TOP TEN TUESDAY: Bookish Pet Peeves

Looove doing last minute Top Ten Tuesday posts.

(No, honestly, I love doing this.)

(Can you tell I’m a pantser?)

Today’s topic is bookish pet peeves!

I thought I wouldn’t have much to say today. I WAS WRONG.

Price stickers on books

Price stickers infuriate me.

When my friends lend me books, I have to stop myself from peeling the price stickers off the back.

I just hate them.

Other readers not liking my favorites

I realize that different people enjoy different things.

I still hate when others trash my favorite books.

(It’s possible I deserve this after unreservedly trashing beloved books over the years.)

I think I feel stupid for being moved by works that other people despise.

This is something I’m working on.

The label “problematic”

On the whole, I think the book community is having productive conversations about troubling elements in popular and/or classic fiction. I appreciate when readers with experiences different from my own point out issues I missed.

That said, I’m not a big fan of the word “problematic.”

While I understand not wanting to give creators like J. K. Rowling money, I still purchase and read books that don’t pass the vibe check.

I’m trying to figure out how to enjoy something while acknowledging its (sometimes major) issues.

None of the things I love meet some golden standard of purity. I no longer think it’s possible for anything or anyone to meet that standard.

I’ve spent a really long time trying to consume only “morally correct” media and I don’t want to do that anymore.

Heavy books

You expect me to hold up an 850-page book about dragons for however long it takes me to read it?

I have delicate wrists.

Shirtless men on book covers

Love romances, hate torsos.

I could not tell you why.

I kind of wish all books had gay skeletons on them instead, like Unspeakable and Gideon the Ninth.

Moral superiority w/r/t favorite tropes

There’s a joke all over TikTok that goes something like this:

“Here’s a recommendation for readers who like enemies-to-lovers romance: THERAPY!”

Hahaha.

Give me the fucking recs, Samantha.

Errors

While my blog posts are far from error-free, I still raise an eyebrow when I see a typo in a published work.

One error that still haunts me involves the misuse of “determinism” in a story about science.

I don’t want to talk about it.

Surprise series starters

I keep pre-ordering debut novels, only to find out too late that they’re the first in a series.

I don’t have the energy to wait for sequels anymore. Completed series or NOTHING.

(That said, I just got into ACOTAR and From Blood and Ash. I’m a hypocrite and a fool.)

Genre snobs

I had a professor who regularly shat on genre fiction in favor of literary fiction.

For years afterward, I forced myself to read Mature Fiction, thinking it made me a worthy reader.

These days, I stick to genres I actually enjoy.

Being a mood reader

This is my own fault and I don’t know how to combat it.

When I go book shopping, I often find books that strike my fancy at that particular moment.

Once I get the books home, I find I’m NO LONGER IN THE MOOD TO READ THEM.

It’s SUPER FRUSTRATING and I can’t stop.

When it comes to books, my eyes are bigger than my stomach.

If you have enemies-to-lovers book recs, please give them to me.

Also, I’ve received lots of recs recently for good torso books, so I may or may not read one. As long as I don’t have to look at the cover, I’m fine.