Now that we’ve shared our best books of 2009 with you, it’s time to let loose the snark. The Guardian went first with an article about the worst books of the decade earlier this month, which made me think: what was the worst book I read all year? Like many of the Guardian commenters, I found Vernon God Little (which won the Booker in 2003) completely and utterly horrible, so that might be my worst book of the decade. But 2009 was actually a pretty good year for me, with no wallbangers that I can remember. A moment while I pat myself on the back for having excellent literary taste this year . . .
Were you equally lucky? Or was there a book you loved to hate in 2009? Share your thoughts in the comments!
There were no books that I absolutely hated, but I was extremely disappointed with ‘The Lost Symbol’ by Dan Brown and ‘The Forgotten Garden’ by Kate Morton. I wasn’t very surprised by the quality of ‘The Lost Symbol,’ but I had high hopes for Morton.
I read 400 pages of Shantaram for my book club, hating it the whole time. I also slogged through Drood, hoping it would get better, and gave up on it as well.
I’ve got several ideas about the worst read of the decade but I am certain the worst editing job of the century was done on Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian. That would have been a good book had it been 250 pages shorter!