July 23, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday


Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This is one meme I can get on board with - I LOVE lists! I'll show you mine if you show me yours!

Top Ten Words/Topics That Make Me NOT Want To Pick Up a Book

This week's topic was extraordinarily hard for me. There's not many topics/words that totally turn me off.I'll usually try something out at least once.

1. Horror - I've never been a huge fan of horror movies, so it's logical that horror books are not my bag either. I need some warm fuzzies in my books, and let's face it. Horror and touchy feelie do not go together.

2. Self-help - I don't mind books that teach you how to do something, like grow prize-winning tomatoes or knit a Thneed. But, books that try to help you be a better person or get in touch with your inner child are nothing but irritating. Every person is an individual and no two solutions will always apply to a given situation. I'm more of a fan of learning from experience. So, I definitely don't do self-help.

3. Chick Lit/Women's Lit - I know, I know - I said I prefer the touchy feelies. So, chick lit should be right up my alley, right? Wrong. I've found women's lit to be a little too feminist for my taste. Call me traditional, but I love reading books about big, strong, manly men who bring even the strongest of women to their knees.

4. Cheating - I despise cheating when it's done consciously by the main character in a book. I think this might be from personal experience and history. I've had it done to me, and it was really devastating. I read for enjoyment and entertainment, and cheating is neither of those things. It makes me upset and therefore, I can't enjoy the book as a whole.

5. High Fantasy - I'm on the fence with this one. I've read some high fantasy. Some high fantasy series have totally rocked my socks (The Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima is a good example). But, for the most part, I find high fantasy confusing and convoluted. The names are weird, and the books are usually really, really long (see #6). More often than not, I pass on high fantasy.

6. Really, Really Long Books - This isn't a word or a topic, but it's still something that will make me not want to pick up a book. Once you hit 600 pages or so, books venture into lengths that start to turn me off. Why do books really need to be that long? Once you reach the end, can you even remember what happened in the beginning? I have a lot of books on my TBR list, and a lot of unread books on my shelf and on my Kindle. There are so many books out there to experience. For some reason, I just can't bring myself to commit weeks to one long book when I could finish ten normal-length books in the same amount of time.

7. Married Couples - I'm a big fan of the institution of marriage. I've been married for 12 years myself to an awesome guy. But, I prefer to read about two people finding each other and falling in love while surfing the problems that almost always arise. If they end up getting married in the process, that's cool. But, I don't like reading about couples who are already married, but have problems for one reason or another. Because, all books need problems, right? And, I hate reading about problems in a marriage (see #4 above).

8. Crime/lawyer drama - I gorged myself on John Grisham and Scott Turow for a few years. I think I got sick of them. I no longer have much of a desire to read them anymore.

9. Bodice Rippers - I reserve the right to say that I love these when I'm 60. But for now, not so much. Talk about cheesy. And the stories are all the same. No Fabio for me, thankyouverymuch.

10. Brother/Sister Stories - I NEED romance in my books. If it's not there, I feel very unfulfilled at the end. Naturally, most books featuring brother/sister teams aren't so heavy on the romance. Because, well, ew. This is especially true when the brother/sister duo are younger than 16. I don't know - it just doesn't do much for me.

28 comments:

Carrie-Anne said...

Really long books are my raison d'ĂȘtre as a reader and writer! If a book is too short, I often won't even bother, and if it's hundreds of pages long, even over 1,000 pages long, I'm in Paradise. My genre is historical, so it's what I'm used to reading and writing. It's weird to me when I encounter a historical novel that's only like 300 pages, yet purporting to cover a longer time period and some serious events.

Stephanie @ Love. Life. Read said...

Great list!! I am right there with you many of these. It will be a fun day reading everyone's list. Thank you for stopping by Love.Life.Read.

Happy Reading!
Stephanie

Aleksandra said...

Nice list! I'm glad you loved the Seven Realms, I did, too, although I'm a fan of high fantasy ;) You should try Alison Goodman's Eon/Eona duo, as well as Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass, I think you'll enjoy them :)

Melissa (i swim for oceans) said...

Lmao "Boddice Rippers" hahaha I think I'm right there with you. And, while I appreciate a good horror book, I can definitely see where you're coming from on that. Great list this week, Krista :)

Unknown said...

I agree with all of them! Bodice rippers, great name;) I usually don't like long books either, I want something new to read after 400 pages.

My TTT:
http://evelinesbooks.blogspot.nl/2013/07/top-ten-tuesday-8.html

Angela's Anxious Life said...

I am not the biggest fan of self help books myself. Unless their funny and have a sense of humor.. then I'm in.

Angie
My Top Ten

Stephanie (Hopeless Romantics) said...

Totally agree about needing romance in books. I've read books without romance, and just don't love them as much.

Really long books are usually out for me too. One word: Eragon. Although the Seven Realms books were long and those were really good. I usually end up skimming a lot with long books.

Girl!Reporter said...

I agree about self-help books. The only exception is Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In, which I loved.

And lawyer books - I read every John Grisham novel I could get my hands on in my early teens, and have never gone back to him since!

Sarah

Crazy Camper said...

CHEATING. NEVER. books, movies, Rhianna songs. I am out.

Great list!

Heather said...

I agree with quite a lot of your list! I was really considering putting Chick Lit on my list as well because every time I read it I feel like I just can't stand it. I can't stand married couple stories either for exactly the same reason.

Anonymous said...

Horror is one of the genres I don't particularly like either! Great list.

Kim @ kimberlyfaye reads said...

This is a great list. I especially agree about the self-help books and the really long books. To me, regardless of how great the book is, if we get to that 500 page mark, it feels more like a chore than enjoyable reading to me. I'm also not a fan of the whole Harlequinesque bodice-ripper category. Give me a NA book any day over that!

My TTT!

Anonymous said...

Great list! I totally agree with married couples being a turn off, though if there were a book with the married couple as protagonists but it wasn't abou their marriage I'd give it a try. For curiosity's sake, if nothing else.

kimberlybuggie said...

Good list. Self help and high fantasy- I shy away from too!
My TTT

Unknown said...

#3 & #6 are my pet peeves! Great list!

Chikadee said...

Great list! We have similar tastes and you have listed a couple more that I should have added to my list.

yaescapefromreality said...

I agree with your entire list. I used to read Grisham and Turow as well, but I can't bring myself to read any sort of lawyer/crime novel anymore. And I want a good story, but I do like to see at least some romance! ~Pam

proseandkahn said...

Great list! And you're right! We have similar tastes. I love the term bodice ripper and was quite dismayed when I used it this past spring when describing a book to a language arts teacher and she had never heard the term! Unlike you, I never cared for crime novels so my disdain for Grisham comes from his ego and lack of respect for the children's/ YA audience.

Thanks for stopping by my TTT. I'm going to nose around your blog for a bit.

brenda

Kelly said...

Yes yes yes yes, a thousand times YES to cheating. Ugh, that sounds wrong, but you know what I mean. :P
I can't stand cheating books. I just can't.
Great list & thanks for stopping by my TTT! (:

Alison Can Read said...

I love the idea of really long books, but in reality, I just don't have time. So I definitely agree with you on that.

Uncorked Thoughts said...

Chick-lit I totally agree with. I cannot stomach it at all. They're very samey and they seem very superficial.

Michelle Santiago said...

i love YA fantasy like melina marchetta's lumatere series and graceling but i also cannot read adult high fantasy. long tomes and weird names are a huge turn off for me. that's why i'll never pick up the game of throne novels.

hope you can stop by my TTT.

-michelle @ Michelle & Leslie's Book Picks

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Bodice Rippers, yeah I'm not a fan either. The writing is so cheesy!!!

Elien said...

I'm with you except for Chicklit, from time to time I enjoy reading them. And once a year I like reading a very thick book :)

El @ So Bookalicious

Unknown said...

Chick/Women's Lit! I was going to put that too but wasn't sure how to word it! All I kept thinking was feminist crap. I'm sorry, but I'm an independent 28 year old woman, who would not mind AT ALL for some guy to go alpha on me. That's really hot in my book. LOL. I LOVE how you included long, long books. I'm right there with you. As bloggers, do we really have time for super long books? Not really! I've never read crime/lawyer stuff but I don't think it would appeal to me either. Great list girl! I'm totally with you on just about all of them!

Jessica@Lovin' Los Libros

Jennifer Rummel said...

ah cheating - wish I thought of that for my list - hate that in a book.

Sarah said...

CHEATING!!! YES, how did I not put that on my list??? It's one of my biggest pet peeves in a story, and if I know it's going to happen in a book I'd definitely pass. It's why I DNF'd the one and only Emily Giffin book I attempted to read. (That's what I get for trying such blatant chick lit too...)

Michelle said...

#'s 4 and 7- yes to that. Though I have read titles which have been great in dealing with these topics, a lot do not. And I find that many fiction titles automatically equate married with 'spouse(s) will cheat'. Come on! Too obvious. And too depressing.