I don't know about any of you, but when it comes to books and reading I have quite a few pet peeves. While many of my pet peeves are minor, causing nothing more than an eye roll, the presence of others can ruin a book for me. So, without further ado, here are some of my biggest bookish pet peeves:
Weepy Heroines. I don't mind some crying in novels, especially if the subject matter is such that staying dry-eyed would be unusual, but a heroine who cries or who is on the verge of tears on seemingly every other page irks me to no end. The result is usually me giving a book a low rating.
Love Triangles. I love a good love story, but I'm growing tired of reading novels that feature a woman trying to decide between two men. It's usually pretty obvious which choice the woman will make, but, unless he's characterized as a jerk (a la Daniel Cleaver from Bridget Jones' Diary) I often find myself rooting for the rejected party -- who is usually portrayed as somewhat boring and nowhere near as attractive or charismatic as the man who, in the end, wins the heart of the heroine.
Historical Characters with Modern Day Sensibilities. It drives me nuts when a character in a work of historical fiction is portrayed in such as way that they could be plucked right out of their novel and easily placed in one set in the modern-era. Even if a character defied the conventions of the age in which they lived, they would still, for the most part, have an outlook on life that would in many respects be considered old-fashioned by today's standards. As such, historical characters should not be given modern-day sensibilities.
Terms of Endearment. Okay, this one probably bugs only me, but it drives me batty when male characters continually use terms of endearment such as 'sweetheart' and 'honey' when talking to their significant other. I can't explain why this bugs me, it just does.
Unexplainable Book Titles. Do you ever finish a book and wonder where on earth the title comes from? This has happened to me on a few occasions. Wolf Hall, a novel I absolutely love, is one such book. Even after reading Hilary Mantel's explanation for the title I still don't think it fits the novel.
Now that I've shared some of my bookish pet peeves, I'm eager to hear some of yours. Share them below.
Posts
Interesting topic today, and I'm looking forward to everyone's thoughts on this.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your pet peeves, and a have a few to add. I'm not a prude by any means, but I dislike crude language and obscenities...it won't make me completely hate the book, it just makes me wince.
I prefer a book to be a stand alone, even if it's one of a series...so I dislike an obvious set-up to the next book with an unsatisfying ending or an ending that leaves the reader with a cliff hanger. I also dislike ambiguous endings....you know, choose your own ending.
This really isn't a pet peeve, but since I read historical fiction, I appreciate when an author includes a map, family tree, short glossary, and author's notes at the end distinguishing between historical fact and fiction.
***To get back to your pet peeve about book titles, one of my favorite Elizabeth Chadwick novels is The Marsh King's Daughter. I loved the book, but surprisingly there was absolutely no reference to a king's daughter anywhere in the story! I was left scratching my head and said so in my book review. Lo and behold, the author herself jumped in and left a comment on my blog. She admitted it was an obscure reference to an old European fairy tale!
I dislike crude language, too, and prefer novels in series to not end on cliffhangers - especially if it takes the author years to write each book!
DeleteI should have included historical novels that don't include author's notes on my list. I hate it when they aren't included. Maps aren't a must for me, but I do appreciate them.
I agree with you on the terms of endearment. I just recently read a book where the guy constantly called the women he was with baby and it drove me nuts!
ReplyDeleteYes, honey bothers me, too.
DeleteI don't like curse words in a book either. They seem so much worse, written there on the page in black and white. I'm lucky that I don't run into that a whole bunch.
ReplyDeleteKathy (momwithabook.com)
I should have included curse words on my list. And crude language. Both are a real turn off for me.
DeleteAn historical character with modern day sensibilities is a big pet peeve for me too.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one bugged by this.
DeleteYes, Wolf Hall is an odd choice for a title, since that was the Seymour's home.
ReplyDeleteEndearments- I get this. I think I sort of liken these to public displays of affection which I do.not.want. Books or real life, it irritates me. If I ever get married, and use hubby or dh, I give all y'all permission to smack me upside the head.
I can take some curse words, so long as its not a lot. But no modern curses in historical fiction. And I don't want any in YA. I know teens can curse like a sailor, but I'd rather have the delusion that they don't.
If a love triangle is done well, I'm ok with that. But many are getting predictable or mediocre. The same with the heroine wanting to defy her life, but then dithering between actually taking that step when the opportunity presents itself.
If reading historical fiction, I don't like when the heroine wants to defy her life in such as way that would be inconsistent with the period of time she lived in.
DeleteI can live with some terms of endearment but the one that drives me crazy is when you have a tall hero and a diminutive heroine and he calls her little one! Can Not Stand it!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of any terms of endearment so 'little one' would drive me crazy, too.
DeleteA nice list you have here! I totally agree with most of your points, it really annoys me! "Historical Characters with Modern Day Sensibilities" is really hard not to do for some writers (I don't write historical fiction however). I guess reading upon what went on that time would be best. "Unexplainable Book Titles" is something that I encountered the other day. Most of the time I wonder if the writer added the book title just because it sounded nice to them. I wrote a post about my own fiction pet peeves, it includes some additional ones that you may not have talked about but I hope you will read and tell me what you think :) http://nynyonlinex.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/fiction-pet-peeves/
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, NyNy. I just checked out your post :-)
Delete