This week's theme: Things That Make Me Instantly NOT Want to Read a Book.
If any of these words or phrases show up in the blurb of a book, there's a 98% chance I'm NOT going to read that particular book.
1. Revenge plots (they're usually so dark and depressing!)
2. Drugs and drug trafficking
3. BDSM (so not my cup of tea)
4. Politics (there's already too much of it on the news)
5. Mafia/Mob
6. Multi-generational sagas
7. Billionaire boyfriends (really? they have to be billionaires now?)
8. Unpunctuated dialogue (quote marks! they're there for a reason..use them.)
9. Novels that are labeled Fables
10. Graphic gore or violence
Happy Reading...or NOT in this case! 😉
An interesting list, Lark. I feel the same about many of these, but to enjoy a multi-generational saga. I don't read urban fantasy or books with shifters etc. but otherwise am game to try just about anything. It doesn't mean I will read it again though.
ReplyDeleteThe thing with multi-generational sagas for me is their length, and often not liking all the characters, or wanting to track them through decades.
DeleteThat's a good and comprehensive list and most of the descriptions would have me thinking twice about reading a book, but I wouldn't necessarily reject them just because of it.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many book that I do want to read, that I have to filter out some books somehow, and this list tends to act as a quick filter for me.
DeleteYour billionaire boyfriend comment made me giggle. I don’t get that either.
ReplyDeleteHere is my Top Ten Tuesday post.
Lydia
Aren't millionaires good enough any more? ;D
DeleteI totally get what you mean about politics! I don't want to read about it, especially in romance. #2 kind of made me laugh, but only because if there is a show on TV that includes that my husband is all about watching it. He gets drawn into the drama.
ReplyDeleteAnything political today is a big turn-off for me. And that's funny about your husband. :)
DeleteI've never understood the whole "billionaire boyfriend" thing. I've tried a few, but just can't get into them.
ReplyDeleteI can't get into them either. I like a more real down-to-earth kind of guy I guess. ;D
DeleteGreat list. I'm pretty over revenge plots too. not that I was ever that into them, but a few go a long way. Multi generational sagas can be so sprawling, too.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at #7 :)
Billionaires just don't do it for me. And those sagas are just too long. And revenge plots are just too depressing.
DeleteHi Lark, I agree with many of the choices on your list and billionaire boyfriends made me laugh. I hadn't thought about it but that is becoming its own genre of bad romantic fiction.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many romances out now about my billionaire boss, my billionaire boyfriend, etc. I just don't get it. ;D
DeleteI'm ok with multi-generational sagas, but my list would be 1-item long, no graphic gore or violence. Yick!
ReplyDeleteI don't like reading books that are graphic, gory or too violent. Yick indeed!
DeleteI agree with most of these. I haven't read enough Billionaire (or any) to have an opinion on them, and I have read maybe one multi-generational story, but several that go into series. Great list!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any billionaire romances either...I see that word on the cover and I just can't make myself pick up the book. ;D
DeleteIt is always funny to see how publishers try to marked books. I always laugh that even when Stephen King writes a thriller or fable, it is still marketed as being "from the master of horror".
ReplyDeleteHe'll never shake that label! Although some of my favorite books/novellas by him aren't horror at all.
DeleteI have nothing against multi-generational saga (if it's written beautifully like Steinbeck's East of Eden), but I'm quite agree with the rest.
ReplyDeleteI do want to read East of Eden someday. Just goes to show that there are exceptions to every rule. :D
DeleteI feel like I'm glad that I've never read the billionaire boyfriend trope. Feels too much like the boss romance trope, not something I could get into.
ReplyDeletePam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/how-i-select-books-to-read/
Ooh...I'm not into that boss romance trope either.
DeleteI'm with you on all of these but #6. I love me a multi-generational saga!
ReplyDeleteFunny enough, I'm listening to an audiobook right now that I also have a paper copy of. I grabbed the "real" book to check out a detail and was surprised to see that the book has no quotation marks! I had no idea. I'm glad I started it on audiobook because I probably wouldn't have continued with the print version just because I can't stand books with no quotation marks. So annoying!
Happy TTT!
That was lucky you started the book on audio. No quote marks in a book is really annoying...and hard to read, at least for me.
DeleteThat is a good list. The main thing I avoid is serial killers. I like to have quote marks too, but I often don't notice until I get into a book.
ReplyDeleteI've read a few books with serial killers, but then it seemed like every thriller coming out was about one, and I got tired of reading about them...so I avoid serial killer books now, too.
DeleteCan't argue with any of these! I try to avoid graphic gore and violence too -- I can stand it (sometimes) in a really good horror novel, but violence that feels real (like in a crime story) is just something I can't bring myself to read.
ReplyDeleteThere is a difference between horror gore and crime fiction gore...but I don't love it when it gets super graphic no matter the genre.
DeleteSome good points there, Lark. I do like to read about politics, I think we need to know a lot about it but I understand if others don't. And I love multi-generational sagas, especially if they span at least a whole century. Unpunctuated dialogue, totally agree, as well as when you don't know who is saying what.
ReplyDeleteOne of my no-nos are books that have a pink cover. They are usually too light for my taste.
Pink covers I can handle but books that span a century would probably stop me in my tracks. ;D
DeleteMost books with pink covers are too "fluffy" for me. LOL
DeleteHave you ever tried Ernest Rutherfurd? He writes the most wonderful books about any given country or area and uses several families over the centuries as his protagonists. I can highly recommend him.
I haven't tried any of his books...it looks like he's covered the world, though...from New York to Russia. Thanks for the recommendation! I might start with the one set in Paris. :D
DeleteI think they are all great but if you don't like to read long books ... I always read more than one at the time (like five or six) and therefore don't mind, if one needs longer.
DeleteThe billionaire boyfriends trope cracks me up, I don't understand that, too. I don't mind reading a revenge plot if it has a good premise and a good ending, though.
ReplyDeleteRevenge is a hard one for me to read about because those stories usually don't end well for any of the characters involved.
DeleteI'm totally with you on most of those. I don't at all mind fables, or things labeled as 'modern fable', and a multi-generational saga can be good, if it's well-written enough to keep me from getting bored or tired! because yeah, they're usually very long.
ReplyDeleteAnd I just can't seem to stick with any book that's very long right now. I don't know if I'm just too tired, or what. But if a book is over 400 pages I don't even check it out.
DeleteI'm also not really a fan of mafia, politics, or billionaire boyfriends! :)
ReplyDeleteThey're just not subjects I'm interested in reading about.
DeleteI can definitely understand some of these. I do read BDSM at times but it has to be the right kind of story.
ReplyDeleteI struggle with the whole dominant/submissive aspect of it, but I agree, if done right it might change my mind.
DeleteSo agree on all of these and you got so many I didn't even think about! I don't like revenge plots either. It either gets ridiculous or I just end up hating everyone in the book. I've never read a billionaire boyfriend book and I think that's probably intentional if accidental! Definitely eye rolly.
ReplyDeleteIt totally makes my eyes roll whenever I see a cover with Billionaire whatever on it! ;D
DeleteUgh, yeah. So many of these are a big turn off. I do like gore but the rest of them scare me away.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind gore when it's in a horror novel, but when it's in a more realistic crime fiction novel it gets to be too much for me.
DeleteI'm also not a big fan of graphic gore, I can deal with violence, just please don't describe to me blood spurting out of bodies! I've only ever read the one novel which had unpunctuated dialogue and I DNF'ed it because I was so annoyed by it. I agree with you, quotation marks exist for a reason, please use them!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2023/05/30/top-ten-tuesday-422/
It is annoying to try and have to read dialogue without any punctuation marks!
DeleteDitto on every one! Except for, and this is a very rare occasion, BDSM. It depends on the story I guess and who wrote it. I usually don't seek out anything with it though. I cringe with a lot of graphically described violence, like torture. That's a definite no-go for me. I hate reading any story where a character is on a destructive spiral, using drugs. Sex trafficking is so hard to read about because it breaks my heart. It's featured in a lot of mysteries and I usually just hope they save the character before anything bad happens or that justice is served. I don't want details. All the above is why I usually don't like Mafia/mob stories. Revenge plots are usually depressing. The saying "better dig two graves" is an apt one for a reason. Great list, Lark!
ReplyDelete:D I'm not surprised we're so similar on many of these. We do tend to like the same kinds of books.
DeleteIf I added alcoholic main characters to this list, it would definitely very closely resemble mine!
ReplyDeleteI didn't think of that, but I don't love books with alcoholic main characters, or books about drug addicts either.
DeleteYeah, I'm not a fan of drugs or mafia stories either!
ReplyDeleteThey just don't do it for me. ;D
DeleteI was just thinking about revenge plots . . . I like them sometimes but not all the time. I loved The Count of Monte Cristo and Crooked Kingdom, both of which had strong revenge plot lines. But other times I do find them too dark and sad.
ReplyDeleteIf I had made a list, I think I would have included incest or sexual abuse and serial killers. I used to read a lot of books featuring serial killers, but now I tend to avoid them. There are always exceptions though.
Incest and sexual abuse are both very hard to read about, and they definitely make pause about reading that particular book. And I think I've read too many books about serial killers, so I'm taking a bit of a break from them, too.
DeleteI've read my fair share of billionaire boyfriend books and have learnt to steer clear of them with time. Happy reading! https://readwithstefani.com/did-i-read-the-books-on-my-30-books-to-read-before-i-turn-30-list/
ReplyDeleteI just can't get past the whole "He's a billionaire" thing. I don't know why, but there you go. ;D Thanks for commenting!
DeleteI think all of these would be themes I also don't really gravitate towards either. A good family saga can be great but typically that means a big book and well, lately I just can't really focus on tomes!
ReplyDeleteI can't either! ;D
DeleteI’m usually ok with revenge plots and multi-generational sagas, but the rest I would pass on too.
ReplyDeleteSo many people enjoy multi-generational sagas, and I've tried, but I just don't like how long they are, and I don't love following a family over decades of struggle. But that's just me.
Delete