Not to start a flame war or be complete godless, but hasn’t the world reached it saturation point with all the different versions of the Bible as it is? ( I also feel the same way about cars and hair salons.)
Thank you. I read this when I was a teenager, and wondered what I wasn’t getting- I hated it, and other people thought it was so great.
Amen to all of these! In the case of the “Chicken Soup” books, I hate them so much that it affected my decision on what to feed my cats.
There was a book, I cannot remember the title of it, a few years back (the author was on Oprah, but it wasn’t an Oprah book)–something like the Chicken Soup ones. Simple Abundance --that woman should be taken out and beaten with her book (is that too violent for Cafe Society?).
Every platitude, every epitaph, every aphorism, phrase, proverb or bon mot that has been better said–more eloquently, more pithily- by other, more talented writeres was belabored by her for several pages. She could take whole chapters to say, “all work and no play make Jack a sad boy.”
Gah. If memory serves, 27 publishers turned her down and then it became a best seller. This proved to me that best seller does NOT indicate quality in the least.
From a film historian’s standpoint, Hollywood Babylon and Mommie Dearest . . . or at least they should be reclassified as fiction.
The Good Earth. The only enjoyable thing about that book was it gave me the opportunity to sing “Everybody Wang Lung tonight” for a couple weeks in high school.
The Truth about Diamonds, by Nicole Ritchie.
I’ve never condoned book-burnings as a rule, but for this one…
I just happened across the fact that Star Jones has written a book; Shine, which should be used for compost as soon as possible, lest someone actually read it.
I narrowly escaped finding out what my fruit smoothie smells like when expelled through my nasal cavities. 
shakes fist
Amen, sister! The author is Sarah Ban Brethnach (sp?), and she is a repeat offender. For example, the companion journal Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy. :rolleyes:
I loved The Good Earth, not sure why it would be on this list.
Dan Brown, The DaVinci Code, I’d settle for having it off the bestseller list at least. Haven’t people heard it’s dreck???
I would add, if it isn’t already, *Having It All * by Helen Gurley Brown. It’s sort of a self-help book about how to succeed by being dysfunctional and codependent. She actually calls her approach “how to be a mouseburger.”
Another book by Dan Brown, Angels and Demons, has the same plot, but is better. At least to someone who’s more interested in antimatter than in Christianity… 
That sounds like something the Neville kitties would like to eat…
Blech! You can read an excerpt here. I read a whole 4 paragraphs before I had to stop. And they’re tiny paragraphs! What on earth made her think she could write? And why would anyone actually publish it??
Pamela Anderson has written two books [JimmyKimmel]“Now you’ve written more books than you’ve read”[/JimmyKimmel] that should follow the “Left Behind”, Nicole Ritchie, Star Jones, Chicken Soup, etc. . .to the fire ASAP.
The only redeeming facet of the books is hearing Bea Arthur read a sex scene from them – holy Mo, that was some kind of funny.
Every book in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. While I might have sympathy with anyone who doesn’t hate the first few books, it’s still best to discontinue them before they lead anyone into trying to read the remainder of the series.
I don’t think any book should be out of print, as it puts me in the mind of ideas being expunged from consciousness.
Having said that, I’m surprised that no one here has yet mentioned The Celestine Prophecies.
The Da Vinci Code was my first thought. My second thought was the Bible.
Odds are anyone who would want to read either of the above already has a copy of it/them. Plus, I really like the idea of shoddy editions of the Bible being sold on the black market…
But wouldn’t it be great if no one published those books any more, because not enough people wanted to read them to make publishing them profitable?
Close – it’s Ban Breathnach. And if you’ll be in Atlanta next Wednesday, she’d love to meet you.
Here’s a book I’d add to this list, along with most of the tomes in the People who bought this book also bought section. That last one actually looks like it might be worth a glance, but its presence among the recommendations seems strangely appropriate.
I first read that book in my early teens and again in my early twenties. I remember enjoying it both times. I think it gets a bad rap because the movie based on it sucked so hard. There are much worse books out there, such as Terry Goodkind’s “Wizard’s First Rule,” and the last 7 or so books in Hubbard’s “Mission Earth” series.
“Dianetics” always appeared in the SF book club brochures I used to get as a kid and I was always a little tempted. I’ll probably read it one day just for kicks.
**120 Days of Sodom ** by Sade really is terrible. It compares unfavorably to letters to Penthouse. It really is like a bunch of one-handed notbook entires.
What about the James Frey book Million Little Pieces? Astonishingly, it actually sold more copies as soon as it was unmasked as a fraud!
All copies of that book ought to be thrown into a giant bonfire that was ignited using kerosene-soaked copies of Go Ask Alice as its’ kindling.