The worst book I ever read was..

[garyjsmith]

"Inversion is a powerful thinking tool because it puts a spotlight on errors and roadblocks that are not obvious at first glance. What if the opposite was true? What if I focused on a different side of this situation? Instead of asking how to do something, ask how to not do it." -- James Clear

It can often be seen that many are looking for the right books, whether to change a mindset or uncover the path of ease. Here, I hope we can answer the question: What have we learned from the worst books?

What was your takeaway from that experience? Why did you purchase the book in the first place? Was it by recommendation? Did you believe it was a 'good book' until you found opposing information, or maybe a contrary opinion from an associate?

 

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[tiagosoares17.22]

The Power Of Now.

At the time, this book was being suggested by tons of people. "You gotta read this book", "oh, it's a fantastic book", "I just finished to read the power of now and it was amazing". I was seeing this all over the place and I thought - I have to check it. After 30 pages I couldn't continue. It was just too repetitive.

The issue was, at that time, I was basically getting started with self-development and I wasn't prepared and ready to absorb and value such information. To be honest, until now I haven't read it again, but I now understand a lot more and better what he meant. And I found ways to practice being present, more consciously.

I guess I might be confusing some of you.

The point is: Sometimes, we are not ready to certain information. And from there, one can lower the value and importance of a message because of the lack of understanding.

The book wasn't bad, it was just not the right time for me.

 

[TonyStark]

All of the sequels to RDPD were pretty awful, in my opinion.

 

[Invictus]

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

Aside from being a pop psychology book that extrapolates research and case studies (things are rarely so black and white), I felt like it had a terrible theme. All of these hugely successful people happened because they were outliers and there were events out of their control. They were born a few months earlier in the year, they managed to learn to code when it was still new because their school just happened to have a class, etc.

It's not that I don't think some people have a few things line up right, or that some people have more convenient opportunities, but I hated the feeling I got reading the book. It felt like Gladwell was saying that it comes down to not just having a talent, but in being lucky enough to have the opportunity to do that.

And I despise anyone that says it comes down to luck. I believe that if you're willing to sweat and bleed, you can make it work. Maybe you won't hit it huge as a billionaire or Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, but you can make the climb.

 

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[ChapoJR]

Too many to name.

After you're done reading the 'top 50' or so business/self-development books, so many just repeat the same sh*t it's ridiculous. Escape the rat race, more to life than college, value your time instead of getting a 9-5, start a business doing something you love, blah blah blah.

The spiel is cool and all, but once you've been fed the 'red pill' so many times, so many of these books are just repetitive BS.

 

[G-Man]

Automatic Millionaire by David Bach is the biggest steaming pile of schlock to ever end up in purgatory on my Kindle.

 

[ZCP]

Who moved my cheese.

 

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[rollerskates]

I don't read a ton of business books, I really look for quality over quantity, but I did read Outliers and I didn't like it either. For a long time I believed what was in it and while it is true that some people succeed because they have a leg up, that's not true for every successful person. But I guess it makes you feel better about failure, and that's the hook of the book. The only exception in there was the discussion of KIPP. That really is a fantastic school system--it's a charter school mainly aimed at students in bad neighborhoods-- and students coming out of it are far better off than those in the average public school, especially ones in the hood.

 

[Sean Kaye]

A few of the worst books I've read over the last year - avoid at all costs:

You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero - she talks about manifesting shit and vision boards. Not good.

Hacking Growth by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown - Just lame. Apparently, the key to success is experimenting. Duh.

Payoff by Dan Ariely - Just schlock and regurgitated tripe.

Idea to Execution by Ari Meisel and Nick Sonnenberg - This was one big ad for their outsourcing business and they cite numbers that I'm not sure are totally legit.

The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday - Everything he writes is pretty verbose and crappy. He quotes a bunch of other people, does very little analysis around it, but just structures it so he sounds smart. I've given up reading his books.

Honourable Mention goes to:

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson - the first half of the book was ok, the second half is all over the shop with dating advice, lifestyle wantrepreneur BS and repeating shit from his blog. I am convinced he wrote the book and his publisher said, "Make it bigger" and the second half was tacked on because the first half is tight whereas the second half is a rambling mess.

 

[Andy Black]

I have a load of books on my shelf that I started and didn't get past the first chapter.

I couldn't say if they are bad books or not, just that they weren't the right book for what I was currently working on.

At the minute I find it impossible to read a book. I'm not on some self-imposed non-consumption diet. I lately just find them a distraction from what I need to do.

 

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[Olimac21]

Start with why by Simon Sinek. Main message and Ted Talk very good/relevant, the book however is super repetitive.

 

[jsk29]

I once spent over $1k on a book called Let There Be Range back when I played poker full time. I bought the book because it was hyped up on the poker forums and was co-authored by one of the best high stakes online players of that era. I believed it was an awesome book that revealed the advanced plays I was missing from my game to crush opponents at the tables. In reality, it just led to "fancy play syndrome" and misapplication of theory in situations that rarely occurred at my own stakes. The takeaway was to be skeptical of overhyped, overpriced info products that are marketed as INSIDERS secrets to accelerated profits.

In contrast, the best poker book I've ever read is The Mathematics of Poker. It's an extremely dense book that takes a lot of work to digest, but it's literally the ONLY book you need to study if you wanted to master the game of poker (+ grinding it out at the tables of course). And it's 2% of the price of LTBR.

But Mathematics of Poker isn't sexy. It isn't hyped up and marketed to the average grinder. It takes hard mental effort to get through the pages. It doesn't promise any shortcuts.

The same lesson applies to most business books and info products out there.

 

[Scot]

Who moved my cheese.

Ugh. This book. I've had this boom forced on me in so many corporate leadership programs.

I HATE this book.

I sent you rep as reparations for you having to read this book.

 

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[jsk29]

I'm gonna go with the classic, "The Theory of Poker"... I remember reading it back in the early 90s when it was released (before there were any books or Internet forums to discuss the math/strategy of poker), and it blew my mind. That book earned me seven figures...

Theory of Poker is a close second. There was no twoplustwo in the 90s?

I started playing in 2008.. You must have been killin it during the Partypoker era and Moneymaker boom!

 

[ZCP]

Ugh. This book. I've had this boom forced on me in so many corporate leadership programs.
I HATE this book.
I sent you rep as reparations for you having to read this book.

Not sure HATE is strong enough word. You would have thought this book was the 5th gospel the way it was built up.
Corporate latched onto this like it was the new Carnegie or something.
Uhgh.... i may skip lunch now just thinking about it.....

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Can't say I hate books, I just stop reading them when they don't interest me or contain anything to improve my life.

Think and Grow Rich was one I stopped reading. So was 4HWW.

 

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[garyjsmith]

..The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson...is a rambling mess.

I patiently waited for someone to mention this title.

 

[G-Man]

Think and Grow Rich was one I stopped reading.

That thing is a total dumpster fire. People talk about it almost like it gave them a religious experience, so I kept all the way to the end, hoping he would get to the damn point. .... He did not.

 

[Almantas]

Was just reading a similar thread on Reddit few days ago. Here's what I found:

I've no doubt Unscripted will be even bigger hit!

P.S. Sorry for stealing your thread - let the rant continue... lol

 

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[VDon]

I once spent over $1k on a book called Let There Be Range back when I played poker full time. I bought the book because it was hyped up on the poker forums and was co-authored by one of the best high stakes online players of that era. I believed it was an awesome book that revealed the advanced plays I was missing from my game to crush opponents at the tables. In reality, it just led to "fancy play syndrome" and misapplication of theory in situations that rarely occurred at my own stakes. The takeaway was to be skeptical of overhyped, overpriced info products that are marketed as INSIDERS secrets to accelerated profits.

In contrast, the best poker book I've ever read is The Mathematics of Poker. It's an extremely dense book that takes a lot of work to digest, but it's literally the ONLY book you need to study if you wanted to master the game of poker (+ grinding it out at the tables of course). And it's 2% of the price of LTBR.

But Mathematics of Poker isn't sexy. It isn't hyped up and marketed to the average grinder. It takes hard mental effort to get through the pages. It doesn't promise any shortcuts.

The same lesson applies to most business books and info products out there.

Let there be range completely ruined my poker career. Thumbs up fam [emoji1303][emoji51]


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[MiguelHammond10]

A book that many literary critics and book reviewers say is a timeless classic, while I say it is complete garbage and hands down the worst book I have ever read. I know everybody has read a few books that they disliked or just completely hated. Well, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is that book for me. Let’s just say my dislike for this book is as deep as Biff Tannen’s hate for Marty McFly.

 

[ZF Lee]

Can't say I hate books, I just stop reading them when they don't interest me or contain anything to improve my life.

Think and Grow Rich was one I stopped reading. So was 4HWW.

Same here!
Think and Grow Rich overhyped perseverance and persistence. Although both virtues are good, if you put all your efforts in the wrong system or route, you'd be F*cked. Fastlane solved that for me. That is not to say I detest hard work or diligence, it's just that they are not everything.

The 4HWW and the Laptop Millionaire led me into the world of outsourcing, ebooks, webinars and blogs. At first I was dazzled by the possibilities of earning dough online, passive, which involved skills I had such as writing and video.

After TMF , I realised that some of the tactics suggested were actually one-time endeavours that just wouldn't result in anything tangible, be it a good business or wealth. At the end of the day, I would be taking, taking, taking via Internet BRO-marketing, and I would end up having nothing to show for my work.

The 4HWW isn't a criminal book, to be clear. Or even the Laptop Millionaire. It's just that both were presented in the wrong context....the wrong context of 'take all the money', avoidance of the challenges and responsibilities that come with realistic business ventures, online or not.

MJ, you even described 4HWW in the reader reflections via terms such as 'subterfuge and nefarious schemes'...very apt.

All of the sequels to RDPD were pretty awful, in my opinion.

RDPD and the series is for ignorant people who have next to no common sense on wealth generation or business lol. I am giving such a harsh opinion because it took me FOUR books to realise that it was all just rehash stuff. My comprehension and critical thinking skills were at an all time low at that point lol.

The book 'Business of the 21st century' which talks about network marketing was alarmingly cringey and very biased as it did not discuss the lack of control and the lower probabilities of success in the field.

Six Months to Six Figures was a washout. Lacked material depth. Same goes for the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur. Although the latter focuses on resourcefulness in entrepreneurship, the entire book just felt like a wall of text. I was very disappointed to find that I was deceived by TPE's claim that it was a 'cult classic'. Damn you, marketing.

Likewise, Outliers by Malcolm Galdwell was overly focused on the role of luck and coincidence. It didn't even produce any viable suggestions on what we can do to control our probabilities of success! I felt so F*cking depressed after reading the first few pages that I deleted the damn thing. If the world were really constructed based on the Outlier's philosophy, we'd be F*cked.

 

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[Sean Kaye]

Can't say I hate books, I just stop reading them when they don't interest me or contain anything to improve my life.

Think and Grow Rich was one I stopped reading. So was 4HWW.

Yeah good point - I stopped reading "You Are A Badass" about 20% of the way through. She started rambling on about vision boards and manifesting money, so I couldn't handle it anymore. Same with "Hacking Growth" - at about 20% of the way in I went, "This is BS" and stopped it.

Interesting about "Think and Grow Rich" and "4HWW" - in many respects both are fraudulent. Napoleon Hill was a con man. And Tim Ferriss openly admits that he's a workaholic who often puts in 80 hour weeks. I felt with both those books, the fraudulent nature of the authors came through which led me to disliking them.

4HWW was one I forced myself to finish because everyone raved about it, I needed to see if I was missing something.

 

[MidwestLandlord]

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

One of my favorite books, actually. ^^^

Think and Grow Rich is one of the only books I've never finished. Complete garbage.

Atlas Shrugged is another one I couldn't finish, too boring.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Let there be range completely ruined my poker career.

What specifically was this book telling you to do that ruined your career? Genuinely curious.

And Tim Ferriss openly admits that he's a workaholic who often puts in 80 hour weeks.

Yea, one look at his body of work / accomplishments and you can tell the dude is a productivity machine who probably only TAKES OFF 4 hours a week. Oh the irony.

Atlas Shrugged is another one I couldn't finish, too boring.

I didn't make it through Fountainhead. Love its message and theme, but the long verbosity was putting me to sleep.

 

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[VDon]

What specifically was this book telling you to do that ruined your career? Genuinely curious.

The content itself is brilliant, but the book damaged my mindset, I became impatient, arrogant and lost the passion for the game subsequently.

 

[Fpm9]

I enjoyed 4HW but I can't take the author seriously since I read one of his article about how he "gained 34lbs of muscle in 4 weeks going to the gym 4 hours a week and without steroids"

 

[OldFaithful]

"The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. It was just a thinly veiled rant against capitalism back in the heydey of socialism.

I concur with the previous posts about "Think And Grow Rich" (couldn't finish it) & "The Catcher in the Rye".

 

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[McFirewavesJr]

I remember "The science of getting rich" to be slightly worse than The Secret in terms of content. No mention whatsoever on how one goes about becoming wealthy; because all you need is to think about it hard enough, and then the mystical energy flow that is actually money will start pouring all over you. Wow I absolutely love this kind of "science"!

I'm sad for the poor soul who posted this comment

I'm terms of writing, I'd prefer to read the original unabridged 700p. long version of The Wealth of Nations 5 times in a row than read anything form Ryan Holiday again. I just can't deal anymore with his constant name dropping and personal anecdotes.

 

[Mr.Rob]

This is my vote.

I've got to stick up for Atlas Shrugged, though verbose and dry its quite epic in its philosophical stance.

The way I've had "bad" books described to me is that there are many flavors of self-improvement teachers that attract a different demographic of people. We're more intense results oriented hustler crowd so Eckhart Tolle telling us to listen for the space between our breathe and wait for your inner being is going to annoy us (though I did like the Power of Now lol) but for those that resonate with it they get a stepping stone into self-improvement and self-enlightenment that they never would have gotten if they read "The Millionaire Fastlane ".

So there are no "bad" books just different flavors for different tastes.