For me it was just about every book I had to read in high school.

They were as follows;

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
All My Sons by Arthur Miller
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Macbeth by Bill Shakespeare ( yes I said "Bill")
A book with some guy named "Billy Buck" in it by a guy I can't remember.

If I remember other ones I'll list them. These books did more to discourage me from reading than anything else. If I hadn't read any of these maybe I'd be a more advid reader today.

But it wasn't a total loss. If I hadn't been bored out of my skull by this mind numbing dreck I wouldn't have discovered comic books or Japanese anime.

Mayor of Castorbridge by Thomas Hardy
The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (I'll probably get crucified for that one - sorry Chuck ol' chap)
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

What didn't you like about Macbeth, Captain Harlock?

It just seemed to drone on and on and on. All the while I kept saying "C'mon!! Get to the point already!!" Remember, I had to read it when I was 15 years old. Looking back now......I still don't like it.

Wow - I liked Death of a Salesman...

I know what you mean about being disillusioned about reading after having to slog through a lot of the "literature" requirements in high school and college. I did love Lord of the Flies and Catcher in the Rye, though.

A book that I recently regretted reading (and buying the hardback version of) is A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons. It's the sequel to Summer of Night which is great novel, similar to Boy's Life by Robert McCammon or Stephen King's IT. A Winter Haunting is terrible in comparison, though. It's depressing, dull, and totally unrealistic.

The first three "Sword of Truth" novels. Just horribly bad prose.

The Catcher in the Rye
Portnoy's Complaint
Closing Time (horrible sequel to Catch 22, which is one of the greatest books I have ever read)
The Sun Also Rises

Tess of the D'Urbevilles by Thomas Hardy I believe.

~Scheherazade

Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold! - Terry Brooks
I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit I actually read this, I obviously should have known better from the title. It's rare that a book makes me mad with its stupidity - this one did. Just my opinion, of course.

John Steinbeck's books, except for Cannery Row - and thats a close one - all were most unimpressive.

Also, Tess of the D'Urbevilles, A Seperate Peace, and Titus Andronicus. Although Titus was pretty nasty when it came to baking that woman's kids and serving them to her.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

I totally have to agree with this one. This is by far the worst book I've ever read. Add to that Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

Roger Zelazny's "Nine Princes of Chaos"

Ew, ew, ew, and ew.

I don't think I've ever been sorry to have read a book. When I was a kid I voraciously devoured ever book I found. I've certainly read at least a thousand books. Actually the number is probably a lot higher, as I used to read around a book a day. (Yes, I do know there's such a thing as too much of a good thing.) I also certainly read some really horrible books, but usually even a complete piece of crap will have something worthwhile in it.

It probably helps that I'm a fairly fast reader, so even the worst book only eats up a few hours of my time.

(I've also read Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold, although I don't think I would have ever thought of it again if I hadn't read this thread.)

<small></small>Me too - but slowed down a lot as an adult.

I was particularly sorry to have read a Piers Anthony Xanth book, although people speak highly of some of the guy's other work.

LORD OF THE RINGS—Good god man, why does everyone like this drivel?

&nbsp

Do you like have a photographic memory or what?

The early Xanth books were not that bad. The man's work suffers from a combination of egomania and this obsession with wacking lifeless equines. Back when I was a fan I actually got his newsletter, it was full of self absorbed diatribes and attacks on hiscritics' intelligence and moral fiber.

After awhile the Xanth series degenerated into a dull punfilled craporama.

I think it was called "Lost Souls" and was by Poppy Z. Brite. I was 10 or 11 and the whole hardcore homosexual thing was a bit disturbing to me then so i didn't enjoy the book one bit, but i read it anyways.

Black Dawn by some guy was just about the bigget pile of crap ever. I shoulda known better then to buy this as it a) had one of those covers with the cut out and a picture underneath and b) the author's "credits" were like a bunch of Buffy novels or something. It sucked real bad.

The Swordbearer by Glen Cook. Terrible rip off of Moorcock's Elric saga.

American Psycho terrible, repetitive, and exploitive book with some interesting themes hidden in the subtext. The movie managed to pare things down, and was great.

It wasn't until about the third Stephen King novel that I realized I was wasting my time and regretted it.

"The Rum Diary" by Hunter S. Thompson
I may have been in a mood at the time or something, but it bored me greatly and I quit about 4/5 of the way through. I felt that I might regret the time wasted on finishing it.

I wouldn't say I regretted reading anything- but I certainly did not enjoy reading Foucaults Pendulum by Umberto Eco. It had its moments, but overall it was a waste of a month (It is Slooooow reading).

The Fourth Hand by John Irving. I love Irving, but this book just read like he had churned it out to fulfill an obligation. That is, of course, mere supposition on my part. But the book was *really* terribly bad.

Definitely The Hobbit. Most. Boring. Book. Ever.

And I'm not trying to start a flame war or anything. I really think it was such a waste of time to read that.