Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists
Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on our post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. If you can't come up with ten, don't worry about it---post as many as you can!
This week's we're talking about book pet peeves. And boy do I have some!
1. Back and Forth Dialogue: Many authors can do dialogue very well, and some others not so much. I hate it when two or even three characters get into a conversation and the dialogue gets confused. When the dialogue continues for 2-3 pages, sometimes I get really lost to who's is talking. A couple of "he/she saids" thrown in can really help me keep track. Just a helpful hint for all the writers out there.
2. Deus ex machina: I absolutely hate books where the conflict magically resolves itself at the end of the book. I have the same issue with many TV sitcoms. The Brady Bunch 30 minute exposition, conflict, resolution all wrapped up in a pretty bow really gets me. Conflicts are messy. They're supposed to be. You can't just swoop in and fix the problem in one page. I hate those endings.
3. Happy Endings: No, I'm not some crazy dark person who just wants tragedy, but I do want realistic endings. If the story is all doom and gloom, don't make everyone blissfully happy in the end. If the story is happy, then it makes sense to have a happy ending. But please don't have a happy ending just for the sake of a happy ending. If it doesn't make sense, then end the book differently. This point really goes along with dislike for much of Christian fiction. Read about my thoughts here.
4. Over Description: When an author spends an entire page describing the house, I get really bored. Don't get me wrong, I love description, but in moderation. We don't need to blather on and on about the color of the ocean or whatever. I think this is why I have never like Moby Dick. Melville just goes on and on describing crap.
5. Sentences with No End: I call this the Charles Dickens syndrome. Have you actually looked to see how long some of his sentences are? Two-three pages in length. By the time I finally reach a period, I need to go back and remind myself where the sentence actually started. What the hell are we trying to say? Can't we shorten this just a bit. I think so. Periods are fun to type. Try one sometime.
6. One-dimensional Characters: This is the Ernest Heimingway syndrome. Every one of his female characters is so one-dimensional. In many cases, the book probably would have been better without them. They are cardboard cutouts. If a character appears in a book, make them meaningful, please!
7. Grammatical Errors: I'm not talking about ARCs here. I'm talking about so-called edited final copies. I have found many grammatical errors in many books. My favorite error: mixing up names. Yep, I've seen it happen in many a book. Better editing people!
8. Characters on Covers: When I read a book, I create a picture in my head of the character. I hate when there is a picture of a "character" on the cover of a book. I prefer more abstract covers. Maybe some scenery, a specific object (the beauty of the Twilight series covers), anything but a complete person. I want to see the characters not the cover designer's version of the character.
9. Movie tie-in covers: While I appreciate movie versions of books, I don't want the movie version on the cover. I'm reading the book to read the book. If I wanted the movie, I would go see the movie. If you look at my library, I have successfully avoided these covers.
10. Misleading Blurbs: At the library (I kind of live there), I often pick books because of their blurbs and/or summaries. Imagine my surprise when I start reading the book and it's nothing like the description. How hard is it really to make sure the descriptions match the story? I guess harder than I think.
