FabSwingers.com forum: Best and worst books

By *naswingdress OP Woman
24 weeks ago

Manchester (she/her)

What's the best and worst book you've ever read? (inspired by a conversation I'm having)

I'll start off with worst - Mein Kampf. Important historical document. Hitler was a terrible writer though.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *umfun24Man
24 weeks ago

wilmslow

Best. Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth. Remarkable book.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *ickleTheWonderSchlongMan
24 weeks ago

Ends

Best: Open water.

Worst: goodnight mr Tom

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *icecouple561Couple
Forum Mod
24 weeks ago

East Sussex

I haven't got a best or worst.

I've read many books that I was sorry to reach the end of and many that I would happily use as firelighters.

I have to say that the ability to easily self publish is responsible for some real howlers

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *asterMeliodasMan
24 weeks ago

Newmill

Best - Girl in the Box by Robert J Crane (I know I'm cheating with a series, but it's one I appear in as a character, so has to be done)

Worst - Fifty Shades Darker

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *vaRose43Woman
24 weeks ago

Forest of Dean

Best - monstrous regiment

Worst - 50 shades (then again it started as twilight fanfic so I don’t know what anyone else expected)

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *rsMistyPeaksWoman
24 weeks ago

Essex

Worst - Anna Karenina. It’s an absolute masterpiece & part of me loves it. But it made me so angry. I have a very tortured relationship with that book.

I have too many bests. I’m going to go with The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe… just because I think that was where my absolute love of books from a young age came from. It’s certainly the first I remember reading and being really affected by.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *asterMeliodasMan
24 weeks ago

Newmill

"Best - monstrous regiment

Worst - 50 shades (then again it started as twilight fanfic so I don’t know what anyone else expected)"

I specify darker because of one specific scene: where Christian is like "Put the chicken in the fridge" and Ana is like "Only he could make that sound sexy."

NO. NO, ANA. Nobody can make that sentence sound sexy. Not even Morgan Frickin' Freeman could make that sentence sexy. There are absolutely zero titillating things about putting poultry into cold storage.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *cLovin2Man
24 weeks ago

Reading

Best - the Godfather by Mario Puzo, better even than the great movie.

Worst - the apprentice by Alan sugar, total garbage where you learn nothing and at the end wonder why you wasted your time reading that crap.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By (user no longer on site)
24 weeks ago

Worst - i have two to offer :

Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy by John Le Carre

so boring

Timoleon Vieta Come Home by Dan Rhodes... Very distressing

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By (user no longer on site)
24 weeks ago

Best : The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker

Incredible writing. Distressing + haunting.

If you read it, you need to do 2 weeks of self care.

The best thing I've ever read.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *rgasmatron1970Man
24 weeks ago

Bromley

Best Shantaram-Gregory Roberts

Worst-windows for dummies

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *inaTitzTV/TS
24 weeks ago

Titz Towers, North Notts

Best, too many to choose from.

Worst, this year so far, an absolutely terrible book about King Arthur, where the author tried to deal with a lot of problems with the sources by claiming that they said something other than what they actually do. It was abysmal history.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *ocusMan
24 weeks ago

Cambridge

Worst book - controversial but America Gods. Gaiman’s a massively overrated writer.

Best? Hmmm too many to choose from.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *parkle1974Woman
24 weeks ago

Leeds

Worst... The girl on the train

Best...too many to choose x

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *obyn GravesTV/TS
24 weeks ago

1127 walnut avenue

Worst ... I've forgotten about..

Best..in the last few years.one would have to be . sing backwards and weep...mark lanegan

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *parkle1974Woman
24 weeks ago

Leeds

"Best - monstrous regiment

Worst - 50 shades (then again it started as twilight fanfic so I don’t know what anyone else expected)

I specify darker because of one specific scene: where Christian is like "Put the chicken in the fridge" and Ana is like "Only he could make that sound sexy."

David Attenborough could make that sexy

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *a LunaWoman
24 weeks ago

South Wales

Kes (Kestrel for a Knave)

Read it in Comprehensive School for English Lit.

It was really bleak. I could feel the bleakness emanating from the book. But I guess that in a way makes it a great book.

I just wanted to buy the kid a bag of coal and a chippy tea, constantly.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *ell GwynnWoman
24 weeks ago

North Yorkshire

My favourites are Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Suzannah Clarke, and The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern. I won't say best, as I've read some magnificent books that are wonderfully written and culturally significant in a way that fantasy can't be.

I don't usually persevere with a book if I think it's rubbish. I found The Da Vinci code and Pillars of the Earth both badly written and wished I hadn't bothered.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *asterMeliodasMan
24 weeks ago

Newmill

"Best - monstrous regiment

Worst - 50 shades (then again it started as twilight fanfic so I don’t know what anyone else expected)

I specify darker because of one specific scene: where Christian is like "Put the chicken in the fridge" and Ana is like "Only he could make that sound sexy."

David Attenborough could make that sexy

I'm not sure...

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *ulieAndBeefCouple
24 weeks ago

Manchester-ish

I have two worst, Catch 22 and Catcher in the Rye. Both supposed classics but I just don't get them.

Not sure I can remember a best 🤔

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *ickleTheWonderSchlongMan
24 weeks ago

Ends

A secret fave, for you OP, The new age of empire.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *orlandaMan
24 weeks ago

North Walsham

Best: either Utopia for Realists by Rutger Bregman or Civilization and it's Discontents by Sigmund Freud.

Worst: Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory or Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Not because they're bad books, just because of the glacially slow pacing of both.

I mean, how many times can you describe a knight getting de-horsed and re-horsed!!!

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *ed MartinMan
24 weeks ago

Shefford

Best: The Vegetarian, such a strange tale, but so well written parts of it still linger in my mind years after reading it.

Worst: Anything by the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen or Charles Dickens. They all take 1000 words to describe something that only needed 10, and which was too fucking boring to be written about anyway. The underlying storyline might be good but it just gets lost in a mountain of crap.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *ed MartinMan
24 weeks ago

Shefford

"Best - monstrous regiment

Worst - 50 shades (then again it started as twilight fanfic so I don’t know what anyone else expected)"

As bests go, that’s a strong contender…but have you not read The Shepherd’s Crown yet?!

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *ornywife20Couple
24 weeks ago

North Cork

Worst book

Anything I was forced to read in school.

Best book Anything with an erotic twist

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By (user no longer on site)
24 weeks ago

"I have two worst, Catch 22 and Catcher in the Rye. Both supposed classics but I just don't get them.

Not sure I can remember a best 🤔

Bloody hell, Catch 22 is one my all time favourites... Read it at LEAST 6 times 💕

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *ou only live onceMan
24 weeks ago

London

Best in terms of favourites would be a toss up between The Buddha of Suburbia and The Line of Beauty. I love them both.

I don't finish books if I'm not enjoying them, but two that I really wanted to read, but just couldn't force myself through were The Heart of Darkness and Beowulf.

I've also read bits of Mein Kampf, OP. I agree it's dire.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

By *ncemoreroundthesunCouple
24 weeks ago

on the move

Couldn't pick a best, but some notable ones from recent times are: the book of trespass, everyman for himself, and God against all, the road to unfreedom, factory girls.

The worst, the Jordan Peterson book was dire, psychobabble mixed with religious allegory.

Reply privately

Reply in forum

Reply +quote

Post new Message to Thread