I read a lot of really great books in 2022, but there were several that got put on my NEVER READ AGAIN list. *nods* Let’s go.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
This was by far the worst book that I read all year. I’d heard lots of good things about it, and being a fan of the Iliad, I decided that I’d give it a try.
I shouldn’t have. I should have read the reviews before I did.
The storyline was so shallow. Its main focus was romance and not battle. The first half of the book was solely romantic and completely unrelated to anything else. The actual battle scenes were few and far between and they were…oh, they were so not like the Iliad. I was so disappointed.
The author made Achilles and Patroclus lovers which was awful and completely unnecessary. There were far too many intimate scenes that could have been left out with no harm to the story.
Achilles’s death really bugged me. In the Iliad, he died by an arrow in the heel. That heel was his only vulnerable part. That was the only way that he could be killed. But in the novel, he got an arrow in the BACK. The back, of all places! Come on! There was absolutely no need to change it. Plus, all through the book, it continually talked about the beauty of Achilles’s feet and how soft they were and oh so lovely, blah blah blah. I thought that was foreshadowing but it wasn’t.
All in all, this was an awful book in so many ways. If you’ve read it and have a different opinion, I’d love to hear it in the comments.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
This was another one that I’d heard great things about and was excited to read. However, it deeply disappointed me. There was so much sexual talk, you could literally only go a couple of pages before running into it. And again, it wasn’t all needed for the story to make sense. You could have cut it in half and everything would have been fine.
They made Shug and Celie lovers, which kind of made sense in the context of the story, but didn’t need to go on for so long or in such detail.
The story ended with Celie basically declaring that she’d found happiness in and of herself and that she didn’t need God and that she was so much better off without him.
The Diaries of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain
This was a super short book. I didn’t expect a lot, so I wasn’t heavily disappointed. There were a lot of funny moments and I enjoyed seeing “Adam and Eve” learn about the world and each other. But overall, it felt very stereotypical.
Eve was an annoying girl who just talked all the time and never left anyone in peace. She was immensely curious and kept getting into trouble. When Adam refused to talk to her and ran away, she sulked and wailed and was insanely irritating.
Adam was stupid, clueless, and didn’t like Eve at all. He preferred to be with the animals. When Eve gave birth to a baby, he thought it was a fish and kept trying to throw it in the river.
There was so much evolutionary talk and a complete and total lack of respect for God as the creator.
The Note Through the Wire by Dough Gold
I read this book when I was half asleep, so I don’t remember a whole lot about it, other than the overuse of language and an overall boring, uninteresting storyline.
Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung
*sighs* Where do I start? I read this book because I was hoping that it would shed some light on living according to God’s will.
It didn’t.
From the beginning, I was annoyed and found the whole book inaccurate and unbiblical. The whole point of the book is that we shouldn’t sit around waiting for the illusive “call” of God’s will. We should get up and do something. I agree with that. We shouldn’t use waiting for God’s will as an excuse to sit around and live a useless life.
However, what really bothered me, was how he made God’s part in our lives so insignificant. He said again and again how it doesn’t matter if we move across the country, it doesn’t matter what job we have, it doesn’t matter who we marry or who are friends are as long as we’re doing something. Which I totally disagree with. Those things do matter so much and it is important to seek God before making big decisions. I got the impression that he was saying how little prayer matters and how, as long as we’re following God’s general rules, whatever we do will please God. If we’re doing what he wants, why do we have to talk to him about it? Let’s just go out and do it because, hey, communicating with him daily really doesn’t matter.
*sighs*
Pride and Prejudice
I know this book is so popular. I read it once in 2020 and hated it. I thought maybe I was just in a cynical mood, so when a book group I was a part of chose that as the next book to read, I reluctantly gave it a second try.
I disliked it even more than before.
Maybe it’s just because I don’t read romances, but the whole thing seemed so pointless and stupid. The whole book follows around annoying characters who are either completely self-centered and annoying or impossibly perfect.
The only character I liked was Mr. Collins because he was so hilarious and so…so utterly ridiculous.
“I flatter myself that your refusal is merely a natural delicacy. Besides, despite manifold attractions, it is by no means certain another offer of marriage will ever be made to you. I must conclude that you simply seek to increase my love by suspense, according to the usual practice of elegant females.“
What were the worst books that you’ve read recently? Any books I should stear clear of?
~Hattush
Daughter of the Light 
What did you expect from “Adam and Eve?’ Why did you read it? 😕
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Well, in general I really like Mark Twain’s writing. Most of his characters are so well done and they have so much personality. I love his style and his humor, so I was hoping that the Diaries of Adam and Eve would be similar to his other books. It wasn’t and it just felt sloppy and steryotypical.
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Mark Twain was an Atheist, at a time when it was unacceptable and unsafe. Besides his Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer novels, he wrote several little I don’t believe in Christianity satires, including “Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven,” which I’ve read. It’s boring and banal by today’s standards, but was daring and Avant Garde in the late 1800s. The reason he speaks poorly of God is that Twain didn’t believe He existed. 🙂
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*nods* totally agreed. I didn’t read the book with any expectation that he would speak well of God, but it was just another thing that annoyed me about the story. ☺
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Ha, ha, you should do more “worst books” posts. Glad to know which ones to steer clear of. 😂 (Also happy that you agreed with my thoughts on “Just Do Something”–I did not find that book to be particularly inspiring in any way)
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Hehe, I had a lot of fun doing it! 😉
Yeees, Just Do Something was SO dissapointing and so wrong in so many ways…. 😦 You should write a whole review on it.
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I’m glad!
Haha, that would be kind of fun . . .
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It would be fun for everyone to reaaaad… *hint hint*
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This was fun to read! I completely understand about all those book, EXCEPT Pride and Prejudice! Is it overrated? Probably, yeah. But I love it.😂 Have you read Emma? I’m curious if you would like other Jane Austen books. 🙂
I honestly haven’t really read many bad books. I don’t know why. I only DNF’d one book in the past few years, David Copperfield. And it wasn’t because it was bad, just because it was long and I was bored of it, lol. XD Have you read that one?
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Thanks!!
Hehe, well, I’m glad that you like Pride and Prejudice. I haven’t read anthing else by Austen, but I want to see if I like any of her other books better. I’m just not a fan of romances in general.
Wow, that’s awesome. Ooo, I’ve seen how LONG David Copperfield is and it’s kind of put me off reading it. XD One of these days…
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THE BACK!?!? Come on! Practically the only thing the dude is known for is his heels!😂🤣
I have only seen this one stop motion movie that was about mark twain and they kinda stop motioned the Diary of Adam and Eve, I think it’s funny, but I don’t like how it is not very scriptural. They also stop motioned “Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven” but that one was just freaky😂
I did not hate P&P, but it was just very boring for me. I never could get through it.
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I KNOW, it’s so irritating. I don’t know why the author had to shoot him in THE BACK. *groans*
Lol, interesting! I haven’t read Captain Stormfield’s Visit to heaven.
All romance books are boring. XD
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I told my dad and he laughed.
I have not read it either, but I saw that movie.
Amen😂 Except I’ve read a few Chirstian ones that are not too bad. Actually the only romance books I’ve read are Christian ones🤣
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XD
Hmm, which ones have you read? In my opinion, Christian or non Christian, they’re all bad. XD Maybe not content wise, but just storyline and characters.
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Um, a few by Melanie Dickerson. And one of them only had 1 kiss in it. I read them since someone told me they were not very romancy.
The ones I read were not actually very romancy. They were retellings of classic fairy tales so you know who is gonna end up with who ect. but they had a lot of Chirstian themes and scripture. I mean. the whole book was coming to Christ and to me the romance was kind of a side note. Maybe just because I did not pay much attention to it.
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Hmmm interesting! Well maybe I’ll give it a try. 😊
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This was entertaining to read! XD I personally enjoy Pride & Prejudice, but I can see how it could seem tedious, especially since most of the characters are pretty annoying. I guess that’s why I find it so enjoyable! Have you seen any of the movie adaptations?
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Thanks!!
I’m glad you enjoyed P&P! It’s definintly a classic. No, I haven’t seen any of the movie adaptations. Is there one that you recomend?
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The 2005 movie version is more popular, but I prefer the 1995 miniseries. I thought the acting was much better in the older version. But they’re both pretty good!
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Oo okay, I’ll have to check it out. I like older movies, lol because the content & story is usually better.
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