maybe I should have also said "other than Twilight"... c'mon people, there's gotta be more bad books out there than that...

Really, I shouldn't 'wish I'd never read' anything: it's all part of reading experience...but I surely regret the time wasted on them.

I was most surprised at "Push" by Sapphire. I had been forewarned about the language and graphic nature of the book but still wanted to read it. Unfortunately, the storyline was extremely depressing along with the graphic content..about halfway through the book, I found myself in a personal funk.

The book was just too heavy for me.

Arrgg... Valley of the dolls... No doubts.

Matemati wrote: "Really, I shouldn't 'wish I'd never read' anything: it's all part of reading experience...but I surely regret the time wasted on them."

Exactly. Even the bad books contribute to my palate and knowing what to stay away from in the future... but I sure wish I hadn't wasted my time on some of these.

Odd that you wished you had never read Twilight nad Eragon yet you read all the sequels. Masochist?

I wish I had NEVER EVER read twilight - the biggest bullshit on earth!

I don't understand this list at all. If I don't like something I'm reading, I just stop reading it. There are too many I want to read for me to spend time reading something that doesn't interest me. Obviously I'm not in a class or a reading group.

One book for me that I wish I never read was 'Mein Kampf'. It's still in my library, as a warning to myself and others.

On the other hand, The De Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, to me, were abysmal dreck. I read the first and hoped the second would be better but...

Realy interesting animal farm

....Frankenstein? Really? That was a waste of someone's time? And Dorian Gray? What? I shudder to think what books would have been considered "worth" your time...

@Tim - you made it through all of Mein Kampf? Woot! Rambling crazy!

@Lauren - Yes. Shuddering here, too.

---

The biggest surprise I see is Foucault's Pendulum.

i wish i never bought and read the twilight series.......i wasted a month on it..!!!.....i can't believe eat pray love is in this list....it was a good book...on my opinion....

There are quite a number of books on here that I think people say they wish they never read it, just because other people did. If you wish you had never read it, that means you didn't like it, and normally at least by the middle of a book, you figure out if you don't like it or not. So why wouldn't you put the book down?
Putting shame on some fine authors names, that's uncalled for.

The Picture of Dorian Gray was horrible. Badly written with a moral idea that was so transparent that I "got it" within the first 10 pages (and I was 14 at the time). Still, had to finish the damn thing for school. I read The Importance of Being Earnest and actually quite liked it. Hated Dorian Gray though.

Some books though, they're not that bad while you're reading them, only afterwards you realize: what the hell just happened? A great example of this is the Da Vinci Code. I think the reason for this is that it's actually pretty well written, it's pacy and exciting and easy to read. But! the content of the book... to call it delusional idiocy would be putting it mildly.

Then there's the category of books that have a good premise and you keep hoping that they pick up pace (or content) as they go along... but they don't. They get worse and worse and worse and end with a sad little whimper. Like For Whom the Bell Tolls and Emma.

Why did you read Twilight part two when you didnt like the first part?

Wishing you never read something is not the same as hating a book!!!!!!!

I wish I never read any of the Eragon books for the simple reason that the author stuffed us around so much and then when he brought out sequels they simply weren't that good!

I like how (right now) there are 326 books and 329 voters. Almost one book per voter!

Your title makes me laugh. Is it all the rage now for hipsters to feign dislike for well praised mainstream and classic literature? Perfectly acceptable to decide certain books don't live up to the hype... but this list is like you practically goggled "most popular books of all time" and the put them into a dislike list just to seem enigmatic...

The Da Vinci code. I think i've said enough.

Beth wrote: "Your title makes me laugh. Is it all the rage now for hipsters to feign dislike for well praised mainstream and classic literature? Perfectly acceptable to decide certain books don't live up to ..."

Wow, thats a bit presumptuous of you. I for one am not a hipster and I wouldn't presume that people are only making choices based on which books are most popular. Some people actually have an honest opinion and are not feigning our dislike of the books we voted on, because that is why this was created.

If you didn't pick that up and somehow came to the conclusion that the people who made and have voted on this list are only doing it to seem "enigmatic" then you really have missed the point. It's absolutely alright not to agree with someones opinion but you shouldn't go around labelling people and insulting them based on their views.

This is goodreads and it should be a place where book lovers like myself can learn about and give our opinions on books without being patronised.

for those books on my list that I wish I'd not read it's more... I wish I'd spent the time doing something worthwhile. Reading a GOOD book, for example.

How is it possible that The Princess Bride is on here?

Beth wrote: "Your title makes me laugh. Is it all the rage now for hipsters to feign dislike for well praised mainstream and classic literature? Perfectly acceptable to decide certain books don't live up to ..."

and by that logic, Mein Kampf would not be here.

Rabbitambulance wrote: "How is it possible that The Princess Bride is on here?"

Yes, W-H-Y?

I'm guessing The Princess Bride would be on the list because someone's friends raved about it like crazy, and then when the person read it he didn't find it to his taste. The disappointment of reading an overly hyped up book and finding it lacking can make you regret ever reading it, even if it wasn't necessarily a bad book.

(i.e. The Da Vinci Code, which I personally really enjoyed, but understand other people finding very disappointing - and Emma, which is a FANTASTIC book if you like that kind of book, but is boring to people who don't)

The Secret Garden. Please explain its presence. Too childlike for some cynical adult reader, I'm guessing.

Wicked... I was definitely not prepared for that book when I was 13. I thought it would be far more along the lines of the musical, and I was so shocked i almost threw it across the room, which I never do

? ? Why?

On second thought, I don't wish I hadn't read these books - I'm sort of glad I picked them up and threw them away quickly - because there are less crappy books for me to avoid. And I've already read The Crappiest (ehmsparkievampehm)

twilight? why?

If I dislike ebooks, they're deleted! Paperbacks are given away or donated. Decent and good ones are recommended, and given to friends. Great ones, well, I keep those. I've read quite a few books that were "yawners", but any book read is not a waste of time. Even if you improve your vocabulary by one word, or learned what not to do when writing, you've learned something. Learning is never a waste of time.

Creo que depende de los gustos. A mi no me gustó Crepúsculo, en cambio me encantó Hush, Hush, y no por ello estoy indignada por que esté en esta lista.

Doris wrote: "maybe I should have also said "other than Twilight"... c'mon people, there's gotta be more bad books out there than that..."

I almost didn't vote on this list as I am so tired of people trashing Twilight. It gets to be very boring and used to upset me when I first got on goodreads. I carefully avoid the Twilight haters.

Autumn♥♥ wrote: "Doris wrote: "maybe I should have also said "other than Twilight"... c'mon people, there's gotta be more bad books out there than that..."

I almost didn't vote on this list as I am so tired of peo..."

It is so, so easy to hate though! Easily one of the worst written series in the history of books! I only voted for the first in the series and stopped myself at 11 books that I wish I had never read and most of those I added to the list myself. This list is pretty banal. Go on being a Twi-hard! Don't let haters like me stop you from loving your jam!

I'm not really agreeing with the list . .

Samuel wrote: "I'm not really agreeing with the list . ."
So suggest books!

Tim wrote: "Samuel wrote: "I'm not really agreeing with the list . ."
So suggest books!"

Lol, okay. The Wanderer's Tale, by David Bilsborough. That is a book I desperately wish I hadn't read.

@Lauren Seems to me this list is inspired by the internet memes. If you don't like it, it's made fun of. Never mind that it is a pillar of Victorian Gothic literature.
Notice how he seems to think everyone should add on to one common list of "worthless" books. Gives away all I need to know.

Doris wrote: "maybe I should have also said "other than Twilight"... c'mon people, there's gotta be more bad books out there than that..."

I've only voted for four titles, I'm afraid: Fifty Shades of Grey, Speel met mij, Verslaafd aan genot and Freedom... And to think I have two more books of the Avalon trilogy on my shelves.. But we all know the saying about a gift horse :-)

No vote for Twilight, as I haven't read the book (watched the film on television a little while ago and decided it was definitely not worth my time).

Ah, just remembered a fifth one. I'm glad I was given all of the books I voted for; at least they didn't cost me anything :-)

Maurizio (matemati) wrote: "Really, I shouldn't 'wish I'd never read' anything: it's all part of reading experience...but I surely regret the time wasted on them."

Agreed. Which is why I finished the books I thought were a waste of my time :-)

I wish I had never read . Self-absorbed drivel, or so it seemed to me.
I call it Eat, Buy, Love as she sells enough copies for another trip around the world, and here I sit in the USA, savin' my pennies.

WHATS WRONG WITH YOU HANNAH MONTANNA IS THE BESTEST ROLE MODEL EVER SHES SO INSPIRATIONAL

sorry i did it for the vine

Annie wrote: "sorry i did it for the vine"

Casi me lo creo.

Felicitas wrote: "Annie wrote: "sorry i did it for the vine"

Casi me lo creo."
thanks for writing that. now i know that google translate can detect the language. technology has gone far

I started reading The Da Vinci Code back in the spring of 2006 (after reading Angels and Demons)....I have yet to finish it!

Sarah wrote: "I started reading The Da Vinci Code back in the spring of 2006 (after reading Angels and Demons)....I have yet to finish it!"

With me, not finishing a book I don't like isn't the problem. Like someone said, even books you don't like can teach you something. It's just that sometimes (though rarely, fortunately), after finishing a book, I can't seem to escape thinking "Well, that certainly was a waste of my precious time!" :-) But more often I either like or don't like a book, and if I don't like one, I rarely feel like I've wasted my time reading it.

Lee wrote: "Odd that you wished you had never read Twilight nad Eragon yet you read all the sequels. Masochist?"

Good point, so funny. I know a person who hates Twilight and yet went to see all the movies - all 4 of them.