When a physical book is so bad you believe no other mortal should read it, what do you do with it?

Submitted by HeavyBlastoise t3_z5tute in books

So far i have read 2 such books, namely Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott and Princess of Burundi by Kjell Eriksson. I mean, there is the kind of Bad that you can attribute to reader's preferences, and then there's the kind of Bad where you feel like it's a massive waste of time and the book felt like a giant prank by the author because the ending is so nonsensical. And you believe others should be spared such experience lest they begin to hate reading.

I got these 2 along with many other books in my inventory from another person, so i feel bad about throwing them away or donating them again. So.. what do you guys do with your share of bad books?

Do you lock it away inside the deepest recess of your bookshelf so no mortal eyes would gaze upon it ever after?

Do you donate it believing other persons could enjoy it more than you do, however bad the book is?

Do you rip the pages apart, start a fire with it and then piss on the smoldering ashes?

Well actually i also got a thick book of mystery stories from various authors, and on the contents list the person who owned it before me put ratings on the titles, like 3 stars with the comment 'so-so', 4 stars 'interesting' and so on, like some kind of physical Goodreads.

So, what's your thought? Do you have any such book? What do you do with it?

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trishyco t1_ixy1kcm wrote

I would put it in a Free little Library or donate to a thrift store. I found from being in a book club that one person’s trash is another’s treasure.

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twee_centen t1_ixyuxxu wrote

Agreed! We've had a number of books at my book club where people were divided between "absolute garbage that should not be available for sale" to "5 stars, one of my favorite recent reads, devoured in a day."

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birds-are-dumb t1_iy03t59 wrote

I literally found one of the books OP talks about in a little free bus stop library lol. I didn't hate it, but certainly didn't think it deserved to win Best Swedish Crime Novel of 2002. Or maybe it did, I can't say I've read any better Swedish crime novels from 2002.

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bluredditacct t1_ixy13c5 wrote

Craft projects! There are so many cute crafts with book pages but I hate the thought of destroying a book, but if it's bad enough...

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HeavyBlastoise OP t1_ixy5zz8 wrote

Ooh good idea! My house had a big rain and a lot of my books were flooded, this ones included. The pages are now rotted with black spots so donating it would feel a bit wrong. Maybe it'd be good for crafts since it gives the 'old book' feeling.

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Mjhtmjht t1_ixy71p6 wrote

I once hated a book so much that I actually put it in the dustbin. I justified the transgression by telling myself that I was reducing the number of copies of it in the world by at least one!

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Xan_Winner t1_ixy6jkl wrote

Hollow out the middle and hide your drugs in there.

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Aubreydebevose t1_ixyp3s2 wrote

Will the world be a better place if I put this book in the bin? I have only answered yes twice, one was a book where the protagonist, a girl under 16, asked her uncle to forgive her for seducing him. All she'd done was sit near him on a riverbank. This was the redemption scene of the book.

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MarieReading t1_ixyto70 wrote

I ended up accidentally reading a Christian Fiction that was racist towards Native Americans. It wasn't just racist characters but the author's viewpoints. The world is a better place with one less copy. (I'm not for book banning but I couldn't send that back into the world.)

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Aubreydebevose t1_ixyvtxb wrote

Sounds like the world is a better place for one less copy of that book too!

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HeavyBlastoise OP t1_ixysa4g wrote

Wow yikes ok thats definitely not something i will donate away. What year was it published, was it like a last century thing?

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Aubreydebevose t1_ixyvdey wrote

I read it in the 1980's, it was written in the 70's or 80's.

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mycatisamonsterbaby t1_iy96990 wrote

I put a weird, racist politic book in a fire once. It was so bad, inaccurate, and nauseated me.

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qnSpectrum t1_ixy05e8 wrote

Well, I have the "Dosakhnama" by Rabisankar Dal. I bought it as I was interested in the early days of the subcontinent. However it turned out to be something containing all the dark sides, lots of swearing, malpractice explained vividly and rather a disturbing book to read. The author has received much appreciation for his work and this book has received accolades. But this is just not for me. I keep it on my shelf and whenever someone asks about it, I say that this is the worst book I have ever read. I ask if he or she wants it as the book is popular. It is still sitting there but maybe someday someone interested will receive it from me.

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dannyzaplings t1_ixy0696 wrote

I've definitely had the feeling that I would be doing a disservice to humanity to pass on certain books due to the waste of time they may cause.... but I don't have the guts to fulfill my moral duty to burn them. So I quietly pass them on. Like a coward. smh

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Jack-Campin t1_ixy41yk wrote

https://www.novelsuspects.com/book-list/ann-lindell-mystery-books/

Looks like Kjell Eriksson is somebody I ought to go for, like a successor to Henning Mankell (I'd guess Mankell isn't your thing either).

Stott looks really interesting. Definitely going to keep an eye out for her stuff. I've seen copies of Ghostwalk in local shops.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Stott

How on earth does somebody end up with that range of interests after an upbringing in the Exclusive Brethren? (A friend of mine was cast out by them for being gay - literally on the street in the middle of the night with nobody in their community to help).

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HeavyBlastoise OP t1_ixy5s6g wrote

Any Mankell recommendations in English translation?

I only found out yesterday that Princess of Burundi is part of a series, and the book seemed more interested in expanding the character interaction rather than the big mystery itself.

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Mjhtmjht t1_ixy6iy3 wrote

Thank you for the Kjell Eriksson recommendation. I loved Henning Mankel’s Wallander novels and felt quite depressed when I reached the end of the series. I would love to find works that are similar and equally good.

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VisibleConcentrate77 t1_iy1cxo2 wrote

Normally I am very against destroying books and if it is simply badly written, unenjoyable, ridiculous or pointless I wouldn't. But on rare occasions I have found books not of historical value that contained such horrible dehumanize messages and themes that I felt no option but destroy them. For example one 1930s Australian author who didn't consider aborigines real human beings.

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minimalist_coach t1_ixzgdi9 wrote

I donate them. The 2 books I've recently felt this way about are classics on so many must-read lists, I feel any book may be right for someone.

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pressman57 t1_iy161jf wrote

I found the soft pages of a paperback edition of Atlas Shrugged serviceable toilet paper.

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sophandros t1_ixymrxy wrote

>So, what's your thought?

My thought is that you should get over yourself. There are 8 billion people on this planet which means there are potentially 8 billion different opinions on every book. And guess what? Just because you don't like it really doesn't matter because someone else likely will like it.

Additionally, those authors and their editorial/publishing teams have put in a lot of work to enable you and others to hold that book in your hands. Don't shit on them by declaring that "no other mortal should read" their work. Who the fuck do you think you are?

Seriously, get over yourself. If you don't like a book, donate it to a little free library, put it in a book drop, or give it to a homeless shelter or something. Give someone else an opportunity to make up their own mind about it and perhaps even enjoy it.

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