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1PaperbackPirate
For the 13th year in a row, here's the place to post your "clunkers" of the year: the books you just couldn't get through, the ones you threw across the room, or the books you finished but really disliked. Go ahead, tell us how you really feel! :-)
Post one or several and tell us why it gets your vote as a clunker.
Worst of 2006
Worst of 2007
Worst of 2008
Worst of 2009
Worst of 2010
Worst of 2011
Worst of 2012
Worst of 2013
Worst of 2014
Worst of 2015
Worst of 2016
Worst of 2017
Remember, one reader's clunker is another reader's treasure!
Post one or several and tell us why it gets your vote as a clunker.
Worst of 2006
Worst of 2007
Worst of 2008
Worst of 2009
Worst of 2010
Worst of 2011
Worst of 2012
Worst of 2013
Worst of 2014
Worst of 2015
Worst of 2016
Worst of 2017
Remember, one reader's clunker is another reader's treasure!
2Molly3028
The Swans of Fifth Avenue
by Melanie Benjamin
Too many boring, unnecessary details/stopped at the end of disc 1.
by Melanie Benjamin
Too many boring, unnecessary details/stopped at the end of disc 1.
3cindydavid4
Another one here who does not finish a book I do not like enough. These were the most disappointing of the ones not finished
Leaving the Sea Ben Marcus; Had read one of his stories in a NYer, and had to get this one. The one I read was an anomaly.
Here I Am Jonathan Soer expected to really l ike this, but the plot and characters were all over the place and just gave up mid way through
One Hundred Thousand Kingoms N.K. JeminsinRead for a book group and was one of several who could not finish it. Really hated the main charater
Leaving the Sea Ben Marcus; Had read one of his stories in a NYer, and had to get this one. The one I read was an anomaly.
Here I Am Jonathan Soer expected to really l ike this, but the plot and characters were all over the place and just gave up mid way through
One Hundred Thousand Kingoms N.K. JeminsinRead for a book group and was one of several who could not finish it. Really hated the main charater
4rocketjk
There were two or three books I read this year that I wasn't particularly enthused about, but the only one that made me really irritated, although I finished it, was a science fiction book called Commencement by an author named Roby James. Below is the review I wrote for my 50-Book Challenge thread:
I had to force myself to finish this book, which was too bad, because many elements of the story were nicely done. Rona, a young girl with the most potent sort of telepathic power her universe knows, has been trained since childhood in the use of that power by the dominant authoritarian government that rules many planets with an iron fist. But upon graduation, as she is ready to take up her role supporting that dominant paradigm, she suddenly finds herself crash-landed on a primitive planet with a male-dominant tribal system, with the most potent part of her power gone and no memory of what has occurred. Drama ensues, and not necessarily in a bad way, except for two crucial factors.
First, much has been made of our heroine's accumulated arrogance, not surprising in a young woman who believes she has telepathic power over just about everyone in the known universe. But within a couple of weeks of her arrival on this planet, she is quickly acquiescing to a society where men refer to their fiances as "my claim" and to their wives as "my bracelet." Rona is quickly referring to the man who has bascially bought her from another tribe as "my lord." She doesn't just call him that to his face in order to get along, she calls him that throughout the first person narrative. It's almost as if the author meant to write a regency romance novel but got a call from her publisher at the last minute asking her to switch to science fiction.
Second, there is a lot of flabby writing on the sentence level. Useless adverbs drive me nuts. You don't need to tell me "I was completely nonplussed." "I was nonplussed" is fine. I mean, has anyone ever been partially nonplussed? At one point we are told that a character is shaken by a piece of news. Well, but not quite. We are actually told he is "slightly shaken." Those are two words that don't go together, unless you're a martini, maybe. That sort of thing is extremely distracting to me, and it happens often enough to interrupt the flow of what could otherwise have been a good, nicely imagined story. If the sort of thing I've described does not seem like it would be as much of an irritant to you as it was to me, this might be a book worth trying. Bear in mind, though, that the book ends mid-story, and there is a sequel which, presumably, ties things up. I have to admit that upon finishing Commencement I was tempted to try to find the next book, for the plot had by this time become intriguing. I had to remind myself how often those adverbs and "my lord"s made me feel like I was being poked in the eye.
I had to force myself to finish this book, which was too bad, because many elements of the story were nicely done. Rona, a young girl with the most potent sort of telepathic power her universe knows, has been trained since childhood in the use of that power by the dominant authoritarian government that rules many planets with an iron fist. But upon graduation, as she is ready to take up her role supporting that dominant paradigm, she suddenly finds herself crash-landed on a primitive planet with a male-dominant tribal system, with the most potent part of her power gone and no memory of what has occurred. Drama ensues, and not necessarily in a bad way, except for two crucial factors.
First, much has been made of our heroine's accumulated arrogance, not surprising in a young woman who believes she has telepathic power over just about everyone in the known universe. But within a couple of weeks of her arrival on this planet, she is quickly acquiescing to a society where men refer to their fiances as "my claim" and to their wives as "my bracelet." Rona is quickly referring to the man who has bascially bought her from another tribe as "my lord." She doesn't just call him that to his face in order to get along, she calls him that throughout the first person narrative. It's almost as if the author meant to write a regency romance novel but got a call from her publisher at the last minute asking her to switch to science fiction.
Second, there is a lot of flabby writing on the sentence level. Useless adverbs drive me nuts. You don't need to tell me "I was completely nonplussed." "I was nonplussed" is fine. I mean, has anyone ever been partially nonplussed? At one point we are told that a character is shaken by a piece of news. Well, but not quite. We are actually told he is "slightly shaken." Those are two words that don't go together, unless you're a martini, maybe. That sort of thing is extremely distracting to me, and it happens often enough to interrupt the flow of what could otherwise have been a good, nicely imagined story. If the sort of thing I've described does not seem like it would be as much of an irritant to you as it was to me, this might be a book worth trying. Bear in mind, though, that the book ends mid-story, and there is a sequel which, presumably, ties things up. I have to admit that upon finishing Commencement I was tempted to try to find the next book, for the plot had by this time become intriguing. I had to remind myself how often those adverbs and "my lord"s made me feel like I was being poked in the eye.
5cindydavid4
Oh my....thanks for the warning about that one!
6JulieLill
The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh
This was a play and maybe if I had seen it on the stage it would have been better acted out than read. According to the few comments I have seen - people either loved it or hated it.
This was a play and maybe if I had seen it on the stage it would have been better acted out than read. According to the few comments I have seen - people either loved it or hated it.
7TheAmpersand
The Sea Came In At Midnight by Steve Erickson: draggy, faux-edgy nineties-fried pseudo-noir. The literary equivalent of the nonsense alternasploitation movies that Greg Araki shot before getting around to making "Mysterious Skin". Not trying this guy again.
The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III: I picked this up because I really enjoyed Dubus's memoir, Townie. But yikes, what a needlessly slow ride to post-9/11 nowhere. The author seemed completely out of his depth. Novels involving both terrorists and strip clubs should never be this tedious. Didn't finish it.
The Female Man by Joanna Russ: Interesting in a couple of places, but chaotic and unforgivably cruel in most others. Russ seems more condescending to some of her female characters than lots of the pre-women's movement men in her book. A book that could only have emerged from 1974. Of historical interest only. Otherwise interminable and frequently awful.
The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III: I picked this up because I really enjoyed Dubus's memoir, Townie. But yikes, what a needlessly slow ride to post-9/11 nowhere. The author seemed completely out of his depth. Novels involving both terrorists and strip clubs should never be this tedious. Didn't finish it.
The Female Man by Joanna Russ: Interesting in a couple of places, but chaotic and unforgivably cruel in most others. Russ seems more condescending to some of her female characters than lots of the pre-women's movement men in her book. A book that could only have emerged from 1974. Of historical interest only. Otherwise interminable and frequently awful.
8PaperbackPirate
I had 3 clunkers this year.
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I did not like The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho for theological reasons. I liked it until the end.
This year I started The Dark Tower series with The Gunslinger by Stephen King. It was difficult to stay awake or comprehend the story, but the other books I've read in the series so far are going to be on my favorites list. I'm also told by Dark Tower fans that I will later love this book.
Finally I was confused and bored by The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy. I read it with my book club and most of them did not like it or even finish it.
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I did not like The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho for theological reasons. I liked it until the end.
This year I started The Dark Tower series with The Gunslinger by Stephen King. It was difficult to stay awake or comprehend the story, but the other books I've read in the series so far are going to be on my favorites list. I'm also told by Dark Tower fans that I will later love this book.
Finally I was confused and bored by The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy. I read it with my book club and most of them did not like it or even finish it.
