TTT: Unpopular Bookish Opinions

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Top Ten Tuesday was started by The Broke and the Bookish, and was taken over by That Artsy Reader Girl in 2018.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is an interesting one: what are my unpopular bookish opinions?

Dog-earring book pages

I am terrible at remembering to keep bookmarks – I think the longest one I have kept is the one my mother made for me at Christmas this past year. Almost six months! And I have a really bad habit of using money or credit cards as bookmarks. So really, to break all these habits, I just have no issue dog-earring a book. Especially if it’s one that has multiple pages that I need for something, like a podcast.

Writing/highlighting in books

I do not do this in borrowed books, and honestly, as I use my kindle much more frequently, this isn’t too much of a thing. But I frequently have highlighted books, written in the margins, underlined things. I feel that books should be lived in! I loved finding used books as a kid that had notes in them – it showed that they were (most likely) enjoyed or loved books.

Three Dark Crowns is not a good series

This is, in part, a joke, but Three Dark Crowns is the book that made me realize I had to start DNF’ing books, and that “this book is a bit slow but man that ending is worth it” is a really bad thing to say about a book. This book is slow and nothing like the summary suggests. It is something I still occasionally say about books – I need to figure out what I truly mean going forward – but if a book cannot capture me in the first 50 pages or 10%, then I just won’t read it.

Some adaptations are better than the original book

This originally started as that some movies are actually better than the book, but then I started thinking about how I love some adaptations or retellings of books more than the actual original book. (Like most of Jane Austen’s books.) It’s okay to admit that some movies are better than the book. Sometimes the movies make the more problematic things of the books better.

I don’t feel the need to cling to all my books

Okay, I do need to get better about this, as I have slacked off, but I do actually like going through my books and donating/getting rid of them. I have bought some random crap through out the years, and my tastes have changed quite a bit. There are some books I will cling to, but for the most part, borrow away.

I love maths just as much

A weird divide in life is that you apparently can’t be good at maths and English, and you can’t love both. Well, I spent my undergrad getting a degree in English while tutoring in maths. I have always enjoyed both – I did actually major in mathematics before switching.

I don’t always avoid spoilers

I really cannot tell you what drives me to avoid spoilers or not, but I don’t always avoid them. This can make me annoying, sure, as my bestie has definitely given me spoilers for things I didn’t want spoilers for. It doesn’t make me like a series less, and sometimes actually keeps me from quitting a book that I might have previously.

Mismatched covers don’t drive me nuts

I will use this as an excuse to not buy a book, but I actually am okay if covers don’t match. I will say that if I buy a book in hard back, I will try to continue the series as such, but even still I am kind of shrug emoji about it.

Twilight is worth it’s place in history

Listen, I am not saying that Twilight is perfect, nor am I saying that I love the entire series, but I do recognize that Twilight got a generation of teenage girls reading or reading again. Sure, most people’s tastes have evolved since and some people’s haven’t! BOTH ARE FINE. Stop hating on media geared towards teenage girls.

Being a reader is not a personality

Basically, you should have more to your life than just books. Reading doesn’t make you better than anyone else, just like being a tennis player doesn’t make you a better person than anyone else. Let people enjoy things without judgement (….within reason) and, I don’t know, don’t feel so superior.

 

That’s all I’ve got for now! What are your unpopular bookish opinions?

14 responses to “TTT: Unpopular Bookish Opinions”

  1. YESSS to so many of these, but specifically, adaptations being better than books. Look, I love Stardust by Gaiman, but the movie is so much richer and more charming. Scott Pilgrim? Infinitely more enjoyable – and less cringey – as a film than a comics series. I don’t agree that all of Austen’s adaptations exceed their books, but some definitely do. Emma in particular is far better adapted on screen by someone charming than read in the book in my opinion.

    Also, hell yes Twilight.

    1. Okay, not all Jane Austen’s retelling’s are better, but I genuinely love so many of them! I think it actually does depend on the person’s reading of Jane Austen and whether or not they “get it” — those that don’t I tend to not enjoy as much. I actually thought of you when writing about Twilight, of course!

  2. Shaunna McLaren Avatar
    Shaunna McLaren

    I absolutely agree with you on Twilight having its place! So many people bash it now, after loving it as a teenager, and it makes me so sad. Yeah, they’re not technically great books, but they encouraged so many people to fall in love with reading!

    Shaunna x

    1. I will fully admit to bashing it around the time the 4th one came out – I remember upsetting a close friend and I STILL feel bad about it! But as I’ve gotten older I have admitted my love for the series and it’s importance and have become such a Twilight (and Stephenie Meyer) defender? It’s such a weird twisted fate.

  3. What is this sorcery about loving math?! I never understood it. xD I’m good at math, but it feels like torture having to do it, which is funny. I mean, I think it’s great for people who like both, because that’s the best of both worlds, right? I just don’t understand how its possible because … math. Ick. 😛

    I don’t always mind spoilers, either, especially if it’s something that I’m not sure about. A spoiler can sometimes convince me to continue something I wasn’t sure about.

    I agree about reading, too. It’s a personality trait, part of what makes someone who they are, but it’s not the end all, be all. It’s a facet of a person, not the whole thing. Great post!

    Here’s my TTT post.

    1. It was so surprising to me to realize that people usually like reading OR maths, as I grew up knowing so many people who loved both! It made Seanan McGuire’s Middlegame such a fun book too. Thanks for reading!

  4. I wonder how the idea that one can’t enjoy math AND literature started? English was my best subject, but I did enjoy Algebra and Statistics as well when I was in school.

    My TTT.t

  5. Well, Three Dark Crowns is one of my favorite series of ever, so I definitely can’t agree with you there. LOL! But I do agree about adaptations and clinging to books—I get rid of most of mine after I’ve read them.

    1. Hey to each their own — it is definitely loved by a lot of people!

  6. I feel you on three dark crowns, I did nit dislike it but I dont really see the hype?!

    (Www.evelynreads.com)

    1. I will say that I … for some reason … read the second book, and it got better? But ugh WHERE IS MY POLITICAL INTRIGUE.

      1. I’m actually planning on reading the second book as well haha! I still want to know where the hype comes from!

  7. […] Unpopular Bookish Opinions […]

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