Top Ten Tuesday

TTT – Things That Make Me Instantly Want To Yeet A Book

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Top Ten Tuesday used to be a weekly post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, but was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. “It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” This is definitely something I can understand and want to participate in.

And this week’s prompt is the opposite of last week’s—instead of talking about what makes me want to pick up a book, I get to talk about my instant turn-offs. And buckle up, because I’ve got opinions. There are definitely some things that can make me put a book down faster than my car can actually drive. Here are some of the things that make me want to yeet a book:

[Woman yeeting a bag of stuff off a high balcony to the ground]
  1. Using racist/antisemitic/stereotypical language or themes. One of my most popular TikToks involves a satirical video about how to clean your books, where I submerge a book in water and proceed to wash it with a washcloth and soap. However, the book I used involved a fantasy setting based on racist themes about a marginalized group.
  2. Lack of editing or proofreading. As a proofreader, spelling and grammar errors jump out at me. So when a book is riddled with errors, I find myself losing focus on the story and homing in on the mistakes instead. 
  3. No apparent plot by 25% of the book. If there’s nothing going on in the story, why am I reading it? These also fall into the DNF pile really quickly.
  4. None of the characters are likable. I get that there’s usually going to be at least one unlikable character in a book, but when every single character is just horrible, I really struggle with wanting to continue the book.
  5. Holocaust books written by non-Jews. Lately, I’m seeing a lot of Nazi or Nazi-sympathizing protagonists, and it’s not only gross to have readers empathizing with LITERAL NAZIS, it’s insulting to those of us who have families who were wiped out in the Holocaust. And as for just regular Holocaust stories, they seem to focus on Christian-oriented themes, like redemption, forgiveness, and finding a moral lesson in the best case, and contain outright misinformation that does genuine harm to the Jewish community at worst. But see, here’s the problem: The Holocaust didn’t have a moral lesson. If anything, it taught Jewish people that we can’t rely on anyone outside of ourselves. There weren’t as many people helping Jews as books lead us to believe. So when I do read Holocaust books, that’s why I stick to nonfiction.
  6. Problematic authors. When I first joined the reading community, I didn’t really know about problematic authors. But as I’ve learned more, the list of authors who I won’t read books by has grown. Some of these are on the list for being racist or antisemitic, others for attacking reviewers who give them less than perfect reviews, and others for being misogynistic. I’m sure you’ve got a list like that too.
  7. Explaining every little thing in great detail. While detail is good, since I like to visualize what I’m reading about, not everything needs to be explained in mind-numbing detail. This kind of book usually winds up on my DNF pile after I’ve read 3 pages about what an outfit looks like.
  8. Trauma porn. I don’t get triggered when there’s violence or rape or abuse in a book, but when these are included without being relevant to the plot, it just feels like trauma porn. Especially when it’s described really graphically for no reason.
  9. Inaccuracies in the time period or setting. When I’m reading a historical fiction, and the author includes something that hadn’t been invented yet, it frustrates me to no end. Same thing goes in fantasy, when they refer to things in our world that don’t necessarily exist in a fantasy world, like using “where on Earth” or “what the hell” when they don’t quite fit.
  10. Too slow-paced. I like my books faster-paced and with lots of action. You can blame my favorite authors for spoiling me. So when I start reading a book that’s super slow-paced, I tend to get bored waiting for something to happen. It doesn’t mean that the book isn’t good, it just means that it’s not a good fit for me, personally.

What are some of your instant reading turn-offs?

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36 replies »

  1. Certain grammatical errors send me over the edge. In speech, it’s one thing but in narration prose ???? It’s different FROM, not different then or even than. Farther or further? Lay or lie? Learn the rules, people!

    The other thing is accuracy. You know that’s a big thing for me. And people who don’t do their homework should be barred from print!!!!

    If you’ve never lived/driven in Manhattan, do yer freakin’ homework. I’m native New Yorker and I avoid driving in the city because you cannot freakin’ park, much less “pull up in front of whatever!!!!!

    One does not buy high-end bespoke suits at Bloomingdale’s! And you certainly don’t go to “the mall” for a ten carat ring when Harry Winston, Bulgari, and Tiffany are on 5th Avenue.

    And one does not live IN Long Island. One lives ON Long Island!!!!!! Sheesh!!!!!!

    End of native New Yorker rant. (Grin)

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    • Hahahaha I DNFd a book once because the characters (who lived in Port Jeff) kept saying “Port Jefferson” constantly instead of Port Jeff like actual locals do and I couldn’t handle it! I’m a NY girl all the way and there’s only one single day that I’ll drive in Manhattan and that’s Christmas Day because no one is on the road and you literally CAN pull up in front of wherever you want! So I completely understand your native New Yorker rant – especially about people not getting that you live ON LI. haha

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  2. I have a kind of love-hate relationship about modern things in historical fiction. Sometimes I don’t mind it and it’s fun (I’ve seen movies set way back when that use modern language) and sometimes it really annoys me. Must be the mood I’m in or maybe the story. 🙂

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    • I get that – like some of the Romeo and Juliet remake movies that have been done! I like some of those, but I’m also picky about them. But when it’s a historical fiction trying to be accurate to the times? That frustrates me.

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  5. Sometimes I’ll DNF a book after a couple of pages; other times, I’ve read over half a book before putting it down. There was a book I was reading a couple of years ago that felt like the authors (there were two of them) were throwing in every popular trope possible for YA. It was so annoying and frustrating that I put the book down and went with something else.

    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
    https://readbakecreate.com/how-i-select-books-to-read/

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    • Oh that’s totally understandable – they get a little leeway with that sort of thing and usually explain it in the author’s note. But when the characters are using tupperware and plastic bags before they’re invented, I was rolling my eyes so hard I could almost see my brain by the end of the book (it was an ARC).

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  8. R**e, especially when it’s an ARC and the author has failed to give warning (my review policy states that I don’t read books containing that, so a heads- up seems to be more than fair in my eyes). Child abuse, especially if it’s described in detail
    Inaccurate or harmful rep of mental illness, especially when mental illness is the catch- all for whatever horrific act a character commits. I see this a lot in mysteries.

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    • That makes complete sense. And I absolutely hate when mental illness is portrayed in harmful and inaccurate ways. This definitely comes up far too often in mysteries, and I just came across it a couple of weeks ago. It infuriated me!

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    • Thank you. I don’t think a lot of people really realize how harmful these books can be, especially without a good understanding of our history, culture, and practices.

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  12. Trauma porn sucks. Anything that is added to a plot just for “shock” value and not actually adding anything always rubs me the wrong way.

    My TTT TTT ❤

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  13. Ha! I love your title. I have wanted to Yeet plenty of books. Have to say I agree with your #1 and #2. I read a book one time in which you could tell it was not proofread well as the name of the place the book took place changed about three different times. And to make it worse it was the title of the book.

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    • Thanks! It made me laugh so I had to use it. And that’s the reading equivalent of getting an email with your name in the address and they still spell it wrong in the body! It’s so irritating.

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  14. Yes, to your #9. I can’t stand when there are historical inaccuracies or when modern-era slang and turns of phrase are written in historical novels. It’s a clear sign of the author not having done his/her homework.

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  15. I agree with all of these, although I have to say that I hadn’t really thought much about #5 until I started reading your blog. It’s been really interesting to hear your thoughts on the subject over the years. Thank you for opening my eyes and making me think about what I’m reading more. I appreciate that.

    Happy TTT!

    Susan
    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

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