7 Books I Wish I Had Not Wasted My Time Reading ...

I have the opinion that a night IN with a good book is always better than a night OUT in a bad company. However, some books really made me re-think that decision. Now, I’m not saying I won’t read a book again, I love books. But, if you ever experience a similar dilemma just make sure the book you are planning on reading is not one of these 7:

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The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Man! I still can’t forgive my high-school teacher for making us all read this! If you have never read it, my honest advice would be to keep resisting the urge. In fact, here, I’ll re-write the whole book for you here: The man really wants to catch the huge fish, he befriends a boy, the man goes fishing and finally catches the fish, the sharks eat the damn fish and the old man is left empty hands, the old man is dying, the boy comes to visit, blah, blah, blah, rather pedophilic conversation, the old man dies. That’s it. And, no, I’m no joking.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

This book (or books, because my version had two of them) are a very useful thing to have around the house. If you need to grab something from the top shelf and you are not tall enough, just use them as a stool. If you need to drop a few pounds, use them as weights in your fitness routine. If you are afraid of an attacker, no need for pepper spray, just keep one of these in your bag and hit the bastard straight in the head. Use these however you see fit just do not and I repeat, DO NOT, read them!

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I love Bronte sisters and, when I’ve seen this one in my friend’s bookshelf, I had no doubts whether to borrow it or not. Now I can the three days spent reading it were the most boring three days in my entire life. Critics would say this book is a very dramatic, picturesque piece that reveals all those negative human behaviors and emotions and demonstrates how far is a person willing to go just to have its revenge. For me, this was nothing but a Latino telenovela. You know, it starts with a poor orphan nobody likes, the orphan turns out to be the child of a rich man, blah, blah, blah, forced marriage, fight for money, everybody ends up being miserable. If you want to wake up your suicidal side, definitely read it. If not, skip it!

Veronica Decides to Die by Paolo Coelho

I loved “The Alchemist” and “11 Minutes” so I’m not embarrassed to say that I had high hopes when I decided to read “Veronica Decides to Die.” Honestly, I have enough troubled, selfish teens around me and I really didn’t want to spend 3 hours of a perfectly good day reading about one.

Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell

The book is nothing like the TV show! I know it’s the corner stone of it so I wouldn’t feel good bashing it too much. I’ll just say this – if you need something to keep you busy in the evenings, get a DVD and watch all the episodes again. It’s much funnier and you won’t have neck pains.

Famous Quotes

Happiness depends upon ourselves.

Aristotle

Mort by Terry Pratchett

I love fantasy novels and I’ve really enjoyed both “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings." However, when it comes to Pratchett I just have give him thumbs down! The plot is quite weird, not as nearly as complex as the one from the two book series I mentioned above, plus, some parts of this “book” look like a simplified version of both of them. Lame.

Mars and Venus in the Bedroom by John Gray

It’s a great insomnia treatment but not as nearly helpful when it comes to sex life. I thought it will help me understand men better but I had been half though the book when I realized I haven’t read anything I already don’t know. Now, either I’m too smart or this book is just all about rewriting the old news for commercial purposes. My bet goes on the latter.

And, yes, I am being a boring, constantly criticizing pain in the neck but everything that has been made available to the public is subject to criticism. And that goes for this post too so, if you think I’ve been too harsh do tell. And tell me – have you wasted your time reading a bad book lately? And, please, give me a fair warning – what was it?

Top Photo Credit: Ben+Sam

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Where Thoughts and Opinions Converge

Finally someone shares my dislike for Wuthering Heights! I found it so difficult to keep up with what was happening.

I warn you, nothing you have ever read will compare to this one. I tried for 3 years of highschool to drag myself through this book. 876 pages of boring, dull, tedious, monotonous and every other book insult you can think of stuffed in one dust jacket. I speak, ladies and gentlemen, of "The Mists of Avalon" -crosses self and spits- ***I warn you, those that take it upon themselves to read this book may be at risk of losing their will to read for WEEKS if they become determined to finish the book and not let it beat them.

I totally differ on you about Veronica decides to die... I love Paulo Coelho and I think is a great book and it is all about the attitude you put to reading the book... I truly believe is quite inspiring to stand up and be original...

Hi ladies, thanks for the comments, I'm really glad to see some feedback and no worries, Buttercup, I appreciate yours and the opinions of all of the other ladies very much. It took me a lot of courage to write this post because I knew people would disagree:) I was definitely too harsh when it comes to my first lines- call me strange, but I really don't like these books. I guess that made my post sound more "bossy" than I've planned :) I love to hear (or, in this case, read) an honest opinion and I'm glad there is so many of you ready to speak up! Many hugs to all of you and feel free to comment on everything you want- good or bad, doesn't matter:)

"Just make sure the book you are planning on reading is not one of these 7" ? You're kidding, right? I know plenty of people who would totally disagree with your rather harsh opinion on these books. Not to be rude or anything, but these are you own personal and private thoughts, and I believe that just because you think they're horrible doesn't mean that anyone else doesn't have the right to enjoy them, or at least, try and read them. You can't just assume that if you didn't like these books, no one else will. Just as an example, "Wuthering Heights" is my fav book, and I think I must have read it at least five times. So, you can easily understand why I took this article rather personally. People have different tastes in everything and that's ok, as long as we don't start giving orders about what you should or shouldn't do. I really need to stop writing this comment, I think I expanded waay more than I needed to. I also hope I didn't offend you in any way, it's only my opinion on what you wrote:)

I must say I completly dissent. 1. The Old Man And the Sea: I actually think it's a great book. I almost cried when I first read it. 2. Anna Karenina is my one of my favorite books and I read it at least 6 times. 3. I can't help myself; I take it rather personally... I can't simply read an insult to my favorite writer. As a matter of fact, this book woke up my romantic, not suicidal side. I do not wish to share my opinion on the other books, but for the end I'll just say: art is subjective.

I can't really think of a book that I have wasted my time reading. I usually research the book a bit and see if it's something I like before I even get it. If the first 2 chapters do not grab my attention, then I will stop reading it. Unfortunately, some of the books you have mentioned are my favorite, but I still found this post interesting. lol. I'm glad you didn't put Twilight on this list ...

No way! Wuthering heights and Anna Karenina are two of the best books I ever read, and I am a lit nerd. It's totally cool if you didn't like these book, there are many great books I didn't like. I am simply surprised because I liked them so much.

You insulted the Old Man and the Sea -Throws down gauntlet- You, me, pistols at dawn.

Anna Karenina, Wuthering Heights and TOMatS are all brilliant.

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