Got any bad apples on your Kindle?

[sighdone]

What's the worst book you have on your Kindle, and why?

[Elise Logan]

I don't recall the name or author, but one I ditched was a book with a large amount of graphic content. I don't mind graphic content, but in this case it was badly formatted and difficult to read and was generally a pain in the behind.

Since whether the story or writing is any good is such a matter of personal taste, I'd rather not put my personal preferences on anyone else. However, I will say that a poorly formatted or poorly edited book is painful to read on the Kindle (well, anywhere, but especially on an e-reader).

E

[sighdone]

Do you mean graphic as in images? Or as in erotic content?

I wasn't after naming names, just wanted to know if people keep the garbage on their Kindles really.

It's all personal taste as you say.

[Ann in Arlington]

What's the worst book you have on your Kindle, and why?

I don't know.  I've not read most of the titles on my Kindle. Once I do read them -- or start them and decide not to finish -- I delete 'em.  So what's on my Kindle is, except for a few classics and reference volumes, pretty much an unknown.

<moderator hat on> Please do be careful, in responding here, to remain courteous -- no personal attacks or anything like that <moderator hat off>

[Stephen Prosapio]

I suppose any self promotion on this thread would be a VERY bad thing, eh?
 

I bought one by a name author (horror/thriller) that was so disappointing halfway through, I asked for and got a refund from Amazon. No questions asked. It's a good reminder for people who just can't stomach a bad read.

[Lenc324]

Girls Like Us......   It just dragged on and on.

[Larry45]

I recently read a short horror novel called "The Scrubs" that was absolutely the worst thing I've ever read.  It was only $.99, but I would have been better off spending it on a root canal...

[Indy]

If it's so bad that I can't finish it, it goes in a folder titled "crap I should delete."  And there's some really awful free things lurking in there.

[R. Doug]

I would definitely have to say that the stinker on my Kindle is a horror novel by an indie author.  But I seem to be in a minority opinion on that particular book.  Indeed, Red Adept Reviews, for whom I have a tremendous amount of respect, gave it five stars, and it's Amazon rating is almost as high.

So, in the end, such determinations are really a matter of personal taste more than a reflection on the the actual work.  I certainly know I'm not going to publicly trash it.

[MLPMom]

I remove any books I didn't enjoy from my Kindle and if they are really bad, I also remove them from my archive permanently. I don't see any reason to keep them around if I know I won't be reading them again.

[Thalia the Muse]

The worst thing I've read on my kindle so far was The Equivoque Principle -- it was just comically inept and dreadful. I certainly hope nothing worse is lurking in my "to read" folder.

[Joseph Robert Lewis]

I just delete any books I'm not enjoying, and don't let the stinkers linger.

[Harry Shannon]

Bought one heck of a lot of books this last year, and now that I'm working my way through the pile, I'm also having to delete a lot of them. That's taught me to sample everything first. If a few pages don't grab me, don't buy...not even for .99

[Larry45]

I agree with Harry.  From now on, even if the price is only 99 cents, I'm going to get the free sample and give it a try before I buy.  It's easy to think, "What the heck, it's only a buck," but those bucks can add up in a hurry.  There are too many great books out there to waste money on stinkers...

[sighdone]

I've always tried samples first. Not to judge the story, but to see if I can stomach the writing style.

It's no different than cracking open a book in the shop and scanning it for a few paragraphs.

[Jack Wallen]

Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol had to be one of the worst books I've read in a long time. I really enjoyed the first books in that series, but the final one just made me angry that I actually bought it.

[anguabell]

Bloody Good by Georgia Evans was one of the first ones and worst ones Kindle books I've ever bought. I can't even begin to tell you...no. I won't. What was I thinking?!

[ellenoc]

I don't have the bad ones of my Kindle. For those who ever read the Nero Wolfe mysteries - his assistant Archie Goodwin could tell how Wolfe felt about a book he was reading by whether he used a bookmark (as opposed to dog earing the pages) and which bookmark he used. Only certain very good books were honored with a place on the bookshelves of Wolfe's office. I'm trying to make the same kind of decisions - only keep the ones I consider very worthwhile and that I might read again someday on my Kindle.

[Elise Logan]

Do you mean graphic as in images? Or as in erotic content?

I wasn't after naming names, just wanted to know if people keep the garbage on their Kindles really.

It's all personal taste as you say.

I meant graphics as in images, not as in erotic content. LOL. Given what I write, that would be a serious pot-calling-the-kettle issue.

E

[Holly A Hook]

Stuff just sort of piles up with me.  If I don't care for something, I tend to let it sit there. 

[NapCat]

"...only $.99, but I would have been better off spending it on a root canal...

Quick ! Send me the address of your dentist !!  $0.99 root canal is a real bargain......I've spent thousands on my dental work !  Ha !

[kindlequeen]

There was a particular book that Amazon kept pushing.... every time I went there, it was front and center and seemed to pop up on every page.  It was the winner of a "prestigious" award so finally I gave in (the editors liked it so it can't be that bad, right?).  I must have read about 50 pages and gave up, it was painful to read!  No formatting issues or bad grammar, just the content was like watching paint dry and the main character wasn't likable at all.  This was the only book I've ever asked for refund for and I've read some pretty bad ones.

[Mrs. K.]

Based on its sample and its oodles of 5-star Amazon reviews, I did buy one book that I finished out of spite, only because I had paid money for it. Probably it was "the worst book ever." It was as if the sample was edited and then the editor quit before getting to the rest of the book. Bad dialogue, bad storyline, bad character development, bad...apple.

While I'm sure the author has genuine fans I now realize a good part of the stellar reviews were probably solicited. Guess I could ask for a refund but I think I will learn more from my mistake with an emptier wallet. Now I read reviews with a more practiced eye, and I'll never buy another book by this author.

[sighdone]

So, does buying a bad eBook feel different from a bad print book? At least you can throw the paperback across the room to vent your frustration.

[sibelhodge]

I started reading one from a well known author who has a lot of books in the same series, and I couldn't even finish it. It was so slow and boring and nothing happened. I really hate not finishing a book. Usually I will try and persevere, but I just couldn't with this one.

I like the title of the thread, though. I did an interview with the talented Simon Dunn the other day whose novel is called Rotten Apple! (Not that I'm saying it is  )

[Hoosiermama]

I've been catching up on the reading on my Kindle this month--reading things that have been languishing in my "To Read" collection. There have been two that I've started and just removed from the Kindle. The first was trite, and I just didn't like the writing style. The second was just not interesting to me, and I wasn't thrilled with that writing style either. I honestly don't know why I downloaded either of them--they had to be free, or else I would have realized from the sample that they weren't for me.

On the downside, I left my Kindle at home today. Waaaaah!

[nogdog~6op6ou]

I just delete any books I'm not enjoying, and don't let the stinkers linger.

Yep, there are no known stinkers on mine. There may well be some unread stinkers in waiting, but once discovered, they will be immediately subjected to the delete function.

[caseyf6]

I remove any books I didn't enjoy from my Kindle and if they are really bad, I also remove them from my archive permanently. I don't see any reason to keep them around if I know I won't be reading them again.

This.

[Aaron Pogue]

I bought my Kindle when I first started a graduate program that I knew would require a lot of reading. My first semester, I took "Category Fiction" which involved reading 12 commercial novels over the course of the semester.

And...yeah. Those are my bad apples. The worst of them were Open Season by C. J. Box and The Dead Cat Bounce by Sarah Graves. I've kept them around, though (and the other ones we discussed in the class), because even in their awfulness they provide a lot of learning opportunities.

And, of course, so I can double-check the author's name from time to time to strongly recommend against them.