Have you ever read the reviews or blurb of a book, thought it a safe bet that you'd enjoy..then struggle to get past the first chapter?

Post your most underwhelming literary experiences here. :D

I am a big fan of Tom Clancy....well at least I thought I was until I started reading the first Op Centre book....gosh how droll....

I still enjoy the Jack Ryan collection but will forever stay clear of Op Centre! :wacko:

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I thought this had a really interesting premis and although I finished the book, I wish I never even started it - what a load of old sentimental tosh.

Most books that I have bought have proved at the very least a satisfactory read. Not sure if I ever had a "stinker" at all. The book I'm reading at the moment - Pete McCarthy's "Road To McCarthy" was promoted on the cover as "...Bill Bryson without the boring bits....." well, it's not.....but he has a strangely similar style of writing to Bill Bryson......

I have no such luck when it comes to the purchase of special offer dvd's - it can sometimes be a hit and miss affair, though I'm hoping I've now learnt my lesson...

I cannot leave without warning fellow members of the forum to avoid at all costs the following movies.....

Primal Species - according to the cover "Put "Aliens" & "Jurassic Park" in a blender and this is what you get....." lol. What I think they meant was "Put a group of struggling actor's (it becomes plainly obvious why they are struggling.....) and Fraggle Rock in a blender and this is what you get...."

Ghost Ship - according to cover "...it will scare you shipless..." (i'm a sucker for such taglines....) begins rather promisingly, and somewhat ghoulishly, and then that's that......and then I'm left thinking that the £5.99 would have been better spent on a box of Cadbury's Milk Tray.....

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I thought this had a really interesting premis and although I finished the book, I wish I never even started it - what a load of old sentimental tosh.
I agree, I put off reading this for quite a while, and I have recently read it after it being recommended by not only you guys, but my one of my closest friends, she said that it was right up me street and felt it was "written for me".......

I was SO disappointed, I didnt shed a tear and I dont feel that I gained anything from it, I felt that the book had a very abrupt ending - and was quite put out by it................yet I sobbed my heart out when I read The Beach and found that I was "bothered about it" for some time afterwards, even now, I find it all a bit dark and depressing....weird!

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I thought this had a really interesting premis and although I finished the book, I wish I never even started it - what a load of old sentimental tosh.

Yes me too, I thought this book was a load of mawkish twaddle and didn't live up to the hype at all. I was also disappointed by 'The Mystrious Incident of the dog in the Night-time' by Mark Haddon, I found it very very boring.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I thought this had a really interesting premis and although I finished the book, I wish I never even started it - what a load of old sentimental tosh.


I agree with you I was expecting it to be really good and was so dissappointed it seemed to go on for ages about not very much.

The Lovely Bones was an online book club book. I remember ordering it from the library, I remember collecting it and I remember reading it but I don't remember finishing it .... I probably did as it was quite an "easy" read but it made very little impact on me.


I'm a big fan of "classic" poncy books, but can I finish Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf? Nope! can't get past the first twenty pages and yet the blurb for it sounds completely captivating.

I'm a big fan of "classic" poncy books, but can I finish Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf? Nope! can't get past the first twenty pages and yet the blurb for it sounds completely captivating.

I love Mrs Dalloway Dol, it's a great book. A lot of it is 'stream of consciousness' so I just read it as if I'm rambling in my head! It works for me ;)

Dan Brown's the Davinci Code. Yes, it was easy to read. Yes, the symbolism and secret societies stuff was diverting. But good literature it wasn't! I found it clumsy and clunky. At times I found myself wondering why I was bothering to read it. The "twist" was obvious from very early on. And finally, Teabing is a very silly name. ;)

I can't fathom why this book has had such an impact, and why people take it as "gospel" (pun not intended) - especially when many of the "facts" stated by Dan Brown in the preface have been shown to be untrue.

Dan Brown's the Davinci Code. Yes, it was easy to read. Yes, the symbolism and secret societies stuff was diverting. But good literature it wasn't! I found it clumsy and clunky. At times I found myself wondering why I was bothering to read it. The "twist" was obvious from very early on. And finally, Teabing is a very silly name. ;)

I can't fathom why this book has had such an impact, and why people take it as "gospel" (pun not intended) - especially when many of the "facts" stated by Dan Brown in the preface have been shown to be untrue.

I read the Da Vinci Code and though the subject matter wasnt a surprise, having read The Holy Blood and Holy Grail, the appalling way it was written was. Clumsy and clunky is being kind I think Rothera, it was sloppy to say the least and if the subject matter wasnt so interesting I doubt it would have made the top 100 bestsellers list.
Incidentally, the author had a scrap with the authors of The Holy Blood & The Holy Grail, because he nicked all their work and put it into a "thriller" without sharing the profits or even acknowledging them; one of the irate authors is called Leigh Baigent and the guy in the Da Vinci Code is called Leigh Teabing (Teabing is Baigent just rearranged). Naughty Mr Brown.

I agree - I can't see what all the fuss is about. I've read about 6 pages of the Da Vinci code and then gave up because the guy's style infuriated me so much.

A friend of mine said much the same thing - she called it Mills and Boon for the male commuter :laugh:

I loved the Da Vinci code because it was a fast and exciting read. The subject matter was interesting but most of all because of the society of Da Vinci code readers it gave birth too. I had great chats with friends about this book and it opened up art and religion and cults and countries etc to a different audience.

I read the Da Vinci Code and though the subject matter wasnt a surprise, having read The Holy Blood and Holy Grail, the appalling way it was written was. Clumsy and clunky is being kind I think Rothera, it was sloppy to say the least and if the subject matter wasnt so interesting I doubt it would have made the top 100 bestsellers list.
Incidentally, the author had a scrap with the authors of The Holy Blood & The Holy Grail, because he nicked all their work and put it into a "thriller" without sharing the profits or even acknowledging them; one of the irate authors is called Leigh Baigent and the guy in the Da Vinci Code is called Leigh Teabing (Teabing is Baigent just rearranged). Naughty Mr Brown.

Clumsy, clunky and sloppy...a bit like sex really (or is that just me :( )

And to prove I'm a real sucker for punishment, I've even read his first novel, Angels and Demons, and it's even worse!

Still, I'm reading Juliet E. McKenna's The Swordsman's Oath (The Second Tale of Einarinn) which I'm enjoying more every day. This Tale of Einarinn series of books was recommended to me at a book store, since I'm already a huge fan of Robin Hobb, who wrote a marvellous series of books called the Farseer Trilogy and the Tawny Man Trilogy. Both series by McKenna and Hobb are real fantasy books, but like all good authors, they know how to write a damn good story where you care about the characters and wished they could be written about for years to come.

I'm already a huge fan of Robin Hobb, who wrote a marvellous series of books called the Farseer Trilogy and the Tawny Man Trilogy.
I enjoyed the Farseer Trilogy, but I absolutely adored the Tawny Man Trilogy. The relationship between Fitz and Fool was brilliantly written, and the characters in the books were believable.

I have also read Robin Hobb's Liveship Trilogy and I have to say I didn't enjoy it as much. The book was chock full of interesting ideas (and a cameo from the Fool!), but I think some of the characters let it down - especially Malta who had a personality transplant half way through the series! Saying that, Paragon the liveship was a brilliant character, and the books were worth reading just for him.