Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Top Ten Tuesday 03.22.11

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish. This week's top ten is: Top Ten Bookish Pet Peeves.

  1. The so-called 'Chick-lit' genre. The term 'chick-lit' has always annoyed me. I don't know, I just hate that there's a genre that separates stories about women and their lives, where stories about men finding themselves or whatever are just called fiction.
  2. Patronizing Ebook/reader haters. I love books, I really do, but I'm all about reading. Whether it be from a physical book or an ebook. The important thing is that I'm reading and that's all I'm concerned about for other readers, too. Now, it's fine if you dislike ebooks - that's not my problem. What I'm irked about is the folks that put ebook readers as people who aren't real book lovers. How patronizing. I fly off on a tangent every time. Not to mention that some people use ereaders because they can't properly hold a book anymore. This is a rant for a different day, though.
  3. Love triangles. I love romance novels, and novels that include romance in them, but if there's a love triangle going on with the main characters, that book is going out the window.
  4. Repetition about how beautiful or handsome a character is. I've read a few books recently that has a beautiful heroine, and the author made sure I knew it. On practically every page. Sometimes her looks were described twice in the same flippin' paragraph. This kind of repetition gets on my nerves because I feel like the author thinks I'm an idiot that didn't get it the first or second time.
  5. When a book isn't labeled as part of a series anywhere. Ever pick up a book, look it over, take it home, only to find out it's book #2 or #3 of a series? Irritating!
  6. A different edition of a book that has a different title. I'm currently reading Charlotte and Emily by Jude Morgan, and I'm loving it. However, this is the U.S. title. The original title is The Taste of Sorrow, which I find to be much better. The new title only includes the two most popular Brontes, whereas the book is about all the Brontes. Also, a person can buy a duplicate of the same book, not knowing it is the same.
  7. The cover doesn't match the era of the story. Example: A Regency-set novel with an Edwardian cover (seen a few Jane Austen editions like this), or a Georgian-set novel with Victorian cover.
  8. Hype. I'll usually end up reading a hyped up book in my favorite genre (historical fiction), but most likely not until some time later. Unless, of course, it sounds really good. However, hype does nothing for me, except turn me off. Same goes for music, movies, etc. 
  9. Quantity over quality. A book the size of a brick doesn't equal a great piece of literature. It may be impressive looking, but it's all about what's on the page. Sometimes, a smaller book is brilliant, but the small quantity of pages can make someone take it less seriously while browsing through a selection of books.
  10. An ending wrapped up in a nice little bow. I don't like plot holes, or story lines that are left unresolved, but 'happily ever after' endings just aren't my thing. Sometimes, depending on the book, I like an ending that seems to just cut off, like there's suppose to be more story. I just seem to remember the books that don't have the nice wrapped up endings more.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Agree with so much here - particularly the chick-lit one, the eReader prejudice and when a book isn't labelled as part of a series! I've definitely come home with novels only to find out I have to go and buy 1 or 2 or even more first before I can read it!

Stephen said...

Titling books differently almost cost me $30 -- Robert Harris is doing a trilogy based on the life of Cicero, and a title called "Conspirata" was set to appear a few months after the release of his second novel, "Lustrum". As it happens, Conspirata would be a good title for the final chapter in Cicero's life, as he was murdered shortly after the death of Julius Caesar. I almost bought the two of them ,but as it turns out, Conspirata is the American title for Lustrum. :-/

Bibliophile said...

"Chick-lit" is an annoying label, but not as annoying as some of the books it gets applied to. Conversely, I have read some books labelled this way that probably weren't read by as many people as they should have been because of the label and frivolous covers.

Nos. 5, 6 and 7 are also annoyances of mine.

Unknown said...

I definitely agree with 5 and 6 and put similar to 9 on my blog post. :)

Laura said...

I think you're definitely right with the ereader hating- ereaders in general are one of my personal pet peeves, but I'd never discourage anyone else from using one, because, hello, they're reading! And that's great!

My list is here :) http://devouringtexts.blogspot.com/2011/03/top-ten-tuesday_22.html

Joanne said...

Interesting post, and agree with your observations. I think my biggest pet peeve is when the term "bodice ripper" is applied to all books in the romance category. I enjoy many different genres, including romance novels, and dislike it when negative labels are applied to a group of books. Let's be truthful -- there are some really awful books in all genres, as well as some great novels. Fun post!

Anonymous said...

#5 is on my list for sure, it's so annoying! Also forgot about #6, I've had it happen more than once where I've got a book on my list with two different titles or covers (usually the US/UK version) only to find out it's the same book!

Red said...

I don't like all the hate that eBook readers seem to be getting. I wasn't all about eReaders when they first came out but if that's what you wanted, go for it. Now that I have a Kindle, which I love, and I don't understand all the people who seem to vehemently hate eReaders.

Christy B said...

I'm surprised to see so many agreements. I honestly thought I was alone in a few of them! :)

Joanne, that almost made the list, too. That's another term I'm not a fan of, especially when it's applied to current romance novels. I don't think it's an appropriate term anymore.

Birdie said...

Ah, the ebook thing. I don't care for them myself (at least not when I can really hold the book), but I have found several books electronically that I couldn't find elsewhere. Still, there's no reason to be snooty about it--at least people are reading and like it enough to get an ebook reader and download the texts.

Holly said...

#5 happens to me quite often. I have Dreamland by Kevin Baker on my shelf and recently discovered that is the 2nd book in a trilogy and I don't have the other 2!

Also I really don't get the changing of the title when it is released in the US. I buy books because of a review/recommendation or the synopsis on the back was interesting-not for the title. They should just leave the titles be!

Anonymous said...

great answers, stop and see mine.

Anonymous said...

What a great point you have with hypeing! I agree with you.

Trish said...

#10 - I like a good ending, but too much of a bow-tie is annoying.

#9 - yes, I'm always a little suspicious of books that go on for more than 700 pages. That's just too many for a single story.

Must Love Books said...

#6 is sooo annoying! I'm an avid Agatha Christie reader and I had to go and figure out all the different names of her books so that I didn't keep buying the same book with 4 different titles. Ugh.

gautami tripathy said...

Love your list of pet peeves. I have a some more. Come see those: Top Ten Picks!