August 28, 2012

Top Ten Bookish Confessions

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the bloggers of The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is supposed to be my top ten bookish confessions. And it is, but it also kind of turned into a list of confessions about my bookish annoyances. 

I absolutely hate it when the spine breaks on paperback books. For me, books have a greater value when they don't look all worn and used. All of my trade/pocket-size paperbacks tend to look brand new even if they've been read more than once simply because I refuse to open them up all the way when I read.

With that being said, I love recommending books to people but am reluctant to actually hand out books for others to borrow. All of my paperbacks with broken spines are the result of them them being borrowed and read by someone who doesn't have the same OCD tendency as me.

It bothers me immensely when publishers decide to change a series' cover art halfway through the series. The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner is one of my favorite series ever and all of my covers look different and are different sizes. I like it when my series match - this kind of thing drives me insane!

I also will not annotate in books. I will use post-its to mark important passages or, even better, write my notes in a notebook. Once again, this goes back to my desire for my books to look pristine and perfect. The only book I ever annotated was John Milton's Paradise Lost (which definitely needed those annotations).

It annoys me to no end when I see or hear about people using their e-reader devices primarily for non-reading related purposes. I'm not speaking of devices like the iPad, but Kindles, Nooks, Kobos, and other devices that are specifically being marketed as e-readers (with extras). Not internet tablets (with the added potential to read books). See the difference?

I always have to read before I go to sleep, even if it's only ten pages. It's just part of my routine that calms me down and allows me to clear my mind of any real-life worries for the night.

I wrote a research paper on reinterpretations and retellings of the "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tale over the years. Now it's become a mission of mine to continue reading all different retellings of it because I adore this fairy tale and would like to see how many different ways people can interpret it. (My favorite so far is definitely Robin McKinley's Beauty).

I hate how it's become so common these days for books to be written in first-person and present tense. Although first person narration can make it easier to understand the protagonist, the combined use of present tense makes the book feel super informal (and just not as well-written in general) to me. I like my books to feel a little distant for me - not enough that I can't relate, but enough for me to be able to step back and examine and analyze the story. And a more formal writing style makes me more confident in the author's ability to write well and write a good story. 

I read Gone with the Wind years ago and I really enjoyed the story, but by the time I got to the last twenty pages, I just put the book down. I knew how it ended and I didn't want to actually read how it panned out (maybe there was some denial there). I actually did the same thing for my first reading of Pride and Prejudice.
I'm a bit of a book purist so I have a difficult time appreciating the fact that books and their movie adaptations are different mediums and inevitably going to interpret things a little differently. (I'm mainly referring to the Harry Potter movies here and my complete abhorrence of them. The few that I have seen were not worth it.) My one notable exception is The Lord of the Rings, in which case I actually prefer the movies to the books.
So know that you know many of my strange bookish confessions, let me know what some of yours are!
author image

Amanda

Amanda loves few things better than sitting down with a cup of tea and a book. She frequently stays up far too late, telling herself she just needs to finish one more page. When she's not wrapped up in the stories of others, Amanda works as a children's librarian in a public library.

14 comments:

  1. I am with you on books and their movie adaptations. I can never seem to enjoy the movies if I have read the books. Although I have watched all the Harry Potter movies I still struggle with how much they completely differ from the books. I also have problems with books written in present tense. I enjoy first-person just as much as third-person narratives but the tense is a struggle for me to get through.

    Here is my Top Ten.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good, I am glad to hear it! All too often I hear people praise the Harry Potter movies, but they're far from perfect adaptations! And the present tense is just annoying. It jars me whenever I start reading a book like that. But hopefully this will just be a phase that will soon die out in the ya lit world. Thanks for commenting!

      Delete
  2. I love paperbacks, but I hate it when the spine looks all ugly after a day in the bag! :(

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love "Beauty and the Beast", and retellings of it! What did you think of Juliet Marillier's retelling, Heart's Blood? I read that one a few months ago and enjoyed it. Haven't read Robin McKinley's yet. I liked Alex Flinn's Beastly, that was fun.

    Books written in present tense has become a real pet peeve for me lately. It's hugely over-used, and to make matters worse, most authors just don't know how to write in it. They write as if they're using past tense, and it doesn't work like that. I'm getting so sick of present tense, especially in YA!

    Great list, here's mine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay another B&B fan! :) I enjoyed Heart's Blood, although I think Juliet Marillier's best work by far is Daughter of the Forest. I think that Heart's Blood is part of a series though? If that's true I'd definitely be interested in picking up the next book for that! I was not a fan of Beastly - in comparison to so many great adaptations, it just fell rather flat. But it was an enjoyable read.

      Yes thank you! More people need to admit that it is not okay for so many books to be written in present tense. Maybe then something will be done. Thanks for commenting!

      Delete
  4. I also like all my sets to match. Not only just the the cover art but if I have some in paperback and some in hardcover it drives me nuts! When I saw that the cover of Shatter Me had been re-done for the paperback and rest of the series I loved it but was also annoyed because now I have to buy it again so they will all match, haha.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yes. Everything about series must be matching. Which is why I'll probably shell out the money for the entire Queen's Thief series. Ugh. But they just look better together if they're all matching! And I want my bookshelf to look good!

      Delete
  5. I HATE when they do cover changes halfway through a series! That is the WORST!
    I don't break the spines of my books and prefer them to look new, but I LOVE sharing my books with others so I deal with them not looking so great. I figure that at least several others are getting to enjoy them because I'm generous in loaning them out. I'm pretty much a library for my entire family and I have quite a few friends I loan to as well.
    I don't mind books written in first person present tense usually, but sometimes it doesn't work for me. I like to feel closer to the person and really in their head though, so I guess that's why I like it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha it is. It really is.
      And yes, there are definitely benefits to lending out books, like more people to appreciate wonderful books and talk to about them. Although the impulse is even less for me right now since I found book bloggers. :)
      The first person present is definitely a me thing I think. Although I kind of hope I'm not the only one out there.

      Delete
  6. I hate when people open a book, and then run their hand down the middle to open it even more. I cringe. Spines breaking are the worst. haha I find it hilarious that I never annotate in books either. Except for Paradise Lost! That baby had so much writing crammed into it. We are scarily alike in that aspect. You know I don't agree about the Harry Potter movies, but I do prefer the Lord of the Rings movies to the books. Though the books are also fantastic. Great Top Ten! ;D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We're scarily alike in many, many ways, I'm thinking. And I guess I can't convince everyone to stop liking the Harry Potter movies...although if I had that power I'm pretty sure I would haha. Thanks Cort!

      Delete
  7. I like matching books too...and no breaking the spine aloud in my home. I hate when books come back to the library in terrible condition...upsetting!

    ReplyDelete
  8. haha yes. Though this only matters for books in my personal library.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment! I strive to make my blog the very best it can possibly be and I appreciate each and every comment on here.