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.