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As expected there are a lot of "hates" here that are other people's likes ... (I liked Breakfast of Champions, and enjoy Clancy, but can only take so much of him at one sitting)
I read a lot and luckily have managed to pick more winners than losers over the years. I'm magnanimous enough to forgive Michael Crichton books like "Sphere" when he has given us things as wonderful as "Eaters of the Dead," "A Case of Need (which I read BEFORE it was revealed to be Crichton)" "The Terminal Man," and "Airframe."
On the other hand, no matter how much I like "Dune," can I get beyond the awfulness of all of the sequels. (both the real ones, and the raping my father's literary legacy for the cash ones)
Books I hate, usually beyond redemption, include
Romance Novels. Anything with Fabio on the cover, or that can be described as a bodice ripper. I do like the "male equivalent of a romance novel," i.e., the Hairy Chested Men's Adventure Novel ... Particularly "They Call me the Mercenary," "Saigon Commandos," and "The Survivalist."
I will confess that I DID like The Raj Quartet (series of romancy type books that the PBS series "The Jewel in the Crown" was based on, but I honestly don't think they count as romances. The story is too richly detailed for that. And besides, it's British.)
Interview with a Vampire, or anything else written by Anne Rice.
Slow. Tedious. Lousy Plotting. Ick.
"Novelizations" of movies, rather than books that movies were based on.
Even well written novelizations RARE!!! tend to be based on early versions of the scripts, and leave out important bits of the movie, or go on tedious tangents that are of great interest to the author and pretty much no one else and don't do a damn thing to further the plot.
I know I'll come up with some specific examples of bad, horrible, evil books as soon as I end this ...
Oh. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy.
Had to read it in college. So bad that I threw darts at it. A lot.
Didn't have access to a firearm at that time, or I would have shot it.
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