The worst book I ever read was..

[Mr.Brandtastic]

Maybe not specifically, but 95% of books that want you to physically stop and write things down.

When I'm reading, I'm on a roll here. If I actually stopped and took out a pen it would absolutely destroy my momentum, like slamming on the brakes on a car going 100 mph. I hated English class and marking up the book for this reason. It's common among the self-styled self-improvement guru books and it bugs me to no end.

I hope in the future people stop doing this frustrating non-sense. Bonus points if you're listening to the book in audio format and it has an agonizingly long pause after they tell you to write something down. As if I have pen and paper in front of me when I'm driving or at the gym.

 

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[cor]

From the top of my head: popular books that I found to be very overrated, long-winded, idealistic, rehashed ideas, not very actionable/practical

The Lean Startup
Creativity, Inc.
Think and Grow Rich

 

[C-Jay]

I hated 4HWW. Couldn't finish it. Not because there wasn't useful content (there was) but because it felt totally inauthentic and arrogant. The guy is clearly a workaholic who intentionally neglected to mention the painstaking effort he had to put in to achieve his freedom solely so he could market to all the lazy people who WANT to believe it's so easy to earn a great income while doing next to nothing.

Also, I'll mention RDPD. I liked the book and thought it was a clever premise which was well written. It's definitely effective for someone who wants some perspective.

The book was good, but his brand completely sold out as the years went on. Buddy of mine attended one of his company seminars in Toronto. They were literally just salespeople trying to convince vulnerable audience members to call their banks and take out massive loans to invest in their products and services so they could live like Rich Dad.

 

[WJK]

"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?

Sometimes the best lessons are found in how the guy down the street did it all wrong...

 

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[Aaron T]

From the top of my head: popular books that I found to be very overrated, long-winded, idealistic, rehashed ideas, not very actionable/practical

The Lean Startup
Creativity, Inc.
Think and Grow Rich

Interestingly all 3 of those books provided a thing of value for me that was actionable or helpful. My startups were all Lean but seeing some of the ideals codified was a help. Think and Grow Rich I read as a child and it made me think differently about money which in a sense kicked off some of who I am today, but agreed in that it is not super actionable.

Creativity, Inc. however holds a special place as Pixar is one of my most favorite companies in the world and owned by my favorite company in the world now. I have spent a lot of time in their offices and see living proof of what Ed talks about. Yes, it might not appear to be actionable but concepts he has brought up, in particular meeting habits, was something I have used.

All of these books depend on where you are at. They are either really bad, or really good so I can see both points. Just struck me that 3 books I really enjoyed are also viewed so negatively.

 

[Aaron T]

By far my least favorite book that was the biggest waste of time for me was "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. I was full of mumbled bullshit that was just a series of crappy run on sentences from someone on a poor spiritual high. I have never felt I wasted more time now, int he past, future, than what this drivel provided. Of course purely my opinion.

Other bad books.

I forced myself to read "Twilight" to see what that was about. I am no writer, but I would have thought I could do a better job. Also it creeped me out that a several hundred year old vampire was sneaking into a 17 year old girls bedroom to stare at her at night. How do women find this romantic? Replace that vampire with literally any other man and it becomes a predator story. Awful!! I still finished it. Ugh.

Read Dave Ramsey's Entreleadership book and while it has some OK business advice I found it anti-fastlane in nature and also filled with realyl horrible advice. The whole idea of not hiring someone because of their spouse or firing people if they are going through divorce because if they can't be trusted in their relationships they can't be trusted at work. Life is not that black and white and I have had many wonderful people at the office that have gone through strife and they were stop top notch and professional. Besides it is not always someone cheating. Bullshit advice and it rubbed me the wrong way.

Jack Welsh's "Winning" also bugged me. It was very egotistical and that style made me more annoyed than anything. There was good information mixed with bad in the book, but it was not relevant to me so I put it on my bad list.

I read 1-5 books a week so I am always scouring for material to read. To numerous to mention fleeting information books that claim to make you rich or bring your content game up, or marketing this or that. Worthless and every time I fall for a read of one of these it pisses me off. This list of non-informative books for me are:

• Side Hustle - Chris Guillebeau
• You Are A Badass At Making Money - Jen Sincero
• The Power of Broke - Daymond John
• Do More Faster - Brad Feld
• The 10% Entrepreneur - Patrick J. McGinnis
• Money Master - Tony Robbins
• The Secret - some lady I forgot but it is lazy law of attraction BS

I am sure there are a lot more. I don't know why all of these books bothered me, but they seemed to pander to peoples wants/needs or give bad advice. Surely though someone finds value in them so these are purely my opinion.

 

[cor]

Interestingly all 3 of those books provided a thing of value for me that was actionable or helpful.

That's why I love reading and books. Many of the books mentioned here by other people, I feel the same way. One particular example is Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It gets a lot of hate here. That book changed my life in college, and made me realize that while my father was a business owner, he was passing down to me a "poor person" mindset, which at his very nature, he still was. It made me realize I was looking at personal finances and saving all wrong, and that "go to school, get good grades, and get a job" was bullshit and would not serve me well in the long run.

 

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[Aaron T]

That's why I love reading and books. Many of the books mentioned here by other people, I feel the same way. One particular example is Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It gets a lot of hate here. That book changed my life in college, and made me realize that while my father was a business owner, he was passing down to me a "poor person" mindset, which at his very nature, he still was. It made me realize I was looking at personal finances and saving all wrong, and that "go to school, get good grades, and get a job" was bullshit and would not serve me well in the long run.

I rather enjoyed Rich Dad, Poor Dad for those same reasons. The information wasn't new to me, but the perspective was one that was not often shared.

At this point I want a good book for the new generation of Millennials and Entitlement mentality people (not always the same people BTW) that helps them shift perspective the same way that book did for me. Unscripted is the closest book I know of for that. Sadly most won't read it.

Speaking of which.. I want to know the best place to buy multiple copies of Unscripted where it benefits MJ the most of his charities. I have a lot of people that are getting copies of this for Christmas. Want to lead a lot of horses to water. Hopefully they will drink.

 

[Niptuck MD]

That stupid book by ramit Sethi

Any book by maya angelou,

Books mandated by public schools in america...

LoL

 

[policebaton]

Of related ones not forced on me by my English teachers, Think and Grow Rich.. way too woo woo

 

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[Mr.Brandtastic]

That stupid book by ramit Sethi

I Will Teach You to Be Rich....in 35-40 years lol. Oh my god I forgot how awful that book was, so glad I never followed its advice.

 

[policebaton]

So interestingly enough, literally right after replying to this thread I went to meet up with a friend and she said "close your eyes and hold out your hands I got you something" I felt a book, opened my eyes and it was "who moved my cheese" totally came out of nowhere... must be some weird form of destiny!

Guess I'll be the judge of this .

 

[Longinus]

Deep Work from Cal Newport.

I had high expectations, but for me it was rather a book written around an idea that the writer could easily explain in less than 5 pages.

Or maybe even in one sentence: Turn off all distractions while working.

Yes, that's pretty much it.

 

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[Patrykkl]

think and grow rich

 

[Dark Knight]

Famous books that bored me and I did not finish them:

The 4-Hour Workweek
Lean Startup

 

[TonyStark]

• Anything by Malcolm Gladwell
• Anything by Tai Lopez
• Anything by Tony Robbins
• Anything by Grant Cardone
• Anything by Tim Ferris
• Anything with the word 'Startup' in it

 

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[Tommo]

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.


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.

Six Months to Six Figures was total waste of time and money for me, big regret on my part, I was kind of excited that he quoted MJ in it but after that nothing.

 

[WJK]

think and grow rich

Why? You didn't find one useful idea in that whole book?

 

[momomaurice]

I'm glad that I'm not the only person who couldn't finish think and grow rich

 

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[Bhanu]

My list:
The secret
Outliers
The Kite runner
The Power of Positive Thinking

 

[masaldana2]

"ill teach you to be rich"

 

[barman]

think and grow rich

The book has a lot less umph when you find out Napolean Hill was a huge con

 

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[barman]

10X Rule by Grant Cardone - finished it somehow but what a bunch of rah rah bullshit. Especially when you find out he's a Scientologist.
Linchpin by Seth Godin - this is the first Godin book I've ever read and I had to put it down after one chapter.

 

[Rabelo]

RDPD ..starting from his second book also the monk who sold his Ferrari

 

[AfterWind]

"Getting things done" by David Allen

It provides very rigid and poorly explained tips on how to organize your time and remember stuff. Some are decent ideas on how to do it but, most of the book (at least the part I read) was simply "do this, do that add this column in case something bad happens so that you are prepared" that you are better off just reading a "top 10 ways to organize your time" blog post.

I'm seeing so much hate on "Think and Grow Rich" just as I was going to read it... aw man, at least it's somewhat short.

 

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[barman]

I'm seeing so much hate on "Think and Grow Rich" just as I was going to read it... aw man, at least it's somewhat short.

If you're looking for old timey classics then read Dale Carnegie

 

[AfterWind]

If you're looking for old timey classics then read Dale Carnegie

Thanks for the suggestion! I already read his "How to Win Friends and Influence People" which has tons of value that I have yet to take in. I'm always on the lookout for his books.

 

[masaldana2]

"the art of the start 2.0"
just boring

 

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[Cashflow Queen]

"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?

Gee so many people posted on here a lot of hate on books that literally changed my life. I’ve read almost all mentioned and they impact me in at least ONE way...one idea or nugget of wisdom always sticks years down the road. I don’t think you should listen to the naysayers, read Amazon reviews and see what’s up. Whether you like the book or think it’s a waste is completely based on YOU and where you are at in YOUR life and business. Often I come back to go through books I read a year ago and realize new facets to the book I had breezed by earlier when I was not ready for that piece of information or thought it was useless. Reading these reviews you can tell much more about the poster than about the book. But for sure you should never be arrogant about gaining wisdom. Especially if the author is more successful than you. How can you learn if you already closed your mind to it?

 

[IGP]

"Getting things done" by David Allen

It provides very rigid and poorly explained tips on how to organize your time and remember stuff. Some are decent ideas on how to do it but, most of the book (at least the part I read) was simply "do this, do that add this column in case something bad happens so that you are prepared" that you are better off just reading a "top 10 ways to organize your time" blog post.

I'm seeing so much hate on "Think and Grow Rich" just as I was going to read it... aw man, at least it's somewhat short.

That book sucked...

Should be called "Writing Shit Down!"