... just ugh. Story was terrible, characters boring - I didn't care for any of them, never rooted for any or sympathized with any. Predictable ending. I kept saying - no way, it won't end like this. Yup. There could have been more to the book but it felt so unpolished and like more of a rough draft/skeleton of a story.