I started writing this post in mid-March, right around the time my company announced we’d be working from home indefinitely due to COVID-19. That’s when things seemed really dire and writing a silly blog post like this felt facetious. And also the post felt a little negative at a time when we needed positivity. But I decided to drag it out from my drafts, shine it up, and publish it today because maybe what we need right now is something completely ridiculous and inconsequential. So let’s discuss some of my strongest (and maybe controversial) bookish opinions.
I hate mass-market paperbacks.
Everyone’s seen a mass-market paperback, right? They’re those smaller paperbacks, the ones common in the romance genre. (Think: the books with Fabio on the cover in the grocery store.) Anyway, I hate them. They are just not user-friendly! Unless I break the spine, I find that they are kinda awkward to hold when reading, and let’s not even talk about the font size. Ugh. Say no to mass-market paperbacks! This is why I read the majority of my romance novels on Kindle because most romances are produced as mass-market paperbacks. (Although I’ve been thrilled to discover more romances being published in a traditional paperback format. More of this, please!)
If I never have to hear another person call a romance “predictable,” it will be too soon.
This might be my biggest bookish pet peeve. A romance novel is predictable by its very nature. It’s like calling a mystery novel predictable because the murderer is revealed at the end. Well, duh. That’s how it works! A romance novel is supposed to be predictable. It is supposed to be formulaic. It is supposed to have a meet-cute, an evolving relationship, a dark moment, and a happily ever after. End of story. (A novel without a HEA is not a romance novel, just FYI.)
You shouldn’t rate books you’ve abandoned.
I see this all the time on Goodreads—people who have read maybe 50-100 pages of a book and decide to abandon it, but then they go ahead and rate the book. Nope. I am firmly against rating books you haven’t finished. If I decide not to finish a book, I give up my right to rate it. There’s no way of knowing what my true rating would be of the whole book, so giving it a rating when I’ve only read about 10-20% just isn’t fair.
The book isn’t always better than the movie.
Crazy Rich Asians and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, boom. I did not enjoy either of these books, but fell completely head over heels for the movies. I just don’t agree that the book is always better. It’s not. Some books just translate better to the screen.
Listening to an audiobook is the same as reading a book.
I can’t believe I am still having this argument with friends, and yet here I am. I still have friends who will not count an audiobook toward their yearly book total, and it makes zero sense to me. Plenty of studies have shown that your brain takes in an audiobook the same way it does a physical book. I listen to a lot of my book club books on audio and can have the same conversations about plot and characters and themes with my friends who chose to read the physical book. I’ve also heard the argument that audiobooks don’t count since you are often multitasking while listening, but y’all, you know our brains can do multiple things at once, right? Plus, the majority of the ways we multitask while listening aren’t things that involve much concentration: going for a walk, folding laundry, washing dishes, driving, etc. Audiobooks count.
Okay – your turn! Do you have any controversial bookish opinions? Or do you disagree with any of mine? Let’s discuss!
Gosh, I never thought about how romances are produced that way in print and it would really turn people off. I wonder WHY they are produced that way!
I agree with not rating books you’ve abandoned. I see that on Goodreads and am all “huh”? I don’t rate it unless I finished it, either!
I agree with your stance on audiobooks! That is how Steven and I do book club for two!
This is NOT controversial, and we discussed this, but USE QUOTATION MARKS WHEN SOMEONE IS SPEAKING. Ha.
My VERY controversial opinion is that everyone has time to read (a little!), they are just not prioritizing their time to read. This is my opinion on all activities, for MOST (not all) people. People tend to say “I don’t have time,” when really, it’s just that they are not making that thing a priority. Which is FINE, just quit shaming me for spending time reading by saying you have ABSOLUTELY ZERO FREE TIME (actual conversation I had yesterday).
Totally agree about not rating books you abandoned. You can set up a shelf for abandoned books, which is what I’ve done. The fact that I’ve abandoned them shows what I think of the book!
I also hate mass market paperbacks. They are way too thick and unwieldy. I prefer reading the paperback original format or on a kindle. I also don’t really love hardback books either because they are heavy! Ha. I am clearly a wimp!
My controversial opinion that I think you share is that just because a book is a classic doesn’t mean it’s a great read. I have kind of given up on reading classics. Phil and I were talking about this last night as he read and disliked “Crime and Punishment.” But he said, “it’s a book you should read.” I asked him whey he would say that when he disliked it and he said because it’s such a well-known classic. But I don’t think anyone should read a book that they dislike and found difficult to finish. So I basically have opted out of all classics. I’m looking at you, Jane Austen. That’s another case where movies are definitely better than the books as I love the movie adaptations of P&P but hated the book!
Yes about not rating books unless you finish them!! I used to have a DNF bookshelf on my Goodreads but I hated that I couldn’t move them out of my “read” bookshelf unless I gave them a rating, so I just delete them now.
I have very mixed feelings about mass market paperbacks! Before they are broken in, they are awful — but man, I will admit, once the spine is broken? I have been known to enjoy the occasional MMP. Agree on the font though. Ugh.
Definitely agree on audiobooks, though. Audiobooks definitely count!
As for me…um. I don’t know if I have a controversial opinion so much as a practice. And that is that I am 100 per cent pro team write in ALL the books. I’m not just talking about non-fiction/instruction type books (although I defintiely do write in those); I will write in any book. I think it stems from one of my other things: not giving a crap if the book stays in pristine condition. If there was such a thing as being a bad book mom? I would be it lol.
Your bookish posts are always on point. In terms of mass market paperbacks, what bothers me more is the narrow line spacing. I’m redoing my entire vintage Agatha Christie collection to Harper Collins because although I do prefer paperbacks but not parsimonious font sizes and spacing. Except for thrillers and crime novels, I prefer not reading for the plot ending only but everything that surrounds and enriches the prose, which is why plots being predictable doesn’t feature on my radar for all novels. I don’t have a strong peeve but I will say that I don’t go by Goodread reviews anymore. Readers there always call literary fiction novels plotless and downrate Pulitzer and other award winning work. Another thing is that re-reads are highly underrated in general. I cannot count the times I’ve dipped into books for that one perfect passage or chapter that matches the nice summer evening or cozy fall afternoon.
Is this controversial? I hate, absolutely DESPISE deckle edge paper for books. I will literally refuse to buy a book if it has deckle edge paper, even if it’s a book I desperately want. I find it IMPOSSIBLE to turn the pages of a deckle edge book!
I absolutely agree with you that you shouldn’t rate books that you have abandoned… I mean the fact that you abandoned it just means it wasn’t for you, it doesn’t mean it’s a horrible book (ok, sometimes it is LOL).
My controversial opinion is that I totally judge a book by its cover. Sorry, I can’t help it, and some books are just SO NOT APPEALING TO ME because someone chose a horrible cover.
I’m totally OK with someone rating a book on Goodreads if they didn’t finish it. If I see a lot of people not finishing a book, or if they list WHY they didn’t, maybe the pacing is really terrible or just the writing in general, I might skip a book based on that. I don’t have unlimited time but I do have unlimited books so I could easily move to the next one. Amen on the romance one, because that really is my favorite genre and while some have the same tropes and it can get a little “Uh… this again?!” I think there are more authors out there switching it up. Now, if an author is using the same trope over and over and over again? OVER IT.
I’ve never thought about Romance novels like that but of course it is so true. *Eyeopeningmomenthere* Also I used to rate unfinished books until I realized it was not fair to the author and messes up the rating for everyone else. So I quite that practice. I am not completely on the same pages on the audiobook topic. While I think they should count towards your reading count I have to say I am not so emotionally involved in them as if I would read them. Which can also be a good thing.
100% with you on not rating a book you didn’t finish!