April 23rd is World Book Day. It was first established by UNESCO in 1995 as a day of celebrating the joy of reading for enjoyment.
Last year on this day I put up a 420 inspired book tag, because duh!!!!
The book tag was derived from the top 10 of Rick Dees’ Weekly Top 40 Countdown that I had listened to the previous weekend on 420. You can check the tag out here if you are interested.
The last book tag I put up was on August 9th last year for Book Lovers Day 2019. I took the theme of the day quite literally and shared the books that I loved and gave 5 stars to on Goodreads. You can check the tag out here if you are interested.
For World Book Day 2020 I am going in the opposite direction of Book Lovers Day 2019 by sharing the books that I did not like at all and gave 1 star to on Goodreads. For anyone not familiar with the Goodreads rating it works like this:
1 star – did not like it
2 stars – it was okay
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing
It is hard for me to give a book a 1 star rating so I am expanding this tag to include books I do not own because, unlike 5 star reads, my 1 star reads are not many.
The books are arranged chronologically from 2015 to date. Fun fact: it was while arranging the books chronologically that I noticed that ever since joining Goodreads in 2015, 2019 is the only year I did not read a single 1 star book. Further proof that 2019 really was the best year of my life.
1. The Hours by Michael Cunningham
I bought this book in 2015 for my first ever structured reading challenge. It was one of 10 second-hand books I bought in the CBD for KES 100 each. It was also the first set of second-hand books I ever bought, but certainly not the last.
As mentioned 2015 was also the year I joined Goodreads. And as I explored the site that year I learnt that there is a great dislike for film adapted book covers, so now I no longer buy books with images of the movie adaptation on the cover.
2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
I do not own a copy.
I am pretty sure I was inspired to read this because Emily May, the only person I follow on Goodreads, says it is her favourite book of all time. I did not like it at all, though judging from my review below, did not like might be putting it mildly. Lol.
3. World’s Great Crooks and Conmen by Nigel Blundell
And its counterpart really was dull, but it somehow made it to two stars 😐
4. The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene
I read this right after World’s Great Crooks and Conmen, meaning I read two 1 star books back-to-back.
5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Can you imagine I read Wuthering Heights, World’s Great Crooks and Conmen, The Heart of the Matter and Pride and Prejudice in less than three months?! Four 1 star books in one quarter. Sucks to be me fam. Lol.
6. Dracula by Bram Stoker
7. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding
8. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
I do not own a copy.
This was sooo bad!!! Which sucks major balls because I was really excited to read this as I really enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird. But this was sooo bad I can see why there is a rumour that Truman Capote ghost-wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. And to make things worse, I was reading this at the picturesque Baobab Beach Resort & Spa in Diani. Since then I am very deliberate with my beach reads and only carry books I am confident I will enjoy.
9. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
This was so bad that there is a movie version of it starring Michael Bae Jordan but I have zero interest in watching it 😐
10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
11. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
This was really really really really really really really really really really really really really (you get it) bad. I intend to watch the movie at some point so I can understand why this is such a cult classic, because the book ain’t it fam 😐
12. Sex And The City by Candace Bushnell
I wrote about this book in my Taylor Swift book tag (link here) so I will just share screenshots from the post.
13. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
14. The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse
15. What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe
I do not own a copy.
16. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
I really wanted to like this because I really enjoyed the Brad Pitt movie, but alas!
17. That Summer by Sarah Dessen
18. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
19. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
This was my Goodreads review.
Lol. But that GIF really does capture the entire essence of the book in one image.
20. I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
21. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
Do not let the title fool ya! This was boring AF!!
Special shout outs to:
1. Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James
I read this before joining Goodreads, which is why it is technically not on the list, but it is a 1 star book AF!!!
2. How to Kill Your Husband {and Other Handy Household Hints} by Kathy Lette
This was sooo fucking bad I could not even give it 1 star 😐
Lwile the Leo 
This post was so fun to read 🙂 I actually really love Wuthering Heights because of how selfish Catherine is and how much of a brute Heathcliffe is. I just love flawed characters. I think we can learn so much more from them than we can perfect heroic characters.
That being said, I think it’s cool that you didn’t just 5 star the classics because they’re classics. Modern readers should form their own views on classic books, which I think people are afraid to do sometimes.
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Thanks for reading 🙂
I will be the first to admit that I struggle with difficult characters. But if the story is compelling enough I can overlook my dislike for the character(s). But if the story is not interesting, then it’s pretty much a guaranteed one star read. If at all I finish it 😐
And yes, I agree with you that modern readers should form their own views on classic books. I’ve not read too many classics because it usually takes me forever to get into the story, but I looooove Jane Eyre. That was a 5 star read AF!!!
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