For me, the most recent book regret is Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. Predictable from the get-go, bland, boilerplate sci-fi ideas, too many of these way-too-convenient plot devices just to push the story forward. I frankly don’t get the hype, and I am a pretty big science fiction guy.
Another one is Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. I read this in college and this whole book should have been a one-page essay. It was too repetitive, and the whole premise of “trust in your snap judgments and gut reactions” is way too simplistic and honestly stupid. Like all Gladwell books, it was anecdotal, superficial, and a waste of time.
I regretted reading The Rise of Life on Earth by Joyce Carol Oates because it made me feel so terrible. It’s the only book I’ve ever experienced like that, and I read A LOT, and a lot of very fucked up books too. It has this muted sort of deep pathos that left me just bluntly stunned. I will not re-read it, though I think it’s extreme well-written to produce such a strong emotion.