Oh man. I imagine this week is opening CANS of worms! I plan to open up a few of my own. Here goes cracks knuckles!
- Let’s get started with a contentious issue in the book world: I find it upsetting when people say that audiobooks don’t count as reading. There are a bunch of reasons for this (I’ll be writing a whole post about it soon), but it comes down to absorbing words is what needs to happen for a book to have been read. Audiobooks accomplish this, particularly for people who can’t read physical books for any one of a host of reasons. It’s not exactly the same, and some books I find don’t work as audiobooks and I either need to go back and forth or wait until I have time to read them. But audiobooks are the reason I’ve been able to get through a lot more books this year, and have made my life so much better.
- Broken spines. I have no issue with other people breaking theirs. I’m not a purist. I just find it annoying in my own books – every time I read a book with a broken spine it flops open to the broken sections so it’s harder to hold one handed, and eventually pages start falling out and then there’s tape to deal with and annoyance that I can’t ever line the pages up right so they stick out… I just prefer to keep my spines as they were made whenever I can.
- Covers that don’t match the one pictured online. I know covers don’t make a book. But I am a visual person. I don’t usually buy books just for the cover, but I will order a copy from the UK instead of locally if I love the cover more than the one available here. I’ll also wait until the paperback comes out if I hate the hardcover and it’s a book I’m not dying to get to right away. So if I order a book and the one that arrives isn’t the one that was pictured when I bought it, that will really, really bother me.
- Waiting for a book by a favourite author. This isn’t one of those peeves that could be fixed. It’s a natural part of being a fan. All the same, it’s not fun!
- Finding out an author I love is… maybe not the nicest? This is a definite can of worms one. I think there are a lot of differing opinions on how much it matters what an author is like, so I’m not going to get into a whole thing about it, but it’s a peeve for sure.
- When the cover design for a series changes part way through the books being released. If I’m going to collect a series, I’d really rather that they match.
- Not having anyone to talk to about what I’m reading. That was the whole reason I started this blog. But my reviews almost never actually get comments, and even my weekly roundup posts get very few. I definitely still have more thoughts left over on most of them!
- When I just don’t get it. My prime example of this is Ulysses. I literally did not understand the words in the order they were placed at times. I couldn’t build an image of what was happening in my mind, and I’m not entirely sure it even had a plot. I’m sure some of you will set me straight on this. Starting with you, Dad.
- When I can’t find a book like one I’ve read and absolutely adored. It’s amazing, with all the millions of books in the world, that it can sometimes be so hard to find a book that fits exactly what I’m looking for. Recent example: I’d give a day’s worth of chocolate for another book that made me feel like The House in the Cerulean Sea did. Or one that gave me as much food for thought as When Breath Becomes Air. Or one that made me feel less isolated, like Alone Together.
- This is an obvious one, but when they make a book I love into a movie and it’s just totally wrong. The casting is wrong. The plot has been changed in all the wrong places. The special effects don’t do it justice. Maybe it was set in one country in the book but moved to another in the movie. If it doesn’t work, it’ll bug the crap out of me.
Okay, so that’s my list! Do any of you guys share any of mine? Do you have any great ones I didn’t think of?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every week TTT has a different topic, and everyone who links up has to create a link of ten items that fit that topic. To see past and upcoming topics, go here.
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly link-up feature created by The Broke and the Bookish and hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Every week TTT has a different topic, and everyone who links up has to create a link of ten items that fit that topic. To see past and upcoming topics, go here.
I’ve never quite wrapped my head around the whole audiobooks don’t count as reading thing… I also listen to a lot of them. 😀
Check out my TTT
Yeah, me neither. I figure most of the time it’s people who are either obtusely literal regarding the definition of the word “read,” or who haven’t tried audiobooks or put in the work to learn how to focus on them properly so assume that listening means missing things. It’s a skill that must be honed!
I’m also hesitant before adaptations, I get ideas of what something should look like when I read it and the adaptation rarely lives up to my expectations. Happy reading! My TTT https://readwithstefani.com/my-middle-grade-book-recommendations/
Yes, I agree. It’s rare that a movie can match my imagination!
I didn’t think book bloggers would come up with such a wide variety of pet peeves!
I know what you mean about reviews not generating discussion. It’s hard to catch people at just the right moment, after they’ve read the same book you just read but not so long afterwards that they’ve forgotten the details.
Yes, and then for it to be a book that they had strong enough feelings about to want to discuss it. I mean I’m the same – I rarely comment on book reviews. I more read them to inform my decision about whether to give a book a try. So I don’t blame anyone, but I do wish there was like a social platform that you could log on for live discussion of books you’ve just read! Like Goodreads, but with a chat function instead of just posted reviews. Ah well, maybe someday I’ll find an IRL book club to join!
When I had an hour commute for work, audiobooks were the only way I was able to get any reading done outside of my days off. And this year I have started listening to more audiobooks to help motivate me to move around, whether it’s cleaning more or actually going for a walk. I have found that audiobooks make it easier for me to get into fantasy books.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/going-to-the-dogs-12-books-with-dogs-on-the-cover/
That is so wonderful! Yeah, I’ve been home schooling my kid over the past 18 months. It’s mostly been a wonderful experience, and it’s given me a confidence in my ability to create fun learning opportunities and fill the days. But it has meant that I don’t have any spare time at all – when I’m not actually doing activities I’m preparing them or tidying them up or shopping for them or practicing them or cleaning the house or doing laundry or cooking or loading/unloading the dishwasher or cleaning the kitchen for what feels like the twenty thousandth time each day! Audiobooks have not only been the only way I had the opportunity to read at all, but they’ve given me a way to engage my brain while doing tasks that are so boring and repetitive they make me want to cry, and has meant I’ve actually read more this year than in any recent years. So yeah, I can get a little salty if someone tries to tell me audiobooks don’t count as “reading.” I particularly enjoy memoirs read by the author or non-fiction books that I can learn a lot from! Though I’ll try most anything.
Oh boy, yes, I agree with multiple ones of yours. I recently won a book and when it came I was like “What was this and where did it come from?!” It was NOT the same cover and the image was SO completely different that the book no longer sounded good! I also hate stickers, broken spines, and I never have anyone to talk to my books about. Sigh. My list is here if you’d like to stop by: https://cindysbookcorner.blogspot.com/2021/10/top-ten-tuesday-bookish-pet-peeves.html
Ugh, I hate when that happens! There have been a few times when I ordered a book for the cover and got one that not only wasn’t the same, but was AWFUL. Like, had me wondering why on earth they’d look at those two options and choose THAT ONE. Ugh. I agree on stickers unless they’re ones indicating prizes won or nominations (they are earned). And broken spines I probably won’t keep the book unless it has particular emotional value or has no other edition available. Yeah, I have a couple of people I can talk about books with, but they get tapped out fairly quickly, whereas I could happily chat about them for an hour every day! Or more!
I agree with so many of these! If audiobooks didn’t count as reading, I’d hardly have read anything this year, I’ve been in such a bad reading slump and audiobooks have made up most of my reading, just because someone else is reading to you, doesn’t make it any less reading!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2021/10/05/top-ten-tuesday-336/
Me too! I’d have read about 5 books. I agree. I feel like people get hung up on the semantics of reading as being the act of visually reading the words. I think we need a new word for just absorbing the words as set forth. Then it’ll be less of a weird judgment thing! I love audiobooks. I listen to them sped up, so I can actually get through books quite fast.
Yes, maybe a different word would help. It’s also such an ableist thing to say that audiobooks don’t count as reading, because say if you’re blind, and you read via audiobooks, would anyone say that’s not reading? I would hope not!
Yes, exactly. One of my medical conditions puts me at fairly high risk of losing my sight at some point, so it’s something I take personally (not that I’d care any less if that weren’t the case – ablism is a huge issue that needs to change). Besides, why does it matter? Words going into your brain are words going into your brain. Why does it matter if they go through your eyes or through your ears? I also think that listening to audiobooks is a skill. When I first started, I would miss things. It took time, effort and practice to learn how to aclimatize to input coming through a different sense. It also took me a while to realize that it was going too slowly and my mind wasn’t getting input fast enough to keep paying attention to the book. When I started practicing listening at a faster speed, it became easier to stay focused. But all of this took effort, and didn’t happen overnight. I think that for some people they just gave it one or two tries and never figured out how to make it work for them, and their audiobook experience was therefore ineffective and involved missing whole chapters because they got distracted by a dog chasing a squirrel in the park. Which definitely happens, but less now that I’ve figured out what works for me and put in a lot of time practicing! It’s a shame, because audiobooks can be such a joy.
I listened to audiobooks a lot as a kid (they were tapes then!) and then kind of fell out of love with them, but then I rediscovered them a few years back, and haven’t looked back since. I think it’s much like reading in any format, you just need to find one that works for you!
I listened to those too! Particularly when we were going on long car rides. I don’t think audiobooks are for everyone, but I do think that some people who discount them could come around to them if they just stuck with it a bit longer and found the right combo of book and narrator!
Definitely!
Good list. #10–they so rarely get it “right” with the movie!
Yeah, that’s true. When it does happen I guess that’s even more special, but I hate when they change things for no good reason that alter the feel or context or even the story!
I hate it when I read a book and then can’t find anyone to discuss it with.
Me too! It’s the worst! And it happens to me all the time. 🙁