In this threadtwickster has asked people for the ten best books we read in 2010. I’m asking for the opposite: what were the five worst books you read this year?
Help your fellow readers out, and tell us what you didn’t like and why.
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
This book had a lot of trouble deciding what it wanted to be. Did it want to be a period piece? A tale of unrequited love? A horror story? It’s widely billed as the last, but a more tepid horror novel is hard to imagine, and the ghost story is absolutely incidental to the plot. This is not a novel for people who actually enjoy horror. Tales of depression, resentful longing, and decadence, yes, horror, no.
Darkwood by M.E. Breen
You know how you wake up in the morning and remember your dreams? Then, later in the day after you’ve done a bunch of other things you try to remember the details, but realize that there’s a lot missing from your recall and stuff that no longer makes much sense given the lack of cohesion to your memories? That is how this young adult novel reads, and it’s not a good thing.
Breathless by Dean Koontz
Let’s take a bunch of characters and alternate chapters to tell their completely distinct stories. Then, in the last 30 pages realize that we were supposed to be writing a novel, and make a lame attempt to force some connections between them in the rushed final pages.
Just After Sunset by Steven King
I think after this short story collection and Everything’s Eventual, I’m not going to bother with Steven King’s short stories any more. Remember when they were meant to be scary? I don’t know what the intent was here, but it’s not horror for the most part.
Dead and Alive by Dean Koontz
This book really wasn’t worth the years of waiting. Very little happens over the course of this novel, and almost nothing advances the plot(s) established by the first two novels in this was-supposed-to-be-a-trilogy. I’m not a fan of Kevin J. Anderson or Edward Gorman, but Koontz on his own has devolved to embarrassingly poor writing that doesn’t match the first two books. Of course, after waiting four years for this book, maybe my memory of the first two has soften and they weren’t much better. who knows.
So, what are the five worst books you read this year?
I really liked The Little Stranger – psychological horror – you don’t really know what’s real and what’s in his head. It was my favorite read in 2009.
My least favorite book in 2010 was Under the Dome by Stephen King. It ties with The Historian for godawful why was this even published.
I also dumped these books:
Anansi Boys – didn’t care what happened to any of the characters True Evil by Greg Iles – too much exposition, too early in the story Matterhorn – wanted to like this but it was too matter-of-fact A Dark Matter by Peter Straub – can’t remember why I didn’t like this one Black Hills by Dan Simmons – Simmons dumps historical facts when he’s not having Custer write Penthouse letters to his wife
Star Island, by Carl Hiaasen - I can’t recall exactly what I didn’t like, but I do remember that I didn’t laugh much and after 50 pages or so, couldn’t wait to finish the thing.
I Know This Much to be True - which twicks summed up perfectly with her remark “oy, the tsuris!”
The Great Influenza, by John Barry. I really wanted to like this one, but thought it was repetitive and dull.
Paths of Glory, by Jeffrey Archer, which just plain sucked.
I couldn’t agree more with AuntiePam about A Dark Matter, by Peter Straub, which had tedious characters and a hilariously ridiculous climax, but differ on Matterhorn, which, IMO, was a masterpiece and my favorite book of 2010.
Under the Dome, by Stephen King. What AuntiePam said. I am a huge King fan, too, and this was too awful even for me.
Flicker, by Theodore Roszak. I know people love this book, I was astonished by how much I disliked it. Premise is good - crazy conspiracy theory hidden in classic cult movies … but wow, was it ever like an old guy braying about “kids today.” OMG, get off my lawn.
Alice I Have Been, by Melanie Benjamin. Novel told from the POV of Alice what’s-her-name, Liddel? The Alice in Wonderland girl. I think it’s trying to be shocking in a Lolita kind of way, it’s mostly a snooze.
I Was Told There’d Be Cake, by Sloan Crosley. I was told this was a funny memoir, it’s actually mostly not very funny essays by someone way too young to be writing memoirs about anything.
We Used to Own the Bronx: Memoirs of a Former Debutante, by Eve Pell. This was well-intentioned, but not very interesting.
I won’t usually finish a book if I’m not having a good time, but there was one this year that I listened to in its entirety as an audio book and I thoroughly hated it. My review from Goodreads:
Dishonorable mentions to: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove, by Cathy Erway. Trendy young New Yorker; I couldn’t relate. Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, by Piper Kerman. I don’t remember. After, by Amy Efaw. A girl throws her baby in the trash, but she’d be annoying even if she hadn’t. In An Evil Time, by Bill Pronzini. Weak, thin, airport-novel sort of book.
I dumped this one as soon as the Lolita crap showed up. Lewis Carroll panting after an eight year old is just too creepy to ever make a good book. There’s a reason I’ve never read Lolita. I don’t need to read books trying to glamorize pedophilia.
Almost all my friends recommended Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, so I finally started reading it six months ago. I haven’t finished it, and probably won’t bother. I must be some kind of weirdo, because I just can’t seem to love this book.
Another vote for Stephen King’s Under the Dung… er… Dome. Much as I love Uncle Stevie, sometimes he lays a colossal stinker, and this was one of 'em.
A while back I swore off Patricia Cornwell. This year I recanted and tried to read a Kay Scarpetta novel, but for the life of me I can’t remember its title. I’m not gonna try any more. Cornwell is off my list.
Michael Connelly’s Nine Dragons was the first Harry Bosch book that I didn’t like very much.
Greg Iles is another author who struck out with me this year. The Devil’s Punchbowl might make a good movie, but as a novel it just didn’t grab me.