In the perfect follow-up to last week’s question, as suggested by C in DC:
Is there a book that you wish you could “unread”? One that you disliked so thoroughly you wish you could just forget that you ever read it?
If a book is that bad, I’m sure I wouldn’t have completed it. There are so many DNF books that I can name. And I do regret buying them, but I don’t remember wasting time over a book that I would have absolutely hated.
Of course there were a few books which were okay overall but sucked at the end, but then I wouldn’t “unread” them because at least parts of it were good. And sometimes you do learn something from “okay” books too, about a place or a profession or something like that.
So no, I wouldn’t want to forget anything I’ve read. Even if I did have a book like that I would definitely remember the name of the author, so I don’t read anything by him/her again 🙂
What about you?
Book-Shelved 
I agree Violet, there’s no point having reading regrets. There has to be books that we don’t like in a way as they make the ones we love reading even better! Happy BTT!
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I agree Violet, there’s no point having reading regrets. There has to be books that we don’t like in a way as they make the ones we love reading even better! Happy BTT!
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Well, I am a “down with the ship” kind of reader, and I had no trouble answering this question. For me, The Gun Runner’s Daughter is a pain I wish I could undo. It was the worst writing I’ve ever read, and it almost made me carsick with all the start-stop-starts.
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Well, I am a “down with the ship” kind of reader, and I had no trouble answering this question. For me, The Gun Runner’s Daughter is a pain I wish I could undo. It was the worst writing I’ve ever read, and it almost made me carsick with all the start-stop-starts.
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I chose Patrick White’s The Twyborn Affair because at the time I read it I was quite emotional (3 months pregnant) and it was so emotionally intense it left me feeling terrible whenever I picked it up. I had to read it for a university course, so I didn’t have the option of putting it down and reading it some other time.
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I chose Patrick White’s The Twyborn Affair because at the time I read it I was quite emotional (3 months pregnant) and it was so emotionally intense it left me feeling terrible whenever I picked it up. I had to read it for a university course, so I didn’t have the option of putting it down and reading it some other time.
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Unreading a book didn’t appeal to me either, for much the same reason.
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Unreading a book didn’t appeal to me either, for much the same reason.
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I wouldn’t want to forget anything I have read either. Happy BTT!
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I wouldn’t want to forget anything I have read either. Happy BTT!
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Hmmm-not sure I would want to purposely forget something either. I have a really terrible memory and usually forget what I read anyway. 😦
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Hmmm-not sure I would want to purposely forget something either. I have a really terrible memory and usually forget what I read anyway. 😦
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I’m pretty much the same way. If I don’t like something, it’s all part of the learning process. I wouldn’t want to unread it.
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I’m pretty much the same way. If I don’t like something, it’s all part of the learning process. I wouldn’t want to unread it.
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I know what you mean – if it was that bad, I’d ditch way before I’d wasted that much time. I’m not a patient reader!
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I know what you mean – if it was that bad, I’d ditch way before I’d wasted that much time. I’m not a patient reader!
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Good answer! I’ll only finish a book I don’t like if it’s for book club.
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Good answer! I’ll only finish a book I don’t like if it’s for book club.
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I almost always finish everything I start. I like the satisfaction of closing the cover, especially if I have struggled with it.
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I almost always finish everything I start. I like the satisfaction of closing the cover, especially if I have struggled with it.
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I haven’t encountered something that is irredeemably bad. Books that I want to “unread” are ones written by authors whose previous reads I have enjoyed. Sometimes they just have a bad day I guess. I would like to defy time and start over again with another book.
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I haven’t encountered something that is irredeemably bad. Books that I want to “unread” are ones written by authors whose previous reads I have enjoyed. Sometimes they just have a bad day I guess. I would like to defy time and start over again with another book.
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I’m very much like you, Violet! 🙂
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I’m very much like you, Violet! 🙂
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Same thoughts. To me, a “mistake” is a learning experience. Bad books included.
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Same thoughts. To me, a “mistake” is a learning experience. Bad books included.
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There is only one: Blood Canticle by Anne Rice. I finished it because she was once my favourite author and the Vampire Chronicles were among my favourite books. I wish I could forget it because for a while it tainted my view of the characters and of the whole series.
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There is only one: Blood Canticle by Anne Rice. I finished it because she was once my favourite author and the Vampire Chronicles were among my favourite books. I wish I could forget it because for a while it tainted my view of the characters and of the whole series.
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Yep – there’s a sense in which reading a bad book helps you to appreciate the good ones a bit more!
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Yep – there’s a sense in which reading a bad book helps you to appreciate the good ones a bit more!
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I have only one book that I’ve read that I regretted starting it, continuing and even staying to the bitter end of it. What saves me is that I’ve completely forgotten the title and the author.
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I have only one book that I’ve read that I regretted starting it, continuing and even staying to the bitter end of it. What saves me is that I’ve completely forgotten the title and the author.
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