Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week.
This week’s theme is Top Ten Words/Topics That Will Make You NOT pick up a book. I can’t necessarily say that there are ten words that are absolute no-nos for me, but here are a few words and general concepts that will pretty much guarantee that a book isn’t for me. (And of course, I absolutely reserve the right to change my mind at a moment’s notice!)
1) Legal thriller/courtroom drama: Mostly, these just put me to sleep. I’ve read some Scott Turow and John Grisham, but I’m done now, thanks.
2) Shopping/”shopoholic”: I just can’t stand fiction that makes me feel like I’m reading an issue of Vogue or W. No name dropping of designer brands, please! No catwalks, no models, no fashion. Not for me, especially not in my reading.
3) Baking/Cupcakes: What’s with all those books with cutesie dessert themes? I love to eat (especially desserts!), but I’m not a foodie. I don’t want to read about people’s cooking and baking habits in my fiction.
4) Angels: First it was vampires, then werewolves, then a host of other supernatural beings, but it seems that angels have been getting more and more popular in YA fiction over the last several years… and I have no interest at all.
5) Brides: Nope, I don’t want to read fiction where the sole focus is on wedding planning, getting engaged, or landing Mr. Right.
6) Academia: Novels set in universities, dealing with interdepartmental struggles, fights for tenure, etc just don’t appeal to me. Unless there’s a twist, as in A Discovery of Witches or The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane — in which case, scholarly research totally works!
7) “My year of”: It seem like half the non-fiction titles that get lots of attention are versions of “My Year Of…” — my year of following the Bible, my year of reading self-help books, my year of not spending money, on and on.
8) “The Next”: This is really more a complaint about marketing than about the books themselves, but I wish publishers would stop blurbing new books with the phrase “the next” — as in “the next Harry Potter!” or “the next Twilight!” or “the next Hunger Games!”. When I see those words on a book cover, I just think that the publisher/marketer must be kind of desperate. Let it stand on its own! Books billed this way almost never live up to the hype, and it’s not fair to expect them to.
9) Heinous crimes/serial killers/grisly murders: My tolerance for reading about hideous, violent crime has shrunken to almost nil. It’s not that I need everything neat and rose-colored, and I don’t mind reading about awful events if it’s in the service of an amazing plot. But I will just never be drawn to a book that’s strictly a police procedural plotline.
10) Covers like these:
No bare chests on my books. ‘Nuff said.
I realize that this list makes me sound like a big curmudgeon. But truthfully, it was a lot easier putting together a list of words/topics that are my “yesses”! Are any of my turn-offs on your list this week? Or do you love any of the ones that I hate? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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I admit, I’m a sucker for foodie books. Lol I steer far, far away from Angel books too. Have also noticed a whole slew of “proper romance” books being slightly disguised as Christian Fiction. I don’t want anything to do with that. lol
I know people who read Christian fiction, and as far I can tell the genre is made up of period romances where the couple doesn’t have sex. I honestly can’t tell if there are other books that count as Christian fiction or not.
Hmm, I don’t go near anything labeled “Christian fiction”, but I wasn’t sure what distinguishes it from other romances, other than the “not having sex” part. Of course, there are a whole slew of sub-categories under romance that I don’t touch — cowboy romances, Amish romances, etc, etc. 🙂
Now, if someone handed me one of those foodie books with some homemade cupcakes to go with, I might reconsider! 🙂
I agree with #8, quotes like that definitely leave me a bit wary about picking up the book because 9 times out of 10, it’s never the case. Or better yet, don’t do the comparison at all, lol, as no two books are the same xP
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Exactly! When I see a book described that way, I feel like they’re just trying too hard. Hey, nothing will ever be another Harry Potter!
I’m with you on 2, 3, 7 (sort of… I just don’t read much non-fiction in general), and 10. “The next” thing isn’t a deal-breaker, but I definitely think it’s doing a disservice to the book. It may sell more copies, but a lot of those readers will end up disappointed. Of course, I guess the first part is what the publishers are concerned with.
Right, it really is a bookselling device, but I think it’s not fair to the book or to the reader, and for me, it’s a total turn-off. I don’t read a whole lot of non-fiction either, but it just seems like this type of book (#7) is getting more and more prevalent — and my impression is that a lot of these start out as blog projects that end up with book deals.
I struggle with brand name-dropping in books, as well. I think it takes a particular plot and author to pull it off well. Often, I’m either reading casually only to be completely startled out of the book by seeing a random reference to Cheerios or something, or the book is so saturated in brand names it just looks as if the author is trying really hard to be modern.
“The next BOOK TITLE” is dangerous. It raises expectations really high, which just makes them harder to be met. Sometimes I enjoy under-hyped books the most.
Yes! It’s so much fun to find a hidden gem, isn’t it? The bigger the hype, the less faith I have that I’ll actually enjoy it. (I’m kind of ornery…)
Completely agree with you about covers like #10. So cheesy!
They definitely fail the “can you read it in public” test! Then again, I suppose that’s what Kindles are for. 🙂
I actually burst out laughing when I saw those covers. Just.. Horrendous. A really nice list, except for the angels. 😉 Happy reading!
Awful, right? But hey, at least those bare-chested covers make me laugh, so I guess they serve a purpose! Thanks for stopping by!
I always wonder if books with bare chests on the cover are works of literary brilliance and no-one knows because of the cheese-tastic packaging!
Ha! If I were at all artistic, you’d have just inspired me to create new book covers for classics — can you imagine Mr. Darcy all sweaty and unbuttoned on the cover of Pride & Prejudice? (OK, maybe a bad example — I know a lot of women already do picture him that way…)
Yes to the covers! In included them myself. Terrible, aren’t they!?
I agree with this list, especially with food and angels. *yawn*
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I originally was looking for more of the Fabio/classic romance/swashbuckling type of covers, but couldn’t find them. I guess those are out of style now?
Oh, your #10! I call then naked man covers and I almost, almost put that on my list!
There’s a time and a place for naked men 🙂 but book covers are neither!
I studied a bit of international law when I was in uni so I really don’t mind books featuring grisly murders or courtroom drama. They, sort of, fascinate me actually. But different strokes, different folks! I do, however, have to wholeheartedly agree with you on books promoting beefcakes (just ICK!), Angels (I never understood the appeal) and “the next best thing” (because they never are!). Great picks!
Right, I love seeing these lists and seeing how different topics/themes work for different people. Yeah, I don’t get the angels thing at all… I wonder what the next “big” thing will be?
I definitely agree with no bare chests. LOL.
That’s quite an interesting list. I do like a good foodie book, something about reading all about food and making it is soothing to me and I love when they include recipes. totally agree on all the self help, angels, grisly gross books and the next ones. Thanks for sharing!
Nice covers- got the same one (kinda) on my list!!
Love # 4, 5, and 7!
Interesting point about shopping books! I’ll definitely be annoyed to read about so many designer brand names.
Awesome, thoughtful list! 😀
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Thanks for stopping by Jorie’s Read’s by Starry Night Elf … I do avoid books with covers such as those! Yes, I think eReaders have made such more popular.
I agree with those cheesy covers but I ended up calling them cheesy romances in my list, I couldn’t think of another way to list them. I also haven’t been interested in angels, for how many angel books there are, I haven’t read a good one yet and it’s stopped me from continuing to read angel books. You made a great list!
Thanks for stopping by my TTT
Angels… I’m with you on that. Unless we are talking about a certain vampire with a soul, I’m not interested!
LOL! My list included angels, definitely not Angel! He’s always welcome. 🙂