Top Ten Tuesday: Unpopular Bookish Opinions

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, TTT is a weekly meme that everyone is welcome to participate with.

I actually wavered a fair bit over whether or not to post my response to this prompt because some of them will be very unpopular. But then I decided that it was the point of the prompt, and I want to say them for once. I tend to bite back these opinions because I know people won’t like them and I don’t really want to get involved in any drama.

Obviously, all these opinions are mine alone – and I’m not directing them at anyone. I’ve tried to explain why I have these *controversial* thoughts.

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1. I don’t love/like [insert highly popular book] or it doesn’t deserve the hype

THE FIFTH SEASON, KING OF SCARS, GAME OF THRONES, TO ALL THE BOYS I LOVED BEFORE, THE LONG EARTH. I could go on and fill all ten slots with popular books I don’t like. However, I wanted to talk about more than simply books I didn’t like, so I’ve bundled them all into one. When I don’t like popular books it tend to be for one of the following reasons:

• It was way too hyped, so my expectations were raised beyond what a book can generally achieve
• The narration style didn’t click
• I thought the pacing was way off, and so the book lacked tension

2. Classics are overrated

Old does not necessarily mean better, and they’re written for an entirely different audience. Between the slow pace and characters I can’t relate to, I am sick of being told I am a bad reader because I don’t like these books. Not to mention the terrible representation and questionable morals.

Yes, FRANKENSTEIN is the first sci-fi book, and written by a woman to boot, but the narrator swaps out frequently. Not to mention the letters that add nothing to the story. This doesn’t invalidate my love of SFF.

3. Special/Exclusive Editions aren’t worth the ‘buzz’ factor

I watch twitter explode every time a special edition is announced. Yes, some of those books I’m really excited for, but I’m happy with my regular edition, thank you very much. I don’t need the slightly different cover and additional material is nice, but the mobs that forms over this just tells me that marketing have done a good job at selling a similar product for way more. One up to publicity.

4. Paperbacks are better than Hardbacks

Not only are they way cheaper (sometimes less than half the price) for the same intellectual package, but they’re also smaller and lighter weight. Perfect for fitting into a bag and taking out.

5. What’s the fuss about ‘ships’?

Yes, they are characters I think would be better together, but it’s not the end of the world if they don’t. They’re fictional, for goodness sake.

It probably helps that romance is the least important part of a book in my opinion. I’m just not into it, and I don’t see why society says that we can’t be fulfilled if we don’t have a romantic partner. Single people exist, and we’re happy.

6. Why collect every edition?

I’ve never understood the desire to own all the different copies of a book – particularly not ones in a language you don’t read. At most, I might have two copies of a book (paperback and hardback/ebook), but it’s rare. If I have one copy of a book, I’d rather spend my money of new books than a copy I won’t read because I already have one copy.

7. Deckled edges are icky

The first time I got a bevelled book, I thought I’d been given a faulty copy. The edges were fuzzy, lacking the clean finish on a regular book. It was hard to turn the pages, as they’re all different sizes and caught on each other. It just looked a mess.

8. Sprayed edges is just a layer of paint

Sure it looks pretty when stacked next to other sprayed-edge books, but it is just a layer of paint that sometimes sticks the pages together. I shelve books spine out (alphabetical order and grateful that the UK has one trade size) to maximise space. This means that sprayed edges are a bit pointless to me. I like the pretty picture they make (and then immediately return to their usual placement), but at the end of the day, it is just paint. Some cool book bloggers have been posting their guides on how to do this, if it’s an effect that you like.

9. There are too many retellings on the market

I actually wrote a whole blog post on Why I’m Sick of Retellings. Personally, I think that we’re being flooded with retellings right now and I’m just a little bored of it. Yes, there are some retellings I adore (and I’m writing a follow up post In Defense of Retellings), but I’d like to see something other than fairy tales given a ‘fresh’ take on the YA specials table. There are so many amazing ideas out there, and I really don’t need (or want) 150+ Beauty and the Beast stories.

10. Dragons are overrated

It was so hard to think up this last one, but then I thought of all the dragon books being released or announced at the moment. Dragons are giant, danger lizards who’d wreck a country as easily as help it. I don’t understand why people are so attracted to dragons – I’d run.

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What are your unpopular bookish opinions? Do you agree with any of mine – or did some shock you?