Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly event hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish.
Haha. I just touched briefly on this for the 15 Day Book Blogging Challenge. So, I try to keep an open mind when I’m picking out books to read, but there are things that turn me off a book. That doesn’t mean I won’t read the book, or that I wouldn’t like the book. But these things make me hesitant to read the book.
In no particular order . . .
1. Dystopian
Seriously, you guys, they just freak me out. I get kind of scared and so stressed out. I wish I could handle them, because I know I’m missing out on some amazing stories (The Hunger Games, Divergent, etc) but right now, they just aren’t for me.
2. Science Fiction
This genre also freaks me out. Although I have read Cinder and Scarlet and loved them immensely.
3. Love Triangles
I just don’t like them that much. They make me mad most of the time.
4. Tearjerkers
They aren’t my favorite kind of book to read. I often end up loving the book, if I do read one (Thirteen Reasons Why, etc.), but I’m depressed for a week, and can’t sleep at night, and it’s just not a good feeling.
5. Adult fantasy
I really like children’s and YA fantasy books, but adult fantasy is just not my thing. I’m not exactly sure why, but I very rarely read an adult fantasy and they just don’t appeal to me.
6. Animal stories
I’m just not a fan of books about animals, especially anthropomorphic animal stories. For example, the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. I’ve never cared for them, even as a child. I see a lot of these as a children’s librarian, but I don’t really care for them. There are some exceptions, though. I love Bunnicula, and the Snake and Lizard books. This, of course, does not include picture books. I love picture books with animal characters.
7. Sports
As Marie from Everybody Loves Raymond would say “Sports are so stupid.” You guys, I am just not interested in any kind of sport. I don’t like playing them, I certainly don’t like watching games on TV, and I definitely don’t want to read about them.
8. Outdated Cover
It’s just that covers are the first thing I see, usually, and outdated covers in particular make me cringe.
Annnnnd, that’s all I could come up with. Which, actually, is a good thing, right? I mean, I don’t want there to be so many things that make me not read a book. Although, again, these are just topics that make me hesitate about a book, but they really aren’t complete dealbreakers.
Do you feel the same way about any of these topics?
Quinn's Book Nook 
Animal stories-yes! I said the same thing! Just not into it! I am sad you don’t like dystopia and science fiction but hey, to each their own, right? Love how you did the list in the images, very cool! 🙂
I just get too stressed reading Dystopians and Sci-Fi. I just can’t handle them right now.
Ooh, animal stories is a good one! Unless they’re actually Animagus. 😀
My TTT post
Haha. I would make an exception for Animagus! 🙂
I very nearly put sports on my list. I hope one day you can read dystopian! 🙂 Great list.
Seriously, sports are soooo boring. Ugh. Maybe someday I will be able to enjoy Dystopians. Maybe . . .
Ha, outdated covers, that makes me hesitate as well. You just can’t help it sometimes. I also agree about the tearjerkers, love triangles and the hard-core sci-fi. As in space, different planets and aliens. It’s just too much suspension of belief for me.
Ooo, yeah, space books are definitely tough sells for me.
The outdated cover made me laugh outloud. Seriously I have read some science fiction books with some seriously funny covers! Love Triangles is on my list too!!
Angie
My Top Ten Words
Outdated covers – oh my gosh, sometimes they are just so silly!! And ugh love triangles. Yech!
Science fiction has some weird covers, especially at the used book store I always go to, and they seem to specialize in really old SF. I’ve learned to ignore the covers and read the synopsis instead!
LOL. Yes, I should definitely get past the bad covers. Some amazing books have TERRIBLE covers.
Read The Art of Fielding- will change your mind about sports books! It’s about baseball in the same way that Friday Night Lights is about football.
Hmm, I’ve never see Friday Night Lights.
I do love Seabiscuit which is sort of about a sport – horse racing.
Sad books won’t make me turn away, unless they have other themes I don’t want to read bout in them, as well. If that makes sense.
Not keen on sports books, either! Maybe that’s because I am so un-sporty, haha.
My Top Ten post 🙂
Haha. I’m un-sporty, too!!
Yay for un-sportiness! 😛
I get what you’re saying about adult fantasy. I love the fantasy genre in both children’s and YA, but I’ve like very few adult fantasy titles. I think with YA, the books are so fast paced to appeal to a younger audience, so when you pick up an adult fantasy, the slower pacing and the heavy world-building and descriptions can throw you off. It definitely takes a lot of my patience to get through these books, hence my still-unread Game of Thrones paperbacks.
Bekka
Pretty Deadly Reviews
Yes, yes, yes to the world-building and the slower pace. I don’t think I will ever read the Game of Thrones.
I totally see your point about love triangles and tearjerkers. I was very close to adding them myself. Sporty books are kind of fun for this non-sporty person, though I guess it depends on other factors too. Such a pretty post!
Love triangles are probably my least favorite. I jut don’t have patience for that stuff. Sometimes I think sports stories are turn offs for me just because everyone else in my family is sports obsessed. I hate competing with sports for their attention. Yeah, I said that at my age 🙂
I thought about putting sports on my list as well!
Yay! Glad I’m not alone, even if you didn’t put it on your TTT.
I agree with 3,4,7 and 8 🙂 I absolutely love sci-fi and dystopian books, you should definitely give them a try!
My TTT:
http://evelinesbooks.blogspot.nl/2013/07/top-ten-tuesday-8.html
I’ve tried giving dystopians and science fiction. For the most part, they are just not for me.
Aw, I love dystopias! Well, I guess I love the right kind of dystopias. I know they can be super scary and sad sometimes, but they also have so much hope in them! That’s why I love them so much. These horrid situations show the worst of humanity, but also the best. I’m a hope junkie, so… yeah. I’m not really a sci-fi fan, either, but I have read a few that I’ve enjoyed. I just don’t really like aliens and all the space shippy stuff. I also can’t really do depressing, tearjerker stuff… I’m kind of sensitive. And by kind of, I mean I am. Ahem. 🙂
Thanks for your great list!
Litza @ She Dreams in Fiction
Haha! I am super sensitive too. I can’t get past all the despair in dystopians. So stressful!
Glad to know I’m not the only one who gets freaked out by most dystopia stuff! Also, snaps to Sports stories… I just don’t find them that appealling, and I’ve seen them on a lot of lists, so we’re definitely not in the minority here! Great list 🙂
Haha! I’m telling all my sports obsessed family how we are not alone in not liking sports stories! Take that!
Aww, 1-5 are the reasons I *do* pick up a book. Love those genres! And totally agree about the outdated covers, they sometimes make me cringe.
Outdated covers are real turnoffs. I try to look past them but I am not always successful.
Ooooh I don’t like the sporty things either. I get forced to watch it too often at home to want to read it too!
Seriously! My whole family is sports obsessed!
I know what that is like!!
What do you mean by outdated covers?
I like dystopians, but I’m growing tired of them. I’ve been meaning to read The Program, but I felt like I need a break from the genre.
Outdated covers are covers from older books, and sometimes the covers are sooooo – well they aren’t what covers look like today. I work in a library, so I see lots of older editions of books. For example, if you check out the original cover of Ella Enchanted – ugh! It’s awful, and I have such a hard time convincing kids to read the book, even though the book is amazing.
Dystopians just aren’t my thing.
Okay, I understand! I agree because it took me ages to read Shanghai girls. It’s such a recent book, but for some reason the person who loaned it to me had removed the dust jacket and it looked like one of those really OLD books. So that’s a fair point.
I would recommend a contemporary dystopian if you really want to try one. Delirium by Lauren Oliver or even The Program by Suzanne Young are perfect option of that. I dipped my toes in with Delirium and never turned back.
My TTT List
I have heard great things about Delirium. I am just pretty sure they aren’t for me. Thanks for the recs, though.
I’m not crazy about sports, so I am with you on that subject. I’m not one for reading adult fantasy either, but I really haven’t tried much, so I can’t say I don’t like it. I love fantasy movies ad don’t understand why I don’t get into the books. My TTT.
Vyki @ On The Shelf
I can’t understand why I don’t like adult fantasy either. I love fantasy children’s, YA , and movies.
I hate when a cover looks like it’s from the 70’s! Great list! Check out my TTT!
-Scott Reads It!
Early 90s are bad, too!!
Yeah I don’t think we read much of the same stuff. LOL. I’m not huge on animal stories or sports, but they don’t particularly bother me. I write scifi, dystopian, and adult fantasy, so obviously I read them a lot, too. I am with you on outdated covers, though. (I don’t know why the cover of Under the Never Sky has never been updated on Goodreads. The one on their is the “old” one and it’s hideous!) Anyway, great list! Happy Tuesday! 😀
My TTT
LOL. I know so many people that love dystopians and science fiction.
A lot of your no’s are my yes’ but I love the outdated cover one! So, so true!
Here’s my TTT!
Jess @ Such A Novel Idea
I’ve heard that a few times, today 🙂
I put Dystopian on my list too. Not into space book either!
Kerri
Turn the Page Reviews
http://turnthepagereviews.com
Oh yeah, no space for me either 🙂 Except for the Lunar Chronicles. Marissa Meyer is the best! They are not heavily sci-fi though.
Great list, I agree with lots of them. I’m also glad I found someone else who put animal stories on their list!
I love, love, love animals. Just not reading books about them. 😦
I am so happy you referenced Everybody Loves Raymond. I used to love watching that show. But agree, sports are stupid. I’m also with you for animal stories. I remember feeling like an outcast in elementary when all the girls loved horses and dogs and I just didn’t care about them. Still don’t. But I do have Marley and Me at home that I’ve been aching to read because I hear how sad it is. I love sad stories though, unlike you, so I actively seek out stories that will be sure to make me sob. Great list!
I have read Marley and Me, and that really isn’t a heavy animal story. It’s more about the author and his wife and their family, and how Marley played into their lives. It’s really good, even for someone who isn’t drawn to animal stories 🙂
I can’t really think of any adult animal stories, but I can’t really see myself picking any up, so I guess that is something I’d avoid. I also don’t like love triangles… they’re just so predictable, it becomes pointless.
Love triangles are predictable, and they just piss me off, too.
Outdated covers – yes! And I don’t really recall any sports stories that I’ve enjoyed or even read, to be honest. I certainly don’t think I’d seek any out. The rest of them, I think I’d be okay with. On my list: mainly thrillers and werewolves – can’t stand them. I had a hard time making a full list this week because I tend to at least try everything except for the few that I have listed.
Yes, yes, I try to keep an open mind, too.
sports anything LOL me too..though my husband is a football fan..bleurgh..
Almost my whole family loves sports – there’s always some kind of game on. My grandmother was watching golf the other day – if there is a more boring sport to watch, I don’t know what it is.
I’m not big on SciFi and tearjerkers and sports either, but no to animal stories and dysoptians? I love those! (And there aren’t enough of the first!) If you ever feel like trying an animal story, I’d suggest ENDANGERED by Eliot Schrefer.
Rachel @ Beauty and the Bookshelf
I can handle animal stories where the dog doesn’t die (or whatever animal it is about) and when there are people in the story, and the animals act like animals. They still aren’t my favorite though.
I have heard things about Endangered, though.
I love sports books, but I can understand where you are coming from. I am usually hesitant about tearjerkers because (like you mentioned) they can disrupt my mental state for weeks. I’ve gotten more into sci-fi after reading the Lunar Chronicles, but it will never be one of my favorite genres. I am also not a fan of love triangles especially if that is basis of the entire story. I don’t think I’ve read many animal stories so I’m not sure what I think of them…though I loved Bunnicula when I was growing up. Great list!
BUNNICULA! Seriously that is one of the few exceptions for me. I adore that book, and recommend it to kids at the library all the time. It’s so awesome.
I love the Lunar Chronicles so much, although science fiction still isn’t for me.
Bad love triangles can ruin a book. It seems like an area where a lot of authors stumble.
On the other hand, I don’t know if I’ll ever tire of dystopia or science fiction!
Thanks for visiting!
Stephanie @ Inspiring Insomnia
lol. I know so many people that love dystopians and science fiction novels. They are just not for me, I think.
Totally agree about love triangles.
Yes about sports! I’ve never really enjoyed them in real life, so I fail to see why I would want to read about them.
Dystopia is one of my favorite genres, but it has been getting a little dull lately.
Ah yes, I agree with you on all counts (except dystopians and sci fi – definitely my kind of stories). Sports and outdated covers ares topics that I hadn’t thought of before, but now that you mention it, YES. SUCH a turn off. Just not interested. And I feel similarly about tearjerkers. I often like them in the end… but it’s so difficult to force myself to pick them up in the first place.
Even though I find some sports really fun (especially soccer), I just have no desire to read a whole book centered around that topic. Also, love triangles are infuriating in 9/10 cases.
Oh Tearjerkers! I know you know how I feel about those. I know that so many people love to cry while reading but I just don’t understand why! hahaha Yay for books that are not crying books! 🙂