Top Ten Tuesday: Words/Topics That Will Make You NOT pick up a book

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

Each week they will post a new Top Ten list that one of their bloggers over at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join.

The topic for this week is:  Top Ten Words/Topics That Will Make You NOT pick up a book

Child Abuse

Rape

Blurbs that are ENTIRELY about romance and nothing else – I love a good love story. But most of the time I get bored when that’s all there is. Love is lovely. I love love. But there needs to be something more or you’ve lost be before I’ve even started reading.

Books that are compared to Twilight. I don’t hate Twilight but I often find that books compared to it are entirely romance with no real plot and characters that I find myself frustrated by.

Authors where I really didn’t enjoy their previous books

Teacher/Student relationships – as someone who has trained and worked as a teacher, this is one that really bothers me. That said I’m actually currently reading a book with this exact premise (The Yearning by Kate Belle)

Time Travel – Cause it normally doesn’t make sense to me. I never quite understand when people are supposed to effect change and when it’s hazardous in different time streams. It’s just too complicated!

Formerly Fan Fiction – I used to read a lot of fan fiction. And I really enjoyed them. But after reading a few stories that started their lives as fan fiction and then became books in their own right, I find that most of them are too similar to their source that there’s just not enough twists and turns for me.

Reality TV Celebrity novels – And by this I mean novels written by reality TV stars like Snooki (A Shore Thing), Nicole Richie (The Truth About Diamonds), Paris Hilton (Confessions of an Heiress). I’ve actually read the Paris Hilton one… I think that book is the reason why I have this topic as a part of this top ten.

A Shore ThingThe Truth About DiamondsConfessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose

Books with unappealing covers – Yes… I admit it. I do tend to judge a book by its cover. And when it’s not one by an author I’ve heard of, I’m more than likely to move on and not pay any notice to books with covers I don’t find pleasant or eye-catching.

And that’s ten. It was a surprisingly hard list to compile because for each of these things I have read books and enjoyed them – and some I want to read more (I really want to read LA Candy by Lauren Conrad from the Hills… and I have no idea why!). But as a generalization, these are the things that turn me off and are often the opposite of an instant purchase.

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20 Comments

  1. I’m a cover snob as well… I haven’t been involved in anything book-related for two years up until a few months ago, so I have a lot of catching up to do. I don’t have a favorite author or anything, so I just pick up a book that catches my eye, either by the title or the cover.

    Formerly fan fiction will get me too, probably because I associate it solely with 50 Shades of Grey.

    • 50 Shades is one that I mostly think of too. But there are many others. I read a few months ago that a publisher picked up a fan fiction written by a 14 year old and are turning it into a real book. Apparently it was based on One Direction and now it will just be a fictional band.

      Considering I know nothing about 1D, even if I did come across this book I doubt I’d realize it was based on them.

      Thanks for visiting!

  2. Yes, I totally agree about the reality tv books! Time travel is complicated – I don’t get it either. Nice list- I’d stay clear of most of these topics as well!

    • It’s weird. Cause I adore Doctor Who which is all about time travel! But in books – there are generally inconsistencies that really bother me.
      Thanks for visiting!

    • I’m amazed at how bad the ghost writers manage to write! They do capture the essence of the celebrity. I read some quotes from the Snooki book and whilst I’ve never watched an episode of Jersey Shore… it sounded so dumb! 😛

      Thanks for visiting!

    • I do find it unethical in a way. Some people earn millions on someone else’s ideas – and I know that the p2p authors do put a lot of effort in themselves but .. I’m not expressing myself very well but I completely understand what you mean. Thanks for sharing!

    • I’m not that far into it yet. I’m finding it difficult but I really dislike not finishing a novel. I always feel like as soon as I stop – that’s the part where everything somehow becomes amazing. But I can understand why this is one you put down.

    • I tend to do that too. I’m absolutely drawn in by pretty covers. I have bought so many books just because I thought their covers were gorgeous.
      I’m so glad I’m not alone in this! 😀

  3. I agree about bad covers. So many covers fall into maybe the same 5 styles these days, I’m liable to not even bother if I see a headless/partial body model, an almost-kiss, or some generic picture of a cover model.

    • Whilst I love covers – I often sort of ignore them. My book buying has gotten to the stage of I nearly ALWAYS know exactly what book I want. And I don’t know what kind of cover it will have because my “research” is done online with the US covers and the shops here often have the UK or Australian covers. So the cover my copy has is one Iv’e never seen before buying it.

      But I know what you mean about the five styles. Just looking at the books on my coffeetable… most of them are partial bodies, almost kisses and a few of pretty girls in gorgeous gowns. I need more variety!!!

      Thanks for the comment!

  4. I agree with the child abuse and rape, and I also generally won’t read a book by an author if I didn’t like the previous books, unless the new book is suddenly getting fantastic reviews. Then I might give the author another chance.

    • Thanks so much Becca Jayne! Your kind words made my day. And whilst I say I won’t buy/read a book by an author who’s previous works I didn’t like… I think I still do. I’m hoping that they’ll write something that will make me love them… but sadly, in most cases, it doesn’t quite work like that. Thanks for visiting!

  5. I never look twice at the Reality TV novels – absolutely zero interest in any of them, really. I also dislike fan-fiction books. :/

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