Tuesday, January 7, 2020

19 Stinkers of 2019

Most years, I compile a list of "stinkers," books that I had strong negative feelings about or that did not measure up to my expectations based on either the author's previous work or the publishing hype surrounding the book. These aren't necessarily the books I liked least, and they aren't necessarily even ones that are poorly written, to make my list they just had to disappoint me in a pretty big way.


The Likeness, Tana French
Okay, I wasn't hugely disappointed with this one, but it certainly didn't stick with me. I found it much too long, and it was a little too psychologically rough. Looking back on it, I just feel dissatisfied.

The Penderwicks at Last, Jeanne Birdsall
I did not care for the last in the Penderwicks series. This one introduced new characters and spent too much time on them, spending very little time with the weddings, and then it just ended. I wanted a grander send-off.

Beneath a Scarlet Sky, Mark Sullivan
This is billed as a novel, but everyone thinks of it as nonfiction. Sullivan says it's all true (so why "novel"?) and I just don't buy it. It's a little too perfect. Also, though captivating, I did not find this book well written.

Cozy Minimalist Home, Myquillyn Smith
I found this one pushy and hysterical in its mission to make your home like hers. So unlike her first book.

Girl, Wash Your Face, Rachel Hollis
Really, I still have no idea who this woman is, but she has a pretty high opinion of herself. She's much too young to be writing a "wise woman talks to younger women" book. I found this inauthentic and a little trite.

Lady in Red, Sheila Tate
A fawning memoir by Nancy Reagan's press secretary. I found it self-serving.

Liars, Leakers, and Liberals, Judge Jeanine Pirro
I entered the echo chamber with this one, but it was too right-wing even for me. Too biased to be credible.

My Turn, Nancy Reagan
Whew. This one was one of the more awful "celebrity" memoirs I've read. Sniveling and vindictive. She went for pity one minute then tried to convince you she was tough and in charge the next.

Nanaville, Anna Quindlen
I love Quindlen's nonfiction. This was not a bad book, but I wanted more. I think she is too early in her role as "Nana" to have been writing this.

Prairie Fires, Caroline Fraser
This may be the book I disliked most this year. It was so slanted and judgmental and full of conjecture and the author's bias. It scares me that it won the Pulitzer Prize.

Save Me the Plums, Ruth Reichl
My experience with Ruth Reichl's books, and I've read almost all of them, is that I either love them or strongly dislike them. This one, regardless of all the hype, was very "meh" for me. It's the extended version of My Kitchen Year and the nonfiction version of Delicious. Much too much recycling going on here.

The First Lady, James Patterson & Brendan DuBois
This is just a The President Is Missing rehash.

I was hoping this would be the beginning of another series for me, but I will not be continuing. Half of it was boring as rice cakes and the other half was just nasty. Much too violent and ugly for me.

The Great Alone, Kristin Hannah
My first Hannah book, and likely my last. It was much too dark and violent for my tastes. I should have stopped reading it.

The River, Peter Heller
So much initial hype for this one, but I was disappointed. Yet, you'll see my review is very positive! I guess I wanted to love this book, but in hindsight, I can admit that I didn't love it. I was waiting for something that didn't come, and it was rather uninteresting in the end.

I have not liked any of Backman's shorter books. I should just learn my lesson and stick to his big, beautiful, thoughtful novels. This read like a stand-up comedy act with limp, unfunny jokes.

The Unsheltered, Barbara Kingsolver
Kingsolver shows her hatred for President Trump (referred to in the book as "the bullhorn"--classy) and conservatives (esp. Christians) in this one, and I likely will never read another Kingsolver book again. It was just so ugly and hateful--the very things she accuses the president of being. Even her faithful didn't like this one.

Although I think I liked the writing, I didn't feel this one lived up to the hype. There's a twist I saw coming a mile away, and overall, I found it too unbelievable to be satisfying.

Easily the most frustrating read of the year for me. The writing is topnotch, but the constant claiming of victim status is so exhausting.




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