Top Ten Tuesday is an original weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. I thought this would be a fun way to share a condensed version of potential rambles and thoughts that I have.
This Week’s Theme:
Top Ten Book Related Problems
Initial Thoughts:
I’m unsure if I like calling these problems. I think they’re just quirks of who we are as readers (or people?), and now that I think about it, the compiled list has some peculiar traits of mine than holistic book problems—but maybe you can relate.
- The entertainment precedence. Many people spend their “me time” reading. Me? Nope, I play video games or watch television and movies. Not always in that particular order; but mostly in that particular order. (Also, did you read the recent study that links binge television watching to depression? I ain’t buying it.)
- The trickery that is discounts. I can go into stores (physical/online) with zero intent to buy something but dem discounts be attackin’ my wallet. Just two weeks ago I wanted to shop for two books online. My cart post-checkout? 13.
- The statuesque obstruction of commute reading. This isn’t a problem when I actually get a seat on buses/subways, but when I don’t, you best believe I’ll be a pillar of concentrated thinking while shrouding out everyone else’s unnecessarily loud talking. I’m actually not as bad as it sounds since I’m pretty perceptive of people who need to get by, but really though, I apologize for being in your way—I’m just trying to save the world—if the mission is unsuccessful (or if I die), that’s on you.
- Deckled edges. Sorry for those who actually enjoy them…BUT WHY IS THIS A THING? Maybe I’m just not hipster enough in this century to appreciate the vintage feel of these crinkly, uncut edges but I just don’t know why so many books have them (many of which are quite expensive, mind you). Or maybe I just have an OCD to owning pristine cut books and I can’t have one out of place. More power to you if you like them though.
- Hardcovers over paperbacks. Of the books I own, the ratio of hard-to-soft is about 70:30. It normally wouldn’t be a problem since I’m generally selective with what I buy (unless I’m splurging re: discounts or auto-buys) but maaaaaaaaaaaaan sometimes hardcovers cost more than a limb for even a 150 page novel (skyward of $25-30). How do publishers justify some of these prices; especially for them dinky hardcovers?
- “You should, maybe, you know, take the dust jacket off before you read it—in-case you’re scared of ruining the immaculate cover of course.” = Me on lending books (because hardcovers). (Literal meaning: no, really, can you?)
- Film adaptations. Most people can live and die by: “I’ll read the book before watching the film” but I often watch popular adaptations on the week of the release as some of my friends are movie buffs. Compounding that with my amazingly slow reading—and behold!—I am in-fact unable to read the book prior to watching the film.
- Time-consuming content writing and commenting. This one is specific to blogging. I don’t know about you but drafting up posts and comments takes me quite a while. Posts can take weeks to evolve; comments can take several-to-tens of minutes (yes, even the comments I leave on TTT posts). It hurts me so.
- Stepping out of the story. I write notes and tab pages. It’s not that I won’t remember the gist of what happens but it helps with the little details that I find myself needing to complain about in review writing. Then when I do pause, it takes a moment to get back into the groove of reading. Life is so difficult.
- Unread ARCs and giveaways. My negative galley ratio (only half kidding) and only having read 20% of the books won through Goodreads is indicative of how much I’m winning at this reading thing.
- Sharing ‘oh shit’ moments. Just like watching television shows like HTGAWM (like the feels of Annalise slaying the courtroom), whenever I come across these omgwtfmyfeelsrightnow moments (basically anything) I seldom have too many people to share it with and so these feels are bottled up until I implode my review. I mean I guess I could tweet it but I’m pretty bad at that too.
- Exploding the hype train. I like to inspire thinking (or at least try to) and play devil’s advocate even if the logic is all wrong and everything seems irrational. So when I read books that have blown up because [reasons], I sometimes (not always) begin engaging books in a biased light of needing to find flaws or just question everything ten times over—like it’s my responsibility to be increasingly negative LOL.
Afterthoughts:
Woe is me.
Cheers,
Joey
thoughts and afterthoughts. 
It seems to me like you this was a whimsical moment ☺
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Whimsical? Perhaps, but I was definitely entertaining myself with throwing down all this real talk haha. I’m glad so many readers identify with these quirks–it validates (somewhat) that I’m not that crazy!
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Great list! I do some of these too. Especially the discounted books thing – I can’t help it. Supermarket book aisle are my nemesis – I try to steer clear.
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60-70% off? Oh, hey, what’s this?
70-80% off? I don’t really need it but I might need it.
80%+? Insufficient funds–but how?
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Ah, the book problems…
But really- deckled edges, a problem? I quite like them and find them really interesting on a book. I totally feel you on the whole book shopping because of “discounts” or “cheaper prices”. Have you been on Book Outlet yet? Just say goodbye to your wallet when you go shopping there 😀
Awesome post!
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Yeah. BookDepot is even cheaper but that’s only if you buy in bulk, I think (like 200+ book purchases but they’re like 90%+ off).
I just don’t enjoy the feel of the edges; not to mention those books would look weird with everything else. Granted, if I started collected deckle edged books in the beginning then perhaps I wouldn’t mind so much.
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hahaha, I think this is my favorite post of yours to date. I am chuckling through the entire thing. Thank you for entertaining me.
Is it bad I want to talk about every single point you made? I’m definitely all about reading for ‘me’ time, but find myself getting distracted by the tv some nights. Depends on what husband is watching. If it’s Big Bang Theory, all bets are off.
Discounts – they know how to get ya, don’t they!? This made me laugh out loud. When my Amazon cart gets like that, it’s best to delete and walk away from the computer.
I’ve always said that I wish I had a train ride to work. Think of ALL THE READING I would get done?! The disappointment of living in Ohio. Well, one of many disappointments (hello, frigid zero temps today).
Hardcovers are just too expensive and I’m too cheap. The last hardcover set I bought was the Twilight Saga (don’t hate me), and now I buy all my fav books in paperback otherwise I be broke. BUT – have you ever tried shopping on Abebooks? They sell books both HB & PB and sometimes free shipping. But you gotta make sure they are brand new and not used copies, unless that doesn’t matter to you.
I really need to get my Netgalley rating up, or just stop compulsively requesting books. It’s a serious problem. So I totally get you.
I also wish I took time to take more notes while reading a book. It’s just not a habit I’ve started, but when I do reviews, it bites me in the ass because, bad memory.
Ok, I clearly loved your post but I’m gonna stop now because I feel bad you have to read all of this. AND comment on it! 😉 Kidding, sorta.
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If there’s another goal of mine it’s to keep things real and say what comes to mind first haha. So I’m glad to have been able to humour you by being myself.
And definitely not a problem if you ever want to talk about the points I make–I say them with intent to inspire conversation. But, alas, you have responded so I guess that is a success in itself! Glad to hear you have a crutch in television–it’s definitely a different kind relaxation they provide.
Bookoutlet was the culprit this time around with my 2 -> 13 books purchase…they had increased discounts for 50 sci-fi books and my mind was like “oh no…” repeatedly. But in terms of the exorbitant costs for hardcovers, unless it’s a book I’m dying to read (which usually gets auto-bought), I can usually wait for them to get discounted haha.
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Oh man, I definitely agree with the cover jacket thing. So annoying when people don’t think to remove it! Great list and very funny too 🙂 Agree with all, but as it also takes me ages to type out comments (and because I’ve done that before and had the whole comment deleted because my Internet was being an idiot) I’ll leave this comment here 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed this post!
I wonder if non-bibliophiles are perceptive as to the dangers of keeping the jacket on while reading hardcovers. I usually tend to take the cover off if I’m reading at home. But I guess I’m a hypocrite cause I do sometimes take the jacket with me when I’m reading on commute–maybe it’s like a nerd mentality to show everyone what i’m reading since the cardboard cover part doesn’t always have the title haha….
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🙂
Ha yeah I have a feeling they probably aren’t aware! I love hardbacks, but unfortunately I don’t have many of them and usually read paperbacks because I usually can’t afford the hardbacks. So I guess I don’t really have that problem myself. But I’ve been very careful with book covers ever since I leant my Harry Potter series to people to borrow/my siblings read them and the jackets of 1-4 were severely ripped. Makes me so angry!
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Ha I love the one with about taking the book jacket off. I recently lent a book to someone at work that’s signed and she was more terrified of getting it dirty than I was. She took off the cover and then replaced it with a make-shift wrapping paper cover.
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That’s a great idea! I know some people who go through the trouble of turning their paperbacks into hardcovers. And it’s something that I may think of doing in the future so I can just melt at the sight of pure hardcover bliss.
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Deckled edges! Oh how I hate this feature in some books. It is even worse when you are cataloging a book for a library. You flip through stamping the library’s address in it and those blasted edges make my task 100% more difficult. Granted that still isn’t much, it is cataloging books after all, but still HATE deckled edges.
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Aha, at least I’m not flying solo in this dislike for deckled edges!
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Blog posts always take me a long time to write, too. I try to schedule, but, honestly, it takes me so long to write one that I can only schedule maybe one or two posts in advance.
I used to be a contrarian, but now I try to keep an open mind. But the hype usually hurts more than it helps, for sure.
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I’m “trying to” schedule but it doesn’t really work because every time I write something that I think is remotely interesting/funny/what-have-you, I’m so tempted to just publish the post (which I usually, truthfully, actually do 90% of the time).
I wonder if, to a certain degree, contrarians are more open-minded than those who simply enjoy the crap out of a book and will defend it as if it’s their duty in life. Food for thought!
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I’m weird in that I actually prefer to watch before reading (except mysteries). The book is always better, right? So, I watch the movie first and then the book is like an extended edition. Except for The Hobbit. 😛
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I don’t think I should get into the debate of books versus films since I watch so many adaptations without having read the novel. I’m of the camp that doesn’t often re-read books either so the first experience is usually the one that’ll do it. The funny thing is that I wouldn’t mind re-watching a movie multiple times (i.e. Gone Girl, despite not having read the book either–not much of a shocker ha).
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Oh, I wasn’t trying to debate. I understand why people prefer reading first, it’s just not my preference (but I’m not going to wait around for a film if there’s a book I want to read). I’m a big re-reader and re-watcher, but I won’t debate that either. It’s just what I like. 🙂
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Oh haha–I mentioned the debate part in passing since so many people are purists and/or live by the rule of “books are better than films”. I definitely didn’t mean to question the merits of it, if that’s what it sounded like (oops!).
But yes, you should definitely do you, whatever that may be!
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You certainly brought forth a whole slew of ‘quirks’ that I can relate. Unlike you, I love the raw cut edges of a book. It does remind me of something that was done before the printing press had an upgrade, and while I am in no way a hipster, I just love looking at them.
I prefer hardbacks for sure. Sometimes, they don’t release hardbacks of a few books in Canada so I end up having both at the same time.
Fantastic post, Joey!
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Thanks Joy, you can enjoy all the deckles for the both of us!
OR MAYBE I’m secretly just scarred from all those elementary school projects for history class where part of the creative component was vintage-fying regular white paper to look old. And this is all some sort of repressed memory resurfacing…ahhhhhh. Pandora’s box has been opened.
(I’m weird like that.)
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I LOATHE decided edges! They feel hideous! I was in a shop the other day and saw a gorgeous copy of Peter Pandy and was going to buy it until I saw those damned deckled edges! Ughhh I feel like they haven’t bothered cutting the edges properly! Obviously not hipster enough 😛
I don’t mind them on old books, but I understand them then… They don’t feel the same on a new book.
I loveeee exploding the hype train! You do it so well! Books like “We Were Liars” need to be taken down a notch. We’re basically doing a public service.
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Right?! I think if it’s a genuinely old book, I wouldn’t mind as much (or just mind less because it would fit with the retro thing).
I wonder if I’ll sound like a bad person for saying this but someone ought to make a book club solely on destroying the positive dreams of certain hypes LOL. Imagine it: the hype police….not saying I endorse telling people what to read or what they’re allowed to enjoy though. So I guess we’ve run into a problem there.
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I’m one of the people that like deckled edge – but it does cost more for books to be (un)cut that way now. What annoys me is when the first book of a trilogy/series is published with deckled edge, but the following books aren’t. And while I’m more likely to be excited about film adaptations when I’ve read the book, I’m also very aware that I’m more likely to enjoy the movie if I haven’t read the book. (Reading the book after the movie doesn’t spoil this enjoyment as much as doing it the other way round.)
I don’t read much at home; I do most of my reading during my lunch break and in the train to/from work. I spend most of my “me time” watching tv series/dramas, planning D&D campaigns and doing nothing on tumblr. If I do read, it’d be manga. So I do relate to your first point 😀
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I should look into the production. It seems interesting that it’d cost more to leave it uncut. But yeah, anytime future publications don’t match their predecessors–it makes the heart hurt.
As much of a “reader” I think I am, I feel like I’m also more of an “everything else-r”. There are just so many other activities to do and I wonder how people churn out a book a day when I’m like struggling for one a month haha.
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Ha, deckled edges! They were driving me batty today. It’s impossible to riffle the pages with these edges, so when I want to go back and find something, it’s so annoying! I have the discounted book problem when I go to our library sales and come home with 25 new books because they were $2 each… but I don’t really need them and I already have plenty to read. Sigh. Great list!
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Whoever started library sales is a genius. It’s unfortunate that it doesn’t happen that often (at least for me).
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We have 2 huge ones each year, and even though I always go in thinking I’ll show some restraint, it never actually works that way. But I can excuse myself for going overboard, since all the money goes right back toward supporting local libraries. Buying books and feeling virtuous? Score!
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hardcovers are expensive but better. IMO 😀
TOP TEN TUESDAY
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They are indeed! I usually wait to get them on sale unless they’re from auto-buy authors.
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😀 Your list made me laugh this week. Full of your personality! 🙂
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Happy to hear that these lists make people smile (it’s definitely an added bonus)!
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This is a good list that was fun to read. 🙂 I did have to Google ‘deckled edges’ though. And, 13!! That is impressive.
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I always “knew” what deckle edges were but I never knew the name. (I’m sure I’ve given these uncut edges many, many names that are not too kind to blog about.)
And a checkout of 13 seems impressive now…but I’m sure one day, “Damn you, BookOutlet” will be written on my epitaph.
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I hate not having pristine books. I much prefer hardcovers as well! Anyone who lends a book from me knows what kind of condition it has to come back in. That’s probably why only a few lend from me 😜 great list 😊
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I somehow find ways to remind myself that “yes, person X has this book” when I gloss over my existing shelving that has an empty spot. Which leads to me questioning whether or not it’s a hardcover…and then I wonder if the dust jacket was removed, and cringe at the thought of it being damaged.
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Problems of a reader! 😛
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Awesome list! I definitely agree with the one about stepping out of the story. I really like to write down any memorable quotes that I find that really stick with me, so that means that I’m constantly marking things with sticky note flags and writing stuff down in a notebook. I wish there was an easier way to do this without breaking the flow of reading!
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Right!? Being able to tab (or jot notes down) without breaking the flow is much needed! I also wish reality could have a copy, paste, or find function (oh how I wish there was a CTRL+F function). [Book] Tabbing is just another one to add to the list. Someone should get on it.
I won’t complain if I can only have one of them though.
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On board with you on numbers 5, 7 & 8. Also, number 10 is funny (at least to me) but I totally get it. And oh. I like deckle edges, but I’m not raising the flag. Amusing post!
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Glad you enjoyed it, good sir!
Deckle edges are the biggest trolls of bookstore shelving. Like: “ohhhhh, a neat bookcover [spine]” only when I pull it out of the shelf, it has deckle edges. LE SIGH.
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Great list! The film adaptation one definitely applies for me, I have so many books to read and I really do intend to read them before I see the movie but somehow it never happens that way. The latest are Before I Go To Sleep and Gone Girl. I really wanted to read them first but it didn’t happen that way.
The blog writing/commenting is SO true. It amazes me how much time it takes to actually get an entry written, sometimes it feels almost as long as the time it took to read the book in the first place 🙂
And definitely agree with the sharing ‘oh shit’ moments. Honestly, sometimes I’ve read/watched something which has been totally amazing that I just want to talk and talk about it but quite often it has to wait until a review to let the feelings out 🙂
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I hear ya with those movies. I haven’t watched the former but Gone Girl, whoooooooa was I impressed (although I don’t see myself reading the book).
I’m just amazed at how some bloggers can hop through blogs and shoot out a thousand comments per hour. I’d like to credit it as a guy thing for not being able to be continuously articulate (but that’s probably grossly inaccurate).
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I prefer to think of them as quirks too. Lol, this list was hilariously true… I also “suggest” people take the dust-covers off. Great post! 🙂
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Ahh–glad I’m not the lone wolf enduring these quirks!
I’m a hypocrite though. Sometimes I leave the dust jacket on when I bring the novel to read on commute just so I can nerd it up and be like “sup, yeah, I’m reading this 1k+ page Sanderson behemoth. it’s like, bigger than your head, so what have you?” (okay, this hasn’t happened yet but I believe it will one day…)
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I actually kind of like deckle edges, but I wouldn’t buy a book JUST because of it. I laughed out loud at several of these, so thanks for that!
https://bookishtendencieskatie.wordpress.com/
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So many of people seem to go through similar “problems” that its gotten some negative reputation during this weeks TTT…so I’m glad I could lighten up the mood!
I think if I started buying books with deckled edges and owned a majority of books like that I wouldn’t mind as much–but one of them is not like the other if I started getting them now. But you can enjoy the edges for the both of us.
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As always, what an eye-opening post Joey. *applause* I don’t really understand the purpose of deckled edges other than it drives my impulses wild.
I also loathe commute reading. Whenever I bring a book or it’s on my device, chances are I’ll read the same paragraph over and over again. Sometimes the public is too distracting for me.
And you DID NOT just insert a HTGAWM reference there!
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Thanks Miguel, although I’m unsure if being myself = eye-opening = a good thing or not…but I’ll take it!
Deckle edges. I see a neat book cover (based on its spine), pick it out of the shelving–and when I see it, my mind thinking “why, why, why, why, why, why–”
Haha, you just gotta get used to tuning out people around you (or use the book as a more covert way to eavesdrop).
And yes, I wrote part of this post after last weeks HTGAWM episode (S01E12) when Annalise was in court–holy cow I got so many feels!
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