I asked you guys to put forward nominations, not for the books that you loved but books hated by you. You were wide, varied and convincing in your pronouncements and as several selections came up over and over again, I thought I’d collate them and see if we had a clear winner!
As it happens there was indeed a clear winner, in fact the first three books on the list got far and away more nominations than the others. There were also many vehement defenders of many of the books that made the list. Don’t shout at me, you choose them, I only nominated one (The Great Gatsby).
Here they are, the 20 most hated books, according to you:
50 Shades of Grey – E. L James
You guys were really vehement about this one with many of you making it no farther than a little way through the first book. 50 Shades of Grey is a clear winner, or loser, in our most hated books.
Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
It seemed to be the ending that got you going with this one, many of our readers were left feeling frustrated and disappointed.
Twilight – Stephanie Meyer
Echoing the 50 Shades comments, poorly written, waste of time. I actually enjoyed these for what they were when they came out, I read quite a bit of stuff that my daughter buys and without the hype, they were what they were.
Catcher in the Rye – J.D Salinger
Everyone hates Holden Caulfield, that seems to the general consensus with this one. Rated overhyped, not worth the attention it’s given were some of the comments, but many also came out in defence of this revered American novel.
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby was my own choice for the list and another that split opinion across the page with many coming out in its defence.
Eat Pray Love – Elizabeth Gilbert
This one was upon general consensus declared poncy and pretentions with many of our readers not even finishing it.
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
You were all quite united in your dislike for The Lovely Bones, a hugely popular novel that was turned into a movie a few years ago. That didn’t stop it making our most hated book list.
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
Hard going and difficult to get through was the general opinion of this one with very little in its defence from anyone.
The Awakening – Kate Chopin
Many readers went so far as to say they actually ‘hated’ The Awakening with one even going so far as to call it ‘pointless’.
Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Although I didn’t nominate this it is my nemesis and I’ve never managed to get through it. Many of our readers had the same trouble, putting it in the most hated books list.
Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
‘Pointless’ ‘Boring’ ‘I’d rather stick my eyes out with pins’. Yes, the hatred for this best seller runs deep, maybe even as deep as Dan Brown’s mysteries.
Also on the list were…
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man -James Joyce
Moby Dick – Herman Melville
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night time – Mark Haddon
The Red Badge of Courage – Stephen Crane
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
The Shack – W. P Young
A Casual Vacancy – J.K Rowling
As I Lay Dying – William Faulkner
The list actually ran to 124 books in all, the above are the most selected from that list. We’re sure you’ll agree with some and disagree with many. Add your comments below and let us know what books you’d add to the list, or take off it!
10 of 2024’s Most Anticipated Reads
The For Reading Addicts Book of the Year 2023
Are You Willing to Unite Against Book Bans?
Roald Dahl Censorship Creates Grotesque Versions of Classics
For Reading Addicts Book of the Year 2022
I was amused by this. Three of the books I’ve had the most trouble with and disliked to the point of barely getting started (ie, 50 or less pages before I’m wanting to toss the poor thing across the room) made the top five of the list. I’m glad to see I am not the only one disliking them. Now I won’t feel so completely outclassed by so called literary great reads.
i agree with most of the submissions,especially Gone Girl. I think you have to like at least one person in a book. Every one of the characters were so awful I just couldn’t get close to any of them. So I read about 30 pages and then gave up. Also James Patersons Women’s Murder Club series are so badly written I will never read another one. And his flying children series. Not sure of the name of the books but they are truly dreadful. But then I don’t mind his Alex Cross series.
Not surprised to see a Joseph Conrad there. I was going to leave a comment in Conrad-ese but it it would need to contain at least 470 words to say I find him verbose!
I believe that Twillight got a lot of really bad influence after the movies came out. I had read the books by the time a movie wasn’t even announced and liked them very much, after the movies came out – friends insisted on watching them – I couldn’t get the (horible) image of Kirsten Stewart out of my mind.
In the book Bella was an ordinary girl, but clearly with some feelings and expressions, which Stewart couldn’t represent! I wonder how she became an actress in first place.
My point is, that a bad movie has bad influence upon a good book. If you can’t represent the book as it is, then don’t make a movie out of it. It’s insulting the book! So stop insulting writers and books by making bad rating movies out of them and the work of the writer….
Everyone I know who hates Twilight read it before any movies came out and hated it then, including myself.
I am one that never made it to the halfway point with 50 Shades. That’s quite surprising because I have never not finished a book. It was just too horrible.
I thought “The Shack” was pretty good. But that’s the only one I defend. The rest are just awful.
It had its good points and its bad points. While I didn’t hate it, I didn’t really love it either. It did have some interesting things to say about relationships and I felt I learned a few things from it. I have to give the author points being brave enough to depict God in some of the ways he did. It at least made you think.
I have to agree with the ’50 Shades….”, I couldn’t get out of the hardware store!!!! But my most memorable non-readable book ever was “Something Happened” by Joseph Heller. I tried! And tried! And tried — waiting for something to happen. Possibly the first novel my mother and myself could not finish.
I really liked Catch-22 when I read it in high school, and I’m not generally a fan of war novels or films. Certainly, it’s a long read and can be a bit laborious, but its worth the read. I absolutely hated Tess of the D’Ubervilles. The ending made me want to throw the book across the room. I fully agree with 50 Shades being the top nominated bad book.
I’d have to put Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance on list. I tried to like this book. I retread the beginning several times in case I was missing something. Then I almost got half way and I still couldn’t see it’s point. It just didn’t happen for me.
yep…… it’s not how it’s written… jus can’t finish it
I agree with most of these books. But I have to defend Wuthering Heights. I loved that book when I read it in the 10th grade. I have to say it’s a little melodramatic and the movies have all been bad. But I will always love the book.
Paulo Coleho’s Alchimist -_-
BORIIIING
POINTLESS
TOTAL WASTE OF TREES
I was disappointed in The Alchemist…….until the last line. However the last line was worth the effort of reading the rest. It was, for me, an “Ah yes” moment. Even now, when people talk about the book, I am immediately there.
I did not appreciate most books on this list. My high school gave us a summer reading list of classic books, usually some 8-10. Lord Jim was a slog . Attending an all girl high school, my friends and I figured that the nuns wanted to make sure that our summers were not filled with fun and excitement. Upon return to school in the fall, we were given a test, both essay, and short answer questions to see if we had actually read and not skimmed the book. I found The Great Gatsby boring and self-indulgent. To this day I do not understand those who liked, even raved, about it. Of course, then again, we had just read Lord Jim.
I liked The Red Badge of Courage, and Wuthering Heights. My father helped me get through Lord Jim. I will have to go and see the whole list.
I have always manage to read 50 shades of Grey but I never had time to do. Reading here and there that this is the worst book , yet I never know why most of you hate it ? can You please tell me before I involve in reading it ! my E-MAIL is ([email protected])
Before I forget , add ” The Old Man And The Sea” 😀
I hated 50 shades because it was utter crap. The writing was horrible. The story line and plot non existent. I spent more time laughing at the half a book I forced myself through than being engrossed in it.
The Great Gatsby was the only book I enjoyed in my Junior year advanced English course, where we were forced to read boring things such as, Scarlet Letter and The Grapes of Wrath. Classics they may be, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t boring as dirt.
I also find the whole Jane Austen line of books boring as well. Not sure if they were one of the 124.
Shell, 50 Shades was definitely no Story of O. O absolutely shocked me when I read it at age 17. Of course, we were far less worldly back in the late 1960s; at least until the last, two or three years of that decade.
The Scarlett Letter was an interesting story but the writing was very dry. The Grapes of Wrath was also dry, but the last image in the book startled me, and thus I remember it to this day.
Curious incident of dog in the night time? Who nominated this book?This book is funny and the simplicity of how its written is amazing.Yet it manages to convey such a beautiful message
I have to agree. I liked this book. We were able to see the stage show when we were in London and it was fabulous. Even better than the book. Before I saw it I could not figure out how they might stage it and after I saw it I couldn’t see it being done any other way.
The Good Earth
Frankenstein
I must admit that I have never read Frankenstein; so I will take your word on it. My mother enjoyed The Good Earth, and thus I read it. While I did not love it, I like it well enough. It is the only one of Buck’s books that I have read.
“Frankenstein” is one of my favorites! It’s very lyrical and beautiful. Of course, if you’re expecting/wanting something more reflective of various movie portrayals, you’re bound to be disappointed. There is no Igor, and the monster is actually very sympathetic.
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.
I strongly disliked A Confederacy of Dunces. I did not find it humorous at all.
I liked Gone Girl, Wuthering Heights, and The DaVinci Code.
I’ve only read five out of the ten. I enjoyed four out of the five. Reading Twilight was a completely painful experience. She should have deleted at least 100 pages from it and I hated everything about Bella. I wanted to reach into the book and slap the daylights out of her. a bit violent I know, but that was the reaction she provoked.
I’m so glad I’m not alone in my dislike of Gone Girl and the Lovely Bones-both were very disappointing and yet successful and I never understood why. Marketing? Thought I stood alone in my abhorrence of both. Glad to have found this list. Glad to know other readers feel the same-especially those who read a lot…..Bookstore People especially!
Though, I have not read most of these, I knew 50 Shades I would not like from listening to others, and I am not one that generally runs right out and gets a book just because others are running out to get it, unfortunately that is usually a sign to me to not read it. I loved Wuthering Heights which I did read a really long time ago, so if I read it now I wonder if I will still like it? hmmm. I read The Lovely Bones, and I also, liked that book and I remember a lady I used to work with vehemently tell me how much she hated that book & how should would have never read or finished it if it had not been in her book club, but I do understand her hate towards it even though I liked the book & the movie, usually I don’t like movies made from books. Although, in defense of that I loved The Secret Life of Bees movie, I thought they did a wonderful job casting the ladies, and staying pretty true to the book, and that is one of my favorite books..!! And I wish that I had read The Great Gatsby before I saw that movie, because, I’m not sure I can read the book now..! but, great list even though I have read of only two, they were books I “chose” beforehand to never read.
I actually liked the lovely bones. I agree with twilight and 50 shades though. Actually the book I despise above all others is Jane Eyre. Had to read it in my British literature class and it was awful. But of course it was my teacher’s favorite book so we spent extra time on it.
Please add that stupid ALICE IN WONDERLAND. What is it supposed to be about anyway ???
Wuthering Heights,seriously???? why this book was even in the list of 124 books. 50 shades and Twilight Saga, yeah they are unbearable.
Really??? I loved the lovely bones?? 🙁
Yes, I liked it too.
Aldous Huxley’s classic, Brave New World, is ridiculously overrated. Despised it.
Moby Dick may be rough sailing but persevere and weather the storm till you reach port..the trip is worth it…
Kite Runner! Hated it so much!
Here’s hoping Outlander made the list. I tried. I really did try,
I would add Gulliver’s Travels. There was a time period where authors were paid by the word. Scarlet Letter and anything else written by Hawthorne make my eyes bleed. Oh, and who can forget The Letters of Abigail Adams? I love the stories, the style is just too hard to get through.
Never finished Catch 22 or Moby Dick and loathed Heart of Darkness but what is Catcher in The Rye doing on this list? Loved it when I was a teenager, still love it now, in my middle age.
Am surprised at the hate for The Da Vinci Code. While not claiming that it is ‘literature’ as such, I thought it was still a ‘ripping yarn’..
I was greatly amused by this last and share most of the popular opinions, although I’ll admit (I’m not sure if shamefully or not) that I hated 50 Shades without ever picking up the book.
So glad to see others hated Eat Pray Love….or, as I call it, Bitch Whine Moan. I’d add Room to the list. I finished it, but was annoyed the whole time.
I just found the main character so unlikable.
I’ll add a recent read of mine to the list: Serina by Ron Rash. I kept waiting to like the flat characters or for something to really happen. And the end was so quick and abrupt. I did like the portrayal of the local people, though. But still, my recommendation remains: don’t waist your time.
I found myself nodding emphatically at several entries on the list (especially 50 Shades and Twilight!) but I do have to say that I loved The Lovely Bones. I will admit, though, that my love for the book probably stems from the timing. It was given to me at Christmas in 2002 by a very good friend. I had lost my favourite aunt suddenly six months before and was feeling lost because of that, and I was working as a patient attendant with terminally ill patients.
I read the book over a week, usually while sitting in a chair in the middle of the night, beside the bed of a man or woman nearing the end of their life, all while still grieving my own loss. The book brought me comfort and a profound sense of peace. Maybe it’s silly or childish, but the idea of my aunt watching over me comforted me in a way that nothing else had.
As I said, I’m not sure if I would have felt the same way about the book had I read it at a different time in my life. Because of that, I’ve never re-read it (an odd thing for me, as I usually read my favourites over and over.) I think part of me is afraid that if I read it again, without being in that same frame of mind, I *would* hate it…and I don’t want that to happen.
The only one on this list I will defend is Casual Vacancy. I loved it. I think many people picked it up expecting the same experience they had with Harry Potter. That was definitely not the case. However, it had excellent character building (but not very likable characters) and a fabulous plot that ripped my heart out.
I thought Catch-22 was a superb novel. Perhaps one should not be able to vote disapproval (or vote approval, as in the case of _Atlas Shrugged_ which was prose as bad as Vogon poetry is bad poetry) unless one actually finishes the work.
In my opinion, I think Lord of the Flies should’ve been on here…. I always had a tough time following it (and I’m having an easy time following Count of Monte Christo, heh). Ever since I had to read it in 10th grade, I’ve always hated it.
It’s an interesting list. I think some of the book are on there because the language is so bad & the story so stupid (50 shades). Others are on here, because they are hard to read. I have to admit, I have a love/hate relationship with some classic literature. E.g. W. Somerset Maugham “Of Human Bondage” took me forever to read, and I hated parts of it, but it really is such a great book about human relationships.
Maybe a list of ON THE FENCE books is in order, I’d like to start it off with ‘War & Peace’ — part of the story is lovely, part of it made me want to shave my eyeballs.
I agree with you. And I think it is unfair to put bad written books with difficult to read. I loved Catcher in the Rye – J.D Salinger. I was 16 or younger when I read it. My father says that some books has to be read at certain age, otherwise you won’t understand them. I really believe it’s true. You can’t understand the feeling in Catcher in the Rye if you read it first as an adult. The same happens with Little womens.
I’m the only person I know who HATED The Kite Runner… I don’t read to depress but to uplift, generally, and I found that book the most miserable thing I’ve ever read.
Lolita. I only finished the damn thing in the hope that the narrator would get his comeuppance. He didn’t, and I literally threw my kindle across the room (luckily it took it well)
I don’t hate all the books on the list, but there are some I wholeheartedly agree with. One, though, that I DON’T see, but was expecting there, is A Million Little Pieces by James Frye. Not simply because he lied about it being a “true story,” but because it was so unbelievably, well, unbelievable.
Seriously, the opening scene alone would never happen. I don’t just hate (and I don’t like using the word “hate,” but nothing else here seems to fit) it, but I was extraordinarily disappointed and shocked at the number of (presumably) intelligent people who claim to have believed his “true story.”
He paints himself as some larger-than-life, real-world super hero that everyone cowers before. From the flight attendants who coo over him in the first scene (bloody and vomit-covered airline passenger? When would a passenger EVER be allowed to board like that?), to the employees at the rehab center Mr. Frye chose to malign who apparently allowed him to flaunt their rules and they were helpless to stop him so they just allowed it, to – and this my be my favorite one yet, the (orderly?? Don’t remember the man’s specific role), who was a large person, ostensibly hired to deal with (at least as a part of his job) unruly patients at the same rehab center, who, still in awe of this seemingly super-powered patient, allows Frye to take one of the hospitals vans into town, dive to a crack-house and then the orderly cowers at the thought of going into such a scary place, so Frye (who at this point should have had some super-hero moniker emblazoned upon his chest), struts into the house sweeping past drug-addled transients to find his true love, and rescues her single-handedly.
If it had been marketed as a YA novel, it would have been less insulting to the reading public. I didn’t read it right off the bat, but waited until there was so much hype that I wanted to see what it was about. The fact he tried to pass it off as true amazes me, but no so much as the fact that his agent and publishing house believed him, let alone Oprah and others who should really have a modecum of common sense. Then to have his revelation that it was a work of complete fiction be such a stunning revelation amazes me. Then his book was moved from the non-fiction realm to fiction. I guess what precludes it from being YA (which is the only realm in which I think this type of story belongs) is the fact that he isn’t 13 in the story, but a grown man.
Sorry. I seem to have gotten a bit carried away here. Just wanted to share one more bad novel for the list.
There are definitely a few on this list that are obvious (I’m looking at you Twilight series and 50 Shades). I have to agree with The Great Gatsby. I did not find the story compelling in any way. I tried reading it again when I was older (thinking maybe I just didn’t “get it” when I was younger), and still found it less than enthralling. The funny part is, I had a graduate class in critical theory where we had to analyze a literary work using every method, and guess which literary work my instructor chose? That’s right – The Great Gatsby, so I got to go through it AGAIN, this time analyzing every little aspect of the story (by the end of the book, I was exasperated, saying, “It’s not deep – it’s just a blinking green light!”). Needles to say, all it takes is someone mentioning the title The Great Gatsby to make me run screaming in the other direction. 🙂
The only ones on that list that I have read, I tackled so long ago that it’s hard to recall what I thought of them. We did Catcher in the Rye at school and I can remember nothing of it except the word ‘goddam’. Then, As I Lay Dying was part of my A level course … we all thought it was weird and the characters frustratingly stupid, but I think we got *something* from it. The only one I’ve read from choice was Catch-22. As far as I recall, I coped with it okay. Something Happened is in my ‘to be read’ pile, so I’m a bit worried about that one now! I was never going to read 50 Shades or Twilight or Gone Girl or Da Vinci Code, either because I’m not the target audience or because they were widely regarded as a load of twaddle at the time of publication…
I liked The Lovely Bones!
Moby Dick could have been shortened by half with the point being made. Catcher in the Rye was similar. I couldn’t even get through the first chapter of 50 Shades. I would add Valley of the Dolls to the list. It was such a big deal in my high school and I kept waiting for it to start. I actually enjoyed the Grapes of Wrath and Wuthering Heights, although both bogged down in spots.
I haven’t read 50 Shades nor Gone Girl. I barely got through the first chapter of Casual Vacancy. The Lovely Bones surprised me in a good way. As for Catcher in the Rye and Catch 22 and Gatsby, I read them when very young and was of a different mindset at that time so I liked the books based on my life thus far. I have not read most of the commercially hyped books and do not care to even try. One exception: The Da Vinci Code. I thought it was intriguing for what it was. Most of the classics on the list I have read I enjoyed whether due to my own personality or the author’s skill. I will say Heart of Darkness made me quite uneasy. For all the naysayers, Atlas Shrugged was one of my favorites due to the strong characters and philosophical content.
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. Stopped reading halfway through. I just didn’t get it.
Gulliver’s Travels
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I tried to claw my way through it over a period of about 18 months.
I just finally took pity on myself and sent it to the thrift store.
I kept seeing great reviews of “The Girl On The Train” so I got it. Worse piece of crap I’ve ever tried to read! I read it to the end and it didn’t get any better!
Sorry, I cannot accept the fact that people nominated Wuthering heights, which is a masterpiece, and that’s a fact. Its one thing classic literature not being your cup of tea and another to refer to it as one of the worst books ever written, and that’s coming from an absolute fantasy genre fan! From all the books I have ever written I would nominate “The little dress shop”, total waist of time, poorly written, indifferent characters and insufficient and insignificant ending, and “stardust” was a disappointment to me as well, as was “the lord of the rings” with its endless and eternal referrals to each character’s family tree and background.
*books I have ever read
Go Set a Watchman. Ugh. That was unbearable and a hell of a lot longer than it needed to be. I struggled through it because of a book club and also I hoped it would pick up, but no deal.
I’ll never ever pick that one back up to read again!
Test of the D’Urbervilles and A Farewell to Arms
How do we vote on these polls? I never see them anywhere, only the results.
This is from the archives but we hold them in our reading group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/thecwtsforreadingaddicts/ 🙂