# Books you wanted to love...and didn't



## L.J. Sellers novelist (Feb 28, 2010)

My book group is talking about how some novels get a lot of hype and sound so terrific, only to be a disappointment. I had that experience recently with The Informationist. I loved the first half, which was unique and compelling, then, for me, it bogged down in the middle and fell apart in the end. I wonder how much my expectation from the hype increased my disappointment.

Have you had this experience?
L.J.


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## Ruth Harris (Dec 26, 2010)

Had the same problem with Visit From The Goon Squad.  Very very highly praised but when I got to Power Point presentation-type chapters, I was disappointed and annoyed.

I think part of the problem is that our expectations are raised way too high to be satisfied.  Same with movies.


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## EGranfors (Mar 18, 2011)

TC Boyle's new one. . . loved the opening chapter and then it fell apart for me.  Too many timelines going on.  Dare I admit Harry Potter?


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## nickpeirson (Mar 26, 2011)

The first time I tried to read Tolkein's 'The Lord of the Rings' I got bogged down and didn't finish it. I was disappointed after reading and enjoying 'The Hobbit', that 'The Lord of the Rings' didn't provide the same enjoyment.

It was only a year or two later I went back to it and enjoyed it much more the second time round. I can't remember how old I was when I first picked it up, but I think it was just a case of being to young at the time. It's definitely a favourite now I've gone back to it.


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## Kenneth Rosenberg (Dec 3, 2010)

For me I think it would have to be The Da Vinci Code.  I wanted to like that one, and everybody else seemed to, but I didn't get very far I'm afraid.  When it got to the evil albino character, it seemed so cliche that I put it down and didn't get any further.  Maybe I should have tried a little harder...


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## Mrs. K. (Dec 31, 2010)

A few weeks ago I finished _The Prince of Tides._ I'd heard so many good things about it and was really looking forward to reading it. To me, the book had a lot of great qualities...I couldn't find anything wrong with it at all, and it was certainly pleasant enough. But I didn't love it. Still don't know why...


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## Chloista (Jun 27, 2009)

Kenneth Rosenberg said:


> For me I think it would have to be The Da Vinci Code. I wanted to like that one, and everybody else seemed to, but I didn't get very far I'm afraid. When it got to the evil albino character, it seemed so cliche that I put it down and didn't get any further. Maybe I should have tried a little harder...


Oh yeah -- gotta agree with this poster. This was the most overrated book I've ever read. I did read it to the end, and it was okay. Just okay. I figured out the end way before I got to it.


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## IndieAuthorX (Apr 16, 2011)

Stephen King's _IT_. Talk about major disappointment. I loved Stand By Me, I love fantasy, I love the 50s small town folksy thing... this should have been perfect. Instead I got an orgy of awful 

The book has burned me out of reading Stephen King, I doubt I pick up another one of his books for a very long time.


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## lalapurple (Jan 11, 2011)

For me it was 'Cold Mountain" my girlfriends loved it......it was like pulling teeth, it took me 2 years to finish it but i didnt let it beat me, silly as its 2 years i will never get back lol


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## Stephen T. Harper (Dec 20, 2010)

"Jaws."  Loved the movie. Loved the first page and a half of the book (the description of the shark swimming), and then it just falls apart right away.  It's shocking that they basically spitballed a screenplay on the fly, while they were shooting the film, and came up with something so much better.


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## Elizabeth Black (Apr 8, 2011)

No matter how many times I try, I can't get into "The Hobbit" and "The Lord Of The Rings". Every time I try I end up throwing the books across the room.

"The Ruins" also didn't match the hype.

And although I enjoyed the first two Southern Vampire Sookie Stackhouse books, I didn't think they were _that_ great. I don't feel a desire to read the entire series.


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

The Bronze Horseman


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## PG4003 (Patricia) (Jan 30, 2010)

drenee said:


> The Bronze Horseman


I'm so disappointed to hear this! I've just had this book recommended to me by several people, when I asked for an intense love relationship like Jamie & Claire in Outlander. What was it you didn't like?


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## Wintings (Feb 16, 2011)

Kenneth Rosenberg said:


> For me I think it would have to be The Da Vinci Code. I wanted to like that one, and everybody else seemed to, but I didn't get very far I'm afraid. When it got to the evil albino character, it seemed so cliche that I put it down and didn't get any further. Maybe I should have tried a little harder...


No, you were quite right to abandon it! It was a load of cr*p!


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

PG4003 (Patricia) said:


> I'm so disappointed to hear this! I've just had this book recommended to me by several people, when I asked for an intense love relationship like Jamie & Claire in Outlander. What was it you didn't like?


I have friends that absolutely loved it. I had a hard time with the sex scenes. I'm not opposed to sex scenes, but sometimes the detail went on for pages, only to give me the same details a bit later. I get it, they were good in bed. I liked the first 2/3, but after that it just seemed to drag on. I believe I did a review either here on KB or at Amazon. I'll try to find it. I will say that most of the reviews on Amazon are positive, but the ones that are negative I completely agree with. It was too wordy, too melodramatic and very tedious. IMHO. 
deb



> I am having such a hard time finishing this book. It should have ended 200 pages earlier. I am plodding through the last of this book.
> I cared about the characters in the beginning, but now I'm just tired of them.
> I love long books. But this one does not have enough depth.
> Anyone else have a similar opinion or a different opinion, or any opinion that will help me finish the last 60 pages?


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## xtine (Feb 17, 2011)

I am a big fan of the Sookie Stackhouse novels (I have never seen the TV show though I hear it's great).

However, the last one, "Dead in the Family" was a big disappointment. All the right tensions were there and the characters were doing everything they should. There was just something flat about it. It felt phoned in.


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## Starry Eve (Mar 10, 2011)

Ulysses by James Joyce. I couldn't even get myself past the first page! And it's supposed to be among the top 100 greatest books of all time? I don't like books that need to be analyzed (or over-analyzed) to be enjoyed and appreciated. I feel that most successful authors will tug at the heartstrings more than the head.


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## KerylR (Dec 28, 2010)

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane.  Great cover.  Great (usually) reviews.  A historical period and topic I liked.  Then I started reading.  The historical part of the story is okay.  The modern day bit...  Yuck.  Just yuck.  Here's the thing, I'm a history buff.  My pet period is WWI Europe, but I'm conversant on just about any major topic in the US and Europe from the iron age on.  So, when I know more about the subject of Colonial Witchcraft than the doctoral candidate who has finished all of her course work and is now starting on her thesis main character, and the tension building for the plot will hinge on that lack of knowledge, I get annoyed.


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## Kenneth Rosenberg (Dec 3, 2010)

Wintings said:


> No, you were quite right to abandon it! It was a load of cr*p!


Ha, too funny! Thanks Wintings, I'm glad to hear it was the right decision.


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## Bernard J. Schaffer (Apr 16, 2011)

Sad as I am to say it..."No Country for Old Men."  I read "The Road" and was just enraptured with it, but did not have the same reaction to NCFOM.  I did love the movie though.


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## caseyf6 (Mar 28, 2010)

I've had lots of books like that.  "Prince of Tides" is one I've started a couple of times, but I just can't stand the character for some reason.  I don't push it-- sometimes I'll get an overview of the book and at least that way I'll feel like I'll understand the literery references, but I won't punish myself by forcing a book I'm not enjoying.


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## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

I have so many...  The most recent would have to be "Gideon's Sword" by Douglas Preston and Lee Child, and behind that would be "The Road" and "Da Vinci Code".  I don't do well with book recommendations, but if it's constantly after months and months of high popularity, I will try it out of curiosity.  These just didn't fly right with me.

Tris


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## ajbarnett (Apr 11, 2011)

I wasn't so keen on 'Lord of the Rings' but I thought it was just me.


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## AlisonM (Jul 30, 2010)

'Eat Pray Love', started it but just didn't get into it.


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## KindleChickie (Oct 24, 2009)

Stieg Larsens trilogy.  I have tried so many times over the last couple years to get into his novels and just can't.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm pretty good at knowing what I like from reading reviews and synopses.  So this has really never happened to me.

I've read (or tried to read) a few books that were atrocious, but those were mostly random reads that someone recommended and I had no big desire to read to start with.  Just picked 'em up because they were there.  (I've occasionally been very pleasantly surprised by such recommendations, as well!) 

But, for books I choose myself and really look forward to reading, I've always enjoyed them.


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## Jon Olson (Dec 10, 2010)

Chloista said:


> Oh yeah -- gotta agree with this poster. This was the most overrated book I've ever read. I did read it to the end, and it was okay. Just okay. I figured out the end way before I got to it.


Count me in, too. Just a very manipulative book. Ick. I also agree on Cold Mountain. A real slog. I finished it, but was sick of it by the end. The allegorical characters, the frail romantic "feeling" that motivated the guy. Give me Elmore Leonard.


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## slpierce (Mar 2, 2011)

Time Traveler's Wife.  My neighbor loved it but I just couldn't get into it.  Never been one for love stories though.


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## John M. Dow (Apr 14, 2011)

IndieAuthorX said:


> Stephen King's _IT_. Talk about major disappointment. I loved Stand By Me, I love fantasy, I love the 50s small town folksy thing... this should have been perfect. Instead I got an orgy of awful
> 
> The book has burned me out of reading Stephen King, I doubt I pick up another one of his books for a very long time.


I'm the exact opposite! I love all the meandering (and largely irrelevant) wandering backwards and forwards that It does. Along with Lord of the Rings, It is on my 'read once a year' list 

John


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## julieannfelicity (Jun 28, 2010)

This may seem amateurish compared to some of the other books listed here but, I tried to like the P.C. and Kristen Cast series (House of Night) but I just couldn't. I read them and wanted to throw them across the room. Each one ends with a cliffhanger ... while that may be nice for some series, for this one it just perturbed me. The characters seemed fake, flawless, perfect. It was very hard to connect with it. All the forced 'teen' lingo and uncalled for swearing (it was quite jarring). Even when they tried to pop in an authentic Indian word here and there, it just felt forced and unnatural. *shudder*

It came to me with high reviews from my friends and family; I guess I'm not 'young enough' to enjoy them (*eye roll*).


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## vincent287 (Sep 3, 2010)

East of Eden by John Steinbeck was a major disappointment. I was living in Monterey, CA at the time and wanted to get in synch with the whole Cannery Row thing, and found East of Eden to be such a depressing, awful story that I couldn't finish it. I was very surprised.


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

I can't believe I'm writing this  because  Vince Flynn  is my  VERY FAVORITE  author  right now  - but I just read his most recent  book  -  American Assassin  and  I just didn't enjoy it..    I wanted to since  it was the only book  I hadn't  read yet and now I'm  "out".    Part was that I didn't like one of the main  characters  and also  that it was a prequel  -  and  too much time was spent in flashbacks,  etc..  I  hate  flashbacks..


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## kCopeseeley (Mar 15, 2011)

So so many...   I guess that means I'm picky.  The ones with the biggest hype:
Lord of the Rings Trilogy(dull and not a lot of girl action -maybe it's cause I didn't read it as a kid?)
The Outlander Series (anyone who has read these knows the controversy, so I will let it go there.)
The Sookie Stackhouse books (Love the show, but I just DO NOT understand why people like these books.  They're too short.  Sookie is in bed with a different guy every book.  The plot is so convoluted over the series.  I read like 5 of them, so I know.)
The Mortal Instruments Series (I read all three because of my sister, but the brother-sister love thing skeeved me out.)
The Lightning Thief series (couldn't get past the 1st chapter, *sigh*)


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## DickStanley (Jun 7, 2010)

The later Potter books really stunk up the joint. Even my then-nine-year-old though they were too long and too chatty.


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## RhondaRN (Dec 27, 2009)

I hated Tess of the 'Durbervilles and Wuthering Heights and wanted to like them so much.  I read both to the end but hated them all the while.  Was the last time I tortured myself for the sake of reading the entire book when I don't like it.  These souls were just too tortured for me to enjoy.


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## Jon Olson (Dec 10, 2010)

Ruth Harris said:


> Had the same problem with Visit From The Goon Squad. Very very highly praised but when I got to Power Point presentation-type chapters, I was disappointed and annoyed.
> 
> I think part of the problem is that our expectations are raised way too high to be satisfied. Same with movies.


I'm ambivalent about Goon Squad, though I haven't reached the powerpoint. The structure is unusual -- almost like it's short stories.


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## J.L. McPherson (Mar 20, 2011)

As much as I love Dean Koontz, _Lost Souls _ really p*ssed me off ! That series started out awesome, not as good as his earlier works by any means, but a really good series and don't even get me started on _Your Heart Belongs to Me_, That was just terrible. But I'm still a huge fan of Koontz and I'll still buy the next edition to the Frankenstein series.


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## Jon Olson (Dec 10, 2010)

Let me add another: Madame Bovary. Boy did I hate that. Not the story at all, just gassy style.


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## ValeriGail (Jan 21, 2010)

For me, it was The Count of Monte Cristo.  I wanted to love it.  It was highly recommended and I even had a thread here helping me chose which classic I was gonna read and it was listed in just about every other post.  But, when I would sit down to read, I'd fall asleep with in minutes.  I seriously couldn't get past chapter 2.  I gave it two weeks, then downloaded an Audio version.  I got about 10 chapters in, and still had no idea what in the world was going on.  It was like my mind would shut off the moment I'd turn on the book.  I might give it another try, but it will probably be quite a while.  I was so frustrated with it that I haven't actually read a book in full since!


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## candggmom (Oct 27, 2008)

The Historian - I kept reading, thinking something's gonna happen - guess what - never did!  I got to the end (it took forever!) and thought this is it?  Why did I read the whole thing?  I must be the eternal optimist or 1 brick short of a full load!

Kathy in NC


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## ReneAZ (Jan 1, 2011)

"The Language of Bees" by Laurie King.
I was soooo looking forward to the newest (in 2009) 'Sherlock Holmes & Mary Russell' book. I loved all the previous ones in the series, but this was so incredibly boring.  The first third (or more!) was all about the life of bees.  I mean really, she went on and on for page after page.  I eagerly awaited this book.  It was only intermittently engaging.  Total disappointment
The story (when it finally emerged) was weak and uninteresting.  
My husband and I were both readers of this series, but tossed this one aside and said never again.
I see on her website she has a few more (with bees still figuring in them), but never again for me!  I won't be wasting my money.


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## Will Granger (Apr 12, 2011)

Kenneth Rosenberg said:


> For me I think it would have to be The Da Vinci Code. I wanted to like that one, and everybody else seemed to, but I didn't get very far I'm afraid. When it got to the evil albino character, it seemed so cliche that I put it down and didn't get any further. Maybe I should have tried a little harder...


I agree about The Da Vinci Code. I felt the same way about _The Lost Symbol_.

Will Granger

_--- edited... no self-promotion outside the Book Bazaar forum. please read our Forum Decorum thread._


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## rayhensley (Apr 16, 2011)

I tried liking Twilight.

Couldn't get past page 50.

The writing was fine, but as a dude, there's only so much "He was so hot" description I can take, LOL


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## Tamara Rose Blodgett (Apr 1, 2011)

Ender's Game ( no flogging please)...I just couldn't "fall in love with it," even though it was clearly well-written, I found myself not caring enough. And, believe me, I was all "set" to dig on it! *sighs*

Angels and Demons too; brother! Gave up at page 80! And I LOVED Da Vinci Code...


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## Seleya (Feb 25, 2011)

The Doomsday Book, for me the characters were absolutely clichè,and if I had to read just once more 'they burned people in the Middle Ages' I would have started the fire myself. 
For somebody specializing in Medieval history Kivrin is of an appaling ignorance, I finally gave up on the novel (and the author). Resisting the urge to physically harm the book was really hard.


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## Erica Sloane (May 11, 2011)

I really wanted to like Stieg Larsson's "Millennium series" with the protagonist Lisbeth Salander. I tried. Really tried. But I just couldn't get into the first book at all.


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## KindleChickie (Oct 24, 2009)

The one and only time I bought an Oprah book club read and I hated it.  It was The Pilots Wife by Anita Shreve.  I work in the airline industry so when I watched Ms O rave about this book I went out and bought it.  I found the quality was very low, reminded me of a dime store mass market paperback but at a NY Time bestseller price.

I haven't bought an Oprah book on her recommendation since.


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## KerylR (Dec 28, 2010)

Another one I'd like to add to the list:  Anne Rice's Vampire books.  I like fantasy.  I like history.  I love vampires.  I actually like Lestat, too.  I liked most of the plots of these books, and yes, I read them all.

But the actual books.  Ugh.  Too much description.  I felt like each one of those books could have had more than a third of the pages torn clean out and it would have a minimal impact on the plot.  

One of my poor friends, who isn't much of a reader to begin with, had her husband pick Interview With A Vampire to try and get her into the Urban Fantasy genre.  It's five years later and she's still not more than a third of the way into it and I don't blame her at all.


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## Remi Michaud (Apr 24, 2011)

The Lost Symbol.
I enjoyed the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. They were a little formulaic but they were interesting in their own way.
The Lost Symbol didn't really work though. It felt like Dan Brown was rushing to fulfill his publication contract. I finished it only because I was in the hospital with my wife, waiting for the inducement of our baby to take effect (and it didn't) and I had nothing better to do while she was sleeping.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I am a huge Stephen King fan.  I have always read everything he has written, the day it came out (well, not at first.  I had to play catch-up for years).  His novel Madder Rose...or Rose Madder...  is the only one I have never been able to finish.  I grew bored.  I leaped to the end to read how the villain got killed, then stopped reading.  I just found the characters stale, which is not something I would often say about his works.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Kenneth Rosenberg said:


> For me I think it would have to be The Da Vinci Code. I wanted to like that one, and everybody else seemed to, but I didn't get very far I'm afraid. When it got to the evil albino character, it seemed so cliche that I put it down and didn't get any further. Maybe I should have tried a little harder...


I have to agree with the evil albino being one of the most cliched characters ever, although I can't say I expected to like it. Amongst writers, De Vinci Code gets a lot of hate with people grumbling about him making so much money from what many of us consider a pretty rotten novel. LOL

Of course that could be sour grapes.


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## Harry Shannon (Jul 30, 2010)

Swamplandia. Beautifully written, finally began to gather steam half way through but still lost me. No idea why.


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## docnoir (Jan 21, 2011)

Unfortunately, the last two Hap & Leonard novels from Joe Lansdale. Both VANILLA RIDE and DEVIL RED petered out on me before I even got halfway. A shame, since I love so much of Lansdale's past work. And I'm getting a chance to meet him this summer. Will not bing those two up, for sure.

Also feel the same about the last few James Lee Burke novels I've read. After years of getting them the day they came out, some signed, I didn't even bother buying the last one. Checked it out from the library, got bored. But I'll check in with the next one, I suppose.


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## kCopeseeley (Mar 15, 2011)

The three most recent disappointments: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare and The Olympians series by Rick Riordan.

None of those are adult books.  Maybe I should ditch my addiction to YA fiction and read some grown up books for a while.


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## Alle Meine Entchen (Dec 6, 2009)

A lot of books that I read that didn't live up to the hype have already been mentioned (Dan Brown's books, although I enjoyed Angels and Demons, The Girl w/ the Dragon Tatto, etc)

Cold Mountain I read during college.  I had a really cool college prof who didn't want us to spend all that money on a text book that we most likely never use again, so he had us read 3 book and would test us over the assigned reading every class.  I had to finish it b/c of that, but I was so upset w/ the ending (plus, the main character is such a stalker!).


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## kCopeseeley (Mar 15, 2011)

DickStanley said:


> The later Potter books really stunk up the joint. Even my then-nine-year-old though they were too long and too chatty.


We'll have to agree to disagree on that one.


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## kCopeseeley (Mar 15, 2011)

Tamara Rose Blodgett said:


> Ender's Game ( no flogging please)...I just couldn't "fall in love with it," even though it was clearly well-written, I found myself not caring enough. And, believe me, I was all "set" to dig on it! *sighs*
> Angels and Demons too; brother! Gave up at page 80! And I LOVED Da Vinci Code...


Ah well, not everyone is into Orson Scott Card like I am. He's in my top ten writers, for sure. But I won't flog anyone for not loving his books like I do. 
I read Angels and Demons, but I guessed the bad guy immediately. That and the not so great writing turned me off Dan Brown forever.


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## jabeard (Apr 22, 2011)

Palimpset by Catherynne Valente. It's one of the few books I've given up on in the middle in recent years.

The writing was rather competent and all that, but it just ultimately came off more like a giant exercise in style than anything else, and I felt like reading through someone's fever dream. I found I didn't care much about the characters, what was going on, and the weirdness was interesting, but not enough to keep me going.

Normally, I love surreal stuff, but it just didn't do it for me at all. I wonder if it would be something that might have worked better for me in a visual medium.


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## Chris Strange (Apr 4, 2011)

Interesting range of opinions. Some of the books mentioned I loved, while others I agree with.

The one that springs to mind for me is Ursula Le Guin's _A Wizard of Earthsea_. I'd heard so many great things about it but the distant, fable-like writing style really put me off, and I didn't find the story itself that engaging. I've been told the rest of the quartet is better, so I will read them at some point, but I'm in no rush.


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## Tess St John (Feb 1, 2011)

I really don't like to bad talk any book or writer, because honestly we all have such different tastes and that's why there are so many books out there, but I was very excited when I bought an author who had just made the NYT bestseller list, and she had the cutest cover, so I purchased the hardback...I couldn't get through seven pages of the book. HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Lord of the Rings. I'd read and enjoyed The Hobbit so it wasn't just that I _wanted_ to like it, I _expected_ to like it. But I found it interminably tedious. I watched the movies hoping they would be better, but had the same reaction - it just wasn't for me and I don't really know why.


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## docnoir (Jan 21, 2011)

Tess St John said:


> I really don't like to bad talk any book or writer, because honestly we all have such different tastes and that's why there are so many books out there, but I was very excited when I bought an author who had just made the NYT bestseller list, and she had the cutest cover, so I purchased the hardback...I couldn't get through seven pages of the book. HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!


In my case, those books I mentioned are by authors I really, really admire and whose work I'm usually nuts about. So it's more disappointing when the book fails to get to me. I'm a little more forgiving with something from someone I'm not familiar with. It kind of irks me to see scathing reviews from people who obviously were not the target for the book anyway. They all read like, "I like steak, but this was chicken! Awful!" When it could've been a great piece of chicken.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

KindleChickie said:


> Stieg Larsens trilogy. I have tried so many times over the last couple years to get into his novels and just can't.


I was absolutely the same way. I felt something must be wrong with me. Then I saw the Swedish movie version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"--it's amazing. Someone then sent me the audio book version of the book, and knowing a great story was coming, I was patient this time, and, wow, it really gets great as a book. Larsson was new to fiction and so he made a huge setup. It pays off later, but it's really an old-fashioned approach to story telling. He's a fast learner, though, and the second book hooked me quickly, and by the third, I was sad it was over. I've never switched my mind like that before.

A huge disappointment for me was Audrey Niffenegger's "My Fearful Symmetry." I was such a fan of "The Time Traveler's Wife" that I bought the hardcover immediately. I gave it to my local library after I couldn't get into it.


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## Will Granger (Apr 12, 2011)

_Robinson Crusoe _ and _The DaVinci Code_

I know- there is no connection, except that both are so well known, and I thought both were terrible.


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## Jon Olson (Dec 10, 2010)

Madame Bovary. Maybe shocking at the time, but I just thought it sucked. And, yet, I was delightfully surprised by Crime and Punishment.


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## KJ Kron (Mar 24, 2011)

On the Road and the Topic of Cancer (or was it the other one?).  Both were supposed to be so cool, but I hated both.


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## lalapurple (Jan 11, 2011)

Oh i am so glad...i no longer feel alone in the world.....another person who didnt enjoy "eat pray love" ...self absorbed are the 2 words i would use to describe it.......


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Kenneth Rosenberg said:


> For me I think it would have to be The Da Vinci Code. I wanted to like that one, and everybody else seemed to, but I didn't get very far I'm afraid. When it got to the evil albino character, it seemed so cliche that I put it down and didn't get any further. Maybe I should have tried a little harder...


Ditto


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## Vanessa K. Wright (May 8, 2011)

slpierce said:


> Time Traveler's Wife. My neighbor loved it but I just couldn't get into it. Never been one for love stories though.


I wanted to love this one too, but I just didn't.


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## RJMcDonnell (Jan 29, 2011)

I really wanted to love John Grisham's The Confession. All of the elements for a terrific read were in place. The characters were very realistic and well defined. The research was well done, and made me question my position on the death penalty. And the plot seemed quite believable until the climax. Unfortunately, Grisham put in one too many plot twists, and the last one served to completely negate the antagonist's motivation for all of his prior moves. The kicker came in the Acknowledgments section, where he instructed his readers not to bother telling him about any errors they may find. To err is human, to ignore feedback is a deal breaker as far as my To Read list is concerned.


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## Alex Sinclair (May 5, 2011)

This is a good question. Books I wanted to love and really didn't. Mmmm.... Terry Pratchett's Pyramids. I am a massive Pratchett fan and have read nearly every book. This is book 7 of about 40, lol, and one of the stand alone books where the character doesn't have a sequel. The die hard fans raved about it, but the story never got going. You have 10 pages of Pratchett magic and then it drops and goes flat. It is a good story, but I wouldn't ever re-read it. And I understand why this book never had a sequel.


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## Joseph.Garraty (May 20, 2011)

jabeard said:


> Palimpset by Catherynne Valente. It's one of the few books I've given up on in the middle in recent years.
> 
> The writing was rather competent and all that, but it just ultimately came off more like a giant exercise in style than anything else, and I felt like reading through someone's fever dream. I found I didn't care much about the characters, what was going on, and the weirdness was interesting, but not enough to keep me going.
> 
> Normally, I love surreal stuff, but it just didn't do it for me at all. I wonder if it would be something that might have worked better for me in a visual medium.


Totally agree with this. I was really excited about this book, but I couldn't finish it. Unlikable characters doing incomprehensible things for impenetrable reasons.

I'd also add George R.R. Martin's A Feast for Crows. Most of my favorite characters weren't in the book, and it didn't do it for me at all. Looking forward to the next one, though...


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## apbschmitz (Apr 22, 2011)

I with you on Goon Squad, though as someone else observed, the problem isn't so much the book itself as the unreasonable hype surrounding it. There's always a feeding frenzy going on among reviewers, with the same book being reviewed over and over again. 

I'd add The Corrections to the list. I never understood the apparent popularity, but then maybe my family life wasn't unhappy enough. And, just to go all canonical on everybody, The Brothers Karamazov. I had to take a leap at that thing three times before I made it through. There are some deeply boring 70-page-plus sections that make you wonder, What would happen if this showed up in the slush pile at Knopf tomorrow?


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## Bogbuilder (May 26, 2011)

The Man Who Was Thursday (or was it Tuesday? Or Wednesday? Shit, I forget) by G K Chesterton. Supposedly and adventure classic, but a pretty stupid escapade where not merely the characters, but the very story itself, served solely as a cipher for Chesterton's conservatism as opposed to some nebulous 'anarachism' which he seemed to have a real bug about. It was so annoying to read, I didn't bother finishing it. I wouldn't even go so far as to call it a dire book - that would provoke a degree of emotion I simply couldn't wring out of the tale - rather a petulant little fart of one.


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## chrisanthropic (May 28, 2011)

I agree with the Da Vinci Code - I love conspiracy theories and just couldn't get into the book at all.  Of course, my biggest disappointment has got to be Bram Stoker's Dracula.  I LOVE the classic monster tales - Frankenstein, the Invisible Man, etc.  but I could not get through Dracula it just bored the shit out of me.


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

Remi Michaud said:


> The Lost Symbol.
> I enjoyed the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. They were a little formulaic but they were interesting in their own way.
> The Lost Symbol didn't really work though. It felt like Dan Brown was rushing to fulfill his publication contract. I finished it only because I was in the hospital with my wife, waiting for the inducement of our baby to take effect (and it didn't) and I had nothing better to do while she was sleeping.


This.

_The Lost Symbol_ was an incredible disappointment. It felt as if Dan Brown took an uninteresting topic and made it into an uninteresting tale. Then, he painted himself into some corners with no idea how to extricate himself, so he didn't even give it a try. The whole thing just felt contrived from mediocre start to disappointing finish.


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## SidneyW (Aug 6, 2010)

I guess maybe Shoeless Joe was a little like that. I saw Field of Dreams first, which boils everything down more, so, even with the real J.D. Salinger in the mix vs. the movie's stand-in, the book seemed to meander with more narrative threads and characters. Still a good book, just not quite what I expected. I almost interviewed W. P. Kinsella once, but the newspaper I worked for decided to send a sports reporter instead.


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## emilyward (Mar 5, 2011)

I agree with those who said The Time Traveler's Wife. I tried, but couldn't get into it. After I saw the movie, I skimmed the book to see how it was different, then I sent it back to the library. 

Atonement was another I couldn't get into! I feel like I need to try it again, but it was such a slow beginning. . .


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## luvmykindle3 (Dec 5, 2010)

The Harry Potter series. I tried and tried, but could not get into those books. My son and I tried reading one together, and it just did not click for either of us.


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## EliRey (Sep 8, 2010)

I'm trying to love The Rescue by Sparks but the POV changes in the middle of the dialogue are killing me!


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## Dee Ernst (Jan 10, 2011)

The Discovery of Witches.  I started reading it because I read a review that called it a Harry Potter for adults, but didn't like it.  Put it down and picked it up three or four times, finally finished it for a book club, and was completely disappointed.


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## samanthawarren (May 1, 2011)

The latest Sookie Stackhouse. I don't think I've ever been more disappointed in a book.


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## Flash Rex (May 31, 2011)

luvmykindle3 said:


> The Harry Potter series. I tried and tried, but could not get into those books. My son and I tried reading one together, and it just did not click for either of us.


Same here. My daughter and I love to read and tried it together last two summers. Hopefully they'll turn them into movies someday.


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