March 21, 2011

Top (10) Tuesday for March 22, 2011

Over at Broke and Bookish, the topic of this week's top 10 is:
Top Ten Bookish Pet Peeves 
(all those things that annoy you in a story, with book covers, bookstores, etc.)
Librarians love books... some of us love books too much.  I am a borderline obsessive compulsive librarian, not so bad that I annoy my patrons and coworkers, but I have my quirks.  If I didn't, I wouldn't be doing my job.  I have way more than 10 bookish pet peeves, so I have listed the top 10 of my 100 bookish pet peeves! : ) 


1.  I hate it when people (kids and grown ups alike) dog ear the pages in a book.  You never get those creases out- never!  All you need is a bookmark- an old envelope, a post it, a gum wrapper... anything!  

 




2.  I hate food crumbs in books! We all have to eat- even librarians.  But, we don't have to eat WHILE we read and if we don, we can lean over so we don't get cookie crumbs (or other crumbs) in the book!  


3.  This will give me the shakes, dry heaves and diarrhea (my students have been told).  Messy bookshelves.  Messy bookshelves are my biggest enemy.  But, messy shelves are a sign that kids have been looking at books... right?  Right?


4.  Spelling errors in final copies of a book drive me nuts (grammatical errors too!) In an ARC, I can totally understand, but a final copy?  No way!





5.  Date due slips are so 1990.  Really- we don't need them!  But, no matter how many times I ask Follett to stop putting these slips on the beautifully illustrated end papers, they keep appearing.  You can't rip them off either, because they destroy the book.  
 6.  I am reading a book- and enjoying it.  Great plot, great characters, great dialog.  I am getting near the end of the book and I realize that the author is no where near ready to wrap this baby up!  Then, I get to the last chapter  and the ending is shoved into the final 12 pages of the book.  Too fast!  I like my books to be nicely paced, with plenty of time to soak up the ending! 

7.  May be it is my over-stressed, full to bursting brain, but I don't like books with too many characters.  I applaud an author who tries to jam 15 awesome people into 1 book.  However, I would rather get to know 3 or 4 characters really well instead of having to flip back through the book just trying to remember who is who.  Less is more!
8.  People get sick of me saying this, but I will say it again.  I hate it when Hollywood takes an AMAZING book and turns it into a movie.  We have enough movies, we don't need more!  Come up with your own ideas for a change, guys- don't steal my patrons from me!  I have never seen and never will see: Bridge to Terabithia, Because of Winn Dixie, Holes... the list goes on and on.  A little part of me dies each time I offer a sweet, young child a copy of The Tale of Despereaux and they say "I've seen the movie".  Stop the insanity!

 9.  I may make a few enemies here- and I hope we can make it through this post together- but, I really don't like sequels.  Ok, 2 books fine- but 5 or 6?  Really?  I loved Among The Hidden, but by book 4, I was over it.  Dan Gutman hit it out of the park with Million Dollar Shot, but come on!  Do we really need all of those other million dollar books (or Ms. Roopy is Loopy for that matter!) I know it is all about The Benjamins, but think of the children.  
10.  I always tell kids (even my own) that if someone copies you, it is a compliment.  I guess I really don't feel that way, because I get very irritated when this happens in the book world.  Just because Pinkalicious is a super cute book and little girls love it, doesn't mean that we need 50 other books about a girl who likes pink and eats cupcakes. Edward & Bella took vampire books to an all new level- I think Barnes and Nobel now has a "Paranormal Romance" section.  Really?  Original much?  I shouldn't complain as long as kids are reading, it shouldn't matter what they are reading... right?

You can also find this post linked up at OhAmanda's Tuesday Top Ten!

17 comments:

  1. Love your blog! Keep up the great work!

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  2. I made it through your list and don't hate you. Amen to the messy book shelves, the sequels, and fast endings. I like that you matched pictures to this list.

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  3. Love your list! SO many of these are on my list and the rest of them really could've been.

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  4. I like seeing due-date slips that haven't been updated in a while -- at my university library, I found books that hadn't been checked out since the 1940s. Impressive. My chief beef with them is that some librarians slap them on anywhere, so I can't read the back of the dust cover or something similar. Sometimes I peel the sticker off.

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  5. Glad we both agree (6)!
    7 and 8 I definitely agree with, I'm dreading what they're going to do with The Hunger Games.

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  6. Great list - you have mentioned some of my pet peeves, as well as others I didn't realise people find annoying.

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  7. I definitely agree with too many characters. I've read some books where it's difficult to keep track of everyone involved or there's a huge family tree at the beginning. Then again, too few characters or characters with no friends or family can be annoying too.

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  8. Great post! I agree with every one. And your accompanying photos/illustrations added to my enjoyment! Fun!

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  9. Your number 8 reminds me of the 1985(?) Rodney Dangerfield (farce) comedy, Back to school. Every time the lit professor asks if he's read a book, his reply is, "Great movie!" or something like that. Enjoyed your list!

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  10. I love the images you have with each item! I wouldn't have thought of messy bookshelves but seeing that picture is making me want to jump in and fix everything.

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  11. I hate food crumbs in books!
    Amen! It's one thing if you own the book (still not cool) but it's just nasty when it's a library book!

    I, too, get really irritated with the "machine" that just produces sequel after sequel and they all sound exactly the same. *sigh*

    This is a great post!

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  12. This book lover loves your list! Tell me you've read Ex Libris by Ann Fadiman. If not, go get it now!

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  13. I hate rushed endings too. Is the publisher really going to begrudge and author an extra 50 pages to make a better ending?

    You're not alone with the messy bookshelves. My son has yet to learn how to organize his books and they are stacked all over his room. He's not even allowed in my book room!

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  14. Your list on hollywood turning books into movies interests me. I enjoyed your thoughts on that.

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  15. drinks spilled on books is a big one of mine, stop and see mine.

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  16. I found you through Top Ten Tuesday and I have to say that I hate finding spelling errors in books as well! I also agree that books are always better than the movies. :) I enjoyed your post!

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  17. Yes, #6 & #7 - completely agree. I also hate when new characters are introduced 2/3 of the way into the book. Huh? Who? Ugh, it gives me whiplash.

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