So this is a book tag I saw a few days ago on Fanda's blog, HERE. It looked like fun so I thought I'd give it a go... you have to answer 'IN' or 'OUT' obviously.
Reading the Last Page First: OUT
I used to do this quite a lot but realised it was not the best idea when I took up reading murder mysteries some years ago.
Enemies to Lovers: IN
Not that I read a lot of romance books these days but when I do I don't mind any of the tropes to be honest.
Dream Sequences: OUT
Definitely. Confusing and there's nothing more boring than other people's dreams.
Love Triangles: IN
It all adds to the spice of a romantic novel.
Cracked Spines: IN
I assume this means do I mind? No, I don't, I read quite a few second-hand books so I'm used to books being in all kinds of conditions. And as to cracking the spines myself, I try not to but have arthritis in my hands and so holding large books open can be tricky... which is why I love my ereaders so much.
Back to my small town: IN
Yeah, that's fine, it crops up quite a lot in all sorts of fiction and I don't mind it.
No Paragraph Breaks: OUT
Big-time!
Multi-generational Sagas: IN 'ish'
I don't read many at all but when I do I quite enjoy them, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides springs to mind, but I don't tend to read those 87 book series following one family from when they built their first mud hut to the present day, no.
Monsters Are Regular People: IN
Love this kind of weirdness!
Re-Reading: IN
But I'm not a huge re-reader. That said, I do more these days than I used to.
Artificial Intelligence: IN 'ish'
I love sci-fi but AI books are not my favourite sci-fi sub-genre. That said, Martha Wells' Murderbot series and Becky Chambers' books and you know, 'Data', so...
Drop Caps: IN
I had to look this up :-). It's when they use a huge capital letter to start a new chapter and yes, I'm fine with that.
Happy Endings: IN
Prefer them but can deal with the reverse as long as there's hope or more books to come.
Plot Points That Only Converge at the End: IN
Er... I think that's called 'a book'.
Detailed Magic Systems: IN
It's all fine by me although not always well done of course.
Classic Fantasy Races: IN
Although it's always nice when the author can be a bit different.
Unreliable Narrators: OUT
Not at all my favourite thing...
Evil Protagonists: OUT 'ish'
But I can cope occasionally.
The Chosen One: IN
'In' because I love Harry Potter and Tolkein but in some books it can become a bit tedious.
When the Protagonist Dies: OUT
No, no, no, no, nooooo... Listen, I'm someone who wailed inconsolably when 'Dobby' died!
Really Long Chapters: IN
Not fussed, although short chapters always make you feel like you're getting somewhere faster even if you're not.
French Flaps: IN
Again, not fussed.
Deckled Edges: OUT
Can't see the point.
Signed Copies by the Author: OUT
I suppose they're nice to have but it's not something I lust after.
Dog-Earing Pages: OUT
It never used to bother me eons ago but these days it really does. Plus my massive collection of bookmarks has to be 'used'!
Chapter Titles Instead of Numbers: IN
But sometimes they can give away the plot when they do that 'Where so and so does this and where so and so does that' old fashioned sort of thing.
Well that was great fun so I hope others will have a go because these are very important issues to us book nerds!
16 comments:
Some of these I don't think I have ever encountered! They could have added Lack of Quotation Marks, Present Tense, and Multiple POV.
Hmm, that book you and I bought in Cornwall and still haven't read has deckled edges, doesn't it?
Sometimes I ask the author just to sign his or her name and not to inscribe it to me, in case I want to give it as a gift to someone. Occasionally, they seem irked by this, perhaps because they think I am going to sell it. It is true that an autographed book without an inscription is much more valuable. But most are just going to sit on my bookshelves so the value is somewhat immaterial.
I think I came out agreeing with about 50% of your answers, although the majority of divergencies were around the fantasy, monsters, AI, etc segments, which are genres I don't tend to read, whereas I know that you enjoy them, so would have an opinion on the subject.
I have read quite a few books recently with no paragraph breaks and as your previous commenter mentioned, no quotation marks either! It really is annoying, although I didn't complain too much as I enjoyed the books regardless. I do hope this is not going to be a growing trend though!
Even when I buy my books second-hand (which to be fair, is most of the time!), unless it is a title I am desperate to read, I will only buy those which are non dog-eared and spine-cracked. I must admit that I haven't visited a library in years, so I guess that for those books, both of the above deformities come as standard these days.
A great way to pass a few minutes, thanks for sharing! :)
This is really clever, Cath! I completely agree with you about no paragraph breaks. I've read things like that, and it's almost impossible to really follow along with the action. For me, anyway, it gets too confusing. And as for dog-earing pages? No. Just no. There are too many other alternatives for keeping one's place in a book that doesn't damage the book.
That was fun. I loved reading all your answers. This In/Out post is one I want to do sometime next month. Then you can see how alike we are on a lot of these. :D
That is an interesting one. I liked your answers.
I would like to do this one myself, since it seems easy and makes one think about what they like in reading. A lot of them I could go either one though.
Nice to read your answers. It's interesting to compare each other's habits and preferences.
The plot converged at the end is rather confusing, right?
Like, am I reading it correctly?
Constance: Yes, three more things that divide the crowd. And I'm sure there are plenty of others too!
Do you mean The Lamplighters? That has red painted edges not deckled. I had to look deckled up and it's when the edges of the pages have not been cut straight but bumpy.
I understand an author who might think you're going to flog his book on ebay or something but most people do not want to do that. The only time I wanted a signed book for someone else I was fortunate to know who it was for, so I could give them that person's name.
Yvonne: Yes, I would've expected your answers about fantasy and sci-fi to be different to mine. I love that we all have such diverging tastes when it comes to books. :-)
I too hope this tendency towards no paragraphs, no punctuation marks and so on is not going to be a growing trend. I can't think why they do it other than for a gimmick or just sheer laziness.
I would not a buy a really tatty secondhand book but otherwise I don't really mind too much.
Margot: When there are no paragraphs breaks I almost feel like I'm taking a breath and not able to let it out until a break does eventually occur. LOL
I'm very against dog-earing books too, I can cope with cracked spines, no problem, but finding a book dog-eared is quite a no-no for me. As you say there are plenty of alternatives, free bookmarks are everywhere.
Lark: Look forward to seeing all your answers and laughing at how alike we are. :-D
Tracy: Yes, I did feel that a lot of my answers could've gone either way. Plus I'm not fussy about a lot of things that bother other people. But that's life! :-)
Fanda: It certainly is fascinating to see what bothers other people and what does not.
I thought the plotpoints of all books converged at the end. That's the nature of books! Such a strange question and no you didn't read it wrong.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I'll be doing it myself, probably towards the end of April.
Cathy: Look forward to your answers!
This is a fun tag! I'm with you on the majority of your answers. Reading the last page first, though? Eek! I could never do that. I've always read mostly murder mysteries, so maybe that's why I've never done this, but also, I never want the ending of a story spoiled. That ruins it for me, especially in a mystery.
Susan: Yes, I gave up reading the last page years ago. Murder mysteries do no work at all if you do that. LOL
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