Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish which I am taking part in. This week’s Top Ten is my Top Ten Bookish Peeves.
1. Stickers
I hate this with a passion, how dare they scar the covers of my books with stupid stickers than never peel off properly. To be honest, I expect to see this one of many other lists as surely this is universally hated.
2. Chapter Cliffhangers
Stop doing this! How on earth can I put down a book and go to sleep if at the end of every chapter there is a cliffhanger. Of course I am going to then read the next chapter and so on, I never get any sleep!
3. Slow Writers
Now, I don't mind this when authors are doing stand alone novels. However, if they are writing a series then they need to speed it up. Surely writing a series of novels slowly must be a breach of my human rights somehow! George R.R Martin, I am looking at you especially here! How many years does it take to write the next novel?
4. The Endless Series
Some series have good and decent recent for lasting over multiple books but not all. I hate it when I am reading a series and each novel turns out to just being a re-hash of the one before. At least try and progress the series to some sort of conclusion!
5. Instant Love
This is something that annoyed me in a couple of books I recently reviewed. I do expect some realism in books, especially in how characters act and the instant love annoys me hugely as I just never find it plausable. Maybe I am a grumpy old man, but I would rather see a proper and well built reason for a couple actually falling in love.
6. Too Much Detail
I have to be honest here and say that I don't see the need for an author to spend pages describing the clothing a character is wearing or what the weather is like.
7. Smelly Books
I have at times bought 2nd Hand books, especially for out of print novels. I do get annoyed, when these books turn up yellowed and stinking of stale smoke.. please people stop hurting your novels! Smoke outside without your books!
8. Stupid Names
This is really bad in the Sci-Fi books I read! Just because it is the future doesn't mean people will have names with a billion vowels and a couple of Z's! I like to be able to read a book and speak out the words in my mind, this is not always possible with some of the names!
9. Price of Ebooks
Ebooks should not cost more than a Hardback book! This is made especially worse when it is obvious that no one has even spent time and money even making the formatting of the Ebooks decent!
10. Changing the Covers
This is when you are happily buying a series of books and suddenly the publisher changes to format of the book covers! I suspect they know that some people like their bookshelves to look decent and change the covers hoping we will buy all the old ones again with the new cover format.
Anyway, as always let me know what you think and if you have any other good peeves you want to mention.
I agree with everything you said, particularly about chapter cliffhangers, stupid names, and changing covers.
ReplyDeleteI also hate characters who are too good to be true (every hero seems to be handsome, every heroine beautiful), over the top villians (unless they're funny) and mysteries that aren't in the least bit mysterious.
Love the list, agree with lots of it and have quite a few on my list as well.
ReplyDeletegreat list and I am so with you on the endless series--just wrap it up already. Kaye—the road goes ever ever on
ReplyDeleteI am totally with you on the cost of ebooks
ReplyDeletePrice of EBooks are a great one! I made it to 10 on my list but this one is good to add! I do NOT spend more then $7 for a book. Library is free people! :)
ReplyDeleteLibrary is not free ;). It's not very smart to not take advantage of what we are paying for though.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Libraries are not free! We all have to pay our taxes after all. I have to agree though that people should use them more often!
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that many of you agree with my list and there have been a few more I have thought about since.
ALso had a long discussion on way home from work with my car sharing partner about it. She has a really long list!
LOL on #2...chapter cliff-hangers! I especially dislike this when I'm reading before bed! And about #3...I've gotten so I usually wait until the whole series is done before I start reading because when an author waits a year to publish the next book, I have to reread to remember!
ReplyDeleteFunny that you mentioned that Kathy. I myself have not bought plenty of series now myself until they are complete even tough the books do appeal. I stopped reading The Wheel of Time series and have decided I will just re-read it all again once complete.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTsk. Stop yelling at poor George. He finished the novel and besides, as Mr. Gaiman pointed out, he ain't your...
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah. I wanted to ask you to do a review of my new indie historical novel, Freedom's Sword. You can take a look here at Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/46734
It's also available on Amazon and B&N. And it's not a romance, just in case I'm scaring you with the threat of that dread genre. You can email me at jeanne5107 at yahoo dot com,
Thanks and leave George alone. Or else we'll have to wait another decade for the next volume.
I agree about the instant love. I am also disgusted when the characters seem to equate love and sex.
ReplyDeletePer your contact instructions, I am contacting you through the comments section. I especially like #6. Because of that comment, I am wondering if you would review my book as that is a pet peeve of mine as well, so I left all that fluff out of my novel. However, after reading #9, I am wondering if you review e-books? Let me know
ReplyDeleteslpierce2011@hotmail.com