Book Blogger New Year's Challenge Day 7: Top Ten Book Blogger Pet Peeves

Hi everyone!

I decided to start 2014 doing something completely new to me, blog-wise - that is, joining a challenge. This one is hosted by Parajunkee. And what I like about it is, it deals with blogging and bloggers, not with a mere list of books to read as fast as possible.

And here is her introduction to the challenge...

Hey everyone, it is that time of year again. The time when we get all excited for a NEW YEAR, plan our goals, set our resolutions and just straight-up get motivated. Guess what? I’m here to help you get a little more motivated about your blogging, with 14 writing posts for the New Year.

The Book Blogger New Year’s Challenge will begin on January 1st and run 14 days. It is going to be fun, it is going to be easy and hopefully it will get you motivated in 2014.  Each day I will post my own prompts and at the bottom I will add a linky so you can add your own posts. Here are the topics:

 

Before I proceed with the new topic, I want to apologize in advance for skipping Round 8, 9 and 10. I'm still too new (in a sense) for having a really great blog moment to share, and I can't attend events and such because I'm in Italy. As for new things, I might be repeating some of my blogger resolutions...But I will read your posts and live vicariously ;D.

January 7 Question: Top ten book blogger pet peeves.

Well, since Parajunkee gave us free hand, I thought I'd do a double list: the first one deals with my pet peeves about books, while in the second list I will (respectfully) point out some things about blogs I'm not particularly fond of. So here we go...

Book Pet Peeves

1) The ominous Love Triangle (or Heavy Romance)

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Now, please don't bite my head off. I'm just sayin'. But those are not for me, really. Though I can occasionally tolerate a love triangle of sorts if done smartly. E.g., All Our Yesterdays - where the girl in the present and the one from the future are virtually two separate individuals. And even if Em still cares from James (past James) while being with Finn, it's understandable.
As for romance, I prefer it to be minimal *people stare at her in horror*. It's one of the reasons why I don't read many contemporary books...unless they mainly focus on something else than pure romance.

2) Creature overflow

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Maybe it's not really about creatures so much (though me and fairies or angels don't get along very well...oh, Castiel from the Supernatural series being the necessary exception LOL. He's, well, fun. But I digress). Maybe it's more about the fact that they come two dimes a dozen these days. Don't get me wrong, if you like vampires or zombies or whatever, there's nothing wrong with it (or with you). It's just that I tend to get annoyed with any kind of stuff that's everywhere. And even if I do read a book with creatures in it, I want to read a different take on them. That's why, despite what I said, I am enjoying/have enjoyed both the Last Vampire/Thirst saga by Christopher Pike (Pike, duh. But I don't necessarily love everything he writes) and Jeri Smith-Ready's WVMP Radio series. So, should the right creatures come along...I'm taking the bait. Or bite ;P.

 3) In which the Unpopular Girl suddenly displays unusual and frightening powers, while falling for the New Boy At School who may end up being her ally in saving the world - or not (but usually yes)

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(the bubbles content is my own)

Nuff said LOL. Again, too many of them. If I read such a synopsis, I usually split.

4) Flat writing

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No amount of awesomeness provided by a book will ever make me overlook that. Though I can occasionally tolerate - or even enjoy - simple or dry writing, if it's congenial to the story. E.g., Mike Lancaster's duology Point 4.

5) Disembodied books (i.e. reading on a screen) 

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I know. I'm hopelessly old-fashioned. But I have a hard time reading books on a screen - though I did it before and I'm willing to do it again for review purposes (on my PC), since I can't reasonably expect anyone sending a printed ARC to me (at least at this point). But I don't have an eReader and I don't plan on buying one. I preferably need to sit on my bed and turn actual pages. Sorry for the forests :(.

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Blog Pet Peeves

1) OK, so you commented on my blog. Big deal, dude...

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I can honestly say I always try my best to encourage and give props to other bloggers when I like what they do/write. On the other hand, I sometimes come across these, um, dégagé people who apparently don't give a damn about someone liking their blog, commenting on it, or even following it. Mind you - I'm not talking about follow-for-a-follow. I'm not saying they owe you something. I'm just saying that maybe you poured your heart out in a comment, or took the time to actually follow them, and they don't even seem to care. Besides not visiting your blog themselves just to say hi. I understand that replying to comments and blog-hopping takes time, and it's not like one can always do it right away. But come on, there are bloggers who started like, yesterday, and have a grand total of three or four followers, one of which is you. I don't think they are so impossibly busy, are they? Nevertheless, maybe they reply with a bored-sounding "thanks" (if they do) and go on with their own business. What did they even start a blog for?
When I was a newbie, I used to get so excited and grateful when someone visited me. And you know, I still do. I don't think it will ever go away. Otherwise, maybe I should quit and switch on to writing a private diary...

2) Spelling 2.0
 

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So, here is where I'm basically dipping myself in scalding water O_o. And what about being a non-native English speaker who is bound to make the occasional mistake even if she checks everything she writes maniacally? I don't mean to criticize mistakes (even if I were sure I never make one). I don't mean to criticize writing styles, goodness forbid. But this confusion between "your" and "you're" and the like, and the occasional "anywho" (meaning what?!?) for "anyhow", tend to irk me. Sorry for accidentally irking anyone myself by saying this :(. And hey, at the end of the day, I still get your meaning like you get mine despite my bloopers :). I hope...

3) Clashing colours (or patterns)
 

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IRL, I'm a fan of strong colours (especially red) and black. But on blogs, I like just about everything that makes sense together. Heck, even grey is OK, though I'd never actually wear it. As long as the writing is readable, I can appreciate all kinds of different backgrounds and designs and styles. But clashing colours are a big no-no. Bright or not, colours have to match. (No matter what a guy called Marc Jacobs thinks about that...).

4) Very small fonts

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Just, no. I'm beginning to experiment some minor vision disturbances, but even before...why should I squint to read your contents? why should anyone? I even hate my own captions, but that's Blogger's fault - because you can't seem to enlarge them just a little. Only too much.

5) Lack of archives

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I have friends that haven't set up archives yet...and I still love them. But it's handy when you can peruse an archive of sorts and search for past articles or reviews you have missed. Also, I assume it helps with blog traffic ;).

I did it my way, because according to Parajunkee's reply to a specific question, you can actually list anything in any field that is book-blogging related! So please feel free to talk just about anything :). And of course...no offense meant to anyone. At the end of the day, I love you all!