Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Disliked but Am Really Glad I Read

Hello! Hope you’ve had a good week! Mine has been tough given I’m in the middle of exam and coursework season and have to present my dissertation on Thursday :O You’ll not be surprised to know this post is scheduled…. Anyway this is Top Ten Tuesday, a meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This is actually a really tough topic for me. I’m usually glad I read every book I read, even if it sucked, just because I can always get something out of it. However there are an obvious few books that I really didn’t enjoy:

1. Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

Hunting Lila was a really tough read for me. It was just super boring and the characters were quite flat. It wasn’t an awful book by any stretch, just a bit naff, and I suspect I read it at a bad point in time- it was the middle of semester and I need really gripping books to hook me in because reading doesn’t naturally fit into my daily routine when I’m at uni. But I persevered and managed to get to the end (phew). I had a large amount of overdue library debt afterwards because I forgot to return the thing, but I still got to the end and I’m actually pretty proud of that one. Ever had a read like that?

2. Emma by Jane Austen

I knew I wouldn’t like Emma. The book was about a girl who didn’t want to get married and valued her independence discovering she did want to get married after all. It was boring, the print was small and dense, the language was old and boring and, for goodness sake, nothing ever happened! It was not my favourite read. So why did I attempt this? Why does it sit on a list of books I don’t regret reading? Here’s why:

I have a couple of friends who are a bit snooty about the books they read. They consider their books better or more intellectual because they’re harder to read. They claim that I’m able to read as many books as I do because they’re simple and not intellectually challenging at all **sigh** I could go on forever but back to the point. Every now and then I like to push myself out of my book comfort zone. Force myself to not be one of those people who judges a genre or area of books without having read any. Emma was one of my attempts at this. I am glad I read Emma because its nothing I would ever read normally, so when people belittle my own personal favourites I can explain that I tried theirs and just prefer the books I read.

3. Maximum Ride the Final Warning by James Patterson

I loved the first three Max Ride books. They are fast pace, full of action, wit and excitement. I raced through all three of them in a week during the first year of my GCSEs and I have no regrets. But then I did a risky move- I read the fourth book in series that was meant to be a trilogy. Suffice to say, it didn’t pay off. The Final Warning was not good. It was all about global warming and stuff and was all just a bit random and preachy. So why am I glad I read it? Because sometimes I just need to know what I’m missing. Because I can safely walk away from that series comforted that the first three were amazing and never look back. (Although I might have a tincy peak at the rest of the series because I hate not finishing a series.)

4. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I didn’t outright dislike Wuthering Heights. Its ended up on two of my dislike lists now and I’m starting to feel a bit sorry for it. It’s not a bad book just not one of my favourites. I struggled a little bit with it and to this day have no idea what anything Joseph said actually meant, but I am glad I read it. It’s a story that a lot of people talk about and means a lot to a lot of people. I’ve already chatted to people about this on Twitter (and I don’t chat to that many people on Twitter so this is rare). I guess I just like to be in the loop (the 1800s loop?) which is why I don’t regret reading this book.

5. Animal Farm by George Orwell

We’ve got a bit of a classics theme going on here… I maybe read this one a bit too young but wasn’t a big fan, however I’ve enjoyed talking somewhat intellectually about it over the years.

So there you have it! My list! Did you do this topic? Would love to check out you list! Pop it in the comments!