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Top Ten Words/Topics That Will Make Me NOT Pick Up a Book

I have to say, I loved the positive version of this topic, but there's something more deliciously wicked about this one-Happy Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Words/Topics That Will Make Me NOT Pick Up a Book

1. Romance

Sorry guys, just not into the schmoopy stuff.

2. Mystery/Thriller/Suspense

Bleh. So many mysteries are so predictable. There are some great ones, they're just few and far between.

3. Horror

Not my thing.

4. "Action-packed"

As far as I can tell, this is code for all plot and little to no character or world-building.

5. Dan Brown or "Like The Da Vinci Code"

If it's an author I haven't cared for or compared to an author or book I don't care for, it will be a lot harder to get me to pick it up.

6. "Like Pride and Prejudice"

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen. But too often this is just code for girly romantic comedy, reflecting the widespread social misunderstandings about Austen.

7. Shopping

If it mentions shopping or clothes or makeup in the title, I'm not interested, sorry. It occurs to me that I probably miss out on some good books this way. Boo marketing.

8. Chick lit

I have a love/hate relationship with so-called chick lit. On the one hand, some of what is marketed as chick lit is really great literary fiction that happens to be focused on women. However, sometimes it means books that focus on shallow and stereotypically female topics without delving deeper into what it all really means.

9. "If you want to land a man, you should really read this book..."

...Or something to that effect. I'm not in the market and if I were, I wouldn't try to trick someone into getting with me. That's a recipe for disaster.

10. "If you want to lose weight, you should really read this book..."

...or something to that effect. I don't need you to screw with my body image, I like it just the way it is. Thanks.


Comments

Mandy said…
Clever list. I have self help this week on my list.
Thanks for sharing.
My TTT
Anonymous said…
Brilliant list this week. I should've put self help books on my list.
Feli said…
Totally agree about Dan Brown, or what I like to call plane books (mainly thrillers or mystery novels that you can find at every single airport book shop)
Chikadee said…
I agree, great list!
Unknown said…
I agree with all the shopping, chick lit stiff. I just can't get into it. It may be because I don;t get into it in my real life, but books like that I avoid.
See, I just feel like so many books are undersold by terrible marketing that I don't even know which keywords to avoid anymore...

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