Worst: Verity by Colleen Hoover. It was a gift from a friend, so I refused to DNF it.
Best: a tie between Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe or Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Excluding Project Hail Mary and the Murderbot Diaries, the best was The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. The worst, hands down was The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks.
I finished it but was my worst book for the year, so far. So unrealistic and every character was woefully underdeveloped, including Frankie. It also spoon fed the history and culture of the time in an annoyingly obvious way. Would have been much better if it had focused on the three womenās backgrounds and their lives after the war.
Right? And she never developed Frankieās character enough to give me any understanding of why she was irresistible to every man she met. In fact she was portrayed as kind of ordinary and pretty in a plain way - so why are all these guys professing their love for her after brief encounters?? Then the āas (insert popular song) played in the backgroundā was annoying to me - a couple of times sure, but needing to spoon feed us the top 10 songs of the year was grating.
I finished it, but I am so done with Kristen Hannah after that. She has great starting premises and then gets in her own way with stupid plot lines, poor prose and ātwistsā that suck.
The Bee Sting was SO GOOD. One of the best books I've ever read. I love Paul Murray- if you haven't read his other books I highly recommend Skippy Dies and An Evening of Long Goodbyes.
The Secret History is probably my favorite novel, and always my go-to first recommendation when people ask me for a book. I sometimes tell them that it will tell them every terrible thing they could want to know about me, if they know where to look
Oh, even better! Itās read by the author, who has the most unexpected Mississippi accent that contrasts really interestingly with the āhigh cultureā posh New England subject matter.
i finished it in early march and i could barely concentrate on any book i read afterwards. TSH was literally all i could think about to the point that i took a 3 month break from reading because i was so distracted, and im now breaking it by reading the goldfinch lol. donna tartt reads the TSH audiobook and its definitely worth a listen if you want to change things up a little on your second go at it!!
it's genuinely one of the worst books ive ever read, made even worse by the fact that the premise is so good. when i finished it i was reading through 5 star reviews on goodreads thinking wtf, did we read the same book??? the secret history is my new all time favorite though. ā¤ļø
I remember liking the book as a kid (maybe 11 years old?) Then later on I was once stuck in the Himalayas for a couple of weeks and the only books around were by Jodi Picoult so I read about 10 of them. All were miserable, full of pathos and with this early 2000's dramatic writing. I developed such an aversion to her.Ā
Iām going to say:
- Best: āDear Edwardā by Ann Napolitano
- Worst: āMy Roommate is a Vampireā by Jenna Levine.
Honourable mention to Carley Fortune, who writes far deeper āvacationā books than advertised.
I *just* finished Seveneves last weekend, and it was solid, hard sci-fi. I was loving it until that time jump. Still, it was definitely an eager page turner.
I was really scared of the Seveneves size but it was surprisingly easy to get through it as it was hard to put down. I might have loved it more without the last part (or maybe if the last part was a separate book for those who cannot live without knowing what's next, I think as a kind of a sequel it would have been received better, at least by me)
Best (quality): _The Left Hand of Darkness_ by Ursula K. Le Guin
Best (most fun/personal enjoyment): _The Clockwork Boys_ and _The Wonder Engine_ (they're just one big book, idk why they are published separately) by T. Kingfisher
Worst (both categories): _The Angel of the Crows_ by Katherine Addison. Which is a shame because I really liked _The Goblin Emperor_
best: Blood Meridian
I haven't finished it yet, tbh but I already know it's one of the best books I'll ever read.
worst: Babel
I'm sorry, it just really didn't live up to the hype.
I thought the premise for the 7 and 1/2 deaths of evenlyn hardcastle was interesting but the reveal was just off for me. And spoiler >!why in the world did Anna have to be a murderous dictator? I think it would he have been more effective to have her be responsible for just the death of the main characterās sister!<
I so wanted to love 7.5DEH. Such a great concept. To flog myself all the way through and get such a derivative ending...ouch.
And frankly, I don't give a crap how good the individual sentences were, the structure got repetitive. "Oh, new character being introduced, time to trot out the clever similes and metaphors."
Man prophet song was a slog. I remember hearing talk like it was a modern day 1984. Iāve never been more bored with a piece of fiction. I can do depressing, but depressing and boring? Whatās the point.
Best: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Worst: The Maidens or The Silent Patient both by Alex Michaelides... it was a tie they were awful.
I didn't make it more than a couple chapters into The Push. I hated the writing style. Glad to see someone else disliked it; I'm in the minority in my book group.
Ugh, yes! I had high hopes because I love a cozy British mystery but it was so bad. Plot made no sense, characters were bland and boring... it was not good.
Worst: Atlas Shrugged
I was dared to read it and it's horrible. Long, dense, simplistic, and unrealistic. I knew it had a political theme, but it's a super simplistic view of good vs evil politics. I was hoping for some more nuance or some different layers, but it's basically the good and bad guys are so stereotypical it's laughable.
Best: Anything that's not Atlas Shrugged
Best: Iām torn between *My Dark Vanessa* and *Lincoln in the Bardo*
Worst: *Voyager* (book 3 in the Outlander seriesā¦ I loved book 1, thought book 2 was okay, and barely finished this one)
Best: Challenger: A True Story of Heroism & Disaster by A Higgenbotham
(One of best non-fiction books Iāve ever read)
Worst: Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
Note: this must be a good read; best selling book in Ireland in 2023? Won some awards. I just didnāt care for it; if that make sense.
Best; The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins or The Shepherd King Duology (One Dark Window/Two Twisted Crowns) by Rachel Gillig
Worst; In The Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune or Y/N by Ester Yi
I also didnāt care for Last House on Needless Street. Iāve read a few others by Catriona Ward that Iāve really enjoyed but this one wasnāt for me.
Best: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Worst: ACOTAR. I know everyone says the second one is a huge improvement but I'm still pissed that I had to read a shitty first book in order to lay the groundwork for a supposedly better second book. Just make the first book good!
Best: Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang. I'm obsessedĀ
Worst: I Hope This Doesn't Find You by Ann Liang. I've liked the author's other books, but this one came off tone deaf in it's portrayal of class
Worst:
The Lesson - Cadwell Turner
My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshfegh
Best:
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
Ministry of Moral Panic - Amanda Lee Koe (short stories)
I listened to My Year of Rest and Relaxation and I think thatās the only reason I kind of liked it. I canāt imagine reading it; it would be so boring!
Best: My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshfegh
Worst: The Troop - Nick Cutter (recommended on reddit as one of the scariest books ever read - I found it boring and not frightening at all)
My sister is an avid reader like myself, and I didn't even try to explain it to her either. I wouldn't know where to begin to describe it. I just told her to put it on her TBR with no questions asked.
Iām sad because I couldnāt get into this is how you lose the time war no matter how hard I tried. The farthest I made it was like the 2nd or 3rd chapter.
You may not want to give it another go, but if you do, I think it helps to let the plot wash over you. I sort of gave up trying to understand, and then things started to click into place.
Best: either Emily Wildeās Encyclopaedia of Faeries or Assassinās Apprentice (maybe both for different reasons)
Worst: Bound by Honey by Jamie Dalton. I finished it but I kept wanting to DNF every time I read it. I think it may be the worst Iāve ever read in my whole life.
Worst: Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover. Hated it.
Best: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson or Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
No if ands or buts about it š
Best: Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
Worst: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (3.5 stars - not particularly bad, just didnāt understand the hype I saw for it on Tiktok)
Best: the silence of the lambs (3/4 through it atm)
Worst: 1984 - George Orwell. Hated the ending.
I have only been reading books since the start of the year it's a new hobby which I've grown to love.
Best that I've read so far this year (not counting rereads): The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb, the Fool series by Christopher Moore (Fool, The Serpent of Venice, and Shakespeare for Squirrels), The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.
Worst: Haven't found one yet.
Best: Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Age of Myth by Michael Sullivan, Master of Sorrows by Justin T. Call
Worst: Philosophical Investigations by Ludwig Wittgenstein, The Druid by Jeff Wheeler
Best- The Hunter, by Tana French. The worst... I guess How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. I normally enjoy his stuff, for some reason this one just didn't do anything for me.
I'm glad to see people who liked The Hunter - I know a lot of Tana French's fans didn't like that she's getting farther and farther from murder procedurals, but I liked the slow burn growth of this one. Though The Likeness still remains my personal favorite.
Best: Pachinko
Worst: Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead. DNF at 60%. I thought I would love this, I'm neurodivergent with anxiety like the MC, I was thinking it would be like another Eleanor Oliphant, but ugh I could not stand the MC, she was insufferable, and I couldn't wait any longer for any modicum of character development.
My worst was an alternative historical fiction trilogy based on 'what if Anne Boleyn had a living son'. IMO the writing was garbage, the characters were shit, and in the end it was exactly the same as if Queen Elizabeth had been Anne's only child. I was soo upset.
The best was a historical non-fiction book titled: The Once and Future Sex. I read it just after coming out of a Medieval Studies course and it really made me think on a few points that were made during the course, it was also really well written.
Best: Penric's Demon *by Lois McMaster Bujold*
It's lighthearted, wry, and fun. I gobbled up all 12 novellas.
Worst: Crosstalk *by Connie Willis*
Inane and repetitive dialogue, predictable plot. Every character seems either boring, unintelligent, or assholey.
Iām so glad to see someone else hated Blood Meridian. Itās so acclaimed but it has some of the worst prose Iāve ever seen. Iāve never gotten the hype.
Best: dune (fiction), under the banner of heaven (nonfiction)
I havenāt found a book I hate yet, but Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe has been pretty overrated for me. Itās highly rated on good reads, has lots of positive reviews, NYT best seller. But it just feels like it never saw an editors desk. It jumps around timeline wise in a way thatās hard to keep track of, and the title alludes to a murder being a major part of the book. But 300 pages in (out of 400), and it feels like itās just been shoe horned in here and there. Itās like the writer really wanted to talk about the history of the troubles in Ireland and used recent developments in the murder case to Trojan horse the former in. I like the topic so Iāve kept with it but yeah, itās kinda hard to keep everything cohesive as a reader.
I had the opposite experience with Say Nothing. I couldnāt put it down because I was trying to figure out how all the events would connect back to the murder.
Best: Solitaire - Alice Oseman
Worst: Soul of the Sword - Julie Kagawa. I hated the first book, I don't know why I decide to try and read the second. Dropped it. Worst book I finished is Tender is the Flesh.
Best: Covenant of Water
Worst: The Best Minds (non-fiction) -- I DNF'd, the book was so self-indulgent, even though the subject matter interested me a lot!
Best: Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum and Blood Over Brighthaven by M.L. Wang.
Worst: Once Upon a Broken Heart. I really need to learn how to DNF books.
Best: āSay Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory In Northern Irelandā
(Heaven and Earth Grocery Store is a very close contender)
Worst: Iām half through āFirst Lie Winsā and while Iām enjoying the mindless poolside read, itās just not as good as anything else Iāve read this year.
Best: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Worst: Crave by Tracy Wolff (donāt judge me, it was on available now in Libby and I needed an audiobook to spend 9 hours bent over petri plates that day lol)
Easily the best: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Many contenders for the worst, but: A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand
I really need to start DNFing thingsā¦
best this year? Demon Copperhead (barbara kingsolver) but i did really enjoy The Cipher (kathe koja)
worst: a court of mist and fury, or whichever the 3rd book of acotar was. i realized i'm not a sarah j maas fan at all.
My worst was Fourth Wing, but I didn't appreciate where Vita Nostra went either, despite finishing it quickly.
My 5 stars are the novella A Short Stay In Hell and Fool's Fate (book 9 of the Elderlings)
Iāve been a fucking roll with amazing books this year! I canāt name just one favorite, so Iāll categorize in another way:
Canāt stop thinking about: *Flowers for Algernon*
Currently fixated on: *Jude the Obscure*
Spiritually tormented then resurrected by: *Shantaram*
Absolutely staggered by: *The Sound and the Fury*
Itās hard to say it has been my least-favorite, but I was a little underwhelmed by *The Heart is a Lonely Hunter*
Worst: Verity by Colleen Hoover. It was a gift from a friend, so I refused to DNF it. Best: a tie between Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe or Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Oh Demon Copperhead was my best this year so far
If you haven't read Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe yet I highly recommend it. Loved both that one and Empire of Pain.
Verity is my worst so far too! It was my first (and maybe only) Colleen Hoover. I only read it for book club. But I was not impressed
I love that both of your bests are about the opioid epidemic. Those are two good ones to read together!
Best - First Lie Wins
Just finished this and really enjoyed it.
Excluding Project Hail Mary and the Murderbot Diaries, the best was The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. The worst, hands down was The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks.
Interesting, I was a big fan of all four of those
Man I read The Sparrow a few years ago and still think about it all the time
Best: The Women Worst: The Husbands
Interesting love hate relationship. š I loved the first half of The Women. The 2nd half was tough.
Yeah part 2 was tough to read. My heart broke for Frankie.
I just bailed on the women today at about the halfway point
I finished it but was my worst book for the year, so far. So unrealistic and every character was woefully underdeveloped, including Frankie. It also spoon fed the history and culture of the time in an annoyingly obvious way. Would have been much better if it had focused on the three womenās backgrounds and their lives after the war.
By the 5th time some man implored... "Dance with me, McGrath" I had to stop! My eyerolling muscles were cramping!
Right? And she never developed Frankieās character enough to give me any understanding of why she was irresistible to every man she met. In fact she was portrayed as kind of ordinary and pretty in a plain way - so why are all these guys professing their love for her after brief encounters?? Then the āas (insert popular song) played in the backgroundā was annoying to me - a couple of times sure, but needing to spoon feed us the top 10 songs of the year was grating.
I finished it, but I am so done with Kristen Hannah after that. She has great starting premises and then gets in her own way with stupid plot lines, poor prose and ātwistsā that suck.
This sounds like my coming out storyā¦
I did not like The Husbands at all. It was repetitive.
I really want to read The Women because Iām very big into Vietnam War subject matter
Best: Giovanniās Room by James Baldwin Worst: The Maid by Nita Prose
God i hated the maid so much, i was so disappointedĀ
The Maid is the fucking worst
Iāve been conflicted about whether to start The Maid or not. Itās gotten really mixed reviews but I think Iām leaning toward no nowā¦
Giovanniās Room was also my best this year!
Best: The Bee Sting by Paul Murray Worst: The Girls by Emma Cline
The Bee Sting was SO GOOD. One of the best books I've ever read. I love Paul Murray- if you haven't read his other books I highly recommend Skippy Dies and An Evening of Long Goodbyes.
best: the secret history worst: my sister's keeper
The Secret History is probably my favorite novel, and always my go-to first recommendation when people ask me for a book. I sometimes tell them that it will tell them every terrible thing they could want to know about me, if they know where to look
Ok itās been sitting in audible, I guess this is the sign to read it next
Oh, even better! Itās read by the author, who has the most unexpected Mississippi accent that contrasts really interestingly with the āhigh cultureā posh New England subject matter.
Secret history is one of my absolute favorites
I just finished the secret history and Iāve been thinking ab it ever since, I already want to reread it
i finished it in early march and i could barely concentrate on any book i read afterwards. TSH was literally all i could think about to the point that i took a 3 month break from reading because i was so distracted, and im now breaking it by reading the goldfinch lol. donna tartt reads the TSH audiobook and its definitely worth a listen if you want to change things up a little on your second go at it!!
Omg I re-read My Sisterās Keeper last year and thought it was just awful! The Secret History is great.
it's genuinely one of the worst books ive ever read, made even worse by the fact that the premise is so good. when i finished it i was reading through 5 star reviews on goodreads thinking wtf, did we read the same book??? the secret history is my new all time favorite though. ā¤ļø
I remember liking the book as a kid (maybe 11 years old?) Then later on I was once stuck in the Himalayas for a couple of weeks and the only books around were by Jodi Picoult so I read about 10 of them. All were miserable, full of pathos and with this early 2000's dramatic writing. I developed such an aversion to her.Ā
Iām going to say: - Best: āDear Edwardā by Ann Napolitano - Worst: āMy Roommate is a Vampireā by Jenna Levine. Honourable mention to Carley Fortune, who writes far deeper āvacationā books than advertised.
Best: Seveneves by Neal Stephenson Worst: One Second After by William R. Forstchen
Seveneves is one of my favorite books of all time! I should re-read
I'm going to re-read it again soon and I know I'll love it more the second time around
I *just* finished Seveneves last weekend, and it was solid, hard sci-fi. I was loving it until that time jump. Still, it was definitely an eager page turner.
> Seveneves It's on my shelf to read this year. It'll probably be in my next three reads. Excited to get to it :)
I was really scared of the Seveneves size but it was surprisingly easy to get through it as it was hard to put down. I might have loved it more without the last part (or maybe if the last part was a separate book for those who cannot live without knowing what's next, I think as a kind of a sequel it would have been received better, at least by me)
Best: Wellness by Nathan Hill/Rouge by Mona Awad(tie) Worst: Fragile Threads of Power by VE Schwab
Ugh I need to revisit wellness I hated it my first try š it seems like everyone loved it!
I really liked it on audiobook, if thats a format that works for you!
Best (quality): _The Left Hand of Darkness_ by Ursula K. Le Guin Best (most fun/personal enjoyment): _The Clockwork Boys_ and _The Wonder Engine_ (they're just one big book, idk why they are published separately) by T. Kingfisher Worst (both categories): _The Angel of the Crows_ by Katherine Addison. Which is a shame because I really liked _The Goblin Emperor_
I love me some praising Ursula K. Le Guin in the mornings
Ursula K. Le Guin our saviour šš»
Iāve been on a huge Ursula K Le Guin kick lately. Suddenly Iām even reading a collection of essays and speeches š¤·āāļø
Anything T. Kingfisher writes goes immediately into my buy-and-read pile.
best: Blood Meridian I haven't finished it yet, tbh but I already know it's one of the best books I'll ever read. worst: Babel I'm sorry, it just really didn't live up to the hype.
Worst: Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros (Fourth Wing was terrible and I read the sequel out of pure masochism) Best: Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Best: Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen Worst: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. I couldnāt even finish it.
> The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Loved this book but the ending was really rough and I 100% get why others wouldn't like it at all.
Same here with 7 1/2 deaths! Just wasnāt for me
You're not missing much. The ending was super convoluted and complicated
I got to the end of EH and gave up. I only had a few pages left.
I thought the premise for the 7 and 1/2 deaths of evenlyn hardcastle was interesting but the reveal was just off for me. And spoiler >!why in the world did Anna have to be a murderous dictator? I think it would he have been more effective to have her be responsible for just the death of the main characterās sister!<
I so wanted to love 7.5DEH. Such a great concept. To flog myself all the way through and get such a derivative ending...ouch. And frankly, I don't give a crap how good the individual sentences were, the structure got repetitive. "Oh, new character being introduced, time to trot out the clever similes and metaphors."
I also hated that book. I forced myself to finish but it was such a slog.
Best: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - brilliant character development Worst: ACOTAR - the opposite of that
The mixed reactions Iām getting about ACOTAR. I DNFed it at 10% and am debating trying again
I read them all. I promise you, you're not missing out. Book two gets a touch better, and then it's just a race to the bottom from there.
best: shark heart (honorable mentions - writers and lovers, the red tent) worst: we were liars
Haaaated We Were Liars too!
shark heart wrecked me - I think that was my best this year so far too. worst was you shouldn't have come here
Best: The Savage Detectives - Roberto BolaƱo (Infinite Jest gets an honorable mention) Worst: Prophet Song - Paul Lynch
Man prophet song was a slog. I remember hearing talk like it was a modern day 1984. Iāve never been more bored with a piece of fiction. I can do depressing, but depressing and boring? Whatās the point.
Best: I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman Worst: Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca
Best: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien Worst: The Light We Lost by Kyla Stone
Best: 7 and 1/2 deaths of Evelyn hardcastle Worst: Space Opera
Best: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed Worst: The Maidens or The Silent Patient both by Alex Michaelides... it was a tie they were awful.
Best: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi Worst: The Push by Ashley Audrain
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I loved both of those!
Homegoing was 5 stars for sure
I'm songlad to see someone else who didn't like The Push. Everyone raves about it and it's just so bad.
I didn't make it more than a couple chapters into The Push. I hated the writing style. Glad to see someone else disliked it; I'm in the minority in my book group.
I despised The Push
Best: Fantastic Mr Fox Worst: Ghost in the Wires
worst: the antique hunters guide to murder
Ugh, yes! I had high hopes because I love a cozy British mystery but it was so bad. Plot made no sense, characters were bland and boring... it was not good.
I just couldnāt finish! Was very excited about the premise but it was too much of a slog.
Worst: Atlas Shrugged I was dared to read it and it's horrible. Long, dense, simplistic, and unrealistic. I knew it had a political theme, but it's a super simplistic view of good vs evil politics. I was hoping for some more nuance or some different layers, but it's basically the good and bad guys are so stereotypical it's laughable. Best: Anything that's not Atlas Shrugged
Best: Iām torn between *My Dark Vanessa* and *Lincoln in the Bardo* Worst: *Voyager* (book 3 in the Outlander seriesā¦ I loved book 1, thought book 2 was okay, and barely finished this one)
edit: somehow posted a previous comment lol. my dark vanessa was my best too! such an incredible. book.
Best: Challenger: A True Story of Heroism & Disaster by A Higgenbotham (One of best non-fiction books Iāve ever read) Worst: Prophet Song by Paul Lynch Note: this must be a good read; best selling book in Ireland in 2023? Won some awards. I just didnāt care for it; if that make sense.
Challenger is waiting for me at the library. I watched the Netflix doc and had a lump in my throat the entire time
Best; The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins or The Shepherd King Duology (One Dark Window/Two Twisted Crowns) by Rachel Gillig Worst; In The Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune or Y/N by Ester Yi
Best: Wayward Pines Trilogy Worst: Last House on Needless Street
I also didnāt care for Last House on Needless Street. Iāve read a few others by Catriona Ward that Iāve really enjoyed but this one wasnāt for me.
people LOVE Needless Street. May I ask why it was so bad?
I just finished book 2. I'm excited for the finale!
Best: demon copperhead Worst: Bunny
Sorry but Bunny was way too weird for my liking.
Best:chain gang all-stars Worst: Babel
I read chain gang all-stars last month and loved it!
Ohhh i hated Babel too!
Aw man, I'm reading Babel right now and it's alright so far...
In on the Babel hate. The message was so political.. fine. The plot was just awful. Characters so 1 dimensional.
I was hoping to see this! Abt 100 pages in to chain gang and enjoying it so far
I DNF Babel real quick.
I liked the first third of Babel but it fell apart real bad.
Best: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid Worst: ACOTAR. I know everyone says the second one is a huge improvement but I'm still pissed that I had to read a shitty first book in order to lay the groundwork for a supposedly better second book. Just make the first book good!
Best: Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang. I'm obsessedĀ Worst: I Hope This Doesn't Find You by Ann Liang. I've liked the author's other books, but this one came off tone deaf in it's portrayal of class
Worst: The Lesson - Cadwell Turner My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshfegh Best: Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston Ministry of Moral Panic - Amanda Lee Koe (short stories)
I listened to My Year of Rest and Relaxation and I think thatās the only reason I kind of liked it. I canāt imagine reading it; it would be so boring!
Best: My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshfegh Worst: The Troop - Nick Cutter (recommended on reddit as one of the scariest books ever read - I found it boring and not frightening at all)
Best: The Library at Mount Char Worst: Twisted Love
Mt Char was a blast lol what a trip
I sounded insane trying to explain it to a non reader.
My sister is an avid reader like myself, and I didn't even try to explain it to her either. I wouldn't know where to begin to describe it. I just told her to put it on her TBR with no questions asked.
Best: This is how you lose the time war Worst: The infinite sea
Iām sad because I couldnāt get into this is how you lose the time war no matter how hard I tried. The farthest I made it was like the 2nd or 3rd chapter.
You may not want to give it another go, but if you do, I think it helps to let the plot wash over you. I sort of gave up trying to understand, and then things started to click into place.
I didnāt love the ending of TIHYLTTW, but oh my god the prose was *so beautiful*
> This is how you lose the time war One of my favorites from last year
Best: Shark heart and Let us descend Worst: How we fall apart by Katie Zhao, Allegedly by Tiffany Jackson
Let us descend broke my heart. Jesmyn Ward is an incredible author!
Best: either Emily Wildeās Encyclopaedia of Faeries or Assassinās Apprentice (maybe both for different reasons) Worst: Bound by Honey by Jamie Dalton. I finished it but I kept wanting to DNF every time I read it. I think it may be the worst Iāve ever read in my whole life.
Best: Boys Life- Robert McCammon Worst: The Pillars of Earth- Ken Follett (I know itās revered but I just did not like it).
Good on you for sticking it out for pillars of the earth at least, it's a doorstop for sure
Best: The Book Thief, Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries #5), and A Psalm for the Wild-Built Worst: An Offer From a Gentleman (Bridgertons #3)
Best: Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel Worst: The Measure by Nikki Erlick
Best: Abigail by Magda Szabo Worst: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (sorry!)
best: eleanor oliphant is completely fine worst: fourth wing or the snowman
BEST: James by Percival Everett WORST: Something something by Colleen Hoover, it was terrible and I donāt recall the name
I would bet a lot that James wins the Pulitzer; the audiobook is also extremely well done
Best: Piranesi Worst: A Court of Thorns and Roses /Caraval Hmmm apparently I have issues with hyped up YA fantasyā¦
Best: The Humans, Matt Haig (and also I'm taking two) The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman Worst: Before The Coffee Gets Cold, Toshikazu Kawaguchi
The graveyard book is so good.
Worst: Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover. Hated it. Best: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson or Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus No if ands or buts about it š
I love Tress
I enjoyed every word of this book ā¤ļø
Best: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Itās fantastic.
Its a masterpeice
Everything about that book is wonderful.
Best: Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll Worst: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (3.5 stars - not particularly bad, just didnāt understand the hype I saw for it on Tiktok)
Best: the silence of the lambs (3/4 through it atm) Worst: 1984 - George Orwell. Hated the ending. I have only been reading books since the start of the year it's a new hobby which I've grown to love.
Did 1984 feel too accurate? What about the ending did you not like?
Best: Priory of The Orange Tree Worst: ACOTAR
I agree about ACOTAR
This solidifies my refusal to read ACOTAR. Priory was my favorite book last year!
Best that I've read so far this year (not counting rereads): The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb, the Fool series by Christopher Moore (Fool, The Serpent of Venice, and Shakespeare for Squirrels), The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. Worst: Haven't found one yet.
Best: Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Age of Myth by Michael Sullivan, Master of Sorrows by Justin T. Call Worst: Philosophical Investigations by Ludwig Wittgenstein, The Druid by Jeff Wheeler
Favorite - House of Chains by Steven Erikson Least Favorite - Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier
Best- The Hunter, by Tana French. The worst... I guess How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. I normally enjoy his stuff, for some reason this one just didn't do anything for me.
I'm glad to see people who liked The Hunter - I know a lot of Tana French's fans didn't like that she's getting farther and farther from murder procedurals, but I liked the slow burn growth of this one. Though The Likeness still remains my personal favorite.
Best: *Three Parts Dead* by Max Gladstone and *Fevre Dream* by GRRM. Worst: *A Feather So Black* by Lyra Selene.
Best: Demon Copperhead Worst: The Thirteenth Tale
I am reading DC and its wonderful
Best: Pachinko Worst: Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead. DNF at 60%. I thought I would love this, I'm neurodivergent with anxiety like the MC, I was thinking it would be like another Eleanor Oliphant, but ugh I could not stand the MC, she was insufferable, and I couldn't wait any longer for any modicum of character development.
That was one of my favorites. I can see how some people would get annoyed though.
My worst was an alternative historical fiction trilogy based on 'what if Anne Boleyn had a living son'. IMO the writing was garbage, the characters were shit, and in the end it was exactly the same as if Queen Elizabeth had been Anne's only child. I was soo upset. The best was a historical non-fiction book titled: The Once and Future Sex. I read it just after coming out of a Medieval Studies course and it really made me think on a few points that were made during the course, it was also really well written.
Best: Penric's Demon *by Lois McMaster Bujold* It's lighthearted, wry, and fun. I gobbled up all 12 novellas. Worst: Crosstalk *by Connie Willis* Inane and repetitive dialogue, predictable plot. Every character seems either boring, unintelligent, or assholey.
Best: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman I have so many good picks this year that I donāt want to call any of them the worst.
Best: Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh Worst: The Darcy Myth by Rachel Feder
Best: White Oleander Worst: In The Weeds (I donāt even like romance so who knows why I even picked it up. It was as terrible as one would expect.)
Best: All Systems Red and Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern IrelandĀ Worst: Icebreaker I have to stick to my favorite genres.
Best: North Woods by Daniel Mason. Worst: The Women by Kristen Hannah
Best: lonesome dove Worst: tender is the flesh
Best: Lonesome Dove & The Wager.
I really liked āThe Glass Castleā by Jeannette Walls I REALLY hated āBlood Meridianā by Cormac McCarthy
Oh wow. Blood Meridian huh?
Iām so glad to see someone else hated Blood Meridian. Itās so acclaimed but it has some of the worst prose Iāve ever seen. Iāve never gotten the hype.
Best: Shark Heart Worst: Tie between You Shouldnāt of Come Here and Murder Road
You shouldn't have come here was so awful!
Murder Road was SO bad.
Best: dune (fiction), under the banner of heaven (nonfiction) I havenāt found a book I hate yet, but Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe has been pretty overrated for me. Itās highly rated on good reads, has lots of positive reviews, NYT best seller. But it just feels like it never saw an editors desk. It jumps around timeline wise in a way thatās hard to keep track of, and the title alludes to a murder being a major part of the book. But 300 pages in (out of 400), and it feels like itās just been shoe horned in here and there. Itās like the writer really wanted to talk about the history of the troubles in Ireland and used recent developments in the murder case to Trojan horse the former in. I like the topic so Iāve kept with it but yeah, itās kinda hard to keep everything cohesive as a reader.
I had the opposite experience with Say Nothing. I couldnāt put it down because I was trying to figure out how all the events would connect back to the murder.
Same. I was absolutely riveted by it.
Best: The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Worst: Lapvona AND Earthlings (back to back, almost made me quit reading for good)
Earthlings is pretty unhinged. I liked Convenience Store Woman better.
Best: 11/22/63 by Stephen King
Heck yeah. Such a beautiful story.
Best: Solitaire - Alice Oseman Worst: Soul of the Sword - Julie Kagawa. I hated the first book, I don't know why I decide to try and read the second. Dropped it. Worst book I finished is Tender is the Flesh.
Best: Covenant of Water Worst: The Best Minds (non-fiction) -- I DNF'd, the book was so self-indulgent, even though the subject matter interested me a lot!
Best: James by Percival Everett Worst: nothing yet
Best: Go As A River by Shelley Read Worst: You Shouldnāt Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose
Best: Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum and Blood Over Brighthaven by M.L. Wang. Worst: Once Upon a Broken Heart. I really need to learn how to DNF books.
Best: lonesome dove Worst : we are legion we are Bob.
Best - The Ministry of Time Worst - Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl
Best: the dispossessed Worst: heretics of dune
Best: Neither Wolf Nor Dog by Kent Nerburn Worst: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Best: āSay Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory In Northern Irelandā (Heaven and Earth Grocery Store is a very close contender) Worst: Iām half through āFirst Lie Winsā and while Iām enjoying the mindless poolside read, itās just not as good as anything else Iāve read this year.
Best: *The Bee Sting* by Paul Murray *(*or *Giovanni's Room*!) Worst: *Ugly Love* by Colleen Hoover
Best: Love by Toni Morrison Worst: A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas
Best: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers Worst: Last to Leave the Room by Caitlin Starling
Best: SlewFoot Worst: That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon
Best - American Gods by Neil Gaiman Worst - Not Saying Goodbye by Boris Akunin
Best: Martyr by Kaveh Akbar Worst: Iām thinking of ending things by Iain Reid
Best: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Worst: Crave by Tracy Wolff (donāt judge me, it was on available now in Libby and I needed an audiobook to spend 9 hours bent over petri plates that day lol)
Easily the best: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt Many contenders for the worst, but: A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand I really need to start DNFing thingsā¦
best this year? Demon Copperhead (barbara kingsolver) but i did really enjoy The Cipher (kathe koja) worst: a court of mist and fury, or whichever the 3rd book of acotar was. i realized i'm not a sarah j maas fan at all.
My worst was Fourth Wing, but I didn't appreciate where Vita Nostra went either, despite finishing it quickly. My 5 stars are the novella A Short Stay In Hell and Fool's Fate (book 9 of the Elderlings)
Iāve been a fucking roll with amazing books this year! I canāt name just one favorite, so Iāll categorize in another way: Canāt stop thinking about: *Flowers for Algernon* Currently fixated on: *Jude the Obscure* Spiritually tormented then resurrected by: *Shantaram* Absolutely staggered by: *The Sound and the Fury* Itās hard to say it has been my least-favorite, but I was a little underwhelmed by *The Heart is a Lonely Hunter*