1. Stickers on books (that don’t come off). One bookstore I frequent will sticker its sale books, but the stickers easily peel off. There are other stores I go to, where I end up leaving the sticker on the book because it would look messy if I tried to remove it. Example: I just picked up a copy of Infidel from Costco. It was on sale and I couldn't’ resist.
2. The early release of romantic/sexual tension in a story. This came to mind because of the book I just finished. Example: A World I Never Made
3. Books where the boys do all the “hard” stuff because they’re boys and the girls have to sit around and be girls. Example: The Lion The Witch & the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian.
4. Stereotyping. If I get too into it, I get mad. Example: see 2.
5. Authors who don’t use quotation marks or some other means of indicating when a character is speaking. It could be dashes or line breaks, but for goodness sakes give me something. Example: Girl meets boy.
6. Calling “Young Adult” a genre. It’s not a genre. Genres exist within Young Adult. Example: Twilight and Eragon are both Young Adult, but they aren’t the same genre.
7. Calling “Graphic Novels” a genre. It’s not a genre. Genres exist within the graphic novel medium. Example: I’ve been reading Stephen King’s Dark Tower graphic novels and they are not in the same genre as 300 or Sin City.
8. A synopsis of the book that doesn’t actually tell you what the book is about. I’m not saying give the plot away, but with a certain book that I’ve already mentioned, on little word would have told me I didn’t want to read it. Example: I didn’t want to harp on this book but again, A World I Never Made. If in the synopsis it had just said “terrorism” or equivalent, I would have said, no, thank you.
9. Dirty books (and I don’t mean erotica. If I have purchased a used book or taken one out of the library, I know there is a chance that it will have dog-eared pages or notes in the margins. I don’t do those things myself, but I can get past them. I just don’t like turning the page and thinking, “What is that?” I drink tea pretty often when I read, but I don’t spill stuff on my books. Example: A copy of The Time Machine I took out of the library. Ick.
10. Notes at the back of the book. I’m a much bigger fan of footnotes than endnotes. It happens mostly in older books. I just feel it breaks up the flow of the story when you have to flip to the back of the book to find out what something means or to what it refers. I much rather glance down to the bottom of the page, quickly find what I need, then continue with the story. Example of endnotes: The Complete Shorter Fiction of Virginia Woolf. Example of footnotes: Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell.
Side Note: Thanks to Family Guy for a phrase that never gets old with me.
What bugs you?
