In the book club I am a part of, this topic comes up every so often, so it was fun to flip through Huffington Post’s reader’s list of books that they hated that everyone else loved.
When books become big, huge best selling mega sellers, I tend to feel a little reluctant to read. Sometimes I’ve read one much later and been blown away by how actually good it was (The Help) but more times than I can count, I walk away confused.
How do books that get wildly popular, but are not really that great do that?! And then there are books that are just amazing that barely make it off the ground. Publishing is a tough business and readers are finicky people, huh?
The Huffington Post list actually is pretty complete. Lots of books that were crazy popular but really pretty crappy… Twilight, Eat, Pray Love, Running with Scissors, and *gasp* Lord of the Rings.
What do I think is missing? All the Dan Brown books, all Nicholas Sparks books, and Life of Pi are the first ones that come to my head.
What books have you hated that “everyone else” loved?
9 Comments
The Time Travelers Wife. I hated it. I thought it was boring, and not at all romantic. It made me mad that she basically spent her whole life waiting for him and he didn’t deserve it.
I’m gonna have to second Life of Pi. I just don’t get it.
The Time Travelers Wife is my top one, I tried to complete it 4 times, just couldn’t do it. Uglies and Hunger Games are also on my list, but I realised dystopian is just not for me.
I didn’t like Wuthering Heights or The Scarlet Letter
I have to say that I have not read a book by John Irving that I have liked. I just don’t understand the appeal the man has with readers.
But at the same time ‘Lord of the Rings’ is one of my absolute favorites and you hated it, so go figure.
I think this all the time about Jane Eyre. I don’t get why it was a classic. Or why Charlotte Bronte was the popular one.
Also feel this way about The Da Vinci Code, and Water for Elephants. I get angry just thinking about WfE.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I have such feelings of rage whenever someone brings up how awesome it was, I found it boring, then traumatizing, then boring again. Worst book ever.
But then again I loved The Time Traveler’s Wife.
I just cannot get into The Hunger Games. I’ve read about a third of it and have no desire to read anymore. The Help was the same way. And everyone seems to love those.
I totally agree and am the same way. One that pops into my head is the Jessica Darling series. I just couldn’t do it.