So as a reader, there are many many things over the years that have come to drive me crazy regarding the book world. While I have more bookish pet peeves than this, and I don’t really talk too much about actual plot issues that bug me in this post (maybe a later post idk?), these are the biggest ones!
Cover Changes:
Cover changes for an entire series are fine, that doesn’t bother me too much UNLESS THEY CHANGE THEM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SERIES. If you change the covers half way through, then my books won’t match, and then my entire book shelf is ruined. I would honestly rather a series continue to have ugly covers than changing to pretty covers half way through.
Stickers:
These are just so frustrating, especially when they don’t come off easily and leave a gross sticky residue. Can we all just agree upon a better system to advertise things on books! Also, don’t even get me started about the “fake stickers” that look like stickers, but when you go to peel them off, they are printed onto the book. WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT’S A GOOD IDEA!!!
Genre Hating:
I don’t think I will ever stop ranting about this one. It’s just so ridiculous that you think its ok to make me feel bad for reading what I want to read. If I’m too old to be reading young adult books, then you’re too old to be judging people what what they love. Like seriously what is this middle school? Why are you hating on me? I’m not bothering you! Just be nice about it, you don’t have to read it or even think it sounds interesting, but understand that I love it so pipe. the. fuck. down.
TV Show/Movie covers:
I just don’t understand why this is necessary. Isn’t that the point of the stickers? Especially with adaptations always being so different from the actual books themselves, it’s honestly offensive. I worry about the kind of person that would go to buy a book and pick the adaptations illustrations cover over the legit cover. It’s just wrong.
Responsibilities when you just wanna read:
Tbh this is just the struggle of my life. Most of the time I get stuck in the hole of not having immediate responsibilities for .5 seconds, so I pick up a book, and then suddenly it’s 3 days later and I’m failing all my classes (yes I’m being dramatic but you get the point). Nothing is more heartbreaking that putting a book down because you have to do homework or go to some mandatory event or sleep (lol what is that?). Can’t wait for winter break when I can get away with reading for an entire day and not have it mess up my entire schedule (one more month).
Being Uncomfortable:
It’s surprisingly difficult to get comfortable while reading. I don’t know if it’s just me, but the number of times I change positions while I’m reading is getting out of control. Especially in college because I don’t have the bed setup I finally perfected at home.
Spoilers:
THERE IS HONESTLY NOTHING WORSE, THIS IS MY NUMBER 1 PET PEEVE. This is especially an issue when you’re like me and lots of your social media revolves around books. During the first month Empire of Storms was out, I couldn’t go on Instagram, Tumblr or Pinterest without narrowly missing a million spoilers. However, there is nothing worse than when someone you though was your friend spoils a book for you. It feels like a knife right through the heart and my trust in you becomes seriously jeopardized. Just don’t do it people. Don’t spoil things for others (of course I know accidents happen, just do your very very best!)
People who hurt my books:
First of all, I buy most of my books with my own money that I have worked hard to get and secondly, as a book collector the appearance of my books is important for the aesthetic of my shelves. So if I loan you one of my books, that thing becomes your freaking baby. I put a lot of trust in people when I give them one of my precious well loved treasures, so just realize that I expect you to take amazing care of my book. Yes, I understand accidents happen, and I’m not unreasonable. If you ruin someones book you should return the ruined book along with a new copy of the book. It’s just the right thing to do. Then after that, don’t assume I will loan you another book, I most likely no longer trust you.
Most Movie/TV Adaptations:
If I had a dollars for the number of times I said “that’s not what happened in the book” I could buy myself my own personal bookstore. That being said, I don’t hate book adaptations. I think it can be really fun to watch well loved book characters come to life on screen, but DON’T CHANGE THE ENTIRE FUCKING STORY IF YOU’RE GOING TO DO IT (at you Percy Jackson). For example, Hunger Games and Harry Potter were both wonderful book to movie adaptations and I thoroughly enjoyed them, those are fine. But for so so many adaptations they just deviate way too far from the original plot/characters and completely lose what made the book so special (at you City of Bones/Shadowhunters). It’s not hard, if you’re going to adapt a book, do it right, and make sure you have the freaking budget for it!
Being Interrupted:
I absolutely hate when people interrupt me when I’m in the middle of a book. If I’m reading, leave me alone. Sometimes, I’m cool with putting my book down and having a conversation, so if I start the conversation that’s fine, or if it’s a really quick question no worries. But please don’t try to have a conversation with me when I’m in the middle of a book, if I wanted to talk, I wouldn’t be reading.
When people say reading is dumb:
These fuckers are the literal worst.
No epilogue:
If I take the time to read the many books that come in a series and go through an emotional journey with a character I WANT TO KNOW THAT EVERYTHING IS FUCKING OK. Is that too much to ask? I don’t think so. I just want to see the months/years later when everyones a happy family and all the shit they were working on throughout the book is all working out. I know that it’s not necessarily “realistic” and some authors love to leave books in suspense of the future BUT IF I WANTED SUSPENSE I’D READ A MYSTERY BOOK. Or they want their books to be like in real life where everything doesn’t just become perfect after a major problem is solved BUT IF I WANTED REAL LIFE I’D READ CONTEMPORARY OR I’D JUST PUT DOWN THE FUCKING BOOK! Just give me the damn happy af ending and we won’t have any problems.
Over descriptive Blurbs:
Few things are more frustrating than when the back of a book ruins the entire plot of the story. If I wanted to know everything that happened, I would just read the damn book! I’m always so worried going into blurbs that they will contain spoilers which is ridiculous. (See spoilers rant) Publishers need to work on giving away the general feel and premise of a book, without giving out too much information, please and thank you.
Not labeling book series numbers:
Sometimes I forget which book is which in a series and I just wish every series had the books numbered on the spines or at least the front. Sometimes this is an issue when organizing my bookshelves, but this is mostly an issue when I’m shopping for books in a series. When I go to a bookstore to buy the first book or the next book in a series, it shouldn’t take five minutes for me to figure out which book I’m trying to buy. Almost every book lover has gone through the struggle of accidentally buying the wrong book in a series and it’s just so frustrating.
The evil sentence:
I’ve talked about this before (see rules of fantasy post) but this is just something that has become progressively more annoying. The evil sentence is some version of “(s)he let out the breath they didn’t know they were holding in”. While this sentence itself isn’t inherently annoying, the fact that it’s used sssooo much in literature has just become ridiculous. Authors, it’s time to stop, you’re done, it’s over, let it die.
Vague Sex Scene:
Oh young adult. While I love you, this is just a little silly. Like I’m not asking for Fifty Shades of Gray or anything here, I just think after reading a sex scene I should know that I just read a sex scene. Like, I get being vague about sex scenes because they need to be appropriate for audiences, but I have read sex scenes before and then not realized till pages later that they had gone any farther than making out. Moral of the story: when writing a sex scene, you don’t have to get too descriptive, but it should be clear that they had sex. I think its ridiculous that this pet peeve is even necessary.
Waiting for pre-ordered books:
You would think I would have learned this lesson by now, but the odds of getting a pre-ordered book in before the next time I can get to a bookstore are like 1/10. So then I have to go to the store and suffer as I see the book mocking me while I’m waiting for it to come in the mail. *Sigh*
When book store are missing a book in the series:
Book stores should just always have at least one of each book in a series at all times. This is your job. You are a bookstore. This is especially annoying if the store has every single book in a series EXCEPT THE ONE YOU WANT! Story of my life…
However, that being said, reading is a wonderful, magical thing so ya…
or two, or three…
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Next I got these out of print book socks, which is wonderful because I LOVE socks so much. I’ve never read The Count of Monty Cristo, but the mini-magazine let me know that there’s some doppelgänger stuff going on in the story, so that makes sense. You can’t tell in the picture, but at the bottom of one of the socks it says “free dante”, whatever that means. Also I’m sure the tallies mean something, but again I haven’t read the story so until I do I’m just going to enjoy having another pair of socks to wear!
Next I got this Narnia tea which I’m really really excited about. The flavor (as you can see in the picture) is Turkish delight brew with magical rose + cream cocoa and I hope it tastes as good as it looks.
So onto the book, the main reason for this wonderful box. Here it is wrapped up all pretty.
danisbookshelf 