Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Based on past experience I am very wary of books that are nominated for Britain's Booker Prize, but after reading many positive reviews, I decided that I would give this a try. Alas, I foolishly spent money on it rather than wait the months in the public library's queue. Basically, like so many literary fiction novels of this type, the plot was superficially interesting, the writing was pretty, but there was just no emotional engagement with the characters at all. When I read fiction, I want to feel like I am part of the world, not just staring at it from the outside.

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge I am tired of reading a Science Fiction book that gets awards and great reviews only to discover that the author has no clue when it comes to character development, pacing, narrative, etc. Vinge presents some really cool ideas in this book, such as an alien species with group minds that can recombine, but it does not matter how intriguing the ideas are if you cannot tell a good story about characters the reader cares about. I really tried, but this fell well short.

Them by Joyce Carol Oates Never have I read a book where the author had such disdain for her characters (and the whole human race for that matter). I suppose that would be okay if there were at least a semi-compelling plot, but this book was just an extremely unpleasant reading experience.

Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham Incredibly boring book about a young man with a club foot trying to make his way in the world. Why this should be considered a classic is beyond me.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman  Bizarre fantasy tale set in quasi-Victorian England.  Perhaps had some potential, but the author tries way too hard to be cute without really giving you any characters to care about.

Timbuktu by Paul Auster  A story of homelessness in America told from the point of view of a homeless man's dog.  I decided to read this because I was intrigued by the narrative device, but altough I enjoyed reading about things from the dog's perspective, this book just completely failed to engage me on an emotional level.

The White Bone by Barbara Gowdy  The only example I know of Canadian elephant fiction.  I took this up after a number of favorable reviews and although Gowdy did seem to do a good job of creating a unique and plausible elephant culture neither the characters nor plot ever took hold with me.