Top Ten Words/Topics That Will Make Me NOT Pick Up a Book

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This is based entirely on cover and has nothing do with my feelings for what's inside the paged. And
This is a LOT harder than the opposite of this topic, Things That Instantly Make Me Pick Up a Book, because I've got a lot of buzzwords and not a lot of buzzkill words.Or at least, it seemed hard at first. Then I got to thinking and realized there are a lot of things I don't like (surprise!). A lot of these topics I DO actually like, but they're not what I actively look for in my books.

1. "Grief"

I think grief can be a very powerful subject, and I adore it when books deal with it well. But i prefer not to real books that are ENTIRELY about grief. I'm a delicate marshmallow. I bawl in those commercials with the sad puppies in need of rescue and Sarah MacLachlan singing plaintively in the background. Some books are honestly too heavy for me. "Cancer" is also not a word that gets me excited to read.

2. "God"

Again, nothing wrong with God or religion being a subject that's discussed in my books (one of my favorite classics, The End of the Affair, is like ninety percent about one woman's relationship with God). But generally, religious fiction just isn't my thing.

3. "Suicide"

Again again, I've read some amazing books that deal with this subject or have suicide as an element, and its pretty powerful stuff. But... marshmallow.

4. "Addiction"

Definitely not my favorite topic to read about. It's just too much for me (and yet I love reading books about wars and murderers and assassins, go figure). I find these stories too brutal and too un-fun. I think it might bebecause I watched Less Than Zero when I was WAY too young and I've never recovered.

5. "Love at first sight"

Insta-love is the BANE OF MY EXISTENCE. If the synopsis so much as hints at these words, I just know the book will make me stabby.

6. "Steamy"

I am not opposed to steaminess. Quite the opposite, really. While I was reading Faking It, a certain scene made me have to put the book down and walk across the room a few times because whoa. But usually the books that go OUT of their way to be steamy don't have anything else going for them. Or they're basically just porn in book form. Or they are soul-crushingly misogynistic.

7. "Faeries"

Not that I'm OPPOSED to fae/faeries/fairies/fayriis/phareeys, just that that's not usually a topic I gravitate towards. I like the little pixie people type fairies, but I'm not as interested in the realms of fae as most people are.

8. "Starcrossed lovers"

This ties back a bit to insta-love. It makes me think of shallow, love-sick idiots who are determined to be in love even if it leads to the destruction of the universe. Life tip: if it's a choice between saving all of humankind or saving your fledgling relationship, please choose humanity.

9. "Soon to be a major motion picture"

It's not so much that these words turn me off, so much that they give me pause. It's like, "Ooh. Hype. I'm intimidated."

10. "Verse"

I have read approximately one verse novel that I ever liked (Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, and I was about nine). I don't understand why the authors don't just put it all in one paragraph. Like for instance
I could go on
writing
just as I am
but press "enter" whenever I
felt like it
just
to
seem
deep.

Okay, that's a bit cruel. Sometimes verse novels are gorgeous and atmospheric, but I honestly feel a bit disconnected from the characters when the book is in this form. It's just not my cup of tea.

Dishonorable mentions: Animal violence, "the next Harry Potter/Twilight/Hunger Games", "light on romance", erotica, badly behaving authors, "was once fanfiction", pregnancy (most of the time), military.

What words/ topics turn you off? Do you agree or disagree with any of mine? Leave me your links if you have them, please!