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Jen, you must have also read some stellar reads this year. I thought Queen of the Night and the Nest were pretty solid threes. Somewhere between Standout and Ugh.

I think I rates each at 3 but I had high hopes for them (especially Queen of the Night) so they were my biggest let downs.

I prefer to forget about the worst books and never keep a list.

Jennifer P. wrote: "Queen of the Night. So looking forward to it and just didn't love it. Way longer than necessary.

Also The Alchemist, Modern Lovers (ugh), and The Nest."

The Alchemist - ugh! Didn't read Modern Lovers and I was so-so about The Nest

If you were so so about The Nest don't read Modern Lovers. Even worse. Brooklyn hipsters at their worst!

I really disliked The Art Forger. Could not sympathise with the protagonist or believe the contrived suspense of the plot.

I thought Frankenstein, The Turn of the Screw and Slade House were surprisingly tedious. I'd expected to enjoy them more.

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe and Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd convinced me to not continue with either series. Probably.

Jgrace wrote: "I really disliked The Art Forger. Could not sympathise with the protagonist of believe the contrived suspense of the plot.

I thought Frankenstein, [book:The Turn of th..."

Glad to hear I wasn't the only one who didn't like Frankenstein as much as I had expected to.

I'm going to wait until Jan. 1 to post my top 10 (though I suspect it's already decided... but just to be sure!), but I thought I'd post my worst for the year. I don't think anything will "top" it!

Master and Commander / Patrick O'Brien. 1.5 stars

Dishonourable mentions (2 stars) go to:
Rules of Civility / Amor Towles
The Secret Adversary / Agatha Christie
A Walking Tour of the Shambles / Neil Gaiman

Tracy wrote: "My worst of this year is, hands down, Rabbit, Run by Updike. It's too bad his wonderful prose is written by such a woman hater."

There has been a lot of comments recently about Updike being a misogynist. I agree that Harry Angstrom is one of the most despicable, amoral, and irresponsible characters I've ever read in literature, but I never projected any of Rabbit's attitudes and beliefs onto Updike. I've read the entire Rabbit series and always saw Rabbit as representative of the 'common' young adult male circa the 50's thru the 90's (i.e., Don Draper from Mad Men). I always shake my head at how selfish Rabbit is and the wake of destruction he always leaves in his path as a result. I never got the sense that Updike thought of Harry as a hero but rather just a character he used to chronical the general moral decay of 'man' in the last part of 20th century.

The question I ask myself is whether Updike's ability to create such an awful character is the result of him writing what he believed or his ability as an author to develop the essence of a character. Given Updike's personal history and his generation, my sense is that the answer probably falls somewhere in the middle.

For the record, anyone that I've ever suggested Rabbit Run to has hated it and always wondered how I could like it. I've always just said that I loved the book not the character.

The only book that I did not finish this year was Commonwealth by Ann Patchett.

Charlie wrote: "Tracy wrote: "My worst of this year is, hands down, Rabbit, Run by Updike. It's too bad his wonderful prose is written by such a woman hater."

There has been a lot of comments recently about Updik..."
If you google John Updike misogynist, you get a plethora of articles describing his problems with women, and writing them as characters. I did research all of this as I was reading the book- I'm really not a manhating feminazi! The Witches of Eastwick is also a problem for me, and that was Updike's attempt to write feminist.

Most of my 2 and 3 star reads this year were just for OK or Meh reads, not real dislike.

The two 2 star reads I will mention are:

So Much for That Winter by Danish writer Dorthe Nors
This book included 2 novellas written in experimental formats. The first a series of headlines; the second a series of lists. The stories were depressing and the format did not help.

Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters - Annie Choi
Choi recounts her life in a series of essays about herself and her Korean family. Mostly I found them awkward. There were funny situations but often with someone as the butt of the story. She includes situations that she had trouble getting through, such as spelling bees, family dinners, visits with family and friends in Korea; each with a bit of humor, but I did not always find myself sympathizing with the author. She often came across as whiny or bratty and she acknowledges that she was a brat and spoiled. Some of the Korean-American miss-communication seemed cliche.
Many reviewers thought this book funny. I did not. I learned a few things about Korean culture that were worth while and saved it from being a total waste of time.

Tracy wrote: "Charlie wrote: "Tracy wrote: "My worst of this year is, hands down, Rabbit, Run by Updike. It's too bad his wonderful prose is written by such a woman hater."

There has been a lot of comments rece..."

Yes, I also googled Updike based on some of the earlier comments and saw the same articles. I'm not defending him (just his book) and I did not interpret your comments as being worthy of a manhating femanazi tag.

David Foster Wallace referred to Updike as 'a penis with a thesaurus' while he and Joyce Carol Oates were supposedly 'long term friends.'

Updike is polarizing for sure.

Linda C wrote: "So Much for That Winter by Danish writer Dorthe Nors
This book included 2 novellas written in experimental formats. The first a series of headlines; the second a series of lists. The stories were depressing and the format did not help."

I just read an article by Nors that mentions her book and put it on my wish list...I think I will hold off.

Marina wrote: "The books I really hated this year, without even needing to look at my 2016 reading list, are two:"

OMG, Marina! I thought I was the only one that didn't like Franny and Zooey! I got blasted because this was a favorite of so many people. I couldn't even finish it. So that makes it one of my worst books - one that most people liked.

The other was The Coffins of Little Hope. I didn't finish this one either - just didn't do it for me.

Blueberry wrote: "My first two dislikes were left unfinished.
The Lacuna
The Shipping News
The Gap of Time 1 star"

I didn't like The Shipping News when I read it either. I kept plugging away at it but it just didn't do it for me. However, I did like Lacuna but can understand why other might not.

Barbara wrote: "Marina wrote: "The books I really hated this year, without even needing to look at my 2016 reading list, are two:"

OMG, Marina! I thought I was the only one that didn't like Franny and Zooey"

Good to know I'm not the only one, Barbara. As you say, Franny and Zooey is on so many "favorites" lists! It was actually recommended to me by a friend who said it was a great book. I actually gave it 2 stars, as there are worst books out there, but I didn't like it at all.

LibraryCin wrote: "I'm going to wait until Jan. 1 to post my top 10 (though I suspect it's already decided... but just to be sure!), but I thought I'd post my worst for the year. I don't think anything will "top" it!..."

Oops, not the worst, but I missed one of my dishonourable mentions (2 stars):
Faces in the Crowd / Valeria Luiselli

I was really disappointed with Carry On, which was sad cause it seemed like a lot of people liked it, though I didn't like Fangirl either, so maybe Rainbow Rowell just isn't for me.

I was also pretty let down by Three Dark Crowns because instead of epic Hunger Games-esq fighting, it was just a lot of love triangles and personal woes, which was not what I was there for. :|

My absolute worst book was McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories, which I slogged through for the Winter Scavenger Hunt (ugly cover). I did win a poster, so I can forgive, but it took me more than a month to read!!

There were quite a few that I didn't finish -- didn't catch my fancy and I needed certain criteria for the a challenge. The two that come to mind are: The Rehearsal and The Invisible Mile. I also tried several times to read Rose Daughter--- it was chosen for me from my TBR.

Lastly, and here come the boos...... I finally tried to read Gone with the Wind. This is a book many have raved about and I expected to love --- historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. I am still sitting at 35% for the last 3 months.

JoLene wrote: "Lastly, and here come the boos...... I finally tried to read Gone with the Wind. This is a book many have raved about and I expected to love --- historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. I am still sitting at 35% for the last 3 months. ..."

I won't boo, because we can't all love the same things, but I'm sad you don't like it as it is one of my all time favorite books. But it is very long and if you don't like it put is aside.

Too many books, too little time