Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish
1. Dog-ears: Nothing annoys me more than readers who dog-ear their books. I find it disrespectful to the text.
2. Small trim size: I don't know what it is about my eyes, but it's hard for me to read books with a very small trim size. For this reason I enjoy UK editions - their trim size is usually more appealing.
3. Annoying and contrived characters: Ehhhm Holden Caulfield.
4. Formulaic endings: Endings that are too predictable or annoyingly simple are no fun. I like an ending that makes me think.
5. Stickers: I love (lightly) used books but I hate when they have stickers that don't come off, or leave a sticky goo after you peel them off. My favorite used bookstore - Half Price Books - has price stickers that come off clean and quickly. Yet another reason I love them.
6. Cheesy covers/Movie covers: I wanted to read Dan Chaon's Await Your Reply but didn't end up buying it because the cover reminded me of a cheap Harlequin romance. I hope to someday find the hardcover edition.
7. Errors: This should go without saying, but I hate any sort of error in a book, be it grammatical, spelling, printing or otherwise.
8. Inked-up pages: Whether it's highlighter, marker or pen, I don't like writing in books unless it's in pencil.
9. Endnotes: It is so much easier to read footnotes than endnotes.
10. Quick endings: Sometimes it works, but other times it annoys me when everything is wrapped up in one final chapter. It feels rushed.
I like and agree with your list, especially endnotes. I'm far too lazy to ever check endnotes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of your list... but I must admit that I do fold down the page corners to mark where I've got to...
ReplyDeleteOne of my pet peeves would be small fonts. I read something recently with a really tiny font, and it was really hard to concentrate on for a long time.
We have a few in common! Great list...
ReplyDeleteThoroughly agree with all. All annoy me so much, but I think errors take top prize. Like COME ON!
ReplyDeleteI HATE dog ears too. Josie loves them. There was this battle between her and me for like two years, and now she doesn't dog ear anymore. Not even her own books.
ReplyDeleteI also hate endnotes. Footnotes make more sense when the author has something extra to say. If its just a reference then I don't mind endnotes AS much. I'm not big on movie covers either. After a movie gets made it can be hard to find a nice cover ever again.
ReplyDeleteI hate endnotes so much I once wrote a blog post entitled (partially) "why I hate endnotes." Go here to read it if you're interested: http://wordyevidenceofthefact.blogspot.com/2010/06/reading-while-moving-or-why-i-hate.html
ReplyDeleteOh and definitely movie covers and sticky price tags on used books. Major peevishness causers.
Great list. I have 5 & 9 on mine too. I thought I was the only one who didn't like endnotes. Footnotes are much less disruptive to the story.
ReplyDeleteGreat list! I didn’t get around to compiling my own Pet Peeves this week, but I totally agree with number 3... and your example! Movie covers also drive me crazy.
ReplyDeleteI’ve spent many date nights with my wife at Half Price Books!!!
but sometimes i dog-ear my books to really really good passages, when i don't have my pen to mark them. (i'm sure the thought of this tortures you.) I like the sight of a dog-eared book, it looks lived in.
ReplyDeleteSomething about small trim size doesn't work with my eyes, either. Especially hate when you've got to break the spine to read all the text, which is why I stay away from cheapo editions of classics now. & I think "Infinite Jest" would be far more readable if the endnotes were footnotes. nice list, apart from making me defensive over writing in all my books in ink!
-- ellen
love your list!!! dogears drive me insane but not half as much as ERRORS!!! Geez - are there not like 1/2 dozen people who read the books prior to publishing?!?
ReplyDelete#3 Bingo! I was beginning to think I was the only one who felt that way about your example. I hate annoyed contrived people so I hate them in my books as well.
ReplyDeleteRachel-Endless Reading
I can't do small trim anymoe either...even with my reading glasses, all the words just run into one another...it feels smooshed.
ReplyDeleteI'm a dog earer, writer inner, and spine breaker...but I can't stand end-notes either...so disruptive to my reading process.
anymore...sheesh
ReplyDeleteI was a dog earer once upon a time, but you'll be happy to hear I have now given up my evil ways :P
ReplyDeleteIn the era of the sticky note, why doth the dog-ear persist?
ReplyDeleteI too will echo the general clamor: Agreed on all counts!
Funny how dissimilar our lists are yet how easy it is to concur.
Movie covers was my #1. I definitely write in my books though, and sometimes find myself enjoying my own commentary a lot on a reread. I'm so narcissistic:)
ReplyDeleteHere is my list: http://hawthornescarlet.blogspot.com/2011/03/top-ten-tuesday-i-hate-that.html
I've been known to dog ear on occasion...don't hurt me
ReplyDeleteGood one! Hate end notes as well and stickers especially. BTW...Await Your Reply was good and the HC edition had a better cover.
ReplyDeleteGreat list Brenna, all of which I agree with, especially numbers 1, 5, 7 and 10
ReplyDeleteUgh, stickers, bane of my book buying existence. I love Half Priced Books price tags too. Also, don't hate me but I dog ear pages with quotes I want to go back to. Then I write them down elsewhere and un-dog ear.
ReplyDeleteAt some point I need to go back and do this meme when I have a bit more time.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on contrived characters (Bella Swan?) and Formulaic Endings. Sometimes they work...often they don't.
Dogears are annoying; however, I have to say I'm very guilty of writing in books in highlighter or pen. I like (more so in non-fiction or Shakespeare) writing notes to myself. I think I get this more so from college and grad school readings.
Hi, my name is Eric and I dog ear books. I don't like the way it makes my books look but I just can't stop doing it. I'm out of control!
ReplyDeleteI've actually have been more conscious about this lately especially when it comes to first editions. Mass produced paperbacks are still fair game.
"3. Annoying and contrived characters:"
I agree, 100%. Annoying can be tolerable only if an author accompanies it with other solid personality traits but a contrived character will always be worthless.
I really agree on the endnotes - soooooa nnoying (Wide Sargasso Sea I am looking at you). I disagree most on the dog earing - I love signs of love in books that I buy, that's why i buy second hand books. It feels like the book itself has had a past life. The text is the text to me - but the book and the story are magical no matter what :-)
ReplyDeleteI hate the kind of errors authors make like someone's brown eyes are blue about 20 pages later and a character is reading Gone With The Wind in 1935 when it actually came out in 1936. They snag me in brambles and then I just can't enjoy the rest of the book.
ReplyDelete