Top 10 Most Boring Books (from Reddit & BookTok Readers)
Some books change your life. Others change your sleep schedule by putting you to bed before page 20. Today we are ranking the top 10 most boring books as reported by readers across the internet. Before you grab a pitchfork for your favorite classic, remember that boring is subjective. The same slow burn that numbs one reader might be another reader’s comfort read.
If you want the opposite vibe after this list, cleanse your palate with our very energetic roundup, Top 10 Romantasy Books According to BookTok! or the hype fest Best Fantasy Books of 2025, According to BookTok.
How I picked the list
I looked for titles that appear again and again in “I couldn’t finish this” conversations, that carry big reputations with equally big drop-off rates, and that provoke the same two comments: “I know it is important” and “I could not care less.” For each pick you will get a short review with context and then a quick bullet list of the most common boredom triggers. If you run a club, keep these discussion questions handy to turn yawns into debates.
I want to take the opportunity, before we begin, to state again that this is not a list of the top 10 most boring books according to me (or Stani). In fact, some of the books on the list count among my all-time favourite reads. But, once again, one man’s comfort read and all that…
1) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Mini review: Rand’s doorstop of a novel imagines a collapsing America where the most productive minds withdraw to create a utopia of pure self-interest. The story follows railroad executive Dagny Taggart and steel magnate Hank Rearden as they battle regulation, corruption, and their own convictions. There are bursts of pulp momentum, corporate intrigue, and a romance that thinks it is philosophy.
Why some readers fade out: The plot frequently pauses so characters can deliver lectures about individualism, often for dozens of pages at a time. Dialogue can feel like position papers, not conversation, and the famous “Galt’s speech” tests the patience of even sympathetic readers. If you crave character change and human contradiction, the ideology-first approach can feel static.
Why readers call it boring
Long speeches replace dramatic scenes
Characters feel like symbols rather than people
Minimal tonal variety over a very long page count
2) The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien
Mini review: This is Middle-earth’s Bible. Tolkien chronicles the creation of the world, the rise of the Elves, the theft of the Silmarils, and the ancient wars against Morgoth. The scope is majestic and the prose is deliberately archaic. If you love mythic genealogy, this is a treasure chest.
Why some readers fade out: The narrative wanders across centuries with a cast list that reads like a royal phone directory. Stakes are cosmic, not personal, and the text rarely slows down to let a single character breathe on the page. Readers who come in expecting a second Lord of the Rings often crash into a wall of reverent names and historical summaries.
Why readers call it boring
Encyclopedic structure over character-driven scenes
Many names with similar sounds
Minimal dialogue and humor
3) Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Mini review: Captain Ahab hunts a white whale. Ishmael narrates with curiosity, melancholy, and many footnotes of the heart. The book contains piercing passages about fate and obsession, then shifts into long chapters on whale biology, ship gear, and the history of whaling.
Why some readers fade out: The novel oscillates between thunderous poetry and meticulous catalog. When you are in the mood for a sea sermon, it sings. When you are not, it reads like a museum placard that never ends. The central chase retreats for hundreds of pages, so the momentum feels abstract until the final stretch.
Why readers call it boring
Frequent digressions halt the plot
Technical detail can overwhelm
Ahab’s drive recedes for long periods
4) Ulysses by James Joyce
Mini review: One day in Dublin becomes a labyrinth. Joyce follows Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus through episodes that reinvent style and language. The book is a landmark of modernism, a love letter to the ordinary, and an experiment that expects you to meet it halfway.
Why some readers fade out: The changing styles, dense allusions, and stream of consciousness can feel like reading a puzzle without the box image. There are exquisite sentences, but also pages that demand multiple passes before they yield anything at all. If you do not enjoy decoding, fatigue sets in fast.
Why readers call it boring
High learning curve for the references
Narrative rewards slow, careful reading only
Minimal external action compared to page count
5) The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Mini review: Holden Caulfield wanders New York after leaving school, narrating his alienation in a voice that is both vulnerable and prickly. Many readers meet this book in adolescence and feel seen for the first time. Others meet it later and feel trapped with a companion who refuses to evolve.
Why some readers fade out: The plot is intentionally slight. You either fall for the voice or you wait for the story to start while Holden calls everyone a phony. If you miss the moment in life where this hits like a confessional, the novel can feel like a long sulk.
Why readers call it boring
Low-stakes wandering rather than a clear arc
Repetitive tone without tonal relief
A narrator whose charm depends on timing and age
6) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Mini review: Marlow recounts his journey up the Congo River to find the elusive Kurtz. The novella probes imperialism, mythmaking, and the abyss within the European project. The atmosphere is humid and oppressive by design.
Why some readers fade out: The narrative is layered storytelling inside a frame, told in long paragraphs that blur action and contemplation. The philosophical fog can feel heavy, and the African setting is often filtered through European uncertainty rather than vivid local presence. The result is intellectually important, yet emotionally remote.
Why readers call it boring
Abstract moral meditation eclipses plot movement
Long, dense paragraphs with few scene breaks
Distance from the setting’s lived reality
7) The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Mini review: An aging Cuban fisherman battles a giant marlin and, later, the sea itself. The prose is spare and rhythmic, the symbolism large. You are meant to feel the ritual of endurance and the ache of a life measured by one last test.
Why some readers fade out: The minimalism is the point, but it can also feel like a single note held for too long. The action is repetitive by design. If the stripped-down style does not cast its spell, the book becomes a long day on open water with a man who thinks more than he speaks.
Why readers call it boring
Extremely limited cast and setting
Repetition with subtle variation rather than new developments
Symbolism is obvious if you are not in the mood to chase it
8) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Mini review: Families love, marry, suffer, and philosophize as Napoleon invades Russia. Tolstoy delivers ballrooms and battlefields with equal mastery. Characters feel more alive than people you sat next to in school.
Why some readers fade out: The size alone scares people off. The war chapters can feel like a different book from the domestic scenes. Tolstoy also interrupts the story for essays on history and free will. If you want a tight arc, the sprawl may feel aimless even when the writing is superb.
Why readers call it boring
Length creates momentum problems
Historical asides interrupt character arcs
Frequent shifts in focus and location
9) Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Mini review: Heathcliff and Catherine burn through love and vengeance on the Yorkshire moors. The novel is a storm of passion told through nested narrators who are not always reliable. It is gothic, strange, and often cruel.
Why some readers fade out: There are few traditionally likable characters. The mood is relentless. The structure, with stories told inside stories, keeps the reader at a distance. If you need a stable emotional center or a reason to root for anyone, the bleak beauty can read as plain misery.
Why readers call it boring
Little tonal relief across generations of spite
Indirect narration that delays payoffs
Characters feel archetypal rather than evolving
10) On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Mini review: Sal Paradise crisscrosses America with Dean Moriarty, chasing freedom, jazz, and a feeling that cannot be kept. The book is a pillar of Beat literature and a snapshot of a cultural moment that defined cool for decades.
Why some readers fade out: The spontaneity of the prose trades structure for mood. Scenes blur together. Without an emotional arc beyond drift and return, the road becomes miles, not meaning. If you are not intoxicated by the vibe, the ride gets long.
Why readers call it boring
Episodic structure with little cumulative change
“Vibes” over narrative shape
Repetition of partying and wandering without escalation
Final thoughts
You are absolutely allowed to love any book on this list - I know I do. You are also allowed to fall asleep on page 12 and never look back. Reading is a relationship, not a test.
If this countdown made you want something fast, try our Top 10 Romantasy Books According to BookTok! or build a TBR from Best Fantasy Books of 2025, According to BookTok.
Planning a group debate about whether Tolstoy is thrilling or tranquilizing? Grab our Book Club Discussion Questions and make it the liveliest “boring book” night ever.
If you have a personal kryptonite title that belongs here, tell me in the comments. I will read it, or at least try bravely, then reward myself with something delightfully dramatic.
Some books change your life. Others change your sleep schedule by putting you to bed before page 20. Today we are ranking the top 10 most boring books as reported by readers across the internet.