10 Books The Whole World Loves But Didn’t Do It For Me
You know that thing where you read a book and think “This is garbage” and then go to Goodreads or Amazon to look at other reviews and realize, “Oh, apparently I’m on my own here.”
Or the extremely awkward thing where someone recommends a book that is the best book ever and so you read it and you think it is really awful but. . . you have to pretend it was great (or possibly avoid that friend for the rest of your life).
Anyway, here are ten of those books for me, where everyone is constantly recommending them to me and I have to either smile and nod or admit that I couldn’t even make it through the whole book.
And they are probably your favorite books in the whole world, so you are welcome to tell me that I am a complete idiot.
Books That Are Not for Me
- 50 Shades of Gray. Okay, this one is a joke. I haven’t read any of this book (although I laughed my head off at Dave Barry’s take on the book – warning that there is some slightly sexual content in his essay, which is to be expected considering the subject matter). I promise the next ten books I’ve actually read or attempted to read.
- The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (the Flavia de Luce series). I know! Everyone loves these books so so much. And I didn’t hate it. I just had zero desire to read any after the first one. And it took me about 10 years to get through the first one (in all fairness, I was listening to it, and the problem could have been the narrator).
- Out of the Dust. My mom bought this for me right when it won the Newbery and I could barely make it through – the whole thing freaked me out so much. Five years later, someone did a piece from it at a speech and debate tournament, and I almost couldn’t even sit through it. It’s just too much, too graphic for me.
- Jacob Have I Loved. I absolutely love Bridge to Terabithia, so I was super excited about this one. And then it wandered on for ages. I liked the premise, just not the actual book. Too bad.
- Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children. I don’t even have really bad things to say about this book; I just couldn’t get into it and eventually gave it up.
- The Night Circus. This book is approximately ten thousand CDs long. Even Jim Dale narrating couldn’t save it for me. I got to the end and wasn’t entirely sure what had even happened or, frankly, if there had even been a plot.
- The Maze Runner. I always hear this one recommended as a great, fun read. But I felt like absolutely nothing happened in the entire book. I don’t get the appeal at ALL.
- Eat Pray Love. This one is probably in the top spot for bestselling books I could not stand. I wrote more about my distaste for this book here.
- Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. I get that it’s supposed to be heart-warming and beautiful. But by the end of the book I couldn’t stand any of the characters, and I was just relieved it was over.
- The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I just went back and re-read the review I wrote of this back in 2009 and it enraged me all over again how STUPID this book is. I don’t feel only apathy toward this book, I feel actual rage over how bad it is. Even after five years.
- We Were Liars. I wanted to love this one. I love The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks more than is normal, and I was thrilled to see another book from her, but. . .this was not the book I was hoping for. I never got into it, and it was one step above a slog for me. (By the way, lots of people who didn’t like this book disliked it because they guessed the twist. I did not guess the twist, and I still thought it was lame).
I also hate Nutella (I know. It’s practically a crime, but I try it about once a year to see if I’ve changed my mind and every time it basically burns my mouth with its chemically taste), so feel free to think I have the worst taste in everything ever.
If you’d like a printable copy of this list of books that weren’t for me that you can take to your library or screenshot on your phone for easy access, just pop in your email address below and it’ll come right to your inbox!
And of course, feel free to tell me about the popular or beloved books you couldn’t handle – we can all enjoy our bad taste in books together.
The Hunger Games series. I hate Katniss with a fiery passion. Her narration is tedious and annoying. I liked the idea of the story and I have since enjoyed the movies since you can't hear Katniss' thoughts but man. I got through the first book and that's where I left it.
I know I've mentioned before that Out of the Dust is one of my favorite books ever. I don't remember thinking of it as graphic at all, but then, I didn't read it for the first time until I was an adult.
I'm actually going to reread The Wednesday Wars sometime this year because when I read it for the first time about five years ago, I didn't think it was all that awesome, but you (and several other people) always rave about it. I'm willing to give it a second chance to see if I'm missing something.
I really liked Wednesday’s War. I used to teach middle school and it was one of our book club books. The kids liked it too. The one book I did not like and cannot believe is so popular is The Life Of PI by Yan Martell. Ugh!!!!
The only ones I've read are the Fifty Shades trilogy and The Night Circus. I actually enjoyed The Night Circus, but I agree that nothing really happens. It reminded me of the last Twilight book, when everyone is on the field with the bad vampires. Nothing happens, it's basically in Bella's mind because she's protecting everyone with her brain force field thing. Juuust a tad boring.
I'm not sure if I can read the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. The photos make me feel so sad. Too many of the wrong feels.
I'm 67 % of the way through The Night Circus…so now I can expect nothing is really going to happen!!! This book makes me think of King Kong (the movie with Adrian Brody). It's beautiful to look at…but, I'm still waiting to figure out what the GAME is all about.
Maybe I liked Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children better because I listened to it on audiobook? I never knew there were pictures! I liked the story I listened to.
The Goldfinch. First of all, it's 7928 pages long. Second of all, it's not about anything. Or rather, it's about so many things it's hard to know what the point of the book is. A little boy losing his mom in 9/11? How kids slip through the cracks when shuttled from home to home? Homoexuality? Art? Drug abuse? Screwed up adult relationships? Forging furniture? I could go on and on (just like Donna Tartt did!) but I'll stop there. Suffice to say, I do not get the hype.
YES. YES. YES. A million times YES! I HATED this book.
I just finished reading “The Library Book” and did not like it at all. I found it tedious and dull and not well constructed. Also, never EVER listen to the audio book read by the author. Snooze fest! I literally listened at 2x speed.
Another popular book I just could not stand is “Goodnight Moon.” Yes, I know it is a children’s book, and yes I know I’ll probably end up with enemies just from that admission, but I just couldn’t stand it.
I HATE Goodnight Moon and will NOT buy it for our home library. Ever
I hate Goodnight Moon too. It was immediately donated it after I received it at my shower.
I also hate I’ll Love You Forever, it’s just creepy.
We had to read a picture book outloud for a children’s literature course that I took, and one of the students read “I’ll love you forever” . OMG, within three pages we knew she was a transfer from the drama department. She was literally rocking the book in her arms and tears were streaming down her face by the end. She probably got an A, but I wanted to vomit.
100% agree!!! Half of the book could have been removed, and MAYBE it would have been a good read. The only character narrative I enjoyed was Boris.
SInce my daughter and grandaughter both loved it, I love it too. First grandaughter had it memorized by 18 months.
Yes, thank you! Literally came to say the same thing. So boring and depressing. I kept waiting for it to be good, because so many people told me they loved it. When my library checkout expired I figured I’d finally let myself give up on it, but it inexplicably stayed on my Kindle despite the loan expiring, so I made myself finish it, and still hated it!
Oh, me too. A friend loved it otherwise I don’t think I would have ever read it. I’m a former museum curator so the painting thread drew me in. I felt like I needed to keep reading it in case it something positive happened. It didn’t! I can safely say it was the worst book I ever read and I read upwards of 50 books a year!
The summer of 2014, my husband and I were recently married, moving back to our hometown, starting new jobs, and spending many evenings and afternoons at my brother-in-law’s bedside as he started hospice care after fighting melanoma at age 30.
During this time, I read The Goldfinch, and was completely enveloped in Theo’s world. From his time in New York to Las Vegas, I felt I was by his side the entire time.
The Goldfinch provided me with a reading experience that I’ve never forgotten and have had difficulty replicating since. The Goldfinch found me at a critically formative time in my young adulthood, and I will always, always hold this book in a very special place in my heart.
I’m sorry you hated it.
This! I almost quit reading multiple times but something would intrigue me and keep me going. By the end I was just angry I had wasted so much time on it!
100% agree! I was listening to it and it was taking FOREVER and I loathed the characters….finally (I think I was 3/4 of the way through) I decided my time wa stop valuable to keep going.
Thank you! I was also SUPER not into the Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. And I love mystery series! I just couldn't get into it. (I did like the Night Circus though.)
My book that everyone loved, but I couldn't get into at all is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. Everyone for the longest time was writing about how it was their favorite. I found the first 75 pages a slog, and finally just gave up. If every book has it's reader, I'm not it's reader.
Couldn't get through that one either. It was too sad and there was too much swearing for me (I was listening to it)
I actually did try with 50 Shades of Gray, but after like 10 pages I was so frustrated with the bad writing that I didn't really care what happened in the rest of the book and put it down.
The Interestings had a lot of hype a while back, and I thought it was should have been named the Borings, because nothing interesting happened in the first 50 pages!
I actually finished it. I’m kind of embarrassed that I did, but I thought it was terrible in so many ways…the writing, what it says about relationships and women, etc.
I've never liked anything by Dave Eggers or David Sedaris or Augustin Burroughs. I also only enjoyed the Italy portion of Eat Pray Love, because of the food. And I couldn't stand to even try 50 Shades. Blech. Also, I'm a bit of a prude when it comes to books.
I love Flavia, but I couldn't agree more with you about Out of the Dust and Jacob Have I Loved. Also, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas makes me crazy; it is so ridiculously juvenile in all the wrong ways. I am in awe of how many people hold it up as a great WWII book for kids. Blech
If you don't like Nutella, don't ever, ever try off-brand hazelnut spread. It's pretty much the worst.
I love these lists! It's just as fun to hear about the books people dislike as it is to hear about their favorites. I think a lot of us are with you on Eat, Pray, Love. After reading (and hating) that book, I just cannot bring myself to read anything else by Elizabeth Gilbert.
10 thumbs up, Melanie. I tried Aldi's hazelnut spread and it…is not Nutella.
Um, you are so right about these books. The Night Circus. Long and annoying.
The Maze Runner. Another version of the Hunger Games but not done well.
Eat Pray Love. Talk about really boring middle.
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Tragically depressing.
We Were Liars. I just finished this book yesterday and was annoyed. Supremely annoyed.
All the rest of the books you've included, I have not read. But considering we shared the same philosophy on HALF of them, I won't be wasting my time!
I loved a few of these (but I also tend to tell people I have questionable taste in books before recommending anything, so at least there's fair warning!) but definitely agree with you on We Were Liars. The narrator drove me crazy and made me feel so sad the entire time, but not in a good way…I stuck it out because I don't like to leave books unfinished, but my goodness I was tempted to stop so many times!
I've only read two on your list, but I hated them both:
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Like you, I was just glad when it was over.
Eat, Pray, Love made me legitimately angry. The fact that she put all of that effort into finding herself…instead of working on her marriage? It just seemed so selfish to me. Well, the whole thing seemed completely self-absorbed. Ugh.
I'll pile on to The Goldfinch again, as well. I listened to the last two thirds of it at double speed because I hated it SO MUCH. I normally listen at 1-1.5 speed because I'm trying to fill up a commute with audio books. I also felt the same way about the Divergent trilogy. I just…don't get it. Listened to the last book at double speed.
Divergent didn't do it for me either. I don't get the incredible love for it.
I wanted to love We Were Liars, too. I think I could have, but it never really went "there" wherever "there" was supposed to be. All hype, no substance.
Eat Pray Love two huge self absorbed thumbs down.
When I finished the Night Circus I told Seth that I really loved it… I think. Or maybe I didn't like it. Hold on, I need to think about it.
For me the Divergent Series was a let down. It's another Hunger Games but not as great. But then again the Hunger Games series last book for sure ruined the whole series for me. I thought the way that it ended made the entire series and Katniss' effort pointless. Plus her inner dialogue and who she is in the 3rd book. Blech.
And nutella? Really? Not even a little on crusty French bread? Not even when in Europe? (That's close to all I eat in Europe it seems- and come to think of it, I only eat it in Europe.) You are just not the person I thought you were.
Hi!
I completely agree with The Maze Runner, I read the entire saga because I was reading at the same time with my best friend and I was really disappointed. Nothing happen in the 3 books!
This is my most recent hated book, usually I am a reader easy to please.
Great post!
I also hated Jacob Have I Loved (it actually reminds me a bit of My One & Only, which I disliked for a similar reason…) and The Maze Runner! Also, I agree with the commenter above: I just wasn't that into Divergent, especially the second book. I didn't even bother with the third.
Everyone seemed to love The Perks of Being a Wallflower…I just didn't like it. It was a pretty short book and a quick read, which is good because if it had been any longer I don't think I could have finished it. It just didn't have much of a plot for me and the end was both unpredictable and predictable and in some ways relevant and in other ways so random all at the same time. It confused me and I didn't like it.
I read The Giver at your recommendation and it made me second guess my trust in your books. I just did not get that one. Considering it is now a movie, I must be alone in that. Thankfully you earned my trust again with The Raven Boys series. 🙂
The book has been my favorite since I read it when I was 10. The movie has pretty much nothing to do with the book- it's total crap.
Apparently I’m alone in disliking Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. Why was this book written? It’s about nothing. Nothing happens. And the big revelation at the end was the most predictable thing ever. I struggled BIG TIME to finish. Loathed it
It wasn’t my fave either!
Also couldn’t stand Eleanor Oliphant! I get irrationally upset when I see people recommending it lol.
I hated Gone Girl with a passion. People kept raving about it and I thought it sucked. I wanted to punch Amy in the face, and I saw the twist coming miles away.
I also could not get into Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin. Check out the reviews on goodreads for THAT one.
I hated Gone Girl too! The whole twist was just bizarre to me. Who honestly does what she did? And I thought Nick was annoying and weak. It was one of the books that I wish I could unread because I disliked it so much.
I also hated Gone Girl! I figured out the twist within the first 20 pages. Like, has no one read Agatha Christie? Not one of the characters was likable. It’s been a long time since I read it, and I’m still mad about it.
I lol'd at the Dave Barry article. Eat Pray Love was pretty mediocre. I actually liked the Night Circus, but more for the visualization of the circus itself than the plot or lack thereof.
I'm about halfway through Outlander and it's really bothering me. The reviews on Amazon are mostly glowing and I just don't get it. The story could be really interesting, I just can't get past the character flaws.
PUT IT DOWN AND WALK AWAY. Outlander is definitely not worth finishing in my opinion. Spoiler: the end has this huge long thing that involves male r4pe and then reliving the scene and after four years I still have not been able to scrub that out of my brain.
Yes! I LOVE the premise of Outlander, but after having read some of the rest of the series I feel like the author should have restructured the first two books to be more about Culloden and the rebellion. The second one is in the second half, but it takes way too long to get there and that is the main action story point. According to Diana Gabaldon, she only originally planned on writing the first one and didn’t originally plan it to be a time-travel story either, just historical fiction, so I think that’s where the story structure suffers. It’s a true pity because the story has so much good and so much potential, it just doesn’t quiiiiiite make it.