Top Ten Tuesday

Posted by abakersp in Reviews / Spotlights / 1 Comment

Hello my reader friends. Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Today’s topic is Bookish Pet Peeves. I already did that post awhile ago (you can view it here), so I thought I’d change it up a tad. I’m going to share my reading pet peeves. All things that really bother me when I’m reading, or going to read. Well maybe not all, but definitely some!

Reading Pet Peeves

1. When the cover models don’t match the descriptions in the book

This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. And I realize the authors have no control over it, but I feel like it’s important. I’ll give you one example. I read a book with a main character that was a little plumper then most, which I loved because I’m a big girl myself. The model on the cover was just a regular skinny girl. Not at all big boned, plump, or whatever you want to call it. And I’m not sure if the publisher did it because they thought it would attract more readers or what, but it bothered me tremendously.

2. When the dialogue doesn’t match the time period.

I could never be a historical fiction writer because there’s no way I would be able to skip all the words we use today, so I get how difficult this can be. BUT it’s very important for a historical author to keep the entire book sounding like the time period they are living in. Especially the dialogue. I don’t think an Edwardian character should say cool. Or a biblical character would say rock on. LOL You get the picture. I won’t necessarily stop reading a book because this happens, but it does bother me to no end.

3. Interruptions

I think we could probably agree that this is everyone’s pet peeve while reading. I don’t care if I’m in the lunch room, in bed, or in the living room. If I’m reading, I’d like to be left alone. Of course I understand that there are situations that warrant being interrupted. But to simply tell me one little odd thing that doesn’t really matter? No. I want to read and escape into my reading world. Please don’t take that away from me. One time I’ll give you a pass. But if I’m trying to read for say half an hour and you talk for 20 minutes of that time, we have a problem ?

4. When the book blurb gives a spoiler

One reason I read is because I like to be surprised. That means I don’t want any spoilers before I start reading a book. (this goes for book reviews too!) Every once in awhile I’ll come across a book blurb that gives away something really important in the book, something that I think we should be surprised with. And I think to myself, did they really just give that plot twist away!? It doesn’t happen very often, but it does happen. I know what you’re thinking. Jessica, just don’t read the book blurbs. Well I can’t help it. How else am I supposed to know what the book is about!? LOL.

5. Too Many POV’s

I enjoy different POV’s because it brings you such an interesting perspective of the storyline. But when you have like four or more, I just get confused and it makes me want to put the book down. How can I keep track of who’s talking, and what parts of the book go with which character? My brain just can’t handle it. There is one exception – split time novels. They will sometimes provide two POV’s for each time period. For some reason I am okay with that and can keep up. But when they are all in the same time period, forget. I’m mush.

6. Love in the First Chapter

Romance writers – please don’t allow your characters to fall in love in the very first chapter. Chemistry? Yes. Think they like the other person? Fine. Starting the relationship right in the beginning so there is no build up or tension? No thank you. I want to see the chemistry, the bickering, the warming up to each other. Unless they are already married. Those can make some fantastic stories, and it’s usually that they need to find their way back to each other, so it’s almost the same thing. I’m not saying wait until the last chapter to bring them together. But at least let us as readers know them separately, and allow them to grow a little before bringing them together.

7. Lack of Diversity

I will say of all my pet peeves, this one is moving in the right direction. BUT we still have a ways to go. Authors – we need more diverse characters. Please! I’m talking race, size, backgrounds, age, marital status. Pretty much everything. I want to see more ethnicities on covers. I want to see some larger lead characters. I want stories about married couples that need to find each other again (because this happens in real life!). I want some characters who are older, because, well, I’m older lol. I want to see diverse backgrounds – even the broken ones. People can connect with all of this. I can connect with it. Plus I think it’d make such a wonderful avenue to share the message with the broken people of the world. I’ve seen more diverse stories in the past year than I have in the past five, so I know we’re on the right path. Let’s continue forward in that same manner!

8. Hardcovers being released before paperback

I know this is more so with mainstream authors than not, but it really bugs me. For example, one author that I enjoy reading that is not in the CF world is Nicholas Sparks. Now I didn’t come across his books right away, so the first few I have are paperback. But since I’ve discovered his books, he is now an auto buy author for me. I have every single book he’s written, including the one that just came out a week ago. It bothers me that on my bookshelf there are some paperback and some hardcover. I personally prefer paperback (for several reasons that we won’t go into here), so just let me buy it now. I’m too impatient to wait for the paperback release to buy the book, and I’m too cheap to buy both lol. Come on big time publishers – make this girl happy!

9. The timing of preorders

Okay, before everyone comes at me for arguing with preorders, hear me out. I do not mind preordering a book. In fact I’ve preordered several books. Sometimes you can get cool swag from the publisher or author, or you can get a discount price. My pet peeve comes with the timing of them. If a book is coming out in like a month or two, then fine. But if it’s longer than that, I don’t want to preorder it. Why? Because most of the time I forget, which could result in ordering it more than once. And while I don’t mind giving books to the library or a friend, sometimes this can be costly. So please don’t ask me to preorder a book today that doesn’t come out until April of 2022. Let me focus on the books that come out this year and maybe January.

10. When things don’t get wrapped up

Have you ever read a book, and something is happening with the characters or a side character, and you’re antsy to know how it’s going to work out, and then suddenly you see the word “the end” and that topic was never addressed again? So you’re sitting there wondering what the heck happened. You search Goodreads to see if there will be sequel only to find out there won’t be. And you want to email the author and ask them, but figure it’s probably rude and so you just make up your own conclusion. Honestly, this has happened to me. It’s a big pet peeve of mine. Authors, if you are going to have a plot twist, or a potential growth moment for a character, or bring something into the mix, please oh please make sure all of those things get resolved before the end. And I’m not saying tie it up in a bow and make it all pretty. Just resolve it so we as readers know there is a conclusion, or at least they are working towards a solution. Now I get if it’s a cliffhanger situation. I’m not talking about those. I’m just talking your single release books where you finish reading but still have a dozen more questions. It’s not for me.

So there you have it. I have others that I could share. Like why do we have to wait so long for books in a series to be released? I mean authors should just be writing 24/7 so I can read all of their wonderful books in my timeframe lol. Just kidding. Sort of.

What are some of your pet peeves when reading? Share in the comments below!

One response to “Top Ten Tuesday

  1. These are fantastic pet peeves. And relatable. I enjoyed your thoughts from the perspective of a fellow reader but also as an author who wants to please 🙂