love the hate hahaha !! I don't know much about the other three, but I picked up Florence Given's "Women Don't Owe You Pretty," on a whim bc of the pretty cover a few years ago, and I've never been so angry reading a book. Every line is armchair, poppy feminism that you can find on an average Pinterest graphic. It's not intersectional, nuanced, researched, etc. I learned literally nothing new in the entire book which took me like thirty minutes total to read. AGH ok I'll stop, I'm getting angry just thinking about it. She's a lot more about vibes and less about content, and it's frustrating to see that achieve such success :/
This is a great post, and as others have mentioned in the comments, it's great to read about hated books and I love the way you trashed them (how cruel, right? 😂). I haven't read any of these, but anytime I've seen that smug Rachel Hollis in bookshops she just gives me icky feelings and I can only imagine how irritating she is. I watched a few minutes of that video you linked to - yikes, she's ghastly!
I won't link to a post I recently wrote because that's tacky/bad etiquette, but it was about my hatred of The Alchemist and I was certain I'd get people coming to its defence - after all, it's on so many people's top 10 inspiring reads list, but most readers (mine must be so discerning!) agreed with me for the most part.
Do you know about the podcast If Books Could Kill? The hosts tear apart books in the self-help/pop culture genre (Freakanomics, Malcolm Gladwell, Michael Lewis, Atomic Habits, etc) - Rachel Hollis type books make an appearance from time to time. It's worth checking out.
It’s finally nice to hear there’s another fan around here! Whenever I mention it, I’m met with crickets.
I’m curious - were there any episodes you particularly liked? Are there any books they’ve covered that you enjoy and disagree with their take? Were there any where you were nodding along in agreement, shouting ‘YES! YES! YES!’ while people looked at you like you were nuts?
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck & Atomic Habits are two highlights for me - I'd read the former a few years back while on a self help kick & as an ADHDer had been recommended Atomic Habits a million times so it was satisfying being 'deinfluenced' 😂 I'm in the UK so haven't read a lot of the titles but I'm a big Michael Hobbes fan & enjoy both their takes a lot. How about you?
So far, I've mainly listened to episodes of books I've read, most of which I disliked (the ones mentioned previously). I really enjoyed the Going Infinite (Michael Lewis) episode, and interestingly, that's the first I've listened to where they actually like the book (as do I - it's entertaining, but flawed). I've not listened to Atomic Habits, but I made one attempt to read it and couldn't get past the introduction (all the boasting and honestly, do we really need a book about habits? Surely this can be summarised in a paragraph or two!) My English brother-in-law hasn't read many of the books but he still listens to most episodes and enjoys it, so I think I'll start listening to more of them, even the books I've yet to read.
The only book on their list, other than Going Infinite, that I like is the 48 Laws of Power, so it'll be fascinating to hear what they have to say about it.
Michael and Peter are both good fun, they crack me up, great banter.
I also disliked If We Were Villains and felt like a crazy person amidst all the high praise it received. I was considering picking up Graveyard Shift to give Rio a second chance but I think you’ve convinced me not too… great list! :)
I love when readers share books they hated. It’s so refreshing. Most recently I hated All Fours and Sister Snake. Last year I hated The Guest by Emma Cline and Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson.
I definitely like the idea of a mid 40s floundering MC (I’m 47) but her actions were beyond messy. I usually like “unlikeable” female characters but it just left me disgusted.
It's so nice to read hate. My soul feels full. Graveyard Shift truly was one of the wildest things I've read in years. So badly written, so boring, so confusing, and the ending? Took me a week to recover any motivation to read again💀
Haven’t read any of these but felt so seen about the We Were Liars part (my only 1 star review on Goodreads). My whole family knows how much I hate this book, as I spent a precious day at the beach reading it and had to be restrained from throwing it into the lake :)
The f**king privilege in books. I just put one down because I could not. The Art of Non-Conformity. First of all man swears he will never bow down to a guru in the same breath he's talking about church. He can for some reason go work as an upaid volunteer for four years only to come back to live in a city and get his master's. Generational wealth hello. Same thing with the book that show The Bear popularized, the author opened incredible restaurants and oh yeah his father was well-connected. How can anyone tale these stories as inspirational how-tos when more than half was being born into it with resources. I am no victim but these stories are not real blueprints of the hustle. End rant.
I was sucked in by Girl Wash Your Face! Then I saw the author speak at a motivational conference and it was such a let down that I wondered why I got sucked in. I was embarrassed and thought what did I actually see in this? I couldn’t remember the content of the book after all these years, until this article reminded me. Ah well.
Omg I hated Girl Crush too 😭 it was like two different (and bad) books stuck to each other. My most recent hate has been Wintering by Katherine May… honestly what unchecked privilege
Inspired to revel this morning in my years long hate of The Dutch House in which two privileged siblings sit in a car for decades staring at the McMansion that should have been theirs!
Hating is a dying art, so good to see it in good form here. Subscribing.
Felt like I was also the only person that hated ML Rio’s If We Were Villains. Clearly a Secret History ripoff but without the humor and a pretty pathetic plot that takes itself too seriously.
I love this because when people say not to waste time talking about bad books I always tell them that if I disliked a book the least compensation I am deserving of is to complain about it, so that sentence about wasting time really resonated with me. 😂 and I was looking forward to giving Graveyard Shift A Try but now I don’t know anymore haha
Your hatred is inspiring ❤️
Thank you for supporting my passions 🤍
Also stoked one of my bitchy reviews also made the cut 😌
Happy to say I've not had the misfortune to read any of these books 😀
better living everyone! 🤍
love the hate hahaha !! I don't know much about the other three, but I picked up Florence Given's "Women Don't Owe You Pretty," on a whim bc of the pretty cover a few years ago, and I've never been so angry reading a book. Every line is armchair, poppy feminism that you can find on an average Pinterest graphic. It's not intersectional, nuanced, researched, etc. I learned literally nothing new in the entire book which took me like thirty minutes total to read. AGH ok I'll stop, I'm getting angry just thinking about it. She's a lot more about vibes and less about content, and it's frustrating to see that achieve such success :/
Yes! This! And also that she basically ripped off The Slumflower and then just gaslit everyone into thinking that whole thing never happened...
This is a great post, and as others have mentioned in the comments, it's great to read about hated books and I love the way you trashed them (how cruel, right? 😂). I haven't read any of these, but anytime I've seen that smug Rachel Hollis in bookshops she just gives me icky feelings and I can only imagine how irritating she is. I watched a few minutes of that video you linked to - yikes, she's ghastly!
I won't link to a post I recently wrote because that's tacky/bad etiquette, but it was about my hatred of The Alchemist and I was certain I'd get people coming to its defence - after all, it's on so many people's top 10 inspiring reads list, but most readers (mine must be so discerning!) agreed with me for the most part.
Do you know about the podcast If Books Could Kill? The hosts tear apart books in the self-help/pop culture genre (Freakanomics, Malcolm Gladwell, Michael Lewis, Atomic Habits, etc) - Rachel Hollis type books make an appearance from time to time. It's worth checking out.
I love If Books Could Kill!
It’s finally nice to hear there’s another fan around here! Whenever I mention it, I’m met with crickets.
I’m curious - were there any episodes you particularly liked? Are there any books they’ve covered that you enjoy and disagree with their take? Were there any where you were nodding along in agreement, shouting ‘YES! YES! YES!’ while people looked at you like you were nuts?
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck & Atomic Habits are two highlights for me - I'd read the former a few years back while on a self help kick & as an ADHDer had been recommended Atomic Habits a million times so it was satisfying being 'deinfluenced' 😂 I'm in the UK so haven't read a lot of the titles but I'm a big Michael Hobbes fan & enjoy both their takes a lot. How about you?
So far, I've mainly listened to episodes of books I've read, most of which I disliked (the ones mentioned previously). I really enjoyed the Going Infinite (Michael Lewis) episode, and interestingly, that's the first I've listened to where they actually like the book (as do I - it's entertaining, but flawed). I've not listened to Atomic Habits, but I made one attempt to read it and couldn't get past the introduction (all the boasting and honestly, do we really need a book about habits? Surely this can be summarised in a paragraph or two!) My English brother-in-law hasn't read many of the books but he still listens to most episodes and enjoys it, so I think I'll start listening to more of them, even the books I've yet to read.
The only book on their list, other than Going Infinite, that I like is the 48 Laws of Power, so it'll be fascinating to hear what they have to say about it.
Michael and Peter are both good fun, they crack me up, great banter.
I also disliked If We Were Villains and felt like a crazy person amidst all the high praise it received. I was considering picking up Graveyard Shift to give Rio a second chance but I think you’ve convinced me not too… great list! :)
I love when readers share books they hated. It’s so refreshing. Most recently I hated All Fours and Sister Snake. Last year I hated The Guest by Emma Cline and Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson.
Ooooh tell me more about why you hated All Fours!!
I definitely like the idea of a mid 40s floundering MC (I’m 47) but her actions were beyond messy. I usually like “unlikeable” female characters but it just left me disgusted.
Graveyard Shift was awful and pointless!!! I also really disliked We Are Villains. No more ML Rio for me.
It's so nice to read hate. My soul feels full. Graveyard Shift truly was one of the wildest things I've read in years. So badly written, so boring, so confusing, and the ending? Took me a week to recover any motivation to read again💀
Haven’t read any of these but felt so seen about the We Were Liars part (my only 1 star review on Goodreads). My whole family knows how much I hate this book, as I spent a precious day at the beach reading it and had to be restrained from throwing it into the lake :)
The f**king privilege in books. I just put one down because I could not. The Art of Non-Conformity. First of all man swears he will never bow down to a guru in the same breath he's talking about church. He can for some reason go work as an upaid volunteer for four years only to come back to live in a city and get his master's. Generational wealth hello. Same thing with the book that show The Bear popularized, the author opened incredible restaurants and oh yeah his father was well-connected. How can anyone tale these stories as inspirational how-tos when more than half was being born into it with resources. I am no victim but these stories are not real blueprints of the hustle. End rant.
I love this post. Only read one of them, but yes! Bad!
I was sucked in by Girl Wash Your Face! Then I saw the author speak at a motivational conference and it was such a let down that I wondered why I got sucked in. I was embarrassed and thought what did I actually see in this? I couldn’t remember the content of the book after all these years, until this article reminded me. Ah well.
Omg I hated Girl Crush too 😭 it was like two different (and bad) books stuck to each other. My most recent hate has been Wintering by Katherine May… honestly what unchecked privilege
Inspired to revel this morning in my years long hate of The Dutch House in which two privileged siblings sit in a car for decades staring at the McMansion that should have been theirs!
Hating is a dying art, so good to see it in good form here. Subscribing.
Felt like I was also the only person that hated ML Rio’s If We Were Villains. Clearly a Secret History ripoff but without the humor and a pretty pathetic plot that takes itself too seriously.
I love this because when people say not to waste time talking about bad books I always tell them that if I disliked a book the least compensation I am deserving of is to complain about it, so that sentence about wasting time really resonated with me. 😂 and I was looking forward to giving Graveyard Shift A Try but now I don’t know anymore haha