I read Jane Austen's stories voluntarily, but honestly they are as boring as watching paint dry. XD I couldn't do it again, ever. Romance back then was so proper and there wasn't even any kissing at all.

Although I think she has no excuse. Jane Eyre was written at the same time and was actually a very interesting and well written book. I still think it was one of the best books ever written. And so was Wuthering Heights.

I just think Jane Austen didn't have any imagination beyond her small experience in the social world.

I love reading, but I have to admit, I hated I Am The Cheese. I think mostly because we read it for class and I had to try and explain it to the people in my group. Who were stupid.

Also: Island of the Blue Dolphins. Because after reading that stupid book a few years in a row, it really gets old.

Also also ( xD): Starting Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles for my college lit class. Is it any good?

Has anyone said Twilight? Because... it's just..... oh my god. I read the BACK of the book, the little summary? and got bored. lmao

another kinda boring/lame book is catcher in the rye because, i know it's supposed to kind of be like that but... its just, the same thing over and over.

Oh, wow... for school, I just hated reading the Old Man and the Sea. Except for the part where he talked to his hand. Hehe, crazy old man. But beyond that, it just wasn't my cup of tea. I don't care much for the strength of the human spirit or long battles with innocent sealife. Total ownage when the sharks ate the fish though, am I right? :'D

Geek Love is wonderfully terrible. I just haven't quite been able to finish it yet because every time I try to read, it disturbs me to the point where I require a stiff drink. Didn't know I had a disfugurement phobia until reading that, thank you very much, Katherine Dunn.

Originally Posted by Twisted Insanity

Books I read in school. One was Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry. That was sooo boring, I don't think any one liked it. Dx

hmm. I liked that book. Gather some blue for me! *winces at weak pun*

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hmmm. Good question.

Ewww- I hated hattie big sky. Good book with bad ending.... :()


Dont you just hate when good books have a bad/sad/uncalled for/ seemingly rushed/ short ending? I do

I figured it be fun to address everyone's book choices here (provided I read them):

'A Separate Peace' by John Knowles
Honestly, I though this book was painful to get through. I know it was older writing but I found it very dry, and it could not hold my attention at all.
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@ Silver Peace;
"The Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad is actually a short story. I do agree though, it was hard to get through. We recently did this for my Evolution of Short Fiction class. I really had a hard time following it, although I read it 3 or 4 times. Nothing of it really made sense. I wound up just having to use cliff notes.

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"the Metamorphosis" by Frank Kaza. I actually really liked this one. Yeah if you read it and took it for what it was, it doesn't make too much sense, but you have to look a little more at the relationships in the family. The symbolism here is really fantastic.

"Tale of Two Cities" I LOVED THIS. I used to read it a lot when I was younger. I can understand some people thinking Dickens is hard to get through, but I think it's genius.



My own dislikes: These were not for school but they're just books I did not enjoy (which is VERY rare.)

The Sin of Addison Hall by Jeffrey Onotario
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
Wicked Series by Nancy Holder

Originally Posted by mangaturtle

since no one has mentioned it, "the Metamorphosis" by Frank Kaza. Starts off with a promising idea , goes no where and ends like the author just got bored of writing it.

"The great gatsby" no redeeming characters, no redeeming morals, boring as hell

Mmm, I can see what you're saying, but I kinda liked Gatsby, LOL. (Or maybe I was just infatuated with the era - flappers and all that). That's cool, though. Kafka's Metamorphosis really freaked me out, though. I hate bugs **shivers** so I would probably NEVER read it again. That and the apple part made me cringe, too, maybe because I was trying to picture it.

Originally Posted by Haruishino

I am very surprised by what I am finding on here, maybe because my class has done deep analysis on a lot of the books that have been listed (Heart of Darkness, Fehrenheit 451, others). Most of them are boring and terrible because they are written in periods of time that are different than our own....

Yeah, deep analysis generally increases (and rarely decreases) how much I like something. So I think I might agree with you here.

Originally Posted by The Enchanted Tiara

I read Jane Austen's stories voluntarily, but honestly they are as boring as watching paint dry. XD I couldn't do it again, ever. Romance back then was so proper and there wasn't even any kissing at all.

Although I think she has no excuse. Jane Eyre was written at the same time and was actually a very interesting and well written book. I still think it was one of the best books ever written. And so was Wuthering Heights.

I just think Jane Austen didn't have any imagination beyond her small experience in the social world.

I agree. The Bronte sisters seem to have kicked Austen's butt for sure, but there are so few movies (not counting BBC tv productions) of their stuff. It's odd.

I hated pretty much everything I had to read in middle/high school that wasn't by Shakespeare, wasn't by Mark Twain, wasn't 1984, or wasn't Animal Farm. In hindsight, I suppose Fahrenheit 451 wasn't that bad, but at the time I read it (in eighth grade) I couldn't follow the story, the way it was written was so confusing, and my favorite character ended up getting hit by a car so I kind of look back at it with distaste.

I absolutely hated anything by Gary Paulsen. We had to read Dogsong in middle school, and Hatchet in high school. God, those books were the dullest things in the universe, and I hated Hatchet especially because of how freaking stupid the main character was.

And I hated A Separate Peace too, except my experience of it was bettered by joking with my friend about the obvious homoerotic undertones of that whole book.

Books that I read and disliked, but I wasn't forced to read by my school include Eragon and the whole Twilight "saga". Yes, I read all of it even though I hated it, because I like making up in my mind all the psychological problems all the characters have, and how awesome it'll be fifty years from now when Bella and Edward have both grown tired of each other and all they have left is their bickering and their seething hatred for one another. Eragon, I couldn't even finish and had to read recaps and stuff of it, because it was so freaking dull.

The Giver is a 1993 soft science fiction novel by Lois Lowry.

The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth year of his life. The society has eliminated pain and strife by converting to "Sameness", a plan which has also eradicated emotional depth from their lives. Jonas is selected to inherit the position of "Receiver of Memory," the person who stores all the memories of the time before Sameness, in case they are ever needed to aid in decisions that others lack the experience to make. When Jonas meets the Giver, he is confused in many ways. The Giver is also able to break some rules, such as turning off the speaker and locking his door. As Jonas receives the memories from the previous receiver—the "Giver"—he discovers the power of knowledge. The people in his community are happy because they don't know of a better life but with the knowledge of what they are missing out on it could create chaos. He faces a dilemma.

Source:
Wikipedia c:

@johnny: Man! I forgot about Hatchet! I hated most of the stuff I read in middle school to be honest. Especially the man vs nature survivalist stuff. It just wasn't me.
@OwlsAloneTogether: Your username is awesome.

@mwahaha?

Thank yew c:

I had to read "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson for school this year, and I absolutely despised it.

I don't see how it won so many awards. I didn't find any of it so amazingly original or moving at all; rather, it's actually incredibly cliche. The narrator sounds just like every other main character from a teenage-centered novel, and a lot of the things that happened were incredibly predictable and overused.

I just don't see why so many people seem to love the book so much.

Other than that, I've actually liked most of the books we've read at school. I do remember hating one in fourth or fifth grade about a boy that goes to live in the woods for some reason, although now that I look back at it, I don't really see why I hated that book so much.

I had to read a book called Swallowing Stones by Joyce McDonald. The whole book is just confusing. Plus it has no real ending. I hated reading it!

Originally posted by johnny
And I hated A Separate Peace too, except my experience of it was bettered by joking with my friend about the obvious homoerotic undertones of that whole book.

I completely agree here. I had to read it in school and it was probably the most boring book of that year. Shame I hadn't discovered yaoi before I'd read it. Maybe then I could've enjoyed those homoerotic undertones at the very least.:lol:

Another book from school I hated was Ellen Foster. It was basically about a girl living with her sick mother and drunk father in the seventies. It was incredibly boring and I absolutely hated it.

As for books not forced upon my by school, I'd have to say the Twilight series. It's horribly written and there's no original plot to speak of. It's just about a teenage girl and her creepy vampire boyfriend. I've read better fanfictions.

I often try to read Jane Austen novels and I struggle through the first 20-100 pages and then give up. It's nothing to do with the language -- I've been able to read other novels of that era. It's just that the beginnings are incredibly dull. She went to a ball, she talked to some people, she went out for a drive in the countryside and gossiped about the people she had talked to at the ball, etc. etc. etc.
I've been told that the plots improve later on, but I just can't get past those beginnings, and in my opinion a dull beginning makes for a dull book.

There aren't a lot of books that I truly dislike, though. I tend to be very neutral if anything -- hating some things, loving others. For example, The Integral Trees by Larry Niven -- I hated the weird romantic subplot and the way women were portrayed (so 80's), but I loved the concept and the rest of the plot enough to redeem it.

Eragon was one of the worst books I ever read. EVER. It has nothing original or creative in it whatsoever, the characters were bland and the plot was not imaginative in the least. I wanted to tear the main characters head off. Also, the bond between him and his dragon was laughable and nothing compared to the bond between the characters and their dragons in DROP. :)

I fucking hate that book.

At the moment I'm reading a book called Ariel (I'm also reading Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman which is actually REALLY good) by Steven R. Boyett and it's.... pretty bad.

I didn't really enjoy the way the book started, first of all, and for some reason, and way Ariel talks in the book (she's a unicorn) greatly disturbed me (not in the: "OMG the HORROR" way, just didn't like it). I also hate, hate, HATE the way Boyett describes things, especially the way he talks about Ariel. Also, I'm not done with it, but I have the sinking suspicion that he's going to have some sort of sexual something with the unicorn.

I dunno, maybe I'm wrong. Anyone else read it?

It takes a lot for me to really hate a book - I like a variety of genres and styles - but Stephenie Meyer did it. I can't quite understand how anyone can write that stuff seriously?! I think the time I wasted reading those books was the biggest waste of my time on this planet.

Originally Posted by OwlsAloneTogether

Source:
Wikipedia c:

Aw, I remember really liking The Giver, although I was really little when I read it, soo....

Originally Posted by johnny

I hated pretty much everything I had to read in middle/high school that wasn't by Shakespeare, wasn't by Mark Twain, wasn't 1984, or wasn't Animal Farm. In hindsight, I suppose Fahrenheit 451 wasn't that bad, but at the time I read it (in eighth grade) I couldn't follow the story, the way it was written was so confusing, and my favorite character ended up getting hit by a car so I kind of look back at it with distaste.

I love Fahrenheit 451, it's my favorite book actually xD
I don't think I need to mention Twilight. I'm also not particularly found of the Giver, but I had to read it 3 times in middle school because I kept switching school, and they always gave us way to many quizzes on it, and that kinda ruins a book for you. I also had to Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier for school, which bored me to death. Granted, that one's mainly just personal taste...

The Sound and The Fury by Faulkner. Good story... Couldn't stand the way it was written
Crime and Punishment I am nearly dieing... I hate this book!!! >.< The way it's written and the story. He can't decide ANYTHING! Or! If he does, he changes his mind! >.<
The Scarlett Letter ... Really? ... 20 pages to describe her coming out of jail to go stand on the wooden stage? REALLY? Hated the exaggerated and overuse of description. Took forever.

I loved, or at least warmed-up to, all the books that were assigned reading as I was going through school.

EXCEPT for The Great Gatsby. That was an awful book, and I despised it. It was the only book for class I never finished, I looked up the crib notes and was done with it. I was so happy to see the end of that segment of class!

Originally Posted by Heiress of the Evening

I had to read "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson for school this year, and I absolutely despised it.

I don't see how it won so many awards. I didn't find any of it so amazingly original or moving at all; rather, it's actually incredibly cliche. The narrator sounds just like every other main character from a teenage-centered novel, and a lot of the things that happened were incredibly predictable and overused.

I just don't see why so many people seem to love the book so much.

Other than that, I've actually liked most of the books we've read at school. I do remember hating one in fourth or fifth grade about a boy that goes to live in the woods for some reason, although now that I look back at it, I don't really see why I hated that book so much.

A lot of people like that book because it explores reigions most people leave unexplored in books. Like rape.

Um, basically all the books I've ever had to read for school. Especially the Odyssey. Oh my God, the Odyssey was the worst. I hate Homer with a burning passion.
I also agree with TalkingBackwards. Twilight is an awful series (and I have actually read all four books, so I think I can say whatever I want about them). The books are very poorly written with little to no character development. How they ever got published is beyond me.

I really enjoyed Eragon, Fahrenheit 451, The Crucible, and The Great Gatsby! I think there was a few others I saw mentioned that I liked a lot, but I've already forgotten. But to each their own, no? Mark Twain is hit-or-miss for me, I think. I did not like Huckleberry Finn (though I did appriciate it) and I loved A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. I think I'll give a few more of his books a shot.

As for my least favorite book. Well. I respect Ernest Hemingway. Really, I do. I think he's a grand writer in his own way, and he is such a powerful icon in the literary world. But I cannot STAND his books. I didn't like Old Man and the Sea one bit. But a thousand times worse than that (in my opinion) was The Sun Also Rises. I broke down crying THREE TIMES reading that book, because I hated it SO MUCH, but had to finish it for school. 200+ pages of characters I despised drinking and feeling sorry for themselves. In a boring writing style. There was a small amount of plot in the last ten pages. Not enough to redeem that book at all. I went downstairs shouting with glee when I finished.

Death of a Darklord by Laurell K. Hamilton was awful as well. Years later, I regret the $7 I spent on it. I won't ever read another one of her books, no matter how much I hear 'Anita Blake this, Merry Gentry books that,' because that book was so terrible. I know it's completely unfair to judge an author by one book, but I refuse to waste my time like that again.

Argh, so I just finished Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich, and I can't recall hating something as much as I hated that book for quite some time. A friend lent it to me, and I had nothing better to read... I'm not sure how I managed to make it all the way through.

Every character is cookie cutter, stereotypical and completely obnoxious. By the end of the book I was hoping I could strangle all of them. The plot was positively fucking RIDICULOUS; it gives me a headache just thinking of all the ways that it is absolutely wrong. Not to mention the entire concept was ludicrous to begin with. It's just so lame, in every conceivable way. Ugh. ;__;