For me, the most recent book regret is Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. Predictable from the get-go, bland, boilerplate sci-fi ideas, too many of these way-too-convenient plot devices just to push the story forward. I frankly don’t get the hype, and I am a pretty big science fiction guy.

Another one is Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. I read this in college and this whole book should have been a one-page essay. It was too repetitive, and the whole premise of “trust in your snap judgments and gut reactions” is way too simplistic and honestly stupid. Like all Gladwell books, it was anecdotal, superficial, and a waste of time.

  • Raff57@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I don’t regret reading any book. I’ll try most anything. I may not finish some, but “regret” never enters the equation.

    I see every book as a learning opportunity. Will I or will I not revisit this author and his / her works.?

  • uselessoldguy@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Ready Player One.

    I still actively resent the editor who asked me to read it for a feature that would coincide with the film’s release.

  • Reader_0791@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Untamed by Glennon Doyle. I tried to like it, to glean the “female empowerment” messages she was trying to get across, but I found her grating and annoying. I couldn’t finish it, so I don’t recall many details, but I do remember thinking that she is someone I would not like in person.

  • finniruse@alien.topBEnglish
    0·
    10 months ago

    The Shipping News - Annie Proulx

    Now, I’m only around 2/3 of the way through, but daaaaamn is it boring. My god. Don’t give a shit about any of the characters and I’m having to force my way through it. The grammar style I respect for doing something different, but it’s also a chore.

    It’s a Pulitzer Prize winner. I read this immediately after Lonesome Dove, another PP winner. One I couldn’t put down and the other I want to throw away.

    Did anyone else like this book and why?