Top Ten Picks: Worst Books You've Ever Read

Top 10 Picks is hosted each week by Jillian @ Random Ramblings. This week’s topic is books you the top ten worst books you have ever read. Make sure to you stop by to see her list.
*Many of these books have high ratings, so feel free to disagree, but please try not to be to harsh on me, this is just a subjective list. :P

1. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Wow. Words cannot express how much I hate this book. In my defense, I read this when I was 16, expecting some divine revelation to come out of it. Instead, it was boring, dry read and I wanted the hours of my life I had spent reading it back.

2. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

This is the only book on this list that I had to read for school. I was in middle school, which might be part of the problem. Overall, it was very dry and difficult to get through. I haven't had the desire to pick it back up since.

3. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife was one of my top reads of 2009, Her Fearful Symmetry was one of the worst. It started out interesting enough, but never went anywhere. The ending was horrible and anticlimactic. This book was a total let down.

4. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
I loved Brook's Nine Parts of Desire, and highly recommend it. Year of Wonders, however, is just plain awful. It was another book that started off well enough, but then took a turn for the worst and never picked up again.

5. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
This is yet another book I read around the age of 15-16. Perhaps it was the age, or just reading about war isn't my thing...Either way, I didn't enjoy reading this one and haven't picked up anything else by O'Brien.

6. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Ok, I loved the movie and I love Shirley Jackson. However, this was one book that was just horrible. Again, dry and trying to get through. I have read other works by Jackson, and will continue to. I like to believe this book was a one time mistake.

7. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Ok, Brown needs to stop writing altogether. However, this particular book was extremely over the top, and totally unbelievable. I can not count how many times I rolled my eyes while reading it.

8. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
I felt this book went in waves. It would get interesting and then dull and back and forth. Eventually, I became too annoyed and gave up reading it altogether, which was pointless as I only had 50 pages or so left.

9. Specials by Scott Westerfeld

I'll be honest. I was not impressed with the series on a whole. The first book was predictable. The second was actually pretty good. The third...horrible. The main character was completely different and difficult to identify with. I never did finish it, nor have I picked up anything else by the author.

10. On Writing by Stephen King

Alright, King is one of my favorite authors. I was expecting the entire book to be his memoirs, but sadly, it was only the first half, which I enjoyed immensely. However, once it got to his advice on writing, I had to set it down. 1. I don't like people telling me how to write, and 2. it was poor advice, which is ironic considering how successful he has been. Whatev's. I still love you King, and I will continue reading your works! :)