(Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish. Want to make your own list? Clicking the image will take you to this week’s post. Happy listing!)
Bookworms are persnickety people. We prefer paperback or hardback, we adore or abhor dog-earing pages, and we have crazy lending policies. Everyone thinks differently, but here are my bookish pet peeves.
1. People who say they don’t like to read – To me this is like saying, “Eh, I don’t really like breathing.” What do you do? Don’t you feel that something is missing? All humans need stories — how do you satisfy that need, if not through reading?
2. People who make fun of people who like to read – Bullies in general are awful, but making fun of someone for enjoying reading is just as bad as my disliking people who don’t read.
3. Books with unhappy endings – Technically this means “Books with endings I didn’t like,” but you get the gist. I hate unhappy endings, especially when the love interests don’t get together. Annoying.
4. People who mistreat their books – Throwing them around, setting drinks on them, getting stains on the pages, cramming them into the bottom of a backpack. I hate seeing a mistreated book.
5. People who mistreat my books – Pretty much nothing angers me more than someone mistreating a book I’ve loaned them. I think it shows a remarkable lack of respect, not only for my possessions, but of me as well.
What are your biggest bookish pet peeves?
Ooops, I need to replace that book of yours that I lost. 😀
It’s not lost. It’s just…hiding. Somewhere. 🙂
Great points!
1. I don’t get that either; or the people who say “I have no time to read”.
3. I’m with you: I much prefer happy endings.
5. Yes, yes. Or when they pass on your book to other people without permission. I make it a policy to never LOAN books, only GIVE them. (Well, I will loan books to my immediate family, because I know I’ll get them back in good shape.)
And thanks again for stopping by my blog!
(I’ve subscribed to your blog. 🙂
Sadly, it’s getting to the point where I don’t even really give books to anyone anymore–unless they request a specific title. I’ve gotten so many, “Oh, that book was great, you’ll love it!” comments that turned out to be lies, that I’m afraid of foisting a book on anyone else. :p I’ll make recommendations when asked, but I don’t always hit the mark,
Ooh, I love subscribers! Thanks so much! I’m glad that your blog focuses so much on what you and your children are reading together. That’s not an angle I’ve come across often in the book blogosphere.
I’m with you on people who mistreat my books but as a librarian I “have” a lot of books! I think people have finally accepted my reading interests and have stopped teasing me so much.
I would enjoy being a librarian, but my OCD would make me either the best librarian or the worse librarian ever. I think that I would consider all the books to be my books, and I’m such a stickler about how they’re treated that people would have to go through an extensive application process just to be eligible for a library card…it wouldn’t be good. 🙂
Fortunately most of my friends are nerds as well (although more for things like online gaming, band, vocal performance, etc.), and the little “picking” we do is all in good fun. Thanks for stopping by!
I’m with you about people that mistreat my books or library books. So annoying!
Most of the books I read have happier endings so it’s kind of refreshing to read a book with a more angst-filled ending for a change.
I agree – that’s terrible that people are bullied for liking to read.
Thanks for sharing your list! This was fun to rant about bookish pet peeves this week.
I saw over on your blog that you’re reading Lauren Myracle’s Shine. How are you liking it so far?
For me, a little “angsty ending” goes a long way. My life is by no means horrible, but I prefer reading to be an escape, rather than a look at the seedier/sadder side of things.
Thanks for visiting my TTT! I know what you mean about people who say they hate reading, it makes yo uwonder if they;re just reading the wrong books when they say they’re boring. I also hate people bullying book lovers because it makes them embarassed about one of their favourite things to do and self concious of people seeing them reading. We should be proud to read!
Thanks, I’m about halfway through The Clan Of The Cave Bear and enjoying it 🙂
I don’t even know how to respond when someone says that they think books are boring. I never even think, “Oh, you’re just not reading the right books.” I just think, “…uh…” It’s just such a foreign concept to me that when someone says that, there’s nothing I can compare it to. I try to put myself in their shoes, and I have no frame of reference. I’ve always loved reading, and can’t imagine anything else.
I’m glad you’re enjoying Auel’s book. The whole series took me forever to read, but was well worth the effort.
Haha yes, #3! That’s what I was trying to say in my top ten peeve list. It’s not so much unhappy endings, but endings I don’t like that bug me. I wish authors would consult me before their books go to print 😉
I know exactly what you mean, Trish. A book could have a perfectly happy ending, but if it’s not the ending I wanted, then I like it less. Even when I recognize that the ending that is written is the logical one, if I don’t like…lame! :p
Writers should consult me too. Especially YA authors. I’m so very tired of love triangles and perfect characters!