Books I wish I had never read

Books that I finished for whatever reason but think were an utter waste of time, looking back. Since I haven't read all the books in the world, this is by no means an exhaustive list yet, feel free to add your favourites!
200

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4.04 avg rating — 17,851 ratings
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200

by
2.95 avg rating — 15,809 ratings
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203

by
3.43 avg rating — 228,385 ratings
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203

by
4.20 avg rating — 5,287,231 ratings
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205

by
3.95 avg rating — 141,653 ratings
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206

by
4.15 avg rating — 2,349,422 ratings
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207

by
3.77 avg rating — 100,910 ratings
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208

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 705,106 ratings
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209

by
3.76 avg rating — 36,432 ratings
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209

by
3.96 avg rating — 14,784 ratings
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209

by
3.71 avg rating — 104,995 ratings
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212

by
3.66 avg rating — 184,199 ratings
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212

by
3.70 avg rating — 165,990 ratings
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212

by
3.96 avg rating — 49,977 ratings
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215

by
3.45 avg rating — 36,427 ratings
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215

by
3.31 avg rating — 335,918 ratings
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217

by
3.91 avg rating — 74,035 ratings
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218

by
3.97 avg rating — 1,267,929 ratings
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219

by
3.92 avg rating — 43,180 ratings
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220

by
3.74 avg rating — 58,332 ratings
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221

by
4.04 avg rating — 536,110 ratings
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221

by
3.89 avg rating — 1,577,006 ratings
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223

by
3.95 avg rating — 277,110 ratings
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224

by
3.70 avg rating — 19,409 ratings
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224

by
4.03 avg rating — 396,095 ratings
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226

by
3.40 avg rating — 17,182 ratings
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227

by
3.61 avg rating — 32,616 ratings
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228

by
4.17 avg rating — 1,271,750 ratings
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229

by
4.20 avg rating — 4,103,335 ratings
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230

by
3.97 avg rating — 2,748,657 ratings
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231

by
3.72 avg rating — 183,698 ratings
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232

by
3.71 avg rating — 216,314 ratings
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233

by
3.69 avg rating — 92,413 ratings
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234

by
3.96 avg rating — 20,595 ratings
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235

by
3.61 avg rating — 7,685 ratings
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235

by
4.09 avg rating — 30,291 ratings
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235

by
4.07 avg rating — 66,249 ratings
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235

by
3.79 avg rating — 9,070 ratings
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235

by
3.88 avg rating — 64 ratings
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240

by
3.79 avg rating — 111,987 ratings
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241

by
3.36 avg rating — 23,737 ratings
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241

by
3.65 avg rating — 4,781 ratings
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241

by
4.08 avg rating — 141,701 ratings
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241

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,427,458 ratings
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241

by
4.10 avg rating — 913,091 ratings
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246

by
4.22 avg rating — 64,098 ratings
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246

by
3.28 avg rating — 8,875 ratings
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246

by
3.70 avg rating — 793 ratings
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246

by
3.65 avg rating — 47,196 ratings
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246

by
3.29 avg rating — 11,716 ratings
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251

by
3.69 avg rating — 150,663 ratings
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251

by
4.06 avg rating — 636,011 ratings
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251

by
2.90 avg rating — 1,116 ratings
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251

by
3.93 avg rating — 88 ratings
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255

by
3.62 avg rating — 2,362 ratings
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255

by
3.64 avg rating — 4,540 ratings
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255

by
3.56 avg rating — 7,667 ratings
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255

by
3.73 avg rating — 11,647 ratings
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255

by
3.77 avg rating — 401,379 ratings
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255

by
3.45 avg rating — 3,576 ratings
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255

by
4.14 avg rating — 177,951 ratings
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262

by
3.46 avg rating — 35,363 ratings
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262

by
4.16 avg rating — 305,211 ratings
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262

by
3.71 avg rating — 126,033 ratings
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262

by
4.04 avg rating — 448,145 ratings
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266

by
3.98 avg rating — 335,543 ratings
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266

by
4.47 avg rating — 2,976,795 ratings
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266

by
3.92 avg rating — 31,988 ratings
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266

by
3.81 avg rating — 57,693 ratings
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266

by
3.77 avg rating — 119,191 ratings
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266

by
3.56 avg rating — 126,774 ratings
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272

by
3.91 avg rating — 11,634 ratings
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272

by
3.44 avg rating — 19,204 ratings
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272

by
3.91 avg rating — 958,850 ratings
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272

by
4.11 avg rating — 783,791 ratings
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272

by
3.55 avg rating — 89,510 ratings
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272

by
3.84 avg rating — 1,016,924 ratings
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278

by
3.56 avg rating — 2,969 ratings
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278

by
3.86 avg rating — 310,287 ratings
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278

by
4.26 avg rating — 44,821 ratings
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278

by
3.77 avg rating — 101,078 ratings
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278

by
3.68 avg rating — 18,653 ratings
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278

by
3.90 avg rating — 363,622 ratings
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278

by
3.84 avg rating — 43,932 ratings
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278

by
3.93 avg rating — 61,126 ratings
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286

by
3.93 avg rating — 68,224 ratings
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286

by
4.13 avg rating — 547,299 ratings
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286

by
3.85 avg rating — 73,710 ratings
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286

by
3.76 avg rating — 85,814 ratings
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286

by
3.67 avg rating — 13,366 ratings
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291

by
3.41 avg rating — 54 ratings
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291

by
3.65 avg rating — 82,179 ratings
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291

by
3.55 avg rating — 36,867 ratings
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294

by
3.96 avg rating — 319,086 ratings
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294

by
3.70 avg rating — 29,378 ratings
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294

by
3.87 avg rating — 209,008 ratings
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294

by
4.12 avg rating — 97,828 ratings
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294

by
4.19 avg rating — 580,326 ratings
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294

by
4.10 avg rating — 982,270 ratings
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300

by
4.37 avg rating — 3,517,035 ratings
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1,279 books · 1,327 voters · list created August 25th, 2009 by Doris (votes) .
42 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Doris 471 books
2 friends
Andrea 1693 books
16 friends
Krista 200 books
16 friends
Kelsey 212 books
16 friends
Cassi 1225 books
75 friends
Lilly 570 books
41 friends
Nisha 4508 books
285 friends
Noah 98 books
2 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-50 of 59 (59 new)


message 1: by Doris (new)

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


Maurizio (matemati) 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.


message 3: by Rhonda (new)

Rhonda 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.


message 4: by Tpnct (new)

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


message 5: by Alice (new)

Alice 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.


message 6: by Lee (new)

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


message 7: by Danna (new)

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


message 8: by Sillyfann (new)

Sillyfann 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.


message 9: by Tim (last edited Jan 08, 2012 11:42AM) (new)

Tim Knight 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...


message 10: by Emezie (new)

Emezie Realy interesting animal farm


message 11: by Lauren (new)

Lauren ....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...


message 12: by Ruskoley (new)

Ruskoley @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.


message 13: by ♫♫RiTA♫♫ (new)

♫♫RiTA♫♫ 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....


message 14: by Emily (new)

Emily M 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.


message 15: by Doris (last edited Nov 10, 2011 01:20AM) (new)

Doris 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.


message 16: by Timo (new)

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


message 17: by Sheridan (last edited Jan 07, 2012 09:14AM) (new)

Sheridan 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!


message 18: by Crysta (new)

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


message 19: by [deleted user] (new)

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...


message 20: by Amy (new)

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


message 21: by Amy (new)

Amy 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.


message 22: by Doris (new)

Doris 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.


message 23: by Rabbitambulance (new)

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


message 24: by Tim (new)

Tim Knight 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.


message 25: by Danna (new)

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

Yes, W-H-Y?


message 26: by Crysta (last edited Nov 25, 2012 02:31PM) (new)

Crysta 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.


message 27: by Crysta (new)

Crysta (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)


message 28: by Kelley (new)

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


message 29: by Emily (new)

Emily 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


message 30: by Danna (new)

Danna The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, #1) by Philip Pullman ? The Pillars of the Earth (The Pillars of the Earth, #1) by Ken Follett ? Why?


message 31: by Danna (new)

Danna 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)


message 32: by nikolikha (new)

nikolikha twilight? why?


message 33: by Sandi (new)

Sandi Whipple 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.


message 34: by Feli (new)

Feli Collante 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.


message 35: by ~☆~Autumn (new)

~☆~Autumn 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.


message 36: by Maureen (new)

Maureen 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!


message 37: by Samuel (new)

Samuel I'm not really agreeing with the list . .


message 38: by Tim (new)

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


message 39: by Samuel (new)

Samuel 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.


message 40: by Abhilash (new)

Abhilash Dhar @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.


message 41: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Aug 22, 2015 07:58AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) 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 :-)


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) 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 :-)


message 43: by Karen (last edited Aug 29, 2015 02:29PM) (new)

Karen I wish I had never read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert . 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.


message 44: by annie (new)

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


message 45: by annie (new)

annie sorry i did it for the vine


message 46: by Feli (new)

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

Casi me lo creo.


message 47: by annie (new)

annie 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


message 48: by Sarah (new)

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


message 49: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Jul 14, 2016 11:39AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) 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.


message 50: by [deleted user] (last edited Jul 31, 2016 12:25PM) (new)

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.


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