Top 10 Bookish Pet Peeves

First of all, I need to apologize for missing the last two Sunday uploads. I intended to do them while I was on vacation and it just never happened.

Also, I've been in a bit of a slump which I think was caused by me trying to read 11 to 19 ARCs each month. So the month of June is going to be my relax and read whatever I feel like month. Which works out since it is also the busiest time at the library with summer reading (Plug for your local libraries: Check out the summer reading programs at your local library. The theme is A Universe of Stories. There should be programs for all ages. Please support your libraries.)

Now on with the post.

Here are my top 10 Bookish Pet Peeves. These are just the things that bug me and might not apply to all bookworms out there. Let me know if there are any that bother you in particular or if there are any that I've missed.

1. Series with no series number on the cover.

 

I love series. But if it's a long series and I need to know where to start, I like being able to look at a book cover, or even a little "other books in this series" list inside the book to help give me a little guidance. When the publisher doesn't give me that little help (Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Mass!) I avoid picking it up because I'm not sure where to start and I can't always look things up while I'm in a store. So please, publishers, put something on or in the book to help me out.

2. Series numbers on a spine not matching up.

 

Please. If you choose to put numbers on the spines in a series, please be consistent! I get there are different editions and all, but if it's an ongoing series, please don't keep changing the spine design.

3. Change in cover design halfway through the series.

 

Sometimes covers are great. Sometimes they are terrible. I get doing cover changes when you switch from hardback to paperback or after a certain number of editions have been reached. The Harry Potter Series has done a great job with this. But why, pray tell, do you have to change the designs with each new book? Changing it just makes the books look bad on the shelves and it confuses new readers. Is this part of the same series or is it a stand alone by the same author? Consistency and continuity, people.

4. Unmatching Series.

 

I used to not care about this that much but recently it's become a pet peeve of mine. A book was a book and when I needed the next one in a series and anything would do. Now, though, I'm starting to look at displaying my books as well, which means I want them to match. I like paperback and hardback equally, so that's not an issue, but my series needs to either be one or the other, completely. 

5. Price stickers that ruin book covers.

 

This is a two part peeve. First, I hate when stickers don't come off easily and leave residue or tear the cover somehow. I've tried the hair dryer hack and the lysol wipe hack but it doesn't always work. Second, I hate when stickers cover things that are special or important. For example, I have a copy of Inheritence by Chrisptopher Paolini that is signed. There's gold filigree on it, marking it as signed. And someone thought it'd be a good idea to put the price sticker over this gold. Now if I remove it, the gold is torn off the cover. My choices are keep the sticker and deal with it or lose something special on the cover. Seriously, just don't put your price sticker there and everything would be fine.

6.Folding back the pages while reading.

I don't have a good picture for this one but I'm sure you've seen it. Someone is reading and they completely bend the pages back like they're reading a magazine or newspaper. Book spines are not meant to bend that way! It destroys the binding and glue that's holding the book together, it leaves ugly cracks in the spines, and it's super uncomfortable to hold. Why do this to your poor book?

7. Genre snobs.

Everyone has their own taste in literature. Everyone is entitled and allowed to read whatever they prefer. I happen to prefer YA fantasy and sci-fi because it's how I deal with real world issues from a less painful point of view. I hate romance fiction (as you've seen) and I struggle with historical, especially war, fiction.  There are reasons behind these preferences which I might put into another post at another time; regardless, I'm allowed to like what I like just like everyone else. So when someone, who doesn't read YA fantasy and sci-fi, tells me it's garbage because kids use it as an escape and it has no value as reading material, I get out my torches, pitchforks, and maybe a plasma canon or two to defend my reading choices. Just because I don't read political espionage mysteries written by sixty year old white guys like you, John/Jane Doe, does not mean my reading is garbage. It's different. That's all. Respect that and we won't have to bring out the dragon.

 

8. People on covers.

I'm going to use Sarah J. Mass again for this example. 

 

I dislike covers-- especially fantasy covers that have a female lead character-- that just puts a person on display. I think this is lazy. It doesn't give me any visual clues to the story or what to expect inside the covers. And it reminds me far too much of the Harlequin books my grandmother used to read. Here's a pretty girl, there's going to be some kind of romance, that's it. I tend to avoid these kinds of books. I'd also like to point out that this actually kills my imagination of the character. We already have under representation in fiction, by giving us the image of the character doesn't let us imagine the main character with our own details.

9. The Eragon movie.

 

A gross example of trying to adapt a book to a film without doing some homework. Need I say more?

10. Books that can't stand on their own.

I love reading. I'll try everything at least once. But if a book is in a series, it needs to be able to stand on its own strength and not rely on the hype or plots of the next book. Second books in a series are usually guilty of this. They rely on the first book for the characters and settings and development only to throw in some minor complications that don't do anything beyond setting up for the next book where actually plot decisions, consiquences, and resolutions happen. I know the author needs to build towards the climax, but I hate books taking up space when everything has no final impact. If a book can't stand on its own as a story, then the author should spend a little more time with it.

Those are my top 10 bookish pet peeves. I'm sure there are plenty more but these are just my big ones.  What do you think? Do you have any that I missed? Let me know in the comments below.