Um, the worst book, I never read because I got annoyed with the author after a few pages and was reduced to days of sullen muttering about syllablitus. My book of doom? Nickolai Tolstoys The Coming of the King. It may even have been a good story, but I'm happy enough to struggle away with Chaucer, and I found the book more like hard work than entertainment. It is now used as a bookend, safely guarding all those other books which will get taken off the shelves again and again and again. Terry Pratchett nearly got my vote for his book Masquerade. Never before have I read a book and found myself wondering what exactly were the contractual obligations of the author. It reads like a book the man didn't want to write. Shame. Shanna :-)