Top Ten Tuesday – Bookish Peeves

Posted by abakersp in Top Ten Tuesday / 32 Comments

Hello my reader friends. Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Today’s topic is is a freebie!! I thought it would be fun to talk about my bookish pet peeves – something different and I don’t think I’ve tackled this in the past.

If you do any of these things…..well I’m not saying it’ll ruin our friendship. But I might look at you differently.

Just kidding.

Okay, in no particular order…

FOLDING THE PAGES!

Image result for book dog ear

I know this is perhaps one of the most controversial topics – dog ear versus bookmarks. People, books have feelings too! Okay, just kidding, but really. I try to take such good care of my books, I don’t want to see a bunch of crease lines!!

READING THE LAST PAGE FIRST

person reading a book
Photo by Retha Ferguson on Pexels.com

Trust me, I am always tempted to just look at the last page, or the last chapter. But I feel like that takes the fun out of actually reading the book. I mean, let’s face it – romances novels you know the couple will end up together. Suspense novels – you usually are able to figure out the whodunnit. Why spoil the fun?

MESSY BOOKSHELF

Image result for messy shelf | Window projects, Shelves, Decor design

I just can’t. Bookshelves are meant to showcase books, not just hold them. My bookshelves aren’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, mostly because I have more books than space, BUT they do not look like this!

SPOILER ALERT

Friends, if you are reading a book that I haven’t read, PLEASE DON’T TELL ME THE ENDING!!! I love talking about books as much as the next person, but I always ask if the other person has read the book before I start talking about it. Why? I don’t want to give anything away!

THE STICKERS!

This doesn’t happen as often as it used to, but have you ever bought a book from a store, and there is a price sticker on it that you just cannot get off? Oh it bugs me to no end! I just want to tell the people to wrap the book first and then put a sticker on it. Not hard!

Okay, rant over lol.

ALL THE TALKING

50 Hilarious Memes You'll Relate To If You Love Books | Funny ...

It happens ALL THE TIME. I’ll be reading – at home or at work. And as soon as I get about a sentence in, the other person in the room starts talking. Then apologizes for talking because they know I’m reading. Then a few minutes later they start talking again, and apologize again. People – I just want to read!!! And for those of you shaking your head in disgust of me (hehe) also know that the prior half hour before I started reading, you could hear crickets chirping.

HOLDING A BOOK

This bothers me as much as the dog ear. I can always tell if a book has been held like that too – and my OCD will immediately put that book at the bottom of a large stack of books and try to flatten it out!

POOR EDITING

I’m a proofreader, so it really gets under my skin when books are published and the editing is horrible. I do not mind a few misspellings or misuses – hey everyone looks over something, it happens. But when it’s basically the whole book, I just cannot stand it. It makes me want to write to the publisher and ask how it slipped through the cracks.

A FORCED ROMANCE

I love me a good romance story, but the characters need to get together naturally. And yes, I realize that sometimes (especially novella writing) it needs to happen quickly. But I think authors can still be proactive about making it believable, and not just forcing a scene. Believe me – you can totally tell. Things are lined up a bit too perfectly, or the characters hate each other and then professing their love on the very next page. Nope, doesn’t cut it for this reader.

And last but certainly not least……

PEOPLE WHO DON’T LIKE TO READ

Say What!? meme - Kevin Hart The Hell (43580) Page 385 • MemesHappen

I mean why are we even talking? How are we friends? Reading is like breathing to me. I just don’t get people who don’t feel the same way 🙂

What about you? Do you feel the same way? Do you have any different pet peeves? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

32 responses to “Top Ten Tuesday – Bookish Peeves

  1. No folding of corner of pages for me either. Frankly, I really see no reason to do this as you can use just about anything to bookmark a page.

    I only read the last page of a book that I’m certain I won’t read to the end.

    No messy bookshelf for me either. I think I would be distracted by messy shelves.

    I don’t mind spoilers for content like sex or ultra violence or some really gross out scenes – those I wouldn’t mind knowing.

    Price stickers I can always take off, it’s those printed-on stickers notices that I really hate – you can’t get them off no matter what. It’s strange I have noticed some book bloggers do not remove the price stickers on their books which is just odd to me.

    I can ignore talking most of the time.

    Do not bend books that’s what I would tell people.

    Poor editing is bad but sometimes I can’t tell. But I have notice that ebooks have more mistakes than paper books.

    A force romance usually means instant love because those people don’t have time for romance. I don’t know. I try not to think too hard on this unless it’s characters that I really like.

    I don’t think there are people who don’t like to read but maybe they just like to read comics or plays instead of novels.

    I had actually done a list like yours in a previous posts but one thing I would like people to do is take care of books. I have gotten some used books that are just awful. There was one that was in perfect condition but it had a scent that just wouldn’t go away. It was as if someone took a bottle of perfume and soaked the book in it.

    My TTT is here – some thoughts on romance books.

    Have a lovely day.

    • Jessica Baker

      Oh my goodness, I couldn’t imagine getting a book in that condition!!!

  2. Paula Shreckhise

    You hit all of mine!
    I usually take a picture of the books that come in the mail for review. But if I forget and try to do it after I start reading then I will try to put it under a stack of books or it looks funny in the picture.
    How about getting back books you lend out in less than perfect condition?
    Or trying to collect a series and the books are a different size? Or a whole new cover update?

    • Jessica Baker

      I have confession – I am super picky about lending my books out, and for that very reason! Or the people that forget they have them. I’m so nervous I will lose books lol.

      And yes to the different sizes! There is one series I have – it’s The Cape Light series by Katherine Spencer and Thomas Kinkade. Some are short paperback, some are tall paperback, and some are hardcover!

    • Jessica Baker

      It breaks my heart to hear that people don’t like to read!

  3. Hannah Currie

    Yes to all!! Oh man. They are so annoying. That photo of the bookshelf made me cringe and quickly scroll it out of shot because I couldn’t handle the pain….!!

    • Jessica Baker

      You should see the pictures I didn’t include. Oh my goodness what is wrong with these people?

  4. I agree with ALL of these points, especially dog-earing and just folding the whole BOOK over. How could anyone hurt a book that way? Terrible. I do have some tolerance for the talking one because I am ALWAYS reading and if someone waiting until I stopped to talk to me, it wouldn’t happen. When my husband or my kids talk to me, I try REALLY HARD to look at them instead of at my book or computer screen. I want to make sure they feel heard. There are times when they’re just being silly and don’t really need me – that’s when I’ll say (gently), “I’m trying to read …”

    Happy TTT!

    Susan
    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

    • Jessica Baker

      (gently) doesn’t always get me anywhere lol. Sometimes I have to be a little forceful! But, like you, I try to put the book down and really focus on them. Depending on the book it’s not always easy!

  5. Pam K.

    I agree with you about all of these! I can especially relate about people talking to you when you are reading. At work, I only have thirty minutes for lunch, so I always like to have that time by myself to read. Don’t bother me!

    • Jessica Baker

      Yes! It’s the only time I feel like I can read guilt-free!

  6. Wonderful list! I agree with most of these, but I can forgive people who don’t read… I just won’t be friends with them!

  7. Tânia @MyLovelySecret

    Folded pages are a bookish peeve of mine too. Folded pages drive me crazy!

    Happy readings!

    • Jessica Baker

      Yes, so crazy!! I mean, you can use almost anything as a bookmark these days.

  8. I agree with you on all of these, except I confess to being guilty of holding a book with the pages folded back because it’s easier to hold with one hand that way. I only do it, though, if the book is already so old and beat-up that it won’t make any difference, and never with a library book!
    I work in a library, so my one pet peeve that you don’t mention is water damage and coffee spills. How hard is it to protect your books from rain and accidental spillage from water bottles and coffee cups?

  9. Jessica Baker

    I am always SUPER careful when drinking around a book, and I purposefully put the book to the side as I am drinking. I don’t want to ruin it!

  10. I hate the stickers! I recently bought 2 books online from a used bookstore, and they came with price tag stickers. I peeled off the stickers, and now the books are all gooey with sticker stuff. 🙁